Spring Break 2014 -- Part I of our New England Adventure

This year for Spring Break Sam planned a road trip throughout all of New England.  The kids and I had never been in any of the New England states, so we decided while we were living on this side of the country we needed to make it up there and cross all those states off.  We left the Thursday afternoon before the week of Spring Break so get a head start, and spent that first night in Virginia.  Then we woke up Friday morning and drove through the beautiful state of West Virginia.  Friday was a long driving day (we made it to New Jersey that night), but Sam did plan a few stops along the way to break things up.  While Cal was napping, Sam and the other kids got out at  New River Gorge and took in the beautiful views and got some pictures.  

Around lunchtime we found ourselves in Morgantown, WV.  We stopped at  a park so the kids could run around for a while before we grabbed some lunch at a drive-thru and got back on the road.  It was a nice park, with good views of the city.  It is a very industrial city -- interesting place.

 Cal loved the park, complete with the random dog that was there that Cal followed around.  He was so, so good the entire trip in the car, but he sure enjoyed all of our stops so he could run around.

We just make a quick stop at the University of West Virginia so Bennett could get a picture with the Mountaineer.

Then it was back on the road.  Our next stop was a little break in Harrisburg, PA at a park along the river that Sam's boss Kevin told him about.  Another much-needed and greatly enjoyed pit stop for the best traveling kids in the world.

Our final stop of the day, and everyone's favorite, was a very quick stop at Hershey World in Hershey, PA.  We had stopped here back in 2011 on our Colorado to New York road trip, and the kids had loved it, so even though we were short on time Sam made sure we had time to at least ride the free ride and get some Hershey samples.  The kids were unbelievably enthusiastic about this stop -- they seriously think Hershey World is the best place ever, and we've only ever done the free attraction.  I can only imagine how much they would enjoy it if we did the amusement park or one of the paid attractions!  Such good kids, so easy to please.

That night we slept right on the New York/New Jersey border.  We woke up Saturday morning and headed to Saratoga National Historic Battlefield.  We were the only tourists there, and the ranger was shocked we had driven North from Georgia for our Spring Break.  But the visitors center had some fun, interactive stuff for the little kids to play with, and an interesting video to watch.  The road through the park was actually still closed (there was still quite a bit of snow there), so we didn't get to drive through it, but we got a few pics then headed on our way.

One of Sam's ancestors, Henry Miller, fought in the battle of Saratoga, and Sam and the kids were able to find his name and info on the rolls there.

Our next stop was Fort Ticonderoga, which also was closed.  Poor Sam -- all these places he wanted to visit but we were just a little too early in the season.  There was even more snow here, and we got a picture outside the fort and a few on Lake Champlain before we headed out.

We continued through New York, with a stop for lunch in/around Glens Falls (home of THE Jimmer Fredette), and eventually we made our way into Vermont.  If we thought New York was cold and snowy, we were unpleasantly surprised to find out that Vermont was even more so.  We drove into Burlington and headed downtown to walk around a bit.  It was FREEZING, and we kept jumping up and down while shouting "Spring Break."  Oh, the irony of it all.

After Burlington, we continued on to the Ben and Jerry's factory.  The parking lot was a snowy, salty, muddy mess, but we waded through it because we will do anything for ice cream.  We took the tour, which included samples, and then bought a few pints to eat on the road.

That night we slept in  Burlington, VT.  We got settled at the hotel and then went out and ate at Panera before Elle and I headed out to find a chapel so we could watch the General Women's Meeting broadcast.  Instead of having a RS meeting one general conference, and a YW meeting the next, the church is now having a General Women's meeting every conference for all girls and women ages 8 and up.  This was the first one, and it was so wonderful to be able to attend it with Ellery and about 25 other saints in a little chapel in Vermont.

Sunday morning we woke up early to make it to Sharon, VT for sacrament meeting.  We did stop in Montpelier on the way so we could get our Capitol picture.

We got to Sharon in plenty of time and walked around the Joseph Smith birthplace memorial before Sacrament meeting started.  So much snow, and so very cold.  But we could feel of the spirit there, and I imagine in the Summer it is a really beautiful place.

Sacrament meeting was nice.  It was Fast and Testimony meeting, which we love being at visiting wards for!  After the meeting we headed towards Mt. Washington, NH -- something Sam was possibly looking forward to the most on the trip.  He was all set for our family to pay an exhorbinant amount of money to ride a Snow Cat up the mountain.  He called to confirm on our way, only to find out that the last day of the Snow Cat rides had been the day before, and now the snow was too slushy for any more rides.  Sam was so bummed.  Yet again things weren't quite working out as planned.  So he quickly altered our plans, deciding there wasn't any point in driving all the way to Mt. Washington if we couldn't go up it.  So instead we headed to Concord to get our New Hampshire capital picture.

From Concord we drove through New Hampshire and onto Maine.  We spent the night in Augusta.

We woke up Monday morning and went straight to the capital for a picture.  It felt great to knock off three state capitol buildings in two days, in New England no less!

Then we drove through Maine towards the coast -- eventual destination: Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  It was a very cold, wet, snowy, windy day.  Total Spring Break weather.

We first stopped in Bar Harbor, checked into our hotel, and found a local place for lunch right on the water before we headed out to check out Acadia.  It was slow inside (we were definitely there off-season), so our waitress pulled a lobster out and let the kids touch it.  Highlight of the trip, or lowlight, depending on who you ask I guess.

When we got the Acadia, we weren't terribly surprised to find out that the Visitor's Center wasn't open for the season yet, nor were some of the roads through the park.  We drove through the roads that were open and explored the park as best we could.  It looks like a very beautiful place.  I say that, but I actually never got out of the car.  It was cold and so very windy, and I wasn't feeling too hot pregnancy-wise, so I just took it in from the car.  Sam pulled Cal out for one or two pictures, but he HATED it, so he got to stay in the car the rest of the afternoon as well.  The other kids were good sports about braving the cold and wind and getting some pictures.  We were pretty prepared with gloves and hats and coats and such, but it was still bitterly cold.

After our self-guided tour of Acadia by car, we headed into Bar Harbor for the night.  It started to snow, and snowed the rest of the evening.  Thankfully they did a great job of clearing the roads, and our van did fine driving in all that snow.  Quite the adventure!  We ordered in pizza and some thai food and walked a little around the Inn where we were staying, which was an amazing location right on the water.

Elle woke up early Tuesday morning, trying to catch the sunrise over the water, but it was too cloudy and she couldn't see much of anything.  Cute girl -- she appreciated the beauty of where we were staying despite the crazy weather.

We ate a yummy breakfast, and then packed up the car and headed towards Massachusetts.  Grandma and Grandpa Allen had flown into New York on Monday night and were headed to Boston Tuesday morning, and we were headed there as well, for Part II of our Spring Break adventure.  Stay tuned.