Day 8- North Conway, NY to Hanover, NH

Today, we were to head back to Hanover, NH due to the fact that we have a meeting here tomorrow morning.

We slept in and barely made it to the continental breakfast...

Trying to wake ourselves up, we hit the "heated pool" otherwise known as the cold pool.

It did wake us up though, so I guess it did its job...









After checking out, we explored 2 covered bridges and then headed down to the big outlet mall in North Conway. There I was able to find some presents for different family members.... and I am not going to tell cause I know you guys are reading this ;)

We then hit up a small cafe for lunch and then explored a little bit into historic North Conway.

Then it was back on the road.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. It was raining and the fog had rolled in. We were driving through the White Mountains and the fog against the mountains was breathtaking. 

We saw the Mount Washington Hotel but we were not able to eat there because it was closed to the public :(. We were wanting to see some of the falls along the route so we decided that we would stop at Franconia Notch. First we stopped at the State Park where the Flume Gorge is but there was lightning so we decided not to go into the woods and so the view was not that great.

Our next stop was a little bit more successful as we saw the Basin and went on a hike that let us see some of the falls. We even stopped by Boise Rock.

Most of the rest of the day was spent driving through the driving rain (pun intended... :)) and we got to Hanover by 8 pm.

We watched Olympic Coverage and hung out and now I am blogging....

Tschuess,
Mercy Faith

Pics from our drive today:

at the basin

The Boise Rock Story (read at your own risk)

The falls!

 

To prove that it really exists ;)

What our hiking trail looked like

Day 7- Wells, ME to North Conway, NH

After our mostly sleepless night at the Campground in Wells, Maine (that I told you about briefly in my last blog), we headed into Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine to sightsee and eat breakfast (and for the Wi-Fi too ;)). We stopped by one restaurant that we knew was serving Quische.... unfortunately it was Baacon/ Mushroom so I just got coffee :) It was raining, which pretty much made my day ;) :).

So since breakfast had failed at the first stop, we were looking for something even better. And what could be better than Breakfast All Day?? They even had Chocolate Chip Pancakes :) and Cranberry juice.... pretty much everything was perfect. We traveled back into the town of Kennebunkport and went to look at the shops to see if we could find anything to brink back....


Unfortunately, my night of no sleep was beginning to tell on me and I started to feel really sick and tired and there were dark circles under my eyes. As we headed up the coast of Maine, we found a Grocery Store somewhat like Fred Meyers that carried Natural and Organic Foods. We got Salad, Soup, Yogurt, and Fresh Fruit to eat and Orange Juice and Water to help with our hydration. After eating the Chicken Noodle Soup and some salad I felt a ton better.


We traveled up to the beach at Ferry State Park.... it was BEAUTIFUL. We could see 2 lighthouses from the beach (the skies had cleared up by now), one on an island. We walked in the wet sand, occasionally being thrown off balance by the breakwater rushing up and over our feet. We looked out and saw fish jumping and the surf breaking as the waves rolled in. It truly was gorgeous :)

We could only stay a short while as our hotel was reserved in North Conway, NH and we wanted to get there in time to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. The drive is really not that long (it would have been shorter if I had put the right address into the GPS) and we were soon handed keys to our "room". This room ended up to be a small cabin that boasted a 12 in. TV. We were slightly disappointed but er settled in to watch the beginnings of the 30th Olympiad of the Modern Era. About 5 mins later an error message came onto the screen and our Olympic coverage shut off.... Trying not to feel frustrated, we decided to go play mini-golf and to not mope about it.

All-in-all the game was fun, even though we did not have that much energy. Maryanna ended up 4 over and I ended up like 12 over or something dumb like that....

Back at our cabin, I was determined to find at least something to do with the Olympics even if it killed me.... By scrolling through the channels I finally found the TV guide channel and it told me that the Olympics should be on both channels 6 and 7. Chanel 7 still showed the error message, but channel 6 looked like it was showing at least something. It ended up that we did not miss anything but all the crazy entertainment and we got to see the Parade of Nations as well as seeing the Queen's "speech" and the lighting of the torch.

Next up, sleep and lots of it....


Tschuess,
Mercy Faith

P.S. From Thursday in Ocean at Ogunquit...

