One year later... from Bob

Was it worth it? Would I do it again? 
YES!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes.


Did you do everything you wanted?
Are you serious??!?
How could anyone do everything they wanted, when visiting over 30 states, in 7 weeks??? No, I didn't... and I'm sad.


Will you do something similar again?
YES! And not soon enough!
Maybe due north; up through Washington and Oregon, into Canada (ala Vancouver, British Columbia) and possibly all the way to Alaska.


What did you do that you (Bob) want to do again?
Visit Massachusetts and Washington DC more.
Both were the highlights of the trip for me. Wow. Boston was so epic, not only totally beautiful but in the sheer volume of history and east coast culture. DC was fabulous for the amount of history, monuments and science too.


What would you do differently next time?
Go for longer. Much longer.
And have our US passports with us. We simply didn't have time to get those as well as get everything else together and planned. But heading into Canada at Niagara Falls (basically, to Toronto) would have been very cool.


Where did you not get to go that you wish you could have gone?
Further into the North East.
The most north east we got was about the line between Boston and Albany. Getting into Vermont and New Hampshire would have been very cool. And getting all the way to Montreal, or over to Nova Scotia, would have been epic.


Would you recommend others to do this as well?
YES!
It was a huge bonding experience for our entire family and a huge learning experience. Not only about far-away parts of our current country, but about the founding of our country and the history still possible to physically see with our own eyes.

The Farm at Walnut Creek, Ohio

A giant "Corn Box", like a sand box, but file with, you guessed it, corn!

Beautiful fall colors, such a picturesque place.

Feeding the very friendly goats. All the farm animals (the working ones) were heritage breeds.

This section of the "Farm" is really a small zoo, with lots of exotic birds, monkeys, a Kangaroo and Ring-Tailed Lemurs.

More corn box, I can't seem to reorient these photos easily in blogger.

Sorghum coming in from the fields.

Saying farewell to Uncle Stan and Aunt Judy. Thanks for having us!!!!

The drive through portion of the "farm" with lots of herd animals.

What a beautiful place.

Sorry little critter, we gave all our feed away already.

These Ring-Tailed Lemurs really did sir yoga style sunning themselves.

Plymouth, Massachusets

Plymouth, Massachusets. Home of the Mayflower replica, Plymouth Rock, and the old Colony Cemetery.

Plymouth Rock, the 1620 was carved a hundred years later.

Very neat stone steps down to the beach in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Funky crab on a Plymouth beach

Getting "thrown into the sea" by daddy

Headstones of ancestors Dr. Frances LeBaron and Mary LeBaron at the old Plymouth Colony cemetery.

The "Mayflower" (not the real one, but a replica), bummed we didn't take the tour.

Thornton W. Burgess

The Thornton W. Burgess historical property in Sandwich, Massachusets

The Old Briar Patch plaque

The Jam Kitchen at the Thornton W. Burgess Historical property in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
We bought some really nummy jam.

Thornton W. Burgess library

Pretty bridge through the garden.

Walking through what used to be the Briar Patch, now grown tall with trees.

"The Smiling Pool" featured in many of the Burgess children's stories

Plymouth Plantation, Massachusets

Plymouth Plantation - a replica village with wonderful reenactors.

An epic wood pile at Plymouth Plantation

Plymouth Plantation 

Native hut at Plymouth Plantation

Native descendants reenacting

Wonderful reenactors at Plymouth Plantation

Checking out the native huts

Observations #1 - Driving

We've been gone for almost 6 weeks now and we've seen a lot of cool stuff.

We've driven from California, up through Nevada, Utah and Wyoming to South Dakota. Then down across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, the bottom half of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, to the very bottom of Virginia. We then, over the course of 10 days, went north along the eastern coast, through Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island to Massachusetts. From there we went west across New York to the Canadian border and then down around Lake Erie, through Pennsylvania (again) to the top of Ohio. From there we went south through Kentucky (again) and Tennessee before heading further west to Arkansas. From there we went northwest through Kansas and into Colorado; where we are at the writing of this post.

After almost 7,000 miles I can confidently say one thing...

Drivers east of Nevada are insane.

Speed limits? Ignored.
By semis, families towing trailers and cars alike. On more than one occasion, while I was doing 70MPH (5MPH over the 65MPH speed limit) in the middle lane, I was being passed on the right by a car doing about 80MPH and on the left by a semi doing 85MPH.

Stop lights or stop signs? Optional.
On one sightseeing tour bus in Boston, for which we were only on half the total circuit, the bus driver ran *at least* 10 stop lights... blatantly.

Other traffic laws? Only when needed.
The same bus driver in Boston had no problem with consuming 2 lanes as needed, even if cars were already in that lane. I saw dozens and dozens of drivers with their cell phone plastered to their ears for miles and miles, while passing posted fines for using a cell phone without a hands-free device.


Driving etiquette? Meh. Who needs it.
I saw dozens of drivers across the USA making right hand turns from the left lane; sometimes to exit the freeway at 20MPH over the posted speed limit. Or tailgate me until I pull over, pass me just to cut me off and then slow down to 5-10MPH *slower* than the posted speed limit.

Even driving in San Francisco and Los Angeles is less stressful
than driving in the mid-west or on the east coast.

I truly hope that I don't need to drive in any other states for a while after this trip. I'm not sure my nerves can take much more.

Chincoteague Sunset Boat Tour

The dock at Daisey's Boat Tours. We were hoping to see some dolphins, birds
and some of the Assateague wild horses while on our tour.

Our Captain, Nate, was awesome. Having lived on Chincoteague Island all his life,
he knew more about the area and the waterways than most other residents.

Smile for the camera!

Robby was the self-designated 'lookout' and announced
every bouy, so the Captain wouldn't hit them.

A small pod of dolphins were playing just south of the island.
Dolphins are not easy to photograph.

Such a beautiful sunset

A bald eagle sunning its wings, after a day of hunting

in the Chincoteague/Assateague channel.

Robby looking cute.

Hannah looking cute too.

Captain Nate telling us about the wild horses of Assateague.

Another great shot of the sunset. Both captains said it was
one of the best sunsets they had seen in many months.

Another boat captain told us they had heard that there was a new foal on the north side of the channel. 
We high-tailied it up there and spotted the two week old foal, with it's parents.

Captain Nate looking through the Assateague horse book to determine

which horses were the parents of the new unnamed foal.

The mother Scotty ET, unnamed foal, and Copper Moose the father.
Most foals are born in the Spring, and sold off at the Fireman's auction to keep
the pony population under control. This lucky mare had her foal in early
September, so it will be allowed to stay on the island forever.

Hannah learning how to steer the boat.

Captain Nate let Robby drive the boat as we headed in.