I didn't originally anticipate that this would end up being the longest day on the road. But then I didn't know how to appropriately predict or account for the traffic on I-95 north of Boston.
To avoid over a hundred miles of 3-lane bumper to bumper stop and go traffic, we ended up taking some very scenic back roads through New Hampshire, paralleling I-95 to the west. It was a nice drive ... and exactly 12 hours after leaving our NJ hotel we pulled into Searsport.
Miles and Emery were amazing travelers for the past three days; I was especially proud of them for their patience today. We were 11.5 hours into the drive before I heard a singular "Are we there yet?" from Emery. Not bad. Not bad at all.
We broke up our trip today with a short visit to Yale. Kristen and I are taking the parenting approach that her parents took with her on childhood family summer vacations: whenever you pass a major college or university ... if you can carve out a few minutes ... show your kids the campus - talk about the school - and let them start imagining themselves as college-bound. We did the same thing yesterday with a stop in College Station, PA, and lunch at the Penn State University Student Union.
Much later we walked through Freeport, Maine and made a visit to the Flagship L.L. Bean store.
Dinner tonight: Lobster Rolls in Freeport.
Quote of the day was from Kristen: "Jinx you owe me a ROOF on top of the SODA!" (Don't ask ... family inside joke.)
It's really great to finally arrive at our destination. We are looking forward to a great week with G-Bird & Papa.
