Girl Tripping To The End!

 It's been a really fun and adventuresome 8 days for our little girl trip crew.  We finished our last full day in Portland, Maine on Thursday and a half day while Midge was in dialysis, on Friday.  The weather has been warm but only a few showers one evening.  The food has been great, and Amy and Katie did a fabulous job of driving between here and Maine and back with side trips to Niagra Falls, Boston, and Salem, Mass. The weather turned perfectly cool and not humid on Friday, and we did get some final shopping done in comfort.  I brought home just a few souvenirs.  Some hand painted oyster shells, lobster magnets, books, Christmas ornaments, the mandatory sweatshirt with Maine across the front, and even a broom kit from Salem! Jack got a couple of items that I brought home for him.  He's not a tee shirt, sweatshirt dude so Maine wild blueberry jam and a figurine of a boyscout for him.   I collect those Lori Mitchel figurines and had never seen one of a boyscout but since Jack was a leader in scouts for 30yrs I thought it would be fun to get him one. (Maybe it was a little for me too? Ha!)  After Midge got out of dialysis around 2:30pm we headed for home with a stop in Syracuse, NY for the night.  That drive was a nightmare!  I swear the whole state of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York were on the road with us.  So much traffic. I'm from Chicago and have driven in big cities but this was ridiculous and tiring.  We should have gotten to Syracuse by 8:30pm but rolled in around 11. Whew! After a good night's sleep, we were off for home yesterday.  Thankfully the weather was great and no traffic problems.  We made it to the Pines around 2:30. Then the girls wanted to visit our cute downtown and check out some more shops.  We then had an early dinner and came back to make our broom kits into cute brooms.  Jack said we looked like a witch's coven putting those together. Very funny hunny!  A remark like in the 1600's would have gotten us burned at the stake!

When we were in Salem we had matching T-shirts that said; 'There's a little bit of witch in all of us"  I thought they were cute and was happy the girls liked them and wore them for the day.

Not to be out done we wore matching T-shirts with lobsters on them for our full day in Maine. We got lots of comments about those from folks wanting to know where we got them because they wanted some.  Again, they were cute!

We hit a few beaches.  Not really to swim, just see the ocean, wet our feet and grab some shells.  I always look for heart shaped rocks and found a couple there.  Midge found some smooth rocks to take home to paint. She's turning into quite the artist these days.

She's been taking a watercolor class and is going to try and do one of this lighthouse.  

Ella finding treasures and Midge enjoying the water. Notice the fog in the background? We were going to take a boat tour/whale watch, but it was cancelled due to fog.

Maine 25.  I guess you could say we hit that trip running!

You get 3 guesses to know where we are here..the first 2 don't count!

We had to stop by and say hi to George Bush since we were in the neighborhood.  He didn't even invite us in!  Talk about prime real estate! 

We are such tourists!

We bid a fond farewell to the streets of Portland tourist trap...I mean, area.  Thanks Maine! It was a wonderful trip, and I would love to go back one day and travel more up the coast. It's on the list!

Before I forget, here's our brooms. Midge made a big one...she has to fly farther than me I guess! I made mine small to fit on a spot on my kitchen fireplace. (Those matchy matchy shirts were not planned. Great minds thinking alike?)

We sure had fun and this morning when the gang took off for Chicago and their homes there were a few tears and lots of hugs and "I'll miss yous!"  Not sure when we'll be gathering again but thanks Midge, Katie, Amy, Ella, and Brooke.  I was happy to tag along!

They made it home this afternoon safe and sound and full of souvenirs, car snacks, laughs, and lots of memories! Love you guys!