Time to rise and shine! The Coffmans were up and going this morning to get to the ferry by 10 that would have taken us across to Fort Delaware State Park. Rain has settled in over DE though, and we decided that it would not be much fun to slop around out on the island. The ranger told us that half of the tour would be outside and since the other half of our day will be in the car, we opted to get the best view we could from shore. It is sad because this weekend was POW weekend with about 60 reenactors there, and it sounded like a very interesting park. It is located on Pea Patch Island in the middle of the Delaware River. During the Civil War, it served as a prison camp that held about 12,500 Confederate soldiers. The tours given take you through underground prison cells, and there is a Prison Camp Trail that can be hiked where one can view thousands of nesting herons and egrets. I guess we'll have to wait and view our yellow crested night herons in our own neighborhood when we return. ;)
This is really the first rain that we have encountered the entire trip. We did get sprinkled on a bit in Philadelphia yesterday, but we were usually in buildings so it was not that bad at all. We are now on our way back to PA to visit Lancaster's Amish country and the Hershey factory. MMMMMM!! Can't wait!
First stop back in PA was just outside of Kennett Square, the mushroom capital of the world. It is known as the such because mushroom farming in the region produces over a million pounds of mushrooms a year. After passing several stores that boasted of fresh mushrooms, Nathan couldn't help himself and pulled in. Never realized we had a mushroom capital too!
Just down the road in Gap, we spotted a sign on a little forgotten looking building that read "Mechanical Musical Memories" nickelodeons-music boxes-victrolas-player pianos-rolls. We weren't passed it far when Nathan said we should turn around and go back. We both have such a love of music and especially when it comes from rare treasures. We were afraid that they were closed because the parking lot was basically empty, but when we pulled in the door was open. There were two fellows in there, Mike and John, who were tinkering with their collections. We talked to them and told them about our interest, and they graciously began showing us through what was pretty much a museum. We were so fortunate to be able to share such a treasure with the kids. We heard REAL music boxes from the 1880's, made with such skill and precision that they are unmatched today. Some of the boxes were even detailed with fine inlay work in the wood - all done by hand. They took us in another room and shared the sounds of some of their nickelodeons, reminiscent of sounds you might hear in a saloon or dance hall of the early 1900's. The boys were getting excited and asked to hear the victrollas and player pianos. We even had the privilege of hearing a whistler. (Instead of playing notes, a bellows created a whistling sound as a hand carved man all puckered up turned his head back and forth.) I think the men thought it neat that the boys had such an interest as well, and for about 3 hours, we listened to a variety of music and many stories about these fascinating machines! Nathan said that of all we have done and seen, this was probably the highlight of it all!! I wish I had a way to share the sounds of the player pianos or music boxes with you!
Our travels slowed considerably through this part of PA, and we have decided that we will have to come back here and spend a week in this area alone. We were now making our way through anitque alley. It pained Nathan and Samuel to not be able to stop at everyone. Because it was nearly 5, most places were closing, and we knew we still had a lot of ground to cover.
I was amused at the many signs along the road in this part of PA along a sleeply two lane road. We spotted Beware of Aggressive Drivers and No Tailgating all through this area. I think PA messed up when they placed these signs in such a quiet and pleasant area. They should have posted this signs at every intersection in the Philly area! We went through a section of Amish country and were amused at the sights of all the horses and buggies - some even with children peeking out the back. We followed one buggy through a parking lot and saw it stop in front of a store to let a lady out. When the buggy pulled away and headed into a parking space Caleb spoke up and said, "OH!! It's parking!!" He and Samuel hadn't seen that there was a man in there driving the buggy and thought the horse just knew to "pull" into a parking spot. Often times the kids said that it looked as if no one was driving the buggy because the Amish wear such dark clothing and are seated back a bit in the buggy so they are hard to see. I imagine that it was because of the buggies that we saw so many of the signs.
Our final stop was in Hershey, PA. We took a tour (similar to an amusement park ride) that explained the whole process of the candy making production, from the growing of the cocao beans in Africa, Indonesia, and South America to the manufacturing and packing of the chocolates. The gift store was overwhelming with all the candy, food courts, souvenirs and people! They also have an amusement park in Hershey as well as the Gardens. This is another place that the boys could have easily spent several days, so PA will in the future have to be a vacation all its own.
Once on the road we managed to cover 3 more states. We left PA to drive into Maryland for about 10 miles, through West Virginia in 35 miles and then bedded down in Harrisonburg, VA for the night. We are now on the road headed in after a long fun-filled trip. But, oh, how nice it will be to get home and sleep in our own beds!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Philly
Oh how glad I am that we are finishing up in Philly tonight! The traffic here is HORRENDOUS!! Cabs pull right across in front of you. Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way in a crosswalk even if your light is green, so you must be prepared to stop on a dime if they wander out in front of you. There is lots of congestion, and SHAME ON YOU for driving your car into the city!! Most of the garages start at $4.50-$6.00 for the first 30 minutes. We just took a quick trip through Macy's and it cost us $12 to buy nothing!! We are now in the rain stopping and starting our way out of downtown Philly to locate a statue of Rocky in the art district.
We began our day with a visit to the Declaration House. Here we met Thomas Jefferson and listened to him tell us about when he wrote the Declaration of Independence in the Jacob Graff house where he rented some rooms. He too could not concentrate in what was then the heart of Philadelphia and had to find some peace and quiet on the outskirts of town. From here we headed a few blocks east to view the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
From there the tour continued to Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin is buried along with four other signers of the Declaration. Today, however, he was making an appearance (Kinda creepy, huh?) and visited with us for awhile. He told us of how he had tested his theory of electricity with his kite and key. He went on to tell about a time that he was going to test the ability to cook a turkey with electricity since he had seen other animals get cooked when they were struck by lightning on the farm. He had his batteries all connected and ready to attach to the turkey to complete his circuit when his son said something to him and distracted him. The last thing he remembered as he accidentally touched his contacts together was the smell of sulfur as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out for two hours. The moral of the story is to be careful with electricity because instead of cooking the turkey he almost cooked his own goose.
