Wednesday, September 7

We are staying in Heron cabin at Pelican Motel. Breakfast doesn't start until 7:30 so we went to the store to buy some groceries which included milk and cereal. Made it to the dock by 8 am and there we 13 divers. We were in the water by 9:30. Rule for boat is to come up in 1 hour or when you get to 500 psi. We both did well on air and were in for 51 minutes on the first dive. I had a 3 millimeter shorty on and the water was soooooo warm - 88 degrees. Did our first dive at a place called North North Dryrocks and it is so called because at low tide some of the reef is exposed and it drys. So we saw a nurse shark, small barracuda, parrotfish and the usual tropical fish. We did a short surface interval and moved to the next location - Horseshoe Reef. Capt. Bob said that there was elkhorn and staghorn coral that survived 8 tropical storms/hurricanes and officials were going to take samples of it and see if it could repopulate the areas that needed it. Didn't take camera on second dive as the flash needed batteries. Lots of moon jellies, molted lobster carapace, more small barracuda. Got back to dock at 12:30 and came back to room for lunch of leftovers.

Went to dinner at Buzzard's Roost for fried Hogfish. People posted on a food website and said hogfish sandwich was wonderful so we had to try it. It was okay.

Tomorrow diving with another company as Silent World is doing a deep wreck dive to the Spiegel Grove.

Tuesday, September 6

Arrived in Miami and drove to Key Largo. Weather is 90 degrees and a little cloudy. Went to a restaurant tonight and had sauteed hogfish with lemon juice. It was delicious! Got everything settled today for diving arrangements and our first day of diving will be tomorrow.

Monday, September 5 - Labor Day

Drove to Syracuse for last day of New York State Fair. It was rainy. Staying at Best Western Airport Hotel and have a wake up call for 4:30 am to fly to Key Largo, FL. Stay tuned for more info. Thanks to Dave and Wendy for taking our car to their place for the week!

Friday, Ocober 29 - Day 57

Dave here - The rain and gloom of the weather matched our mood on this, the final day of this adventure. The freedom of the road pulls us away from the roots of our home. Are those roots in shallow soil or are they twined into each other more than a location. We never tired of each other or needed separation. We are considering our next move in this game of life. Canton as a semi-permanent port of departure or a change of lifestyle.

Lisa here - Well, our journey has come to an end. It was an amazing experience to explore the United States and what a great country we have. We are so glad you were able to share it with us. Thanks to everyone along the way for the nice accommodations in your homes.

My sister-in-law, Linda provided some information on Oxford, MA where they live. "Oxford, MA is the birthplace of Clara Barton - Founder of the American Red Cross. Her home is a museum in Oxford. She is buried here and one of our elementary schools is named after her.
Oxford is also home to The Barton Center for Diabetes Education. It is one of the largest, independent camping and educational programs in the country dedicated to children who live with diabetes and the people who care for them. The Barton Center is a year-round camp, retreat, and conference center."

Here are some stats: 57 days, 11,674 miles, 31 states, and 44 sites including 17 National Parks.

We left Leominster at 9 am and drove to the Cornish-Windsor Bridge in Cornish, NH and Windsor, VT. "The bridge is 449 feet 5 inches long and consists of two spans of 204 feet and 203 feet. This is the longest wooden covered bridge in the USA and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world."

Continued driving and went around by Rouses Point and stopped at my mom and dads at 5 for a dinner of macaroni and cheese and champagne. A great big thank you goes out to them because they checked our mail and came up to the house every day to make sure things were okay. We had a laundry basket full of mail that was all sorted!

We'll let you know when and where our next big adventure is and you can follow us again!

Thursday, October 28 - Day 56

Yesterday while we were eating lunch at a hot dog place, which was very good, we met a very nice WWII veteran who said he was 89 years old and lives in Rhode Island.

Our wonderful National Parks journey is coming to an end. It has been a very fun and exciting adventure.

Saw my nephews off to school today and then we went with my sister to Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine. We had a beautiful day by the ocean with the waves crashing the shore. I love that sound - it is so relaxing. We saw a bunch of seals frolicking in the surf. Very cute. We saw lots of boats in the harbor and there was a bird house of Sylvester the cat on a building and there was a bird perched outside it. Walked a short distance along the Marginal Way, a trail that goes along the ocean. We ate lunch at Barnacle Billy's and were able to sit outside at the end of October. Maureen and I had a lobster roll and Dave had a crabmeat roll.

