Boston trip

Before I forget totally I should make some notes about our great trip to Boston in May.  We flew to Minneapolis and rented a car for the trip.  We spent May 20- May 28 with my Dad.  A few days in Port, getting the garden planted, and then up to Trout Lake, getting the garden planted (ha ha).  Towards the end of our time at Trout the mosquitos hatched, and they were the worst ever!  There was so much snow this past winter that every little dell was full of water.  LOTS of places for mosquitos to breed.

Saw many Trilliums across Wisconsin and Michigan.  These are at Power's Bluff in central Wisconsin.

Still very early spring in northern Wisconsin.

Managed to drag myself out of bed a little after 5 A.M. to take this picture, but the colors were aleady fading from their peak brilliancy by the time I talked myself into making the effort.  Eric has already left to go fishing, I think you can make out the motorboat trail across the lake.

From Trout we drove across the upper peninsula of Michigan, across the big Mac bridge, and spent the night with Ted's cousin Joanne, at her beautiful house.  Michigan was an eye opener, as all the parts we saw were very, very pretty.  From there it was a drive across Ontario, Canada, a stop at Niagara Falls, a visit to Aunt Nancy, and a quick side trip to Dale NY before spending the night at a Day's Inn in Weedsport. In the morning we pushed on to Boston, arriving 5 pm rush hour traffic on a Friday night.  Ted did a masterful job of navigating, and I of driving, and we finally reached Starbucks around 6 pm, to see our favorite barista for the first time in 9 months.  We were a bit shell shocked from the traffic, but she fixed us right up w/ some hot caffeinated drinks.

The Big Mac bridge.  This bridge is so long, high, and narrow.  Only 2 lanes in each direction.  Hard to find a coffee up there in the U.P., but did manage eventually to find a coffee shop in St. Ignace.

Took us a while to realize we were driving right by the town where cousin Joanne lived, but she was "batchin it" and delighted to host us for our totally out-of-the-blue visit.  We had last seen her in 1984 in Washington State, on another road trip!  Her yard is like something out of House Beautiful!

Wow!  Niagara Falls was so unbelievable.  The roar! The mist! The sheer volume of water going over the falls!  I wasn't at all tempted to get on a boat and get a closer look though.  There was the red raincoat boat and the blue raincoat boat.  There is a sidewalk all along the edge of the river on the Canada side, and you end up walking right up along the edge of the top of the falls.

Had only a little time to hunt up my relatives in the Dale Cemetery.  The beautiful old farmhouse my Mom grew up in has been torn down, which makes me feel pretty sad.

 F directed us to a nice woodsy walk, and we headed there for a leg stretch, sprinkles and all. We took this walk several times during our visit, sometimes just Ted and I, and other times with F and D, and enjoyed it every time.  Other highlights of our visit were trips to Plum Island, Cape Anne, and F's church to see her singing at her church job, and  a coffee tasting masterfully conducted by F!
We managed to have lobster rolls twice, once homemade and the other time boughten.  We spent a day on home repairs, achieved primarily by Ted, F, and D, while I did some gardening. Flew home from Boston via Mpls.  Returned the rental car at Logan International the morning after our arrival at F's.

It was a green, green, world in the woods in the eastern part of the country!  Here at the Breakhart Reservation

I loved the expression on this quaint building in Cambridge.  Just up the street from Doug's new church job.  We hung out while he auditioned, F was working.

Halibut Pt State Park on Cape Anne.  Ted seems to have dressed in rock-colored clothes!  And the weather!  Really, we had perfect weather for our entire trip!

Down on the southern end of Plum Island is a state park and a beautiful sandy spit.