As we wandered the streets a little more we were able to see Betsy Ross's house and the U.S. Mint. Sadly they were not giving out free samples today. We made our way over to Penn's Landing where we were able to view the Spirit of Philadelphia and the Mashulu Restaurant located on a large replica of Christopher Columbus' boat on the Delaware River. (Unfortunately it was in this same river that the Ride the Ducks boat was hit by a barge yesterday and sunk. All on board were saved except 2 visiting from Hungary. The wreckage was trying to be retrieved today while we were there. I don't know whether it made national news, but it has been all over the news here.) It was from here that we went to Macy's to view the world's largest organ. We are going to grab a bite to eat and then head back for a 7:00 performance. I can only imagine the magnitude of the sound this organ will put out in this massive 7 story structure. http://www.wanamakerorgan.com/ states: In its present configuration, the Wanamaker Organ has 28,482 pipes in 461 ranks.[2] The organ console consists of six manuals with an array of stops and controls that command the organ. The organ's String Division forms the largest single organ chamber in the world. The instrument features eighty-eight ranks of string pipes built by the W.W. Kimball Company of Chicago.[2] The organ is famed for its orchestra-like sound, coming from pipes that are voiced softer than usual, allowing an unusually rich build-up because of the massing of pipe-tone families.
Well it was not an entirely free concert tonight since this time it cost us $18 for just over an hour of parking, but the concert was fabulous! He played about 4 different pieces and gave a 30 minute concert. He incorporated different voices in his songs and gave quite a display of the abilities of this grand instrument. We listened in awe as we stood across the room from all those pipes in the ladies' department of Macy's. After he was through playing we were able to meet the organist and get a close up view of the monstrous keyboard.
We are now near Delaware City, DE and have traveled about 3300 miles through 13 states and Canada. We have two more scheduled stops before heading home. We are certainly ready to wind it down. We have had a blast, but we are having an Oz moment - THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
We began our day with a visit to the Declaration House. Here we met Thomas Jefferson and listened to him tell us about when he wrote the Declaration of Independence in the Jacob Graff house where he rented some rooms. He too could not concentrate in what was then the heart of Philadelphia and had to find some peace and quiet on the outskirts of town. From here we headed a few blocks east to view the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
From there the tour continued to Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin is buried along with four other signers of the Declaration. Today, however, he was making an appearance (Kinda creepy, huh?) and visited with us for awhile. He told us of how he had tested his theory of electricity with his kite and key. He went on to tell about a time that he was going to test the ability to cook a turkey with electricity since he had seen other animals get cooked when they were struck by lightning on the farm. He had his batteries all connected and ready to attach to the turkey to complete his circuit when his son said something to him and distracted him. The last thing he remembered as he accidentally touched his contacts together was the smell of sulfur as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out for two hours. The moral of the story is to be careful with electricity because instead of cooking the turkey he almost cooked his own goose.
As we wandered the streets a little more we were able to see Betsy Ross's house and the U.S. Mint. Sadly they were not giving out free samples today. We made our way over to Penn's Landing where we were able to view the Spirit of Philadelphia and the Mashulu Restaurant located on a large replica of Christopher Columbus' boat on the Delaware River. (Unfortunately it was in this same river that the Ride the Ducks boat was hit by a barge yesterday and sunk. All on board were saved except 2 visiting from Hungary. The wreckage was trying to be retrieved today while we were there. I don't know whether it made national news, but it has been all over the news here.) It was from here that we went to Macy's to view the world's largest organ. We are going to grab a bite to eat and then head back for a 7:00 performance. I can only imagine the magnitude of the sound this organ will put out in this massive 7 story structure. http://www.wanamakerorgan.com/ states: In its present configuration, the Wanamaker Organ has 28,482 pipes in 461 ranks.[2] The organ console consists of six manuals with an array of stops and controls that command the organ. The organ's String Division forms the largest single organ chamber in the world. The instrument features eighty-eight ranks of string pipes built by the W.W. Kimball Company of Chicago.[2] The organ is famed for its orchestra-like sound, coming from pipes that are voiced softer than usual, allowing an unusually rich build-up because of the massing of pipe-tone families.
Well it was not an entirely free concert tonight since this time it cost us $18 for just over an hour of parking, but the concert was fabulous! He played about 4 different pieces and gave a 30 minute concert. He incorporated different voices in his songs and gave quite a display of the abilities of this grand instrument. We listened in awe as we stood across the room from all those pipes in the ladies' department of Macy's. After he was through playing we were able to meet the organist and get a close up view of the monstrous keyboard.
We are now near Delaware City, DE and have traveled about 3300 miles through 13 states and Canada. We have two more scheduled stops before heading home. We are certainly ready to wind it down. We have had a blast, but we are having an Oz moment - THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thomas Edison, West Orange, NJ
It wasn't just the lightbulb that this man invented! He had had labs, machine shops and production plants that took up 4 city blocks in West Orange, NJ along with a 20,000 sq. ft. home on 14 acres in the first gated community of the U.S. We toured his labs and library that are still filled as he left them when he died in 1931. The artifacts aren't a collection, but rather his compilation and arrangement. He had 1093 patents in his lifetime and made such an impact on our present day lives.