We had a wonderful make-your-own Japanese sushi rolls with tuna, shrimp, avocado, rice, cucumber, asparagus, onions. It's nice because you can make it the way you want. Maureen made a tasty apple crisp for dessert.

Spencer was a little under the weather tonight and Tommy, Maureen and I played Bunco (a dice game).

Heading back to Canton tomorrow and will post our thoughts about the journey. It will be hard to get back into a routine but I am so lucky to have been able to travel around this beautiful country to enjoy this trip-of-a-lifetime.

Wednesday, October 27 - Day 55

Looking at a Falmouth map and found out that Katharine Lee Bates (from Pike's Peak blog who wrote "America the Beautiful" was born in Falmouth, MA. We drove by her house on the way out of town.

Dave called Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute this morning asking about tours and activities. They told him the tours were in the summer. Oh well. So Plan B.

Let's go to Plymouth and see where the Pilgrims landed for the second time. The first time was in Provincetown, MA. AAA guidebook says "It was on Plymouth Rock that the Pilgrims landed in December 1620 to found the first permanent European settlement on the North American north of Virginia. During the first winter, half of the 102 people brought by the Mayflower died of exposure, cold and hunger." We saw a replica of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock and Messosoit - the sachem, Indian chief, that provided some food to the Pilgrims.

Drove to Oxford, MA to see my brother, Jerry and niece Hannah. Linda was still at work so we missed seeing her.

Continued north to Leominster, MA home of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) born in 1774 and also my sister, Maureen; brother-in-law, Ron and 2 nephews, Spencer and Thomas. Had a delicious dinner of homemade clam chowder, oysters, clams, and huge crab legs. Delicious seafood! Enjoyed an after dinner cosmopolitan and martinis.

Tuesday, October 26 - Day 54

Went to the Pilgrim Monument and climbed it to the top. The monument commemorates the first landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in Provincetown on November 21, 1620. It is the tallest all-granite structure in the US with a height of 252 feet 7 1/2 inches. There was a good view of the harbor.

We worked our way down the coast after we stopped in the Province Lands Visitor Center, which will be closing for the season next week. Drove over to the Highland Light (Cape Cod Light) along the National Seashore and took the sketching pads. Dave found a place where we could walk on the beach and that's what I did most of the time, picking up smooth rocks, while he was sketching. The water was cold but it was the ocean in October! There were a few seals frolicking off the coast and were fun to watch. There was one who had what looked like a fish in its mouth.

Found the Wicked Oyster restaurant in Wellfleet but it was closed for the season. That was pretty common for this time of year. We ended up finding Bookstore and Restaurant in Wellfleet and were able to get excellent oysters. We got 6 on the 1/2 shell with cocktail sauce on the side and we split an oyster Po'boy sandwich - fried oysters on a bun with lettuce. Delicious. We missed the Oyster Fest by about a week and a half.

Continued down the Cape to Nauset Lighthouse and beach. The beam from this light can be seen from twenty three miles at sea. In November 1996, the lighthouse was moved back 323 feet from the cliffs. It had been only 32 feet from the eroding edge. We spoke to some people who were present when they were moving it. As we were heading out we saw an information board that mentioned the "3 sisters" lighthouses. "The trio of lights provided a landmark for sailors making their way along Outer Cape from 1838 to 1911. Changing lighthouse technology and the steady erosion of the Nauset cliffs eventually forced the removal off the lights from their post. They were reunited here in 1989 - a rare surviving example of a triple lighthouse configuration."

Further down we visited Chatham lighthouse which is one of a pair of identical lighthouses, the other one was moved and is no the Nauset Beach Light. The beam from this light can be seen 28 miles at sea. There were lots of seals on a spit of land out in the harbor and they were difficult to see even with binoculars. The fog started rolling in so we decided to head toward Falmouth. Along the way we stopped for ice cream. As we drove through Harwich, we saw a sign for a scallop festival. Made it to Falmouth and drove down to Woods Hole where the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is located. They have research facilities and the Atlantis - a research vessel.

We are staying at the Inn on the Square and went to The Quarterdeck for dinner and we each had 6 oysters on the 1/2 shell and I got a seafood platter with oysters, shrimp, scallops and fish. Dave had fried oysters. No room for dessert.

I have a feeling we will be visiting the Cape sometime in the future!

We will travel to Oxford, MA tomorrow to visit my brother and his family and then to see my sister and her family in Leominster, MA.