DEAR MAINE, WE LOVE YOU.

we know. it's been far too long since the last post but if you had ANY idea how many images i had to sort through from our bar harbor jaunt you'd take pity. where to even start?

maine is one gorgeous, wild place. it's the kind of place that just oozes fresh air, nature, crisp evenings in front of a fire and blueberries just picked that morning. (it's also the kind of place where cell signals can be awfully lousy, but let's not dwell on the negative.) our first trip to bar harbor did not disappoint, even though we had some issues with the local KOA where we were staying.

let me start by saying that this campground, location wise, can't be beat. if you choose to stay on the oceanside part of the campground (and really, why wouldn't you?) you're in for a treat. gorgeous sunsets and ocean breezes are plentiful and the sites feel spacious.

seriously? seriously.

afternoon delight.

we had some major issues with the wifi and after getting into a pretty heated verbal stand-off with the manager (who stated that just because they offer it doesn't mean they guarantee it will work, to which i responded you might as well offer water to the thirsty but not guarantee it's drinkable) it seemed to resolve itself the next day. odd, yes? we knew better than to depend on a campground's wifi and always carry a verizon aircard to keep us connected, but even that was kind of useless in our location. poor richard spent a few work days in the next town over (and when i say next town over, i mean in his truck...in a mcdonald's parking lot...in the next town over) in order to have dependable internet/cell service. umm yeah. not great. but part of life on the road is learning to adapt and just make it work.

we dined at local lobster pounds, bought blueberries from roadside stands, went for bike rides on country roads and gawked over the beauty of acadia national park...and speaking of acadia....OH, ACADIA! seriously one of the most striking, beautiful places we have ever seen. it's a dynamic place filled with cliffs, ocean and mountain and at almost every turn there was another amazing sight to behold. if you don't believe that national parks are vitally important to this country, i invite you to spend a day inside a place like this and i double dog dare you to not leave feeling refreshed, inspired and thankful that we live in a country that has so much natural beauty to offer, and that these lands are preserved for everyone to enjoy.

blueberries make it better.

the road to the summit of cadillac mountain,
the highest peak on the eastern seaboard.

magoo. happy.

ocean meets mountain.

we stopped at the famous jordan pond house for popovers and strawberry jam, which is kind of a century-old tradition dating back to victorian days and a must-do when visiting acadia. after a day of walking and seeing the sights atop the summit of cadillac mountain those popovers were delish. so was the blueberry cobbler. gaaaaaaahh. we also made a breakfast stop at the ever popular jordan's restaurant (no relation to jordan pond house) and ordered what you're supposed to order: blueberry pancakes, of course. they were delicious as promised. i'm pretty sure i'm rockin' some good antioxidant levels because i sure did eat me some blueberries. so what if sometimes they accompanied ice cream and cobbler. don't judge.

i'm a believer. 

pretty dang good with pancakes. extra lap on the bike. 

fascinating fact about acadia and your history lesson for the day: at the turn of the century when all of the richy riches (rockefeller, henry ford & family and assorted oil and business tycoons) vacationed in their maine summer "cottages", much of the land that is now acadia was in development. philanthropist john d. rockefeller realized the importance of solace and retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city, and constructed an interior system of carriage roads that were off-limits to the automobile, despite this newly invented luxury being a more efficient and high-class way of travel. throughout the park, these carriage roads still exist and are only open to horses, bikers and hikers. we suspect bears and moose use them too, although we didn't encounter any. regardless, a concept ahead of its time.

lovely old bridges everywhere in acadia.

there are so many pictures to share from this leg of our airstream adventure, so i'll quit tapping the keys and let a few more images speak for themselves. enjoy.

atop cadillac mountain.

only in maine. and salmonella free!

if it comes from the sea, it's for me. dinner time!

mt. desert island ginger...local brew.

another end to a gorgeous day.

country roads.

boy scout at play.

home sweet home.

