New England Respite

Our trip to New England provided a wonderful respite from the oppressive heat in the DC area. There were even a few nights where we put on long sleeve shirts! We enjoyed seeing various family members, biking, sea kayaking, hiking, eating local specialties, and just generally exploring around. Here are some highlights...

My brother Alan, his wife Doreen and their son Austin

This fun statue overlooks Providence. I'm sure he's some historical figure, but I don't know who.

We met up with Taz & Knobby in Providence, who was working the half Ironman there.

Del's frozen lemonade is a Rhode Island tradition. And quite refreshing!

Alan with Ravi the blind dog and Frizzy May.

Alan's house

And his garage

The resident toad who comes out almost every night at Alan's house.

Biking with Alan

We came upon this Portuguese procession. It was very solemn, so it couldn't have been a parade. Not sure what the deal was, but this guy looks serious!

On the 15 mile rec path between Bristol and Providence, RI.

Local wild blueberries!

Waterfall in Camden, Maine

Believe it or not, this is the public library in Camden. Historic on the outside and very modern and high-tech on the inside.

Typical cove on Mount Desert Isle, Maine.

A view along the loop road in Acadia National Park

We rode our bikes early one morning along the loop road. It was very nice, with more bikes than cars! Here's Bob taking a break with the Porcupine Islands in the background.

Tall ship in Bar Harbor.

These guys just rolled into Bar Harbor, completing a bike ride that started at Milepost 0 in Key West. They had interesting ideas and were very inspiring to get me & Bob bike touring again.

The Coast Guard launched several of these boats in preparation for the Obama's visit to Bar Harbor. We didn't get to see the prez, but the hype was kind of fun.

We also road our bikes along the part of Acadia Nat'l Park on the Schoodic Peninsula. It was spectacular. Here is Bob at Schoodic Point catching some sea mist.

We did five sea kayak trips but didn't take many pictures. Here are a few to prove we went!

From Maine we went to New Hampshire where the sea kayaks stayed on the roof.

We rode along an unpaved rail trail one day for about 20 miles. It was a good test of Anna's Fuji, which has been outfitted with bigger tires. We saw a bear that day also.

From the old railroad station.

We had only one day set aside for hiking in the White Mountains. This is a typical view from that day as the clouds & fog swirled around while we hiked up Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington.

Bob making his way through the fog.

A pretty clear view of Tuckerman's Ravine.

A view in Franconia Notch, NH.

Aboard the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor.

A very old cemetery in Boston. The oldest stones date to 1630.

Typical headstone. Spooky!