 

Jumping the waves :)

After racing a wave :)

Our "big Screen" :)

All Odyssey Fans need to take a closer look :)

Day 6- The Vacation truly begins

For all of you who were convinced that something terrible had happened to me because I did not blog last night, set your fears to rest. The only thing slightly tragic that happened was that I put my collar bone way out trying to sleep in a tent without a pillow.... :)

Yesterday, MA had her last meeting so it was up at 8 and out the door at 8:30. The night before we had strategically planned our route so that we could stop by the Starbucks on the way ;)... We ordered Blonde Roast with and Old Fashioned Doughnut and a Greek Yogurt Parfait... yum!... Well, no rest for the weary so it was off to the meeting. Thankfully, we kinda knew where we were going so we did not get lost this time. The meeting went from 9:30- 12:45, during which I played Soduko, just to remind myself of Joel (I miss you all so much!!!). The meeting was very successful, but we were so glad to be able to hit the next Starbucks on the list (so MA could get some work done with the Free Wi-Fi) and put on our "vacation clothes" and hit the road. We traveled from Hudson, NH to Kittery, ME just enjoying the scenery and hanging out.

Kittery, ME has lots of shops and stuff. We were told to check out the Trading Post so we did and we spent a little bit of time looking around.... there was some cool stuff there but nothing that caught our attention enough to buy.

It was now 3:45 pm and as we hit the road we were looking for a place to stop to eat. We found that place in Ogunquit, ME. It was called Backyard bakery and eatery. It is kinda like a small town Great Harvest, they even had pumpkin Choc Chip muffins :) :) (which we ended up not getting :(... ) We did get a sandwich and coffee and a HUGE shortbread cookie.

Next stop... THE BEACH!!!!

Well... first we had to figure out how to get there and where to park.... a little difficult in bumper-to-bumper traffic....

We had decided that we were just going to walk on the beach and maybe wade a wee bit as it was kinda cold and everyone else was wrapped up in hoodies and sweats. We stuck to that plan for about 10 mins but pretty soon I was in the water up to my waist and jumping the waves or racing them to the shore :) (I will try to post up some pics tonight :))

We were kinda tired so we needed to find a place to stay.... "Beach Acres" sounded nice, and they had some vacant camping spots, so that is where we stopped... First off, we had to set up our tent and we were actually amazed at the fact that we actually did it with no problems :)


We then explored around and drove down to Kennebunkport and looked at all the beautiful houses along the way.

Our next adventure commenced when we needed to buy a towel so we could take showers at the campground.... We had to go to 6 stores before we found one under $15.... crazy... but at least we got a greek yogurt, berry smoothie out of the deal :)

It was now pretty late so we headed back and hit the hay.... er ground.... :)

It rained all night but the tent stayed pretty waterproof....

Today, we are going to explore Kennebunkport and head over to North Conway, NH :)

Tschuess,
Mercy Faith

P.S. Something I have learned: Fire Hydrants DO NOT have to be read and white.... out here they are yellow and baby blue....

Day 5- Hudson and Nashua

Our meetings today started at 9:30 and they were 1.5 hrs away so that meant one thing.... early to bed and early to rise.... well, maybe not so early to bed....

Anyways, we were on the road by 8 and since the trip was so exciting I slept through most of it... ;) We could not find a Starbucks on the way so that meant we had to go without coffee.... I think this was the saddest day of my life in that regard.... just kidding :)

We made it to our meeting on time, despite the fact that we had put the wrong address into our GPS... thankfully the address we put in was only 2miles off. :)

Maryanna's meetings went from 9:30 until 5:00 pm... it was kinda a long day. I kept myself busy with my writing and reading and music listening and sleeping and beach sitting (it was on the edge on a pond that ad a wee strip of sand for a beach).... All-in-all, I think the only thing I ended up with was a  tan... er burn... ;)

We finally headed out the door and I plugged the Hotel's address into the GPS....

We are staying in Nashua which is a fairly small town. We were starving so we got a list of restaurants from the front desk and headed into town... We were in a Milkshake mood but we never did find a milkshake joint.... oh, well maybe tomorrow... We ended up walking up and down Main Street trying to decide where to eat. We finally decided on a restaurant that had a chocolate shop in it... Can't go wrong with that, right?? Right!

I ordered Lemonade (one of the few non-alcoholic drinks... even the fruit smoothies had some...) and proceeded to down one in about 10 seconds.... The Waitress only gave me 2 refills but I think I could have downed alot more :). For dinner MA got a burger with Avacado and other stuff... it looked really good. I got the Mediterranean Platter which had Pasta Salad, Herbed Chicken and rice with Orzo pasta, a Salad with Feta cheese, and a spinich Quishe thing that has a funny name that I cannot pronounce. It was REALLY good... I could only eat half but the other part will be my lunch tomorrow... unless I decide to have a midnight snack which is totally possible ;)

We got to watch lots of people which is always funny.... it was kinda like 8th street in Boise... you got a variety of every type of person... The town was putting on a movie and dinner... it was supposed to be fancy but the fact that they were eating in the middle of the street in formal wear was pretty funny :)

We got back to the hotel after passing up desert since nothing was spirit free on that menu either... not even the coffee.... I am kinda worried about people in this town... Anyways, back at the hotel, I commenced a search for the Ice Machine which was a fail (we found out from the front desk that there is no Ice Machine on our floor... no wonder ;) and tried to post my postcards which was another fail because the manager was not there or some such nonsense....