Light bulbs, movie projectors and screen, talking dolls, natural rubber, toasters, irons, phonographs, concrete improvements, time clocks, ediphones were just some of his inventions. He had a three story library in his lab that housed books on every subject imaginable so that he and his associates (muckers) would have access to all kinds of subjects. His wife even moved a bed into the library because he would spend so many hours there. The main lab was three floors and full of everything you could imagine. Edison believed in having a little of everything in case it might be needed for his inventions. He even worked to create an area where he could mass produce the ideas that he had sketched on paper. On the third floor was a room that was used to do some of the first recordings for phonographs in his sound lab. Another building on the campus was the Black Maria - a house on a turn table that could be rotated to keep sunlight on the house set for movies rather than having to do filming at noon only. There was even a pulley rigged to a section of the roof so that it too could be raised to allow more lighting on the set.
When we toured the Glenmont, his private home, we found it too to be all original. Built in the late 1800's, Edison lived here the last 44 years of his life with his wife and children. He purchased this house for $125,000. It had originally been built for $350,000 by an accounting clerk. As it turned out the clerk had embezzled the money from the company he worked for and when caught was made to turn house and all the contents over. It was from this company that Edison bought his home at such a low cost - considering. He later sold it for $1 to his wife so that if any financial troubles came his way, his family would still have a home and it could not be seized. There are 4 floors, 23 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, greenhouse, 10 car garage with a turntable. The house, still with original contents, had beautiful painted stained glass, woodwork, and furnishings. The upper 2 floors were for the staff, and they also had their own dining room (with piano and phonograph). The Edisons and Henry Ford were close friends and there were times Mr. Ford would stay with them for a week at a time. They were neighbors in Detroit as children, had houses next to each other in Dearbourn, MI and later Edison purchased a house in Fort Meyers with Ford purchasing one there as well. Henry Ford gave the family several cars as gifts, including a Model A, Locomobile (which Edison converted from gas to electric) and a 1914 Detroit diesel electric car. In the Edison's collection of cars there was also a 1937 Brewster. (Note - Edison died in '31. The Brewster was given to Charles Edison.) The garage was built using Edison's forms and improved concrete from his concrete company. There were living quarters above the garage and a working turn table on the main floor so that a car could be pulled in and turned to park off to the side thereby allowing up to 10 cars to be housed in this garage. Finally we toured a greenhouse that was full of a variety of plants with rows of grapes growing just outside.
It was a fascinating day to say the least!! From there we have made it to Philadelphia and are staying southwest of the city in Chester. We plan to visit Philadelphia tomorrow, but have already taken in a few sights as well as eating a Philly cheese steak sandwich.
Light bulbs, movie projectors and screen, talking dolls, natural rubber, toasters, irons, phonographs, concrete improvements, time clocks, ediphones were just some of his inventions. He had a three story library in his lab that housed books on every subject imaginable so that he and his associates (muckers) would have access to all kinds of subjects. His wife even moved a bed into the library because he would spend so many hours there. The main lab was three floors and full of everything you could imagine. Edison believed in having a little of everything in case it might be needed for his inventions. He even worked to create an area where he could mass produce the ideas that he had sketched on paper. On the third floor was a room that was used to do some of the first recordings for phonographs in his sound lab. Another building on the campus was the Black Maria - a house on a turn table that could be rotated to keep sunlight on the house set for movies rather than having to do filming at noon only. There was even a pulley rigged to a section of the roof so that it too could be raised to allow more lighting on the set.
When we toured the Glenmont, his private home, we found it too to be all original. Built in the late 1800's, Edison lived here the last 44 years of his life with his wife and children. He purchased this house for $125,000. It had originally been built for $350,000 by an accounting clerk. As it turned out the clerk had embezzled the money from the company he worked for and when caught was made to turn house and all the contents over. It was from this company that Edison bought his home at such a low cost - considering. He later sold it for $1 to his wife so that if any financial troubles came his way, his family would still have a home and it could not be seized. There are 4 floors, 23 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, greenhouse, 10 car garage with a turntable. The house, still with original contents, had beautiful painted stained glass, woodwork, and furnishings. The upper 2 floors were for the staff, and they also had their own dining room (with piano and phonograph). The Edisons and Henry Ford were close friends and there were times Mr. Ford would stay with them for a week at a time. They were neighbors in Detroit as children, had houses next to each other in Dearbourn, MI and later Edison purchased a house in Fort Meyers with Ford purchasing one there as well. Henry Ford gave the family several cars as gifts, including a Model A, Locomobile (which Edison converted from gas to electric) and a 1914 Detroit diesel electric car. In the Edison's collection of cars there was also a 1937 Brewster. (Note - Edison died in '31. The Brewster was given to Charles Edison.) The garage was built using Edison's forms and improved concrete from his concrete company. There were living quarters above the garage and a working turn table on the main floor so that a car could be pulled in and turned to park off to the side thereby allowing up to 10 cars to be housed in this garage. Finally we toured a greenhouse that was full of a variety of plants with rows of grapes growing just outside.
It was a fascinating day to say the least!! From there we have made it to Philadelphia and are staying southwest of the city in Chester. We plan to visit Philadelphia tomorrow, but have already taken in a few sights as well as eating a Philly cheese steak sandwich.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
NYC!!
WHEW!!! In a room for the evening in East Orange, NJ. Still have all three boys and no blisters on our feet after an ALL day excursion in NYC! We were hoofin' it!
We left Brewster this morning and our first stop was in Purchase, NY - world headquarters of Pepsico. After identifying ourselves, we received a warmer welcome than we were given at the Bush Compound ;) and were permitted to drive around and look at the campus. There were modern sculptures everywhere and nice natural landscaping. Then we came across a sign for an employee car wash area. There were also volleyball courts set up and basketball hoops. As we rode further we came upon some lady walking her dog and others enjoying the walking paths. Seemed like they really wanted to pamper the employees. Must say it was a very nice looking campus.
We arrived and parked our car in the Bronx and caught the 4 train into Bowling Green (NY not KY). I will say from the very start, we have not encountered any rude people up here anywhere in the north. Some are not as sappy sweet as southerners can be, but everyone we have asked for help/directions has been glad to take a moment and help us. We found a car lot in the Bronx where we could park for $10 for 12 hours. The cars were up on racks and packed in like sardines. When the fellow told us where the car would be parked, Nathan parked our truck himself. The owner came out to meet us and began questioning if we didn't trust them or something. No worries; we got parked, payed and received our tag...THEN they wanted our key! Are you kidding?! What do you need our truck key for? We were in a spot not blocking anyone in or in the racks, why would they need our key? We began having visions of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. To top off this initial experience, Nathan began asking the attendant for directions to Ground Zero, and the fella asked if we were looking for Grand Concourse. Regardless of what NYC sights we asked about he just shrugged and offered ideas of what we might be looking for - none of what WE recognized. He was trying to be helpful, just not having much luck with it. A business man seeing us head up the road asked if we needed assistance, and he directed us to the train but also suggested that we be back to get the car before dark since the area is not so nice after dark. We purchased our subway passes for the day and noticed that the machine instructed us to dip our card. We found this amusing since in the south our machines read swipe card.
Upon leaving the subway station, we headed to the park area to get our Statue of Liberty ferry tickets. (Monument tickets for the statue are like monument tickets in D.C., they must be ordered AT LEAST a week early in order to be able to have access.) We had not been in the park 5 minutes when a street performance broke loose. A fellow stripped out of his shorts down to his drawers to change into a different pair of shorts. (We were shocked! Welcome to NYC!) It was all part of the act and a way to draw attention, which it certainly did. We enjoyed the gymnastics and talents of these 5 guys as they interacted with the crowd and wowed us with their strength and skill.
We had to stand in line about 20-30 minutes waiting for the ferry but enjoyed more street musicians playing the steel drums or violin while we waited. We were able to walk around and gain a perspective of the size of Lady Liberty and how she towers over all those below. We also rode past Ellis Island. (We were permitted to get off and walk around here too but due to time chose not to.)
After returning to Manhattan, we had a street vendor paint our names for us, and then headed for Ground Zero. The area is closed off to traffic, and lots of construction was taking place. We asked questions about what was being built. The gentleman told us that there are plans to create two deep falls in the middle of a park type area where towers 1&2 stood. In the place of some of the smaller buildings, office buildings and a transportation hub, where it will all come together, will be built. The Freedom Tower is also under construction and will reach 1776 ft when complete - the tallest building in the U.S and the second tallest in the world after Dubai.
We attempted to see the Brooklyn Bridge up close and had hiked to one end, but we were unable to get a picturesque view. We have some pictures from our ferry ride, but the smog was a bit thick making our pictures a bit fuzzy. We grabbed the subway and rode to 5th and West 34th to see the Empire State Building. (Very good neck exercise!) We also found Macy's and some beautiful churches in this area before boarding another subway to Rockefeller Center. It was here that we came to the highlight of the day for the boys - LEGO!! They just opened a new store here last week. They had a blast here, and Nathan and I were relieved to sit for a bit. The next stop was almost as good. We took a spin through FAO Schwarz and let the boys tap dance on the Tom Hanks BIG keyboard. It is at the other end of this building where you see people waving in the window to be on CBS Early Show. We considered attempting this, but didn't get an early enough start.
PANT! PANT! PANT! Many bottles of water later and after much hiking we headed to Central Park. Couldn't call our visit complete without a visit here! It was fascinating how much the noise of the city was muffled once we were down in the park. We only walked a portion of it, but it was nice to hear the birds again and see the people relaxing on the lawn.
As night was beginning to settle in so were some of the homeless. They were creating their cardboard houses for the night on the building steps. We were now headed back to the subway in an attempt to change lines enough to end up back in the Bronx, and we did it!! YEA!! The boys were real troopers and held in there really well. We only had one frightening experience when we crossed a street. We were in the masses with everyone close together when all of a sudden a tour bus began honking. Caleb got caught up with a deer in the headlights look and then bumped into a pedestrian heading the opposite direction. Both caught in the path of the honking bus. It was all happening so quickly, but they got it straightened out and everyone out of the street as the tour bus blew through a red light, honking all the way! We never did figure that one out. All other intersection crossings (and there were many) went very smoothly! We feel accomplished in all we were able to see and do in a day but realize we only scratched the surface. No doubt about it though, NYC is a wonderful place for one of our favorite sports - people watching!
We left Brewster this morning and our first stop was in Purchase, NY - world headquarters of Pepsico. After identifying ourselves, we received a warmer welcome than we were given at the Bush Compound ;) and were permitted to drive around and look at the campus. There were modern sculptures everywhere and nice natural landscaping. Then we came across a sign for an employee car wash area. There were also volleyball courts set up and basketball hoops. As we rode further we came upon some lady walking her dog and others enjoying the walking paths. Seemed like they really wanted to pamper the employees. Must say it was a very nice looking campus.
We arrived and parked our car in the Bronx and caught the 4 train into Bowling Green (NY not KY). I will say from the very start, we have not encountered any rude people up here anywhere in the north. Some are not as sappy sweet as southerners can be, but everyone we have asked for help/directions has been glad to take a moment and help us. We found a car lot in the Bronx where we could park for $10 for 12 hours. The cars were up on racks and packed in like sardines. When the fellow told us where the car would be parked, Nathan parked our truck himself. The owner came out to meet us and began questioning if we didn't trust them or something. No worries; we got parked, payed and received our tag...THEN they wanted our key! Are you kidding?! What do you need our truck key for? We were in a spot not blocking anyone in or in the racks, why would they need our key? We began having visions of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. To top off this initial experience, Nathan began asking the attendant for directions to Ground Zero, and the fella asked if we were looking for Grand Concourse. Regardless of what NYC sights we asked about he just shrugged and offered ideas of what we might be looking for - none of what WE recognized. He was trying to be helpful, just not having much luck with it. A business man seeing us head up the road asked if we needed assistance, and he directed us to the train but also suggested that we be back to get the car before dark since the area is not so nice after dark. We purchased our subway passes for the day and noticed that the machine instructed us to dip our card. We found this amusing since in the south our machines read swipe card.
