Maine Madness

We just left White Mountain National Forest where we hiked one of Mt. Washington's easier trails. Still, it was steep and rocky, and quite challenging. The kids did awesome, and we had the proud realization that most of the places we have hiked don't have many kids on the trails... so we feel pretty sure that their athletic prowess is probably unparalleled. Plus, the girls had on dresses. Athletic prowess and style?? That's a double threat y'all.

We are headed to our first hotel night. This also means our first showers, grocery run, and laundry time. It will feel good to get cleaned up and restock, but I am mostly excited to get into Maine, where we will spend the longest stretch of time in one state. I hope to be livin' la vida lobster by tonight. (Oh, hotel nights are usually our one sanctioned eat-out night per week as well.)

Since Tom's fan base is growing considerably... I won't delay what most of you are waiting for: All Tom, All the Time!
Today's feature will include a list of "Tom's Road Trip Fast Facts." Enjoy!

Fave activity: "Pretending I was in the Lord of the Rings when we were hiking in The Shire." (Here, Tom is referring to New Hamp'shire' as "The Shire.")
Fave meal: "Eating all the dropped food off the ground. Nope, not the food London dropped, all the food Lara dropped."
Percentage of rage increase every time you pass a Moose Crossing sign without actually seeing a moose: "A full 100%. Every time. The sign should say 'Moose Already Crossed, That's How We Knew to Put a Sign Here.'"
Most insulting thing I have said to you on this trip: "I can't believe you didn't fail school."
Most insulting thing you have said to me on this trip: "Ya airin' out yer hamhocks?" (Meaning my feet. See earlier post for his follow-up attempt to scramble out a compliment to undo this remark.)
Most frustrating moment: (Here Tom tells an unrelated story about a trip to Guatemala many years ago. Followed by a few not-so-frustrating accounts of this trip.) Then, we decided to skip it because, let's be honest... the only thing that frustrates Tom is not seeing moose and having to answer these freakin' questions.
Fave thing about traveling with me: "Reading every road sign in a southern accent. And when we run into any sort of problem, your willingness to start 'hitting people with a bat.'"
Hopes and dreams for the remainder of trip: "To actually see you hit some jerk with Harper's wiffle ball bat."

I have renamed this section "Tom's Incredibly Slow Facts," since it took him an hour and a half to answer each question. More from Maine, coming soon!

I guess I will write an update while I am pinned to the floor anyways. (London is sleeping in my elbow, allowing me just enough mobility to, conveniently, hold this small device.)

To backtrack a little, we spent our third night in Vermont in the Green Mountain National Forest. It was a great site - private, brooke-side and only ten bucks. And for that low price, we never expected the bonus package to include just a tiny bit of poison ivy on Marlie's leg. She is actually handling it really well, and the placebo ointment seems to work for a few minutes at least.

Packing up that site was our first experience with packing up soaked gear. Tom's leisurely morning tear-down quickly morphed into wild hysterics as it started thunder storming. From there the rain was in and out for most of the day... But we are so hardcore (ie; unnecessarily committed to our itinerary) that we opted to do our hiking in the rain. It was actually a lot of fun, but we were low on sleep and the kids 'tudes were needing adjustment.

We camped in the White Mountain National Forest (night #1) in New Hampshire. We started this morning with new mindsets (and lectures about gratitude), which proved to start the day out on the right foot. Everyone took several opportunities to say what they were thankful for throughout the day, and we celebrated each time with an obnoxiously upbeat and over-the-top group hug. I know it sounds corny... that's because it was a serious amount of corny. But we got more gratitude out of them than when we didn't do group hugs and thankful high fives all around, so, we'll take corny.

Today we did an awesome hike around the Basin at Franconia Notch State Park. There were waterfalls, and natural water slides, and London splashing in a diaper. Annalee found fools gold. Harper went waist deep, fully clothed. And Marlie was very brave hiking in the muddy parts of the trail (despite her intense fear of quick sand, or, more specifically, sinking into the earth.)

After the hike, we surprised the kids and took them on the Aerial Tramway which gives a gorgeous view of New Hampshire, Vermont and (on very clear days) Canada. We did not see Canada, but it was fun and beautiful, and we got to the top and hiked a really cool trail.

We are settled in the tent now, playing cards, lazing with babies and deciding if we should play crazy eights again, or teach the kids poker. (That one counts as "All Tom, All the Time.")

By request: Kids' Faves to date

*Annalee- "Hiking in the waterfalls today, because I found fool's gold. But there are so many more, it's so hard, but I'll just say that one for now."
*Marlie- "The Tramway and the Daughters of the Revolution house, because I just liked it. Loved it."
*Harper- "Going down the red one and it was fun and the Revolution and going in the water and Annalee and Marlie went on the tiny water and I decided not to go because it was too deep and I can get hurted and it was 'gwait.'"
(My best guess for) *London- trying "budge," commonly referred to as fudge.

Maple Mecca

Day 2 & 3:

We got to our campsite in Vermont and realized that my hasty, late-night packing meant that I forgot almost everything I needed to make dinner. Hunger? Check. Utensils? Not so much. But, at least we remembered that badminton set.