SACO/OLD ORCHARD BEACH, MAINE

evenin'.

well, after all of the "excitement" we experienced on our journey northbound to the wooly wilds of maine, we were more than ready for a little R&R. okay, maybe some blueberry pie, too. and a lobster roll. we're so cliche. (but seriously, isn't that why you come to maine? it sure ain't for the mosquitos.)

that thar water is cold.

we pulled into the saco/old orchard beach KOA just before dusk and were pleasantly surprised at the grounds. KOAs can really be hit and miss, but it seems that they've been putting some effort into cleaning up a bit and beefing up some amenities. that doesn't mean we'll always stay at them – after all, we're really not interested in the "choo-choo" that makes its way around the campground (seriously?) or the bouncy moon jump. but what KOAs do offer is some degree of knowing what you'll get, and that can be comforting when you've been driving a long time and are ready to just get there.

with that being said, our site was, well, not great. there were a number of narrow trees, making it impossible to pull out the awning, which is always a bummer. there were also a number of rocks and roots and the site was far from level. i'm not sure it was really suitable for anything larger than a pop-up trailer, but it was doable for just a few nights.

see those roots? they're even more fun at night.

the best treat we encountered was a short drive over to cape elizabeth where we discovered the lobster shack on two lights road. nothin' fancy, and that's how we like it. you order your seafood, wait to be called and dine al fresco at picnic tables next to rocky cliffs overlooking the sea (our choice, even though the seagulls are very well fed and very persistent) or inside. we got fancy and ordered a whoopie pie...and OH MY. those things are crazy. crazy decadent and crazy delicious!

the lobster shack at two lights road

yes, please.

order up. nom nom nom nom.

scoping us out.

magoo hated every bite.

we also took a drive into old orchard beach just a few miles away and that place is like a throwback to old school 1960s beach towns, complete with a ferris wheel, old-timey amusements, lots of neon, funnel cakes and the usual tacky tourist traps. not sure i'd want to stay directly in the old orchard beach main district, but it was fun to cruise through the main drag. we spotted lots of frankie valli's gone bad.

we made the three hour drive into bar harbor on tuesday morning and are now at the bar harbor KOA. (we're quite possibly getting a little KOAed out, but more on this later.) we'll be here until sunday, so stay tuned for an update on our time here. more seafood eats, acadia national park and a few unexpected curveballs. always an adventure!

happy trails,
jen

MAINE-BOUND...WITH A FEW BUMPS ALONG THE WAY.

whew.

with another long day of traveling the interstates, we are grateful to have arrived safe and sound in old orchard beach, maine. what a day, folks.

one thing we have learned from other airstreamers is to "expect the unexpected", and i can't think of better or more true advice. pulling a 27' travel trailer can be nerve-wracking at times on its own accord, much less when you're in not-so-familiar territory. another word-to-the-wise: the GPS is not all-knowing. (can you guess where this tale is going?)

first thing's first: on our way to maine, we knew we'd have a quick stop along the way to break up the drive. we decided upon freehold, new jersey at the pine cone resort. pretty uneventful, which is exactly what you want for a quickie one night stop. the roads/sites were a mix and grass and dirt (mostly dirt from what we could tell, which makes for some serious mess if it rains) but the guy who checked us in was friendly. we didn't even unhitch as we knew we'd be leaving in the morning; makes for a quick and hassle-free getaway.

pine cone "resort", freehold, NJ. eh.

the trip from new jersey to old orchard beach was, in theory, supposed to take about six hours. it involves passing through new york, connecticut, massachusetts, new hampshire and maine. (whew. good thing those new england states are small.) after passing through some pretty backed-up traffic in new york city (the bronx, to be specific...ahhh, the lovely bronx) via the george washington bridge, our GPS (we affectionately call her "mappy", her nickname might be changing) instructed us to veer towards  albany, NY. okay. seems like a logical route. what we didn't know, errrr, is that particular westchester county highway isn't suitable for anything taller than your average toyota camry. ruh roh.

the george washington bridge, new york. aka: the gates of hell.
p.s. uhh, nice dent, audi.