Upon leaving the subway station, we headed to the park area to get our Statue of Liberty ferry tickets. (Monument tickets for the statue are like monument tickets in D.C., they must be ordered AT LEAST a week early in order to be able to have access.) We had not been in the park 5 minutes when a street performance broke loose. A fellow stripped out of his shorts down to his drawers to change into a different pair of shorts. (We were shocked! Welcome to NYC!) It was all part of the act and a way to draw attention, which it certainly did. We enjoyed the gymnastics and talents of these 5 guys as they interacted with the crowd and wowed us with their strength and skill.
We had to stand in line about 20-30 minutes waiting for the ferry but enjoyed more street musicians playing the steel drums or violin while we waited. We were able to walk around and gain a perspective of the size of Lady Liberty and how she towers over all those below. We also rode past Ellis Island. (We were permitted to get off and walk around here too but due to time chose not to.)
After returning to Manhattan, we had a street vendor paint our names for us, and then headed for Ground Zero. The area is closed off to traffic, and lots of construction was taking place. We asked questions about what was being built. The gentleman told us that there are plans to create two deep falls in the middle of a park type area where towers 1&2 stood. In the place of some of the smaller buildings, office buildings and a transportation hub, where it will all come together, will be built. The Freedom Tower is also under construction and will reach 1776 ft when complete - the tallest building in the U.S and the second tallest in the world after Dubai.
We attempted to see the Brooklyn Bridge up close and had hiked to one end, but we were unable to get a picturesque view. We have some pictures from our ferry ride, but the smog was a bit thick making our pictures a bit fuzzy. We grabbed the subway and rode to 5th and West 34th to see the Empire State Building. (Very good neck exercise!) We also found Macy's and some beautiful churches in this area before boarding another subway to Rockefeller Center. It was here that we came to the highlight of the day for the boys - LEGO!! They just opened a new store here last week. They had a blast here, and Nathan and I were relieved to sit for a bit. The next stop was almost as good. We took a spin through FAO Schwarz and let the boys tap dance on the Tom Hanks BIG keyboard. It is at the other end of this building where you see people waving in the window to be on CBS Early Show. We considered attempting this, but didn't get an early enough start.
PANT! PANT! PANT! Many bottles of water later and after much hiking we headed to Central Park. Couldn't call our visit complete without a visit here! It was fascinating how much the noise of the city was muffled once we were down in the park. We only walked a portion of it, but it was nice to hear the birds again and see the people relaxing on the lawn.
As night was beginning to settle in so were some of the homeless. They were creating their cardboard houses for the night on the building steps. We were now headed back to the subway in an attempt to change lines enough to end up back in the Bronx, and we did it!! YEA!! The boys were real troopers and held in there really well. We only had one frightening experience when we crossed a street. We were in the masses with everyone close together when all of a sudden a tour bus began honking. Caleb got caught up with a deer in the headlights look and then bumped into a pedestrian heading the opposite direction. Both caught in the path of the honking bus. It was all happening so quickly, but they got it straightened out and everyone out of the street as the tour bus blew through a red light, honking all the way! We never did figure that one out. All other intersection crossings (and there were many) went very smoothly! We feel accomplished in all we were able to see and do in a day but realize we only scratched the surface. No doubt about it though, NYC is a wonderful place for one of our favorite sports - people watching!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Connecticut
We drove through the Groton, Mystic, Stonington, New London area this morning. This is the area that Dad was stationed in after he and Mom got married. We checked out more of the New England homes and drove to the Thames River where Dad's sub, USS Grouper, was docked. Sadly his sub has was decommissioned and scrapped in 1968. There is a submarine museum in this area but it was closed today. We were only able to view his base from the gate since it is now restricted due to 9/11. In Groton there is a US Submarine Veterans of WWII memorial that was very nice and recognizes all sub vets that have given their lives at sea for our freedoms.
From here we traveled northwest a bit to Preston, outside of Norwich. It was here that Mom and Dad lived while he was stationed here. The old convenience store on the corner is still there - though it has been added to it sounds. The house where they lived is no longer there, but we drove the entire street and enjoyed the scenery. The road reminds me of parts of Tchulohoma in Memphis with all the overhanging trees and undergrowth. Mom had said that it was probably an area covered now with subdivisions. Though there were some newer looking houses, it still feels quite secluded.
Next we were headed for New York, or so the boys thought. They have been asking to visit some church friends, Nicholas and Samuel, who moved up here several years ago ever since they knew we had crossed over into Connecticut. We kept putting them off and asking them if the boys weren't probably on their way to Memphis to visit family. I think they were figuring that we wouldn't be stopping. (Taylor, however, was getting smart to our plan by later this afternoon. He was a good sport though and kept it quiet.) When we exited the highway onto a gravel road they started asking questions about where we were going. Cleverly Nathan spotted another historical marker sign, started taking pictures of it and reading it to the boys. There was also a stone marker at the corner of the street engraved with NY. A bit confused the boys asked if we were now back in NY. I told them that I thought we were still in CT. As it turns out, Stateline Rd in New Fairfield, CT is truly that. One side is CT and the other is NY.
We enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour visit with the Loveras. What good times!! All five boys were able to run and play out back and build all kinds of Lego creations while the adults took some time to visit and catch up. We were so glad to be able to have stopped to see them. We couldn't imagine coming this far and missing them. There were several sad faces when we had to pack it back up and head down the road, but so glad for the time we did get. A deer even ventured out of the woods by their house as we were pulling out. We are settled down for the night in Brewster, NY, have grabbed a bite, and the boys even managed to get in some swimming. Better get in bed for the busy day to come!
From here we traveled northwest a bit to Preston, outside of Norwich. It was here that Mom and Dad lived while he was stationed here. The old convenience store on the corner is still there - though it has been added to it sounds. The house where they lived is no longer there, but we drove the entire street and enjoyed the scenery. The road reminds me of parts of Tchulohoma in Memphis with all the overhanging trees and undergrowth. Mom had said that it was probably an area covered now with subdivisions. Though there were some newer looking houses, it still feels quite secluded.
Next we were headed for New York, or so the boys thought. They have been asking to visit some church friends, Nicholas and Samuel, who moved up here several years ago ever since they knew we had crossed over into Connecticut. We kept putting them off and asking them if the boys weren't probably on their way to Memphis to visit family. I think they were figuring that we wouldn't be stopping. (Taylor, however, was getting smart to our plan by later this afternoon. He was a good sport though and kept it quiet.) When we exited the highway onto a gravel road they started asking questions about where we were going. Cleverly Nathan spotted another historical marker sign, started taking pictures of it and reading it to the boys. There was also a stone marker at the corner of the street engraved with NY. A bit confused the boys asked if we were now back in NY. I told them that I thought we were still in CT. As it turns out, Stateline Rd in New Fairfield, CT is truly that. One side is CT and the other is NY.
We enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour visit with the Loveras. What good times!! All five boys were able to run and play out back and build all kinds of Lego creations while the adults took some time to visit and catch up. We were so glad to be able to have stopped to see them. We couldn't imagine coming this far and missing them. There were several sad faces when we had to pack it back up and head down the road, but so glad for the time we did get. A deer even ventured out of the woods by their house as we were pulling out. We are settled down for the night in Brewster, NY, have grabbed a bite, and the boys even managed to get in some swimming. Better get in bed for the busy day to come!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Boston Harbor/Plymouth, MA/Mystic, CT
This morning before we left Boston, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to see Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. This was a big event for Taylor; he was thrilled to get to see the stadium since he has a friend who played for the Boston Red Sox (in Southaven, MS)!
Then we were off to the tea party in the Boston Harbor where we toured the USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) and the destroyer USS Cassin Young. The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel. USS Cassin Young (DD-793), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Captain Cassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at Pearl Harbor and killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Caleb also discovered loads of jellyfish just off the boats which were quite interesting to watch - from a distance.
Heading down the road, we came to Plymouth, MA. We wandered through some of the stores, saw the Mayflower II, and Plymouth Rock. The rock is much smaller than you might imagine and has been placed in a monument area. It was cracked when it was moved from its original position and has been patched back together. It was fun to see the names of the streets and stores that commemorated the early settlers. We spent an hour or so just enjoying the sounds of the birds and the shade of Brewster Park while the boys stretched and played. (Side note in birds. We have seen several loons. This is where the name for the Canadian loonie comes from. It is equal to our $1. They love these birds so much that they extended the name to their $2 coin - the toonie.)
A bit a trivia for you - when traveling I-95, it only takes 40 minutes to cross the state of Rhode Island. We are now in Mystic, CT for the evening and have enjoyed some of the sights on this coast too. Looking forward to a busy day tomorrow.
Then we were off to the tea party in the Boston Harbor where we toured the USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) and the destroyer USS Cassin Young. The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel. USS Cassin Young (DD-793), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Captain Cassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at Pearl Harbor and killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Caleb also discovered loads of jellyfish just off the boats which were quite interesting to watch - from a distance.
Heading down the road, we came to Plymouth, MA. We wandered through some of the stores, saw the Mayflower II, and Plymouth Rock. The rock is much smaller than you might imagine and has been placed in a monument area. It was cracked when it was moved from its original position and has been patched back together. It was fun to see the names of the streets and stores that commemorated the early settlers. We spent an hour or so just enjoying the sounds of the birds and the shade of Brewster Park while the boys stretched and played. (Side note in birds. We have seen several loons. This is where the name for the Canadian loonie comes from. It is equal to our $1. They love these birds so much that they extended the name to their $2 coin - the toonie.)
A bit a trivia for you - when traveling I-95, it only takes 40 minutes to cross the state of Rhode Island. We are now in Mystic, CT for the evening and have enjoyed some of the sights on this coast too. Looking forward to a busy day tomorrow.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Gloucester, ME/Salem, MA/Boston, MA
We started the day at the Hammond Castle in Gloucester. John Hays Hammond, Jr. built his medieval-style castle between the years 1926 and 1929 to serve both as his home and as a backdrop for his collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts. In addition, the building housed the Hammond Research Corporation, from which Dr. Hammond produced over 400 patents and the ideas for over 800 inventions. Second only to Thomas Alva Edison in number of patents, John Hammond was one of America's premier inventors. His most important work was the development of remote control via radio waves, which earned him the title, "The Father of Remote Control."
As we began our tour through the castle, we climbed about 85 steps up into a turret, stopping to see the sights along the way. As we wound our way up we would find more sections of the castle off to the side that we would have to detour to explore. The castle was massive and filled with some very interesting antiques. It was a self guided tour that took us about 2 hours to complete. The boys had a terrific time letting their imaginations run wild as they searched out all the secret hatches that might cause you to disappear into the dungeon or another room. There was a BEAUTIFUL atrium that housed a pool and many different plants and fountains. The rooms that surrounded this had windows on three different floors that allowed us to hear the running water. The landscape was so full of color and variety. (And although I saw a chipmunk, Mom, they still managed to keep their plants. I should have found the groundskeeper and asked his secret!) An 8600 pipe organ was what had initially attracted us to this sight, but there was much more to be offered besides. We were sad to learn that we would not be able to hear this astounding organ, but they are cautious about playing it because of the instability of the roof which will begin restoration this week. I was glad, however, to find a sampling on YouTube.
