Ann-Christine’s challenge is to choose a short or long trip we have taken and post about it with a maximum of 10 images. She asks “What were the highlights, what are the memories that will stay with me forever? Maybe the big surprises? The animals, the people, the culture, the landscapes? This week it will be interesting to see how you choose to present a short or long trip (maximum 10 images), what will be your main points and why?”

I could have chosen one of my two favorite adventures: our RV trip to Alaska in 2013 or our trip to Ireland and Scotland in 2019. I’ve posted about them many times so instead, I am featuring our 2005 trip to New England and Canada. We spent time with family, visited coastal towns, saw lighthouses, visited a National Park, ate lobster rolls, lobster pie, lobster stew, blueberry pie, and so much more. We were traveling during the mud season and many places were closed. On some days the weather was cold, rainy, and foggy but we loved every minute.

Our daughter, son-in-law and 14 month old grandson spent several winter months in coastal Maine twenty-one years ago when our son-in-law had to be there for work. Henry and I had never been to New England before so we planned a trip to see them in early spring of 2005,

We flew to Portland, Maine, picked up a rental car and drove to their home in a nearby coastal town. There was snow on the ground when we arrived just two days before Easter.

I will always have fond memories of being with our grandson while we were there. We had fun with him when he had his first Easter Egg hunt. He was all bundled up as he searched for eggs in the snow. I have fond memories of going with him to a working dairy farm on Maine Maple Sunday where he liked the baby farm animals in a petting zoo. When we took him to see some lighthouses he was more interested in jumping in the puddles.

I also have fond memories of all of the the quaint coastal towns we visited. We enjoyed walking along the waterfront in the towns of Gloucester and Rockport in Massaschusetts. I enjoyed seeing the fishing and lobster boats in the harbors.

I loved seeing the rugged coastlines and the lighthouses.

A few days after we arrived Henry and I left our daughter’s house and headed up the coast in our rental car. After spending some time and money at the L.L. Bean store we drove across the Cribstone bridge to Bailey’s Island for some lobster rolls and blueberry pie. We continued our drive up the coast and spent the night at the Inn at Bath, Maine.

Our next stop was Bar Harbor where we spent three nights. We had Acadia National Park almost all to ourselves. Most of the roads were closed so we stopped at the first parking lot at Sand Beach where we walked down the beach and then along the Ocean Trail. We enjoyed the magnificent views as we hiked in the misty rain and sleet. The next day we drove to the southern tip of Mt. Desert Island to see the Bass Harbor Head Light. We ventured out in the cold and rain to hike down some stairs for a closer look at the lighthouse.

Another highlight of the trip was traveling to the easternmost tip of the United States to see the West Quaddy Light. Next we drove into Canada to see Campobello Island in New Brunswick and returned to Maine a few hours later to spend the night in Calais, Maine.

We drove west from the Maine Coast and drove north on a road in the middle of timber farms with many tall spruce trees. We spotted a huge moose in the middle of the road far ahead of us. We visited another geographic place of interest when we stopped in Kent, Maine for a photo opp at the end of U.S. 1. We have been to the other end of the highway in Key West, Florida many times. After taking photos we crossed the Canadian border into Quebec and spent the night in Riviere-de-Loup, Quebec.

The sun came out for first time in days as our journey continued west to Quebec City where we stayed in Le Chateau Frontenac. The hotel is built on top of a cliff and looks like an old castle but it was built as a hotel in 1893. We wandered around the city on the narrow streets. Most of the buildings were very old.

We crossed the border back into the states and traveled through part of Vermont. We spent a night in Franconia, New Hampshire where we had a view of the White Mountains.

As we traveled through New Hampshire we stopped to photograph a covered bridge in Bath, N.H. and shopped in a couple of country stores. The views were spectacular as we drove along the scenic Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains. We stopped to take a hike in the snow to see Sabbaday Falls. and had views of Mt. Washington from an overlook before stopping for the night in Gorham, N.H.

We finished our journey with a couple of nights at our daughter’s house where took one last walk along the beach.

The trip was filled with family time, exploring new places, and meeting friendly locals. The memories will stay with me always.

Thank you to everyone who participated in John’s challenge Shadowed. Your responses were great.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Patti’s post Lens-Artists #388: Your Journey in 5 to 10 Images.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 14 at noon eastern time when Anne will be hosting the challenge.

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift