Leg 1-- DC and Portland, ME

After 18 hours of driving, I made it to Maine! I left on Monday (7/24) for Washington D.C. and stayed overnight with my cousin Leslie and her husband Michael. It was a whirlwind visit, but wonderful to spend time together with family. We had a great dinner, went out for a beer (beer emergency!) and headed back home for a good night's sleep.

I woke up Tuesday morning and left for Maine. My goal was to take photos of every state I passed through, but there are SO many states between DC and Maine! I figured I would pull over and capture a good shot at each place, but they went so quickly!!

So far, I have passed through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. It was a really long trip, but absolutely worth the smiling faces of my two best friends at the end! Price and Ella, with their cat Soupy, have taken me in for the week. I woke up today and packed a little lunch and biked around town to the Eastern Promenade. I read my book on the beach and enjoyed the 78 degree weather.

Maine is exactly how I imagined it to be. Sailboats, beachy, friendly, and beautiful. The bike riding is perfect, it's a bit hilly but mostly flat with a lot of awesome bike lanes to ride in. The shops are adorable and we had a delicious dinner last night. Price and Ella are working for most of the week, so I'll find some solo entertainment. Not hard to do in such a fun place!

Sunday July 30, 2017:

Phew! Big weekend! Thursday was a quiet around here. Price and Ella worked while I explored Portland, looking for a postcard. Thursday night

we went down to Thompson's Point and saw Fleet Foxes play. It was an incredible night, excellent music, and such a beautiful venue. It's right on the water with perfect sunsets.

Friday, Price and I biked all over town. We visited Scratch Bakery and brought bagels over to the beach. We drank coffee and enjoyed delicious bagels. We biked back to the house and put our bathing suits on and headed to Scarborough Beach for a day of swimming. It was freezing!! We watched surfers and enjoyed some cold beers in the sun.

Saturday, we woke up and went to Becky's diner for breakfast. We packed up the car and headed towards Tumbledown Mountain, about 2 hours away. Our idea was to go for a short hike and head to Rangeley to hang at the L.L. Bean property. Our short hike turned out to be a bit rigorous but ended on top of a mountain with a pond (Tern?) on top of it. It

was BEAUTIFUL and very unexpected. However, the hike was not for the faint of heart. Ella took a tumble but was not hurt badly, luckily. We were glad to get back to the car and head to the camp. It was a really cool place, employees get to use the property for free. You can enjoy stars, eat s'mores, take motor boats, go kayaking, or just swim on a big lake. It was a great night!

We woke up today at camp and took a motor boat ride before heading out. We went to a seafood place and I ate my first lobster roll. Not impressed...but I am still holding out hope for a better one!

Ella and I head out on Tuesday afternoon towards Mullett Lake, Michigan for the next week. I'm crossing my fingers for good weather up there! :)