From Gloucester it was just down the road to Salem - a 45 minute drive. We have been there now, seen it, and didn't like it; so we moved on.
The rest of our day has been spent in Boston. We decided it would be wise to try to go ahead and get a room early. Nathan got us a room at Boston Hotel Buckminster which was built in 1897 - one of the first in the Boston area. It sits on a triangular intersection. At the time it was built it was the largest building in the Kenmore Square area. We grabbed a quick bite and headed for the Charles River. After camping out for a bit on a ramp by the Harvard Bridge, a whole group of us was cleared off and told we would not be able to stay there, but fortunately we were able to find a little grassy spot between that bridge and the Longfellow bridge. We were able to hear Boston Pops/Toby Keith off and on initially. We were also being serenaded by a little blues music offered up by some college kids near us. (Found it ironic that we have traveled 2000 miles from the home of the blues, yet that is what we were hearing in Boston!) Just before the fireworks kicked off, the Boston Pops kicked it up a notch and we were able to hear the patriotic favorites quite well. Our rumps were a bit numb from sitting on the banks for 4 hours, but we sure did enjoy the view once it all got underway. What a privilege to get to be here to celebrate. The lights were spectacular and the sound shook us to the core. We even felt it move our hair a few times. Happy Birthday, America!! What a celebration!!
We finally made it back safely to our room, but the masses of people were unlike anything we have ever been in! We were literally elbow to elbow for blocks. I read somewhere that they were expecting 800,000 people to be here tonight. Things finally started to thin; then we had to watch for those that had made it back to their cars and were now making their ways into the crowds. With all three boys hand in hand, we flowed through the current and finally found a small stream that poured to our hotel. Ahhh, to be in the room and be able to breathe and stretch. Night all!
As we began our tour through the castle, we climbed about 85 steps up into a turret, stopping to see the sights along the way. As we wound our way up we would find more sections of the castle off to the side that we would have to detour to explore. The castle was massive and filled with some very interesting antiques. It was a self guided tour that took us about 2 hours to complete. The boys had a terrific time letting their imaginations run wild as they searched out all the secret hatches that might cause you to disappear into the dungeon or another room. There was a BEAUTIFUL atrium that housed a pool and many different plants and fountains. The rooms that surrounded this had windows on three different floors that allowed us to hear the running water. The landscape was so full of color and variety. (And although I saw a chipmunk, Mom, they still managed to keep their plants. I should have found the groundskeeper and asked his secret!) An 8600 pipe organ was what had initially attracted us to this sight, but there was much more to be offered besides. We were sad to learn that we would not be able to hear this astounding organ, but they are cautious about playing it because of the instability of the roof which will begin restoration this week. I was glad, however, to find a sampling on YouTube.
From Gloucester it was just down the road to Salem - a 45 minute drive. We have been there now, seen it, and didn't like it; so we moved on.
The rest of our day has been spent in Boston. We decided it would be wise to try to go ahead and get a room early. Nathan got us a room at Boston Hotel Buckminster which was built in 1897 - one of the first in the Boston area. It sits on a triangular intersection. At the time it was built it was the largest building in the Kenmore Square area. We grabbed a quick bite and headed for the Charles River. After camping out for a bit on a ramp by the Harvard Bridge, a whole group of us was cleared off and told we would not be able to stay there, but fortunately we were able to find a little grassy spot between that bridge and the Longfellow bridge. We were able to hear Boston Pops/Toby Keith off and on initially. We were also being serenaded by a little blues music offered up by some college kids near us. (Found it ironic that we have traveled 2000 miles from the home of the blues, yet that is what we were hearing in Boston!) Just before the fireworks kicked off, the Boston Pops kicked it up a notch and we were able to hear the patriotic favorites quite well. Our rumps were a bit numb from sitting on the banks for 4 hours, but we sure did enjoy the view once it all got underway. What a privilege to get to be here to celebrate. The lights were spectacular and the sound shook us to the core. We even felt it move our hair a few times. Happy Birthday, America!! What a celebration!!
We finally made it back safely to our room, but the masses of people were unlike anything we have ever been in! We were literally elbow to elbow for blocks. I read somewhere that they were expecting 800,000 people to be here tonight. Things finally started to thin; then we had to watch for those that had made it back to their cars and were now making their ways into the crowds. With all three boys hand in hand, we flowed through the current and finally found a small stream that poured to our hotel. Ahhh, to be in the room and be able to breathe and stretch. Night all!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Lighthouses of ME and Kennebunkport
We had a leisurely start this morning after the quick showers and grabbed a bite to eat in Saco. Know what folks eat for breakfast along the coast of Maine? Baygulls!! :)
From here we drove a bit back north to visit the lighthouses in South Portland. We were a bit disappointed when we drove up to what we thought was the most visited lighthouse. We first visited Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse which stands only 54 feet above sea level. Nathan said that it looked as if it had sunk into the ocean. The folks there said that this particular style of lighthouse was mass produced and that there were 46 others made exactly like it that could be easily assembled like an erector set. Nathan, Taylor, Samuel and I were all able to go up inside and see how the keepers lived. (Sadly Caleb was not quite tall enough, but he was big about it!) The rocks leading out to the lighthouse were all granite. We couldn't help but imagine how pretty it would be in our kitchen. (Up here they even use granite for their curbs!!) The sailboats out here were amazing, and the lighthouse is still very much in use today. After leaving this lighthouse it was on to the Portland Head Light. This lighthouse fit our idea of what a lighthouse should look like. We were told that that was one other nearby but that it was actually shorter than the first one we had seen.
