recap of last few days

sorry, we've been slacking on our blog. this will probably be too late for anyone who wants updated info (since it's now the weekend). right now we're on our way to acadia national park. i just called darin sleight to ask about some tasty donuts that he and his wife ate up here in maine when they last visisted. i now know what to look for! =)

we just barely stopped at the ll bean store in freeport. huge outdoorsy store. i got a picture of the crew in front of giant hiking boot...oohh...exciting stuff! before that we headed out and took a quick peak at the atlantic. very nice. earlier today we roasted in boston. it was dang hot and dang muggy. probably in the 90's. ugh. jordan and i were a bit unimpressed. lane and julia liked it alright. the muggy weather tainted it a bit. we walked the freedom trail and checked out the uss constitution ("old iron sides"). it was ship built like 208 years ago. it had 52 cannons, huge masts, and 3 levels. i think it was the highlight of boston. on our way back from the uss we grabbed a taxi and eventually got the grumpy taxi driver to open up a bit. we had to talk sports to do it (boston celtics talk).

last night we stayed at an unimpressive koa in middleburough, ma. it was a decent koa but we had a crappy tent spot and there were some annoying gnats and loud neighbors. oh well, we were in and out of there quick enough.

yesterday was our new york city day. we camped abaout 90 minuets north west of the city then got up and took the train in from beacon. it went smoothly. got dropped at grand central station. boom! welcome to nyc! nyc was actually cooler than i expected. yeah, it was busy,crowded, and chaotic, but it had a pretty cool atmosphere. we saw the statue of liberty (via a ferry to staten island). then we saw the empire state bldg and wall street. i had a street hot dog and a slice of pizza. mmm. lane and i took the elevator to the top of rockefeller bldg. then we went on a bit of a goose chase hoping to see the WASP (battleship that was in town for Fleet Week). they had just closed the tour! dang it! but we got to ride in a taxi. then we checked out central park briefly, ate at virgil's...a bbq place. i had a super tasty brisket melt (brisket, cheese, onions on rye). i gotta say it's one of the best sandwiches i've ever had. then were were outta there.

the previous day we toured philly...

breaking news. we just stopped off in augusta in search of seafood,lobster, chowder, and the infamous donuts ( called mrs. dunster's we think now). after a few inquiries of the friendly 'mainers' we found a good place to eat called 'the red barn'. they were actually closed but lane somehow talked 'em into serving us. me, jordan, julia got some seafood soup/chowder and a lobster roll. lane asked for, "anything NOT seafood"! =) it was very tasty. jodan seemed esp. impressed. we found walmart and searched again for the donuts with no success. we had to settle for dunkin donuts. it didn't quite satisfy. oh well...back to philly info.

the first thing we did in philly was look for some philly sandwich shops (gino's and pat's king of steaks...which happened to be directly across the street from each other). j and j went to pat's, lane and i went to ginos then we split 'em up. they were tasty...made with meat, cheez whiz, and onions (with cheez whiz = 'whizzers'). but, they didn't really knock our socks off. we kinda expected green peppers and mushrooms.

we then found the downtown area after a little crazy driving (jordan at the helm in in the big city). we toured all the historical stuff. saw the bell, the independence hall, and a bunch of other historical buildings and galleries. i thought the ben franklin museum was cool. makes we want to read more about him.

we then hit some nasty traffic getting outta town. we stopped by valley forge. the visitor's center was closed, but we just drove around and checked it out (very large area). it was cool. lots of cabins where the soldiers were housed. had a few cannons, etc. tons of joggers and bikers, too. we then drove past new york, found an olive garden for dinner, and then headed out. we had a long to drive to get to the koa and it was late... and we had hoped to stay close to nyc. so, we kinda floundered around lookng for a possilbe hotel/motel. at one point we went down an incorrect road and jordan pulled off the the left into what looked like a driveway (it was very dark). he then wanted to back out and turn around but he couldn't cause there was a cop right behind him! =) pulled us over. then aksed jordan (somewhat angrily) something like, "did you realize you're driving on someone's lawn!" hah...he just warned, checked driver's lic., etc...and let us go! it was pretty funny. we found our koa and crashed for the night.

that about sums up our last few days.

some random thoughts:

we've hit a bunch of toll roads.
put on about 1500 miles.
jordan vamped some ice from a store (they weren't really gonna allow it, but he took that bag that lane just got with his purchase and filled it up at the fountain drink machine).
lane got off the highway at 'brockton' thinking it said boston. hee haw.
we met a sterotypical new york lady that was heading into the big city for a butterfly exhibit.
lane did a 'blind shave' in the shower this morning (no mirror or shaving cream) and came out with a patchy looking face.
ironically enough, i just fumbled about 3 oz. of choc. milk all over the floor and dash.
everytime we return to our car after a stint in the city or a long hike...it smells nasty, funky, musty from our towels and lane's often damp tarp (covering all of our gear).
lane is hard pressed to find diet mt. dew at our gas station/grocery store stops. luckily he loaded up with 2 12 packs early in the trip...and amazingly still has some left!! (probably cause we ran out of ice for a few days).
jordan and julia share meals. they also had leftovers of calzones and philly sands(never ate 'em). and had a chunk of cheese that went bad when our cooler became depleted of ice.