Well in order for the rest of the night to not be a fail, I best get to sleep :)

Tschuess,
Mercy Faith

Day 4- Dartmouth College

Today was a little slower which was a nice change.

We went out to breakfast at a little coffee shop/bakery here in Hanover....Bet no one can guess what I got.... umm... Coffee??? That's right! Sad they did not have a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffin... lol

Next we had back to back meetings from 9 am until 1.... not much to say about that except it gave us time to see the Dartmouth Campus. It really is beautiful... not to mention the fact that their mascot is the Big Green which immediately puts it at the top for me :) ;) :)

I wore my Converse with my Green shirt... to show my support.... of course ;)

Something that is totally different here is that they have old pianos all around town that people just put out on the streets and in the parks. They are really weathered and out of tune but MA asked me to play anyways.... it was a FAIL.... take a look

 

Here is the piano... kinda  a wreck, huh?

View across the quad

 

The Library

 

With MA on the outskirts of the quad

This ^^^ is why I don't live here...

After meetings, I was able to take a 2.5 hr nap.... it was like heaven :)

We then went on a walk with the dog before dinner and just relaxed in the evening....

We have to be on the road by 7:30 AM so this is goodbye....

Tschuess,

Mercy Faith

Day 3- On the Road

As I write this there is a storm bordering on a torrent going on outside and I am listening to "The Piano Man" by Billy Joel. The storm reminds me of God's love, the song- my brother Jacob.

Today was a day of traveling....

I was able to sleep in past nine.... I was so tired from everything we did yesterday. MA had got me breakfast down in the Lobby so I had some Orange nice, coffee, and some yogurt. We were supposed to pick up our rental car in Needham, Mass which is across town from Revere, so we decided to call Enterprise. They were able to transfer our reservation to their office in Revere and send an agent to pick us up.... after all that is what they promise on TV :).... They said they would be there in 10 mins.... 10 mins which turned into an hour. The delay gave us time to get all packed. After the agent picked us up we saw all the traffic which had slowed him down. We picked out our car. It is a Chevy hatchback that is red... it looks kinda like a Blueberry but it is not... maybe I can post a pic tomorrow. We drove back to our Hotel, checked out and hit the road. After a bit of navigating and using the GPS on MA's iPhone, we got on the right Highway....

This reminds me, I have to tell y'all something: "people drive CRAZY out here!!!!!!" I think God is trying to convict me to stop complaining about driving. Today I actually told MA that I would never again complain about driving in Boise... It is so easy compared to Boston. First of all, they honk ALL THE TIME... kinda annoying... Secondly, they do not respect lanes... white dashed mean nothing out here... you can choose to follow them or just drive in 2 lanes at the same time if you want to... Thirdly, their idea of letting you in is giving you 6 more inches than normal... Seriously, you just have to jump in and hope you survive.... Today I saw a car turn out of a 3 lane Roundabout from the inside lane... crazy!!

Ok... so much for my rant... There was one bright side to all the crazy driving (this is for all you AIO fans, so listen up)... There is actually a minimum speed limit around here... the first time I saw it I laughed so hard and immediately thought of Bernard in Jail (if you do not get this reference you need to listen to Odyssey more often ;)) And here is a picture to prove it :)

This is me as the navigator:

We stopped for lunch and a Starbucks near Manchester, NH. One hour later, we pulled into Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth University as well as my Aunt's Client. 

We headed down to the dock and were able to watch some Crew practice.... I put some pics below:

View of the Connecticut River from the Balcony of the bunkhouse

Inside the boathouse

An 8

A double

A single

We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and then had a steak dinner and spent time visiting. 

It is now day 3... according to the clock so I should probably go to bed...

