Southern Maine Coast

We had a few beautiful 50 degree days so we hopped into the car and drove up the aesthetic Southern coast of Maine to enjoy the final fall days.

If I wanted to be an artist, I would live in Maine. The views of lighthouses and over seaside cliffs coupled with the cold and isolation of Maine are inspiring. It is no wonder that Henry Longfellow, Edward Hopper, E.B. White, and Stephen King are from this area.






It seems that our travels are brimming with serendipitous discoveries. An abandoned set of swings that allow you to FLY over the ocean - who else could that be for? I couldn't have dreamed up something this lucky!

Halloween in Salem

We finished up our costumes and drove to Salem, MA for Halloween night, along with about 100,000 other people. I was a bug zapper and Adam carved a pumpkin and wore it on his head all night. We had no idea what we were going to do for the evening but from the moment we put on our costumes and hit the streets we didn't have any choice. So many people, many of them foreigners, aimlessly wander the streets awaiting excitement and funny costumes that we spent the night posing for picture after picture feeling as much like movie stars as we ever will. We lost each other several times, but could reconnect by seeking the centerpiece of any large aggregation. I think I laughed for 6 hours straight that night. It was very surreal. The best part was hearing people slowly exclaim as Adam passed "Hey! That guy has a real pumpkin on his head... Pumpkin....head...PUMPKINHEAD! Hey, look! It's Pumpkinhead." As if suddenly they experienced a stroke of genius in figuring out this complex costume.
Some amusing moments:
A cute Japanese tourist petting the pumpkin in mild shock asking several times, "is it true? True pumpkin?"
My hat blew off in the wind and Pumpkinhead was holding it for me while I tried to repair it. Meanwhile a huge group of people crowded around us expecting a performance from Bug Zapper and Pumpkinhead, snapping shot after shot of me retaping the costume.
Later in the evening I wore the pumpkin for a while during the fireworks and when I took it off a lady nearly fell over backwards yelling "It's a GIRL!"
I fed the pumpkinhead cheese pizza through the little mouth slot.

To cap off the bizarre evening when we went back to our van some guy with an australian/scottish accent flung open our big side door and said "Oh! Am I in the wrong place?" Startled, we politely told him that, yes, he was in the wrong place. He unabashedly apologized and closed the door. I wonder where he was going?

The rest are "had to be there" moments as well- so I will spare you all my ramblings, but it was a wonderful night and I wish you were there too.

Rapa Nui

Sumo Family

Scary guy standing alone

Hiking through the woods

To break up the driving we often pause for hikes through the woods. Sometimes it feels like you are walking through a fairytale labyrinth- the moss makes everything feel so alive.

From Canada to the White Mountains

The drive from Canada to the White Mountains in New Hampshire is the quintessential fall foliage "leaf peeper" drive.






We stopped for a walk and an elegant picnic lunch after reaching the U.S. to celebrate getting through immigrations with only our dried dates confiscated.




A pack of wild turkeys

Bizarre Santa World tourist trap in the middle of nowhere

Quaint buildings and churches in small, nearly abandoned towns.



The Pumpkin people of Jackson, NH: The Beatles

Mon Amour

Je suis dans l'amour avec Québec. Maintenant, je suis inspiré pour apprendre le français.


We ate in the above restaurant which is the oldest building in old town Quebec. We had rich chilean red wine, authentic french onion soup and a fluffy chicken pot pie. To top it off I had the best dessert I have EVER had- warm fresh blueberry cake covered in a real maple butter syrup and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Mmmm... I just drooled on my computer...

The city streets are so charming and everyone speaks both French and English interchangeably. It is the loveliest city I have been to in North America. If only it weren't so cold.







There are acres upon acres of open green grassy hills upon which you may run and frolic while overlooking the city and old fortresses while singing songs from the Sound of Music. And dogs are allowed!








We visited Le Louvre at the Museo de Bellas Artes, a chocolate museum and then a maple museum and guess what!? Aunt Jemima is not real maple syrup! It has no maple syrup in it at all:(