It's Been Awhile...

I know, I know. It's been over 2 months since I've written a new post. And I'm SORRY! I've discovered that it's more fun to actually experience the trip than it is to write about it. But I'm going to try to write some quick updates for each state we've been in since November. Which is a lot, because now we are in Colorado and only have six states left to hit. But before that, I found a post I had started writing way back when we were in Maine, so I finished it and am finally publishing it. So enjoy this for now, and hopefully I'll be able to summarize other events soon. Oh, and if you want to look at new pics, go here and here.

Our next stop was Brownville, ME to meet my Aunt Pat, who is my mom’s twin. When we got into town, we stopped at a gas station so I could call her from a payphone (still no cell reception) and it turned out that station was only a couple blocks away from Pat’s house. I wasn’t completely sure she was right about that because what she was describing didn’t match with what I was looking at, but I figured there probably weren’t too many gas stations around for her to get it confused with. So we headed up a hill looking for a white house with black trim, and spotted it just before I noticed that Pat herself was standing outside waiting for us. After we pulled into the driveway Jerry, Pat’s fiancée, came out of the house, being pulled by their dog, Ally.

That night we had an amazing steak dinner with banana slits for desert. Pat found a bunch of pictures, both of me as a baby and of her family when they were young, that I got to look through. She even let me keep a lot of them, which I really appreciated. She also found a charm bracelet that she gave to me.

The next day Pat didn’t have to work, but she did have a couple of meetings down in Bangor, so Hannah and I decided to go with her to check out the city. On our way, the three of us dropped our cars off at Jerry’s auto shop so he could change our oil for us (SO nice!!). On the way there Hannah and I had been talking about her having a car again someday and how much she wants a white Subaru, but how she didn’t really think God would let her have one because she likes them so much. Well, when we got to Jerry’s shop, we saw a few cars for sale out front, one of which was (dundundun) a Subaru!! It was silver, not white, but Hannah still liked it. And since we were all leaving our cars, we had to take one of the for-sale cars, and Jerry said it was okay for us to take the Subaru. What’s even better, Pat doesn’t really like to drive, so she had Hannah drive the whole day. I thought it was pretty awesome that Hannah couldn’t imagine God putting her in a Subaru sometime after we get back, yet He was able to put her in the driver’s seat of one that very moment. :)

Throughout the drive Pat pointed out various buildings and towns and told us stories of what she knew of them. I think my favorite was a large building where apparently people gathered to just drink and dance and have a good ole time. I think it had a funny name, too, but I don’t remember what it was.

Once we got to Bangor we dropped Pat off and then went searching for a Goodwill, which we found fairly easily. We browsed through the store for a bit, and eventually left with some goodies: some awesome purple snowpants for Hannah and “East of Eden” and (are you ready for this?) a Thighmaster for me. Yup, I found a Thighmaster. I figured it’d be good for those long days of driving, but we’ve only used it a couple times since then.

Next we went on a search for coffee for Hannah and by the time that mission was completed it was time to pick up Pat. Our next stop was a little town called Dover, where I would meet my mom’s mom for the first time. I was really nervous, but it was something that I thought I’d regret not doing. She is living in an assisted living home and has a hard time remembering things sometimes, which can make for a very entertaining conversation. For example, her dog was mentioned multiple times, and one time he was 8 years old, another time he was 6, but he was always NOT 2, which, if I remember correctly, may be the actual age of the dog. :) She was very sassy and kept looking at me like I was a crazy person who might attack her. I’m not even sure if she knew who I was. After being there for a little while my mom’s dad came in to visit his wife, which apparently he does every day. Pat had said that if I did meet him, his response would probably be “For Christ’s sake,” and that’s exactly what he said. All of us sat and made small talk for awhile, then Pat, Hannah and I left. Overall, I’m glad I went, but I’m very impressed that Pat visits so often because I don’t think I’d have the strength or the patience.

On the way back home we picked up our cars from Jerry’s shop, then we headed up to Brownville Junction and the house that my mom grew up in. We had to hurry and sneak in while my grandfather was still with my grandmother, but it was cool to see where my mom and her sibling were raised and to see some of the old family pictures around the house. We drove around the rest of the town, too, which didn’t take very long because it’s so small.

Hannah and I both really wanted to see a moose while we were in Maine, so once everyone was back home that night, we loaded up the car and went moose hunting. Pat seemed very sure that we would see one, but we didn’t. Unless that thing we saw from the road really was a moose and not a horse, but I have serious doubts about it. It was a lot of fun driving around on all the backroads, though, and we had delicious snacks.

That night we had another yummy dinner and then just hung out for a bit. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with Pat and get to know her a little better. That night when she was headed to bed, she kissed me on the forehead and it kinda gave me chills -- in an amazingly good way.

The next morning Hannah and I drove out to Acadia. On the way we stopped at a gas station and I had to go inside to pay. I don’t remember why it was taking so much extra time, but I ended up hanging out inside for a bit...I think because I had to wait for change? While I was waiting, though, the two workers, a guy and a girl, started teasing each other about being overdramatic. The guy eventually said to the girl something to the effect of, “You’re not the dramatic one here.” I knew he was implying that another one of their coworkers was a drama queen, but I decided to play along and say, “Are you calling me dramatic?” I think the guy was a little freaked out for a second, but then he realized I was joking and make a fake apology and then said that maybe I was. I was very entertained.

When we arrived at the Acadia visitor’s center, a glorious sight awaited us: an old man, wearing spandex pants and dress shoes, boxing the air. Yup. We drove around the area, which was gorgeous, and then decided to try to find a typical Maine lighthouse. We found one on our map, went there despite how far away it was, and were severely disappointed when we got there. It wasn’t even in use anymore. Pathetic. So, then we headed back to Pat’s, still keeping our eyes alert for moose.

Since we were planning on leaving the next day and I still hadn’t heard from my mom’s other sister, Debbie, Pat suggested I call her kinda late that night, hoping that we could scare her into answering the phone. And it worked! Debbie and I planned to meet up early the next morning at a little restaurant not too far away called Smith’s.

The following morning I woke up early so I could say goodbye to Pat before she left for work. She was typical family and tried to give me anything she could. :) Eventually I agreed to take some water, which actually ended up coming in handy. Awhile later I headed down to Smith’s and met Debbie. Cute is the first word that comes to mind to describe her. She had some coffee and I had some hot chocolate and she told me about some of her adventures traveling around the world. She seemed to be pretty good friends with the guy who owned Smith’s (his name may have been Martin) and the bantered back and forth quite a bit, which also entertained me. Before we left Debbie insisted on buying sweatshirts for both Hannah and I. The sweatshirts were awesomely hilarious: they were modeled after college gear and had a picture of Smith’s surrounded by all the courses taught at “Brownville University” (not real), including meat cutting and other huntsman-type skills. Debbie also gave me an extra can of mace, which I thought was funny. Once we parted ways, I headed back to Pat’s house where Hannah and I packed up the car and headed towards New Hampshire, with Vermont being out ultimate destination for the night.