Across America 2k18!

             So as of today, I posted the first of my 5 videos (possibly 6?) of my vlog series documenting my latest vacation that took me from Idaho to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. There were a lot of ups and downs and many, many overwhelming moments but it was an absolute blast! Sorry, it took me so long to edit all of the videos and upload them ever since I've gotten back home the world has gone upside down! (I'll get more into that hopefully this weekend. If not, then there's always next week.)


         Summary: We left Idaho on May 18th after my mother got off work and headed up towards Montana where we stayed in Missoula. The city was absolutely PACKED. We got one of the last hotel rooms as most were full of families there for a baseball tournament. It was a very nice room and we got to watch the royal wedding that morning which was so lovely. THERE WAS LOVE EVERYWHERE! More importantly, thanks to the royal wedding Hallmark was bringing their A++++++++ game with their horribly cheesy royal movies. Those were such a treat to pack up to.
           We spent the rest of May 19th traveling through  Montana (the cowboy with the flag in the thumbnail is from Miles City) until we reached Steele, North Dakota. There was this little hotel right off the side of the highway called the Cobblestone Inn and they were absolutely excellent! After traveling almost near 800 miles their accommodations were much needed.
            On May 20th we finished traveling through North Dakota and entered Minnesota where we visited my favorite Viking, Big Ole. (Also shown in thumbnail). We stopped there for a good long time to eat lunch and walk around the lake. Sadly we had to go and made it to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where we had to cross the city twice looking for our hotel.
           May 21st brought the rain we've become accustomed to having while traveling east. However, with the rain brought us crawling through Chicago where a woman's van had broken down in the middle lane, under the underpasses, and right beside the construction! Talk about unlucky! Poor woman. I hope she's alright. In Indiana, we saw the Amish, which really tickled my mother's fancy. That day we traveled right to the edge of the New York and Pennsylvania border and stayed, once again, in a hotel right off the highway, in Findley Lake, New York. This Holiday Inn, I can't praise this place enough. It's so nice and quiet and the ceilings were so high! Lovely place to tuck ourselves in for the night.
             The rain continued on May 22nd as we became our ascension into New York and Vermont. Nothing too special happened until we hit Concord, New Hampshire where I got unbearably sick. Which really sucked as we were just an hour at most away from our destination. So curled up in a ball on the passenger side, we crawled ourselves up into Old Orchard Beach, Maine, our final stop!

          May 23rd greeted us with sunshine and the aftermaths of getting sick. Thankfully I started to feel better after my shower and especially when we ventured down the street to the Atlantic Ocean. Words can't describe how serene and lovely Old Orchard Beach is, you'll have to experience it yourself or at least take a look at the video. More than the serenity my mom got to relive her childhood with her own daughter. If that wasn't enough she turned around and saw the hotel her own family stayed in during the 70's! How wild is that? It was a beautiful moment.
            We spent most of the day hanging out on the beach, at our hotel, and getting horribly burned because you have to watch the cute men play around in the pool while you're supposed to be reading A Tale of Two Cities. What else is a poor girl supposed to do? That night, as we were getting ready to head out to visit the shops we discovered that the back of our Jeep will not close let alone lock. Yay! Car trouble!
          That May 24th we ended up going to Southern Main Motors CDJ where they told us they could fix not only the back lock but also the problem we've had with the back wheels for two years that our own mechanics always say they fixed or that there isn't really a problem to begin with 😒. Nonetheless, the mechanics at SMMCDJ hooked us up and even gave us a ride back to the hotel so we could continue to enjoy our vacation. At 5 we were able to get the car back and head up to Higgin's Beach where it was frigid but beautiful. Afterward, we ended up having dinner at the Clambake Restuarant right up the road from our hotel. They have the best seafood and the best mashed potatoes! 120/10 recommend them to anyone visiting the area.
          Unfortunately, we had to leave the ocean behind on May 25th as we headed back down to Lake George, New York to visit our family. The humidity going into New York was so bad it had to be at the very least 100% that day and with no air. Fortunately, when we made it to Lake George there was a slight breeze coming off the lake, which we took full advantage of by wandering around the village and taking in two games of mini-golf at a place my great-grandfather helped to build and where my grandparents and parents played at as teenagers. It was so much fun even though I still and consistently suck at it! After my mom kicked my ass at that I bought us ice cream and we sat and enjoyed the lake before returning to our hotel for the evening.
       Little did we know that tragedy was on its way as on May 26th I woke up extremely sick once again. This time I believe it was due to food poisoning, whereas the other was most likely just my auto-immune disorder. This time it took me out for the whole day which was awful because we had a lunch-date with my mother's cousin. Which we still attended but the entire time I was focusing on trying not to be sick. When we made it back to our hotel we rested and watched some Hallmark movies to help me through my suffering. (Thank you Royally Ever After, you were a contrived Godsend.) Later that evening we mosied out to shop and look around the village some more as I figured the fresh air might help.
           On May 27th I was feeling 10x's better as we went to Walmart to get some supplies for our trip back West. Afterward, we visited my Great-Aunt Grace where we ran into my mother's cousins who invited us out for dinner that night. We had an absolutely phenomenal time with them. They were so funny and easy to talk to. Later that evening we were even able to visit another of my mother's cousins on the whim. It was very much a family-oriented day and I really appreciated it.
          May 28th brought Memorial Day and our desire to adventure! We first headed out to Fort William-Henry and their adjacent battlegrounds. I felt death literally all around me the entire time. IT was an odd sensation but it made sense given that the entire area has been under the wrath of war so many times and the blood and anger it must've seen. It was nice to reflect and remember those before us that day. Which we continued on to do as we went further upstate to visit random cemeteries.  There were stunning pieces of craftsmanship that went into those headstones. Sadly I saw many that had fallen down, cracked, or were too weathered to read. Hopefully, they're remembered in other means if their gravesite can't be that place for them.
             That was our last day on true vacation as we spent the rest of it traveling back home... Which there are some horror stories to be told on that section of the trip just alone.
             That's for another time 😉

❤CJ❤