for the record, i did feel like a few of the underpass bridges (while very quaint and made from stone) seemed a little....ohhh...what's the word?...LOW. when we somehow passed under a bridge with a clearance of 9'7", i am convinced it was a bonafide act of god himself. what chew talkin' 'bout willis – not more than 5 minutes later we spotted the dreaded flashing blue lights in the rearview mirror and ARE YOU KIDDING ME were being pulled over by one of new york's finest. huh? for what? i remain convinced of a few things. 1) we are lucky people 2) that lady cop was sent from above 3) we are lucky people. she informed us that we had no business being on that road and were lucky to have cleared the few bridges that we already had passed. she also informed us that there was a bridge ahead that we never would have cleared and it was non-negotiable to exit at the next ramp, from which we were to find our way to I-95. she proceeded to stop traffic to a slow crawl behind us, motorcade style, so we could pass under the middle of the bridge at its tallest point. not only were we idiots but we looked like important idiots. sweeeet. a few stressful wrong turns later, we made it to I-95, and let me tell you, i have never been so happy to see a boring, truck-driver laden piece of interstate. all hail I-95, glorious land of nothingness with no bridges.

it never seems in the cards for us to actually arrive at a campsite before nightfall, so after unhitching in the dark maine night on a site that seems OK at best, we are sending out a big, gracious high five to our road angels that are so obviously looking after us. thanks for making that policewoman pull us over and stop us from ripping the top of our beloved airstream off; that would be a real crappy way to start the first week of our airstream adventure.

the KOA campground here at saco/old orchard beach, ME looks pretty cute despite our less-than-stellar site. we'll scope out the details better in the light of day and be sure to report on just how many lobster rolls and blueberry pancakes we manage to scarf.

happy trails no matter where you roam,
jen

DESTINATION: LAKE WYLIE, NORTH CAROLINA

hello, friends. well, yippee...we made it to our first stop on the airstream adventure: lake wylie, NC. great place to visit for a few days with some old college friends and get our bearings after packing the house (and packing into our new house on wheels). we lucked out with our campground choice; you never know what you're going to find and we have been pleasantly surprised by the offerings here at mcdowell nature preserve. first of all, there is NO ONE here. okay, so there are a few other campers, but we can't believe this little shiny jewel of a park isn't totally packed. while the sites aren't totally spacious, they are nice and well equipped, and the location is fantastic. we'd happily stay here again.

home, sweet home.

loving our outdoor rug, from world market.

we'll admit that things didn't start out so smoothly. in our haste to get moved out of our house over the weekend, (oh, the misery) the campground reservation got "misplaced", which had some pretty crucial information on it (like, ohhhh, i don't know...the keycode for the main gate?) but luckily the gates were still unlocked upon our arrival and a precious woman named "queenie" escorted us right to our site. (by the way, can i say how much i love her name? queenie! so southern.) richard spent the next two hours in the hot, muggy, mosquito filled evening attempting to get service via our dish network satellite. in the dark. good times had by all. we expected a little learning curve being that it was our first time setting it up, but didn't expect to be cursing at that damned metal dish until 10 PM. as miss scarlet o'hara herself said, "tomorrow is another day", and we took that advice and called it a night. luckily we were able to get everything up and working without incident the following day.

one of the perks of traveling the US are the friends we get to see along the way. we enjoyed a wonderful evening with some of my old winthrop chi omega girls and it was a total hen party. cackle cackle cackle. what can i say, my husband is a good sport and put up with our girly girly-ness for as long as one could expect from any decent man. good friends, good food and a night under the stars. pretty great start to the week.

the grillmaster reaps his rewards.

su + regina

groot + carie

if you think miss pickles sits on the filthy ground, you would be mistaken.

lovin' our sweet little airstream lights.

next stop: northbound towards richmond, virginia. see y'all on down the road.

-jen

ANNNNNND, WE'RE OFF!

