New Photos

Sorry I've been such a slacker lately! BUT- I did want to get K's 1 year pictures posted before too much time had passed! So enjoy these for now; and hopefully I'll be back at it soon!

Vacation- Boston

The second week of our vacation we met up with Matt's family in Boston, MA. We rented a house in a little town- Sherborn- and made the trek into Boston a couple of days. Here are some highlights!

This is the State House-built between 1795 and 1797 on Beacon Hill; which overlooks the Boston Common. The site was orginally pasture land owned by John Hancock.

We followed the Freedom Trail throughout Boston. You simply follow the brick path that has been laid in the sidewalk and it takes you from site to site!

This is the Old State House- this building was the center of Boston's civic life in the 18th century and the scene of some of the most dramatic chapters in the lead-up to the American Revolution. This is where Samuel Adams, James Otis, and John Hancock debated the future of the British colonies. Just outside the building, five men were among the first casualities of the battle for independence, in what would be later known as the Boston Massacre. The declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the balcony to the citizens of Bostin in 1776.

This is the Old South Meeting House. The meeting of more than 5,000 colonists on December 16, 1773 which started the Boston Tea party to meetings today, the Old South Meeting House has been an important gathering place for nearly 3 centuries. Renowned for the protest meetings held here before the American Revolution, this National Historic Landmark has long served as a platform for the free expresseion of ideas. Today, the Old South Meeting House is open as a museum and continues to provide a place for people to meet, discuss, and act on important issues of the day.

This is Faneuil Hall (Marketplace). It has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It is the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of Boston National Historical Park.

This is a man dressed up for the parade they have every year on June 1st. It is a parade to honor those fallen soldiers.

Paul Revere's House -On the night of April 18, 1775, silversmith Paul Revere left his small woodend home in Boston's North End and set out on a journey that would make him into a legend! This home is the oldest building in downtown Boston and one of the few remaining from an early era in histroy of colonial America. The home was built in 1680 on the site of the former parsonage of the Second Church of Boston. Paul Revere purchased the home in 1770 from Robert Howard, a wealthy merchant. This is Old North Church - One if by Land, Two if by Sea... The Church was built in 1723 and is the oldest standing church building in Boston. On the evening of April 18, 1775, Robet Newman- the church sexton, climbed the steeple and held hight two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. This fateful evecnt ignited the American Revolution.This is The USS Constitution - She is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world! Constitution launched in 1797. Her first duty was to provide protection for Amercian merchant shipping during the Quasi War with France. Her most famous era of naval warfare was the War of 1812 against Great Britain. Her mission today is to promote understanding of the Navy's role in war and peace through education outreach, historic demonstration, and active participation in public events.

Bunker Hill Monument- built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill. The 221 foot granite obelisk was erected between 1827 and 1843 in Charlestown, MA. There are 294 steps to the top. The monument is not on Bunker Hill, but instead on Breed's Hill, where most of the fighting in the misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place. The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first major conflict between British and Patriot forces in the Revolutionary War, fought there June 17, 1775. Taken from the top of Bunker Hill monument.Boston North End at night.

Thanks for visiting! :)

Vacation Wrap Up!

Well as you can see; posting daily didn't work out! As I am still not home in VA yet, it is hard to find time to post :) But this morning, while K is napping, i'm trying to catch up a bit. These pictures wrap up the first week of our vacation in New England.

We opted to drive the Mt. Washington road on our own. The road opens at 8am, and we were there at 8am! It made it really nice to not have so much traffic on such a 'skinny' road though! Mt. Washington is the highest peak in New England. We were fortunate enough to have a really clear day!

Picture of Mt. Washington from the base.

You can see it wasn't very busy at this time of year or day! Our lonely van in the parking lot overlooking some 6,000 feet down.

The Peak is 6,288 feet high. It is an 8 mile drive from the where the Auto Road begins.Kaitlyn at one of our many picnic lunches! :) This was on our way to Bar Harbor.Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine. A picture of Frenchman's Bay.Picture of Frenchman's Bay from the top of Cadillac Mountain. This is another part of Acadia Park called Shoodic Pennisula. A lighthouse along the way.This is Portland Maine- and the Portland Maine Lighthouse- you've probably seen pictures of this one before!

Now this is a picture of the "Little Women" house in Concord Massachusetts
After we left Concord/Lexington MA area, we headed on down to Boston for our last 5 days! (next post)

Vacation Photos

Here is a slide show of pictures I've downloaded so far... !
Also, here is the LINK to see the pictures on Picasa Web.

New England Vacation Day 2-Part 2

After Franconia Notch State Park we head across the Kancamagus Highway, NH. The Kanc cuts an east-west channel through the White Mountain National Forst from Lincoln to Conway.

We stopped along the way and had a picnic lunch.



This is the view from our lunch spot.

After lunch we headed to Craword Notch State Park for a ride through the notch and hike at Arethusa Falls.

The falls are approximately 200 feet high and the round trip 3-mile hike was of moderate difficulty! Rocky, straight up (for just about 1/2 of it)...but again, worth it! But, I also wasn't carrying a 20lb Kaitlyn on my back like someone else was :) Matt would say it was challenging as well!

As we drove through Crawford Notch we caught just a glimpse of a moose!!! If you look closely, you can see the Moose running away... at least it wasn't running towards us ;)

New England Vacation Day 2-Part 1

Day 2 of our vacation started in Lincoln New Hampshire. We visited Franconia Notch State Park! The park is located in the White Mountain National Forest. There is a parkway (I-93)that extends from Echo Lake at the north to the Flume Gorge at the south.
Franconia Notch was the home of the famous Old Man of the Mountain, the same "Great Stone Face" immortazilized by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Daniel Webster (according the nhstateparks.org). However, in 2003 the face fell and so sadly enough, we did not visit that particular section of the Park.

The picture above is of Echo Lake. It was such a calm, peaceful morning when we stopped here to take a look! You can see how still the water is by the reflection of the mountains in the lake. Apparently, we had just missed seeing the bears roam about on the Cannon Mountain ski slopes, which would be to the right in this picture.
The picture above is one of many covered bridges that you can find in NE. This one happens to be along the trail to the Flume Gorge.

The Flume Gorge was discovered in 1808. It is a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty.

The notorious "Self Portrait" attempt!

Making our way further up and into the gorge. The price we paid to get in to see this "flume" was well worth it, we thought, once we saw all the hard work of the stairs laid out for us to make it to the top of the gorge.

This is Avalanche Falls- the 2 mile hike was well worth it to see this waterfall. It was a easy hike and a beautiful day for it!

New England Vacation Part I

So our New England vacation officially started on Sunday, May 24th! Our first stop was Quechee Gorge in White River Junction, Vermont. We had been travelling for about 6 hours that day and were so happy for the break! Kaitlyn did so well travelling for such a long period of time; and then to go and put her right into a back pack! Luckily- she loved being in that and looking around at all the nature!



This was a relatively short hike - close to 2 miles by the time we were all done!

This is a picture of the gorge from the bridge on VT-4 165 feet above the river below ( you can see the bridge from down below in a lower picture). The Ottauquechee River flows southward and plunges into the narrow, rocky cleft of Quechee Gorge, 165 deep and over a mile in length.

Quechee Gorge is part of the 612 acre Quechee Gorge State Park

See the bridge in the background?

Although, we could not see rushing waters or waterfalls at this location, it is one of Vermon'ts longest and most famous gorges. It was a beautiful day for a hike!