No more building transmissions....he's going deep sea fishing!

Today the parts came in for the motor home. After having it in to all the professionals who kept missing the problem, Salt tore it down and fixed it!!!

We had planned on hitting the road this afternoon, but I promised Matt I would pick him up from practice and feed him since the rest of the family was at Wells college with Janna. She had an interview with the Volleyball coach there and was SO excited when she got home. She loved, the coach and the college.

Salt and Matt grilling....what a couple of "rednecks"....love both of them!

Janna beaming after her interview....along with Mom and dad!

And of course, Matt didn't want Janna getting all the attention so he had to pull some of his shenanigans.....

Plans to get on the road early tomorrow have been delayed due to severe weather warnings. Flash floods, 3-4 inches of rain and high winds. The good news is we get to see Janna's Volleyball game. Paul is also on his way home from college so we can get a visit in with him. Now if I can just get in touch with Kate it will be a most successful family visit. We had Alice up for Mexican food the other night...it was great catching up with her and her work "tales", and her new house.

The care and feeding of teenagers....

Salt and I were just finishing dinner when Janna and Matt walked in from their sports practice. They informed me that mom was working and dad was painting, so they would probably go home and eat cold cereal.....OK, "so would you like some dinner here"? Sure!! I love these kids. Tomorrow, Janna goes for a college tour of Wells. She will be interviewing with the volleyball coach who has been watching her play. Fingers crossed!! Matt will be with us for dinner and until mom and dad get home.

Salt's parts for the motor home are supposed to be in tomorrow. Hoping he can finish up and we can head for the beach on Thursday.

Cross the Desert Highway I will glide...So high, So free,....just us. Seems like my bike's riding me....

My nephew Joseph, just returned from his 3,000 mile bike trip across the country. I made him show me his legs, as I think they probably should be registered as lethal weapons. Check out the muscles. What stories he has to tell. He graduated from Oneonta University last June and decided to take some time to do this once in a lifetime trip.

More beauty in the park....

As Matt had a party to attend on Saturday evening, Rindy and Joe did his family party on Sunday......

Matt is such a character....how many 13 year old boys ask "Grandpa" for mud boots?

Off to Joe's shop tonight to park in his lot and tear down the engine of the motor home, order parts and get on our way to Myrtle Beach. I did promise however to cook Mexican dinner for the kids tomorrow night... :)

Everybody in the whole cell block....Was doin the Jailhouse Rock....

After Matt's track meet, we went to the newly opened Jailbird restaurant. It is housed in the old Tioga County jail which is right next door to the law office I worked in.

The menu.....

The perfect solution for a 13 year old boy!!

The crew (minus me) at our table.....

Quick....throw away the key.....

All of the cells have been made into dining areas, except for this one which they left in the original condition. This is the way jail cells should still look.....instead of the country clubs they are now providing prisoners!!

That evening we had the family over for a steak cookout. Here is Buddy, Matt's dog who was happy to join in the festivities.....

Some of the trees around our motor home..........

And of course, Bentley joined in too.....

My brother (3) Tom and his wife Margaret....We always have so many laughs when we have the opportunity to get together.

The distance is nothing....it's only the first step that is difficult...

After leaving Maine, we headed to Owego, NY and the Hickories RV Park. We took a detour because the anti freeze leak that 4 professionals supposedly fixed, was still not completely right. Salt decided to go to my brother's car lot/work bays and fix it himself. It all worked out well, as the Owego Invitational Cross Country meet was to take pl;ace at 9:00 the next morning right at the Hickories, and our nephew Matthew was participating.

Here he is coming over the finish line. The weather was beautiful...a perfect Autumn day!

There were 991 kids participating in the event.....

Matthew's group getting lined up!

Since it is also Matt's birthday, we are headed to the Jailbird for a birthday lunch.

Cause I'm a little seal girl livin in the real world......

Something I always wanted to do is go out with a lobster fisherman and learn a little about lobsters and the capture of them. SO off we went on the LuLu www.lululobsterboat.com and a most interesting, educational afternoon in Bar Harbor.

Our captain (Captain John) was not only a knowledgeable fisherman, he was also a comedian...which always makes the tours much more fun.