It was a rocky start, I must say. Low point from day one: poking our dinner with toothpicks bc I forgot forks. But, we technically got food in us so mission accomplished, right?

Day 2 went a little better, I located a small general store where I stocked up on forgotten supplies and discovered an old Daughters of the American Revolution mansion tour. We did that, and it was a fun little experience for us and the kids. It was very educational, especially when the tour guide explained that the bread box doubled as a cradle to rock the baby in, and tripled as a casket for when the baby died. Those pioneer women loved a multi-use item, and the tour guide loved to school my kids on the infant mortality rate of the 1800's. Good times were had by all.

After the D.A.R. Mansion tour, we went to a little maple heaven where we got syrup and maple fudge. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with Tom's parents, hiking around, skipping rocks on Lake Champlain, and baking homemade pizzas over the fire.

Day 3 (today) has consisted of breaking camp (almost on schedule) and going to Dakin Farm where we ate samples of Vermont delicacies. The kids filled up on the "free examples" and maple frozen yogurt. Now that we are all successfully stuffed sick, we are headed to our next Vermont campsite in the Green Mountain National Forest.

Next up, in 'All Tom, All the Time,' I will share an interview I had with Tom when we recently sat down together to discuss his feelings about the trip.

L- Tom, we recently started a road trip, how do you feel it has gone so far?
T- "I think, so far, it was a typical rocky start... but now I'm ready to have my way with the great northeast."
L- What has been the greatest challenge?
T- "Maintaining control of the vehicle, while my wife tried to pluck a rogue eyebrow hair out (without warning) while I was driving down a steep, twitsy road through the mountains."
L- What would you like to say to your fan(s)?
T- "Hey, Joe. What's up man?"

Another tid-bit from Tom's corner, this morning he paid me a very romantic compliment when he called me "a beautiful, graceful, hoof-less mammal." I know ladies, I know... but he's already taken.

Road Rules

Day One (as it stands):

We left about 2.5 hours behind schedule, which is not the end of the world because we should arrive to D.A.R. State Park in Vermont with enough daylight to set up camp and get dinner started. London just recently grew big enough to sit in a forward-facing car seat, so we debuted that today, thinking that the novelty of seeing what we see would make her a more willing traveler. In reality, it made her screaming less muffled, as it is now megaphoned right into our ears.

While it was a bit of a crazy start, she is sleeping peacefully now, along with Harper who delayed us a tad with his (no joke) 20 minute pit stop before we were even half an hour outside of Rochester. But, a man's business cannot be rushed...

The oldest girls are busy with their activity books I put together. I am contemplating what this trip's focus should be. We have some specific things we want to work on with each kid, but the overall theme for the trip will be gratitude. In keeping with my goal of total fabulousness in my old age, I am going to use this time to be more aware of, and thankful for, every single thing in my life. That means no complaining.

In order to reduce complaining, I plan to strictly enforce some rules. Some are basic; keep your area of the car tidy, no waking up the baby, no whining, only one show allowed per day in the car... Some are a little more unusual; no gremlin crying in the tent, if you slam your whole water bottle before we are out of rochester, you lose the privilege of water, and sprinkling your legs with water is not allowed.

We are harsh I know. But, this should help in making this a fun, family adventure for everyone. Speaking of everyone, our outspoken and high-maintenance friend, Joe Cassara, lodged a complaint against last year's blog coverage. He claimed that there was a disproportionate amount of attention paid to myself and the kids in comparison to Tom.

So, by singular request... I give you a new recurring feature called "All Tom, All the Time." Expect big things. If you hate the name, consider yourselves lucky that I didn't take Joe's suggestion and call it "Kingtom" as in "Kingdom," but dumber sounding.

A little taste of what's to come in "All Tom, All the Time"?? Well, re-read last year's posts about Tom's desperate search for buffalo, but insert the word moose where it says buffalo. This should give you the general idea.

The next two nights Tom's parent's will join us in Vermont. I have high hopes of eating so much Vermont cheddar and anything Maple-flavored... Because like all fabulous elderly women, I love myself a maple treat.

let the wild woman pack.

Well... I am making a good bit of progress in packing.  Which is good, because we leave in about 12 hours.  Believe it or not, vacuum sealing all of our stuff intoindividual ziplock bags is the least obnoxious (and space-saving) packing method in the long run. In the short run, it makes me question my sanity.

But, jammies are ziplocked in, so there is no turning back now.  This really is the only way I can pack for 6 people for 3 weeks and fit in everything, and it keeps us organized as a little bonus.

The kids are very excited and Harper asked about our "country road trip" at least 89 times today. Tom is outside vacuuming out the van in the dark, so I can't say for sure... But I'm guessing he's all sorts of pumped right now.  I am  handling the pressure with my usual pleasant, laid back demeanor.

I am just not the type to freak out and, oh, I don't know... threaten Tom's life if he puts a "tick" mark on my packing list in his handwriting.  Nobody should let a woman like that drive all over the country without supervision. Fortunately, I am more stable than those kind of women. That reminds me, I better go ziplock all our undies.

@laracapuano