For 8 days, my van sailed the New England States/ Maritime Provinces’ shores.

It faithfully hiked the White Mountains and trucked through the Appalachian mountains on the return.

It does not seem at all bothered by the task. The captain however, is ready to be off duty for a bit.

But what a time we had. If you asked me to describe our time with one word-it would be this: FULL.

Full of education:

The Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts provided lots of hands on info of life Pre-Civil War.

The Apple samples were interesting, but I think I’ll stick with Gala Apples 😜 these were all so tart.

We were so excited to get in on the cranberry festival hosted by A.D. Makepeace Farms. Notice the girls in the background trying their hand at running the machinery gathering the berries to market as whole berries.

Another form of harvest is flooding the bog and “vacuuming” up the berries. These go to be crushed for jelly and juice, etc.

The privileged of entering the bog was the icing on the cake.

Full of opposites:

We enjoyed our time at the sea. The Rocky Coast is indeed beautiful.

The Mountains were ablaze with color. I will admit to be a naysayer the whole way up into Maine “I can’t fathom what all the fuss is about this foliage. We have leaves this pretty at home.” But then darkness fell and we traveled a few more hours north and woke up to a gorgeous world. I take back my former statement.

Full of Laughter:

Here is our jolly group along the Cabot Trail. There was always some minor or major scenario going on- whether it was retrieving quills from a porcupine roadkill or learning to properly eat a lobster. I love these ladies.

(This is the preferred way of eating lobster if you ask me- a Lobster Roll)

“Anne of Green Gables” audiobook added lots of laughter to our travels as well as refreshed the story in our minds in preparation for our visit to Prince Edward Island. I wonder what Anne would’ve named these mushrooms growing along Lovers Lane?

These farmers were dodging raindrops trying to harvest carrots 🥕 There were a number of stray carrots along the side of the road. And we laughed as we gleaned the opportunity to taste the fruits of the harvest. 🐰

Full of Tears:

Full is an exaggeration. But the graves of a few of the Titanic victims laid out in the shape of the ship’s helm left a very somber feel. There were a surprising number of graves that are unidentified. Mother cried as she read the words of “Nearer My God to Thee” on the grave of the Captain’s son. (This is the song reportedly played by the band as the Titanic sank)

Full of Rain:

It poured so often on our travels. But we felt God’s care when the rains ceased each time we needed to be outside the protection of the van 🙂 this especially happened at Hopewell Cape. This portion of the Bay of Fundy had intense tides. We visited during floor access. In a matter of hours the tide will rise to within a foot of the top the arch.

Lobster Pots and Lobster boats awaiting high tide 🙂

Full of Sun:

Reversing Falls at St Johns at Sunset 😍

I fell in love with birch trees and their gold leaves in the bright blue sky.

Full of Wild Life:

Full of Culture:

The pastor of a VT church was a friend of several of these ladies, and he gave the chance to climb the belfry and listen to this bell toll 6 pm.

Full of personal records:

The Windsor-Cornish bridge spans from New Hampshire to Vermont. When I crossed into VT, I officially visited my 47th US State.

Praise to the One who creates Beauty in all things, who allows me such privileges as exploring this great land, for allowing my Mother to join me 😅 and for providing for us over and over again on this trip.

Blessings,

Kendra