This is the wench, which the lobstermen of today use, enabling them to pull many more traps than in the old days when it was done by hand and the traps were wooden, waterlogged traps, weighing approximately 100 lbs. or more. The little pink/green sign is the LuLu's color identification and all the traps are marked with this color buoy to identify the trap as belonging to LuLu and Captain John......and you had better NOT pull or mess with them unless you are in fact Captain John!! He does mention however, this is not really a problem. Their is a lot of respect for the lobster fisherman and their laws!

This is one of the newer traps, costing anywhere from $50 - $100 each. You definitely don't want to loose too many. AND, pleasure boats surely don't want to wrap a prop around the hundreds of ropes dotting the fishing areas.

We learned SO much on this cruise. Not only about the anatomy, but about moulting, defense mechanisms (throwing a claw), hiding and what they eat until they grow their new shell. They actually drag their old shell into their hiding space and live off from that while they are growing the new one. Nature is SO amazing.

Salt and I so want to bring Emma to this region. She loves science and particularly marine biology. She would have been asking a thousand questions.

I always love these clever little signs.....

While we were cruising, the schooner, the Margaret Todd was out on one of her tours. She is such a beauty. We considered taking a sail on her but there is just so much to do and so little time, it didn't work this year.

We saw several seals while we were out.

This is a piece of kelp, which ended up in one of the traps. It is used in chewing gum, ice cream, etc. It is an adhesive that holds them together. There was a doctor on board who had served in Iraq and said they used it on wounds in the fields.

Across the street there was a small museum which we also took in.

This is just one of the interesting artifacts.....

As it was our last night in Maine, we had one last lobster dinner. These were cooked right on the campground by an elderly gentleman who's grandson is a lobster fisherman and brings them fresh out of the ocean.

We ate out on our picnic table watching this incredible sunset over the water..... Goodbye Maine....it was wonderful!

You'll feel a part of every mountain, sea and shore.....

Today we took a little side trip in to Penobscot, to check out the observatory www.maine.gov/observatory and Fort Knox http://www.fortknox.mainguide.com/ . The picture below is the Penobscot bridge. If you look to the top of the left tower you can see the windows of the observatory...the only observatory bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest in the world. The structure has won multiple awards for engineering excellence.


The observatory is at 420 feet-42 stories the tallest occupied structure in Maine. The 360 degree views of the Penobscot River and Bay, the Maine countryside and the distant mountains to the west are spectacular....and yes, on a clear day (such as yesterday) it does seem like you can see forever!

The observatory from the ground.....

This is the compass inlaid in the floor at the top of the observatory.

Here we are at the top!

looking down.... and across.

We then visited Fort Knox, named after Major General Henry Knox, America's first Secretary of State and first Secretary of War and Commander of Artillery during the American Revolution. The other Fort Knox (in Kentucky) was also named after him.

Construction began in May 1844 and after 25 years when work finally stopped, the fort was still not completed.

Amazing stonework!

Good thing they didn't have frivolous lawsuits back then....this would have brought on a few, I'm sure!

Mighty big cannons....

Out there on the Ocean....I know my ship is coming in!

Here we are leaving our resort just outside Kennebunkport and heading to the KOA just outside the Acadia National Park.

After parking and setting up the rig, our first stop was our favorite Lobster Pound....they bring them right out of the ocean ....

and into the pot.....

I can't figure out whether Salt is trying to hide from my camera or he's just embarrassed to be eating yet "another" lobster......

We got up early this morning, packed a lunch and headed out to hike Acadia. This is Thunder Hole....my favorite spot on the Maine Coast. After we had lunch out here, Salt all but had to drag away from this spot!

Here we are on top of Cadillac Mountain. Another spectacular view and well worth fighting the winds and cool temps.

We saw this motor home in one of the truck stops. Salt told me to send the picture to Matthew and Emma and tell them if they would ride like this, he would let them go to Florida with us. He should know better than to say something like that to those two....!!!

And Jada and Greyson once again make the blog with Greyson's one year picture. Love this shot!

Tomorrow we are off on the "LuLu" for a lobstering expedition. Then on to the Penobscot bridge and observatory.