{insert gunshot sound effect here}

so these are horses, and we're not jockeys, but you get the idea.

yipppeeeee! today is the day! SAY WHAAA? we cannot even believe we are finally on the road for full-time airstream livin'. a total dream come true for us that once seemed like the impossible, and we are little kids on the first day of school with new school supplies. yep, we're the ones running with scissors.

we're pretty laid back folks and don't want to "over-plan" our itinerary, but planning a few stops ahead seems like a good idea. not only do the good campgrounds fill up in the summertime, but it gives us time to scout out all of the "must-dos" when we do arrive on the scene.

our first city on the airstream adventure is charlotte/fort mill, NC. why here, you ask? because we're taking off on a sunday, we wanted a relatively easy drive (translation: no more than 4-5 hours) and plenty of time to prepare for a few days of work in one place. it's also quite close to where i went to college at winthrop university in rock hill, SC, and it's always fun to visit your old college alma mater. i have a good many sorority sisters from back in the day who still live in the area so it's the perfect little pit stop before we head further north. we'll be staying at the mcdowell nature preserve + campground, and we're pretty excited to see what this little gem has to offer. it's been rated one of the best parks in charlotte and is surrounded by an 1000+ acre nature preserve. we'll give you the skinny on this campground once we arrive and have a look around.

after charlotte, we'll be headed to richmond, VA. ahhh yes, land of virginia ham! {ummmmmmm hammmmmm...}

don't even tell me you don't like ham.

not only is richmond a former residence of mine and handsome hubs, but it's conveniently about 4-5 hours down the road from charlotte – are you seeing a pattern here? we'll only be stopping for a few nights, but it's just enough time to hit some of our favorite old haunts {hello, thai diner} and visit our favorite city park, libby hill, located in our old church hill neighborhood. we'll be camping for about three nights at pocahontas state park. lemme tell ya, the VA park system knows their stuff. we've stayed at pocahontas many times and it's a beauty. nice, big, level sites. clean. good roads. good location. we're looking forward to spending a few days enjoying such a great state park.

more to come on our first few days of legit full-timin'. shooot.

happy travels,
jen

BON VOYAGE!

we had the true pleasure of gathering our family and friends for a little "bon voyage" party last weekend in honor of our (seven days and counting!) impending departure from the wilds of suburbia. if there's one thing i love and truly relish, it's planning all the fun details for a great party. i adore the unexpected details that being a smile, and i knew i'd want to craft some special little goodies to share with guests for our little get together. it was the perfect evening and we are so glad to have spent some time with some of our favorite folks in the whole wide world before we hit the streets.

thought you all might enjoy a few pics, and by all means, steal these ideas for your next airstream party! they're all pretty DIY and don't cost much at all.

almost on the road...yippeeeee!!!,
jen

CRUISIN'.

hi gang. jen here.

i've always been a fan of beach cruisers. sure, they don't have those extra gears to get you over that thar hill, but DANG they are so stylish and fabulously retro. and i am a bonafide sucker for retro. not to mention comfortable. i mean, can any woman (or man, for that matter) really say one of those tiny 10-speed seats is a pleasure to sit on? those things literally disappear, right? there simply just isn't enough cushin' on those seats for pushin' up the hills.

hubs and i were in wally world the other day getting a few airstreamin' supplies and lo and behold i spotted a cruiser/5 speed combo called a hybrid. this might not be news to you folks, but to me, that's like chocolate and peanut butter – a match made in bicycle heaven. the functionality of a bike with gears and the fashion of a cruiser. MUST HAVE:

we're planning on taking bikes with us on the road to meander around the campgrounds and encourage ourselves to fit in some exercise, too. i've found one model in particular that looks pretty promising. it's made by huffy (i know...huffy...makes you think of your pink bike with pom poms from 6th grade, right?) but it's stinking adorable and classic. and the price is awesome – under $125. of course, i'll have to transfer my bell (ting ting) and basket from my old bike to complete the ensemble.

hooray for cruisers. hooray for putting things in your basket. and hooray for the little silver bell.