Maine Bridge Weekend: Part 2

On Day 2 of Amy and her Mom visit bridges in Maine...we drove 3ish hours to midcoast Maine to check out the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory. The Weather Channel promised me sunshine but this is all the sun/blue sky we saw:

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory is the only bridge observatory in the United States and at 420 feet above the river below, has the tallest and fastest elevator in the state of Maine. 

Stepping out of the elevator, I felt super dizzy. I think it was more to do with the elevator ride than the being super high up in the sky.

You could see forever and ever in all directions and while the sun would have made it much prettier, it was still a spectacular view.

After we descended from the observatory, we headed to (the original) Fort Knox...the defend the harbor one, not the full of gold one. 

The fort was incredible. 

We went underneath into the tunnels and walked, by way of the iPhone flashlight, through some scary, dark places. One hallway had more windows:

But most of them looked like this:

As we entered the tunnels, a cannon sounded. I felt like I was in the Hunger Games!

We spent about an hour wandering around then waited to see the canons fired.

Following our trip to the fort, we hit up one last lighthouse. Fort Point was quite the traditional Maine lighthouse....black, white, and red.

   

Maine Bridge Weekend: Part 1

I took Friday off so I had an extra long weekend and hit up Maine with Mom and the puppy. 

Our target was the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory. But the Weather Channel told me it was going to be sunnier on Saturday (spoiler alert: they were wrong) so we spent Friday checking out some covered bridges.

The Hemlock Bridge in Fryeburg was the first one we visited. It was my favorite. The arches were beautiful and the windows let a lot of light in. 

I was nervous to drive across it but we made it out alive. The bridge is in the middle of nowhere. I was directing and my mom was driving and the conversation went like this:

Me: Take this right and go straight for 2 miles.

Road turns into a dirt road.

Mom: Umm....

Dirt road turns into a gated dirt path.

Mom: Umm...

Me: That's what the directions said!

Next, we hit up the Parsonfield-Porter Bridge. This bridge was super long and sketchy. It was all spray painted inside and as you walked across one end, you could hear the supports rattling beneath you. Obviously this bridge is a no car zone. 

Mom decided to take the long way home so we could stop by (drive over) one last covered bridge. Babb's Bridge is a replica of the original that was burned by vandals. It was built very differently from the others but was equally defaced as the Parsonfield-Porter bridge. Babb's Bridge was very dark and was quite scary to drive over.

I don't know how the bridges don't just bend in the middle and topple into the river below. It looks like it's just balanced there on the stone supports and a strong breeze would push it off! When we returned from our adventure, we took the puppy for a walk to the lake. 

The water was so still and the reflection was gorgeous. 

   

IT'S FALL!

Last week I was all put out because it was like 9000 degrees out (which btdubs is the temperature of Earth's inner core). I wanted the hot, humid weather to GTFO and the cool, breezy fall-like weather to stay forever.

Well, I'm happy to report that Mother Nature has acquiesced to my demands. It seems like all of the sudden the PYO apple signs are out, pumpkins seem to be everywhere, and some leaves are turning pretty, pretty colors (i.e. dying).

Even the grocery store is all ready for fall.

I've started to think about my Halloween costume and I'm ready for some Hocus Pocus action. I have some fun weekends planned for the fall that I'm looking forward to. After all, fall is my favorite time of the year. I mean, I know everything is dying and getting darker and colder, but it's so pretty and there are so many things to look forward to.

BUT...today is September 15th (Happy Birthday Stephen & Olivia!) and I SAW A CHRISTMAS COMMERCIAL! WTF! There are still 100 days until Christmas.

Now it wasn't a good one like the Hershey Kiss bells or the Coke polar bears but still! A girl has to be able to eat Halloween candy before thinking about Christmas shopping. 

So for now...I celebrate fall in all it's apple and pumpkin glory.

   

I'm Having a Veruca Salt Moment

And not the alternative rock band type. The "I want my golden goose and I want it now" type.

Last week Mother Nature gave us a taste of that sweet, sweet fall weather. The crisp, clean air. The blue, clear sky. The hint of changing leaves. And with that, my mind immediately switched from "Woe is me, summer has come to an end" to "OMG I LOVE FALL SO MUCH. IT'S MY FAVORITE."

But it was all rudely yanked away and is about to be replaced with heat from the center of the earth.

I mean...it's September, not July. If I didn't have to go to work tomorrow I'd be at the beach or at a lake getting my swim on. 

So now I'm all "Give me pumpkins and apples and cider donuts and baking and Halloween and gorgeous foliage...and GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"

*I also wouldn't say no to 10,000 tons of ice cream.

   

Farewell Autumn

Now that the shortest day of the year has come and gone, it's officially winter. This year fall disappointed me. October was super rainy so I missed out on the pumpkin carving. Thanksgiving snuck up on me so I missed out on the pumpkin pie. And of course, I didn't get anywhere close to making a mini book. And to be honest, I don't plan on it. Fall 2012 didn't have a lot of awesome that needed to be documented. 

After a Summer to-do and and Autumn to-do, I don't have a winter to-do planned. Winter is the time when I hunker down, snuggle under a quilt, drink hot cocoa, and watch a lot of TV. It's my form of hibernation. I'm not a cold weather enthusiast and I don't do the typical New England outdoorsy winter things. I'll emerge from my cave come spring!

In November

At the beginning of November I wrote:

Please be better than October.

Please be sunnier.

Please be filled with more friends and family.
Please be full of adventures.

Please be full of happy days.

Please be all of these things...and I will be thankful.

And it turns out that November was all of these things. The swampiness and dreariness of October cleared and November turned out to be a gorgeous fall month...cool at times, cold at others, but sunny and beautiful. 

I had lots of friend dates this month. I made mini books with N and started quilts with S. I celebrated a belated Halloween with D, O, K, L, and lots of others. I spent Thanksgiving in Maine with Everyday Mom and Dad. 

And got to FaceTime with Everyday Brother.

In November, I took adventures to Maine, Western Mass, and Boston. I wandered Fanueil Hall for Tuba Christmas and saw men balancing on ladders with machetes. 

I had some happy days and some less happy days but overall it was a good month. Be prepared for lots of holiday cheer soon! 

Goodbye November.

Hello October!

In October I want to:

Buy and listen to the new Mumford and Sons over and over and over.

End the month with more money in the bank than I start the month with.

Do lots of things from my Autumn 2012 list.

Be crafty.

Fill my weekends with friends and fun.

Won't you join me?

FALL IS MY FAVORITE!

Goodbye summer.

Hello fall!  Let's do this.