It is still raining :)

Tschuess,

Mercy Faith

Day 2- Sunday

 This morning we woke up to the sounds of birds chirping as the sunlight streamed in through our windows. We got ready for the day at a lazy pace since we had only got 6 hrs of sleep. Once we were ready for the day, there was no stopping us. We first grabbed our touring map of Concord and hit the pavement with our jogging shoes.... except we walked :). We took pictures of the historic houses we saw on the way and other things. I have put a few of them up with descriptions below:

<= A Trinitarian Meeting house

<= showing the rest of the meeting house

 <= Where we stayed :)

A historic House

Plaque marking the house of Samuel Prescott who lead the Minutemen on the Lexington green

Home of Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Home to Nathaniel Hawthorne (also one of Louisa May Alcott's childhood homes)

Me at Orchard House, the house where Louise May Alcott grew up

 We got breakfast at the Inn's restaurant. I had Italian coffee with a bagel and cream cheese. Our Personal Driver, Mike, picked us up and took us into downtown Boston (with a  little bit of a detour to see the Back Bay district). We checked our bags into a hotel for the day and headed off to our first meeting. We had meetings all day which meant more coffee for me :)

After our last meeting we walked down to the wharf and saw the Boston Tea Party Museum

We then checked out our bags and walked half a mile with our luggage to the Public Transit station. After numerous falling attempts we managed to get our tickets and enter through the ominous looking doors. Once we got inside we realized we were on the wrong side of the Station. Fortunately we were able to find how you got across without too much trouble. We got onto the tram, after a wait, and headed for Wonderland (our getting-off point). Arriving in Wonderland, we called our Hotel to have them pick us up only to find out we were on the wrong side of the Station.... again. This time it was a bit more of a challenge to get to the other side, but after about a quarter mile of walking we arrived at the pick up point... only to be faced with another long wait.

The hotel shuttle was certainly a site for sore eyes and we were very happy to make it to the Hotel...

We are now winding down and considering a trip to the hot tub....

Christ is LORD,
Mercy Faith

Day 1

Well, today the traveling began....

First task... leave Boise. This seems like a simple enough job, right? Go to the airport and get on the plane.... well... then again, maybe it isn't so easy.

Azure was this weekend and so I went on my usual route with Liberty. Thankfully we did not have that many stops so I was able to catch a nap between 9 and 10 in the morning...

Where do you go when you know you have a long day ahead of you?? Starbucks, of course ;)
I picked up my tall coffee with extra cream and 2 sugars (this is down from 3... I have to watch my sugar intake ;) ) Then it was off to MA's house to pull the final details together. These included cleaning off the table and emptying garbages as well as less- important things like printing our Boarding Passes.

We had to stop at the Bank on the way to take care of a few things and as our flight left at 2:10 and the Bank closed at 1 we figured we should get there early and so we ended up pulling into the parking lot at 12:59...

Going through all the Security at the airport went better than expected and I let out a sigh of relief as I was able to get to the only line that was having people go through the "old stye" scan machines.

First let of the journey was a flight to the Twin Cities. I enjoyed my book as well as some Cranberry-Apple Juice.

Our layover was not that long, but we had time to eat a salad, go to the Starbucks, direct a pilot to the Starbucks, find a Snoopy statue (see below ;)), use the ATM, find someone wearing as much green as I am, and get glared at by the shoe-shine man.

We successfully boarded our flight for Boston and settled in for the 2 hr flight. I continued with my book (almost done y'all :) :)) and drank some ginger ale.

We landed in Boston (coming in it looks like you are going to land right on the water... kinda scary :)) and got our checked bag. We were met at the Airport by a man who does a car service for the Boston Airport. He took us out to Concord, pointing out interesting landmarks on the way.

We arrived at the Concord Inn (built in 1716 and just down the street from the childhood home of Louisa May Alcott) and were shown to our room where we had to use a real key to get in (totally awesome!)

Well I hope you all are having as much fun as I am

Mercy

World Traveler

Hey y'all!!
   This is going to be my official "traveling blog" where I am going to post while I travel the world... :)

I am leaving this Saturday for a 13 day trip that will cover both New England as well as the  North West. I am so excited... I am considering this to be my 'Senior trip' since others are helping me pay my way as part of their graduation gift to me :)  I am going to be hanging out with my totally awesome Aunt Maryanna!!! Yay!!!

Anyways, I hope to post on here at least something everyday and maybe even some pics (if I can figure out how to do that without a camera ;) lol)....

Hope you enjoy!
Mercy

P.S. For anyone wondering about the title of this blog, "World Traveler" is the name of a super awesome song by Andrew Peterson that you can check out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxZeEN-b02w
Also, Liberty (one of the most awesome sisters in the world) gave me 'World Traveler' as a nickname for 2 reasons. 1) Because I hope to travel the world one day... well at least the corner known as Europe; and 2) because anywhere I go I seem to take enough stuff with me (generally known as "my life"... sometimes consisting of up to 4 separate bags) and I look like I am ready to 'travel the world'. :)