Next we were on to Keenebunk. Here we found many more beautiful homes and fun looking little shops.
We drove on out to Kennebunkport in search of the Bush compound. It was not clearly marked as such, but had a guard shack, so we pulled in to ask if we had found the right place. The fella was not so friendly, indicated that this was it, and told us that we needed to back up. So we did. We were able to go down the road a bit and get some good pictures of it though. It takes up the entire peninsula. While in Kennebunk, we also saw Waldow Emerson's home built in 1796. We also saw the Wedding Cake House. Legend has it that the man who built this house was a mariner who had to quickly leave his bride to go the sea before they had even had their wedding cake. While he was at sea, he carved all the woodwork for this home and came back to build a wedding cake house for his bride.
We are now in Gloucester, MA. We were hoping to get here in time for a particular attraction, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For tonight, as we were following our GPS, we managed to run right into a parade route, so we stopped to enjoy the festivites. It was a nice long parade with several fun floats and a few "colorful" ones. We also enjoyed several school bands and a bagpipe band. Then once it was over, we hopped back in the truck and successfully became a part of the parade. We fell in line and followed it through to the end. Caleb was hollering out the window, "Happy 4th from Memphis!" One guy saw the truck with the topper and said, "Cool, look at the SUV!" That was ceratinly not part of our agenda for the day, but a fun way to wind it down!
From here we drove a bit back north to visit the lighthouses in South Portland. We were a bit disappointed when we drove up to what we thought was the most visited lighthouse. We first visited Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse which stands only 54 feet above sea level. Nathan said that it looked as if it had sunk into the ocean. The folks there said that this particular style of lighthouse was mass produced and that there were 46 others made exactly like it that could be easily assembled like an erector set. Nathan, Taylor, Samuel and I were all able to go up inside and see how the keepers lived. (Sadly Caleb was not quite tall enough, but he was big about it!) The rocks leading out to the lighthouse were all granite. We couldn't help but imagine how pretty it would be in our kitchen. (Up here they even use granite for their curbs!!) The sailboats out here were amazing, and the lighthouse is still very much in use today. After leaving this lighthouse it was on to the Portland Head Light. This lighthouse fit our idea of what a lighthouse should look like. We were told that that was one other nearby but that it was actually shorter than the first one we had seen.
Next we were on to Keenebunk. Here we found many more beautiful homes and fun looking little shops.
We drove on out to Kennebunkport in search of the Bush compound. It was not clearly marked as such, but had a guard shack, so we pulled in to ask if we had found the right place. The fella was not so friendly, indicated that this was it, and told us that we needed to back up. So we did. We were able to go down the road a bit and get some good pictures of it though. It takes up the entire peninsula. While in Kennebunk, we also saw Waldow Emerson's home built in 1796. We also saw the Wedding Cake House. Legend has it that the man who built this house was a mariner who had to quickly leave his bride to go the sea before they had even had their wedding cake. While he was at sea, he carved all the woodwork for this home and came back to build a wedding cake house for his bride.
We are now in Gloucester, MA. We were hoping to get here in time for a particular attraction, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For tonight, as we were following our GPS, we managed to run right into a parade route, so we stopped to enjoy the festivites. It was a nice long parade with several fun floats and a few "colorful" ones. We also enjoyed several school bands and a bagpipe band. Then once it was over, we hopped back in the truck and successfully became a part of the parade. We fell in line and followed it through to the end. Caleb was hollering out the window, "Happy 4th from Memphis!" One guy saw the truck with the topper and said, "Cool, look at the SUV!" That was ceratinly not part of our agenda for the day, but a fun way to wind it down!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Bar Harbor, ME
We left out of KOA and headed for Seal Island and Cadillac Mountain. The sights were breathtaking! From the top of Cadillac Mountain (named for the same fella who founded Detroit, MI and later the luxury car Cadillac was named after him) it seemed you could see forever. At 1,532 feet, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. On a clear day, it is possible to see Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain, to the north and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia to the east, both over one hundred miles away. This pink granite mountain is riddled with paths and panoramic views. The sun felt so good up there as well. Nice to stretch out and soak it up! (The past couple of days have been chillish.) We ate at a restaurant overlooking a bay. Much fun watching the sea gulls come and go. Very much a dog friendly place as well. Folks here seem to take their dogs with them everywhere they go. (Sure miss ours!) As we walked the shore line in Bar Harbor, the boys enjoyed running along the rocky shore looking for more sea life, and we enjoyed seeing the many rock sculptures that people had made. This seems to be a past time for folks around here. The rocks are so flat that one can stack them into fun little towers. It's almost like a natural game of Blockhead.
After we left Bar Harbor we were headed for Saco, ME (pronounced like taco not Waco). We arrived just in time to grab a pizza and head to the Saco Drive-In where we caught a double feature (Toy Story 3 and Karate Kid II). This drive-in is the second oldest drive-in operating in the U.S.. It was started back in 1938 and will hold 500 cars. As we sat watching the kids' movies there was a horror show playing just outside my window! Apparently the mosquitos didn't get the word that the temps here are a bit cooler! They were literally lining up along the rim of the window hoping to gain entrance to an all you could eat Coffman buffet! I tried swatting at them several times till I realized they were all outside.
With the movies ending at 1:10 a.m., we wearily made it back to our hotel and collapsed only to receive a call at 9:56 a.m. informing us that check out was at 10. AARRRGGGHHHH!! We were so tired that we didn't bother to charge phones or computer last night, but we quickly grabbed some showers and were out by 10:30. Fortunately there was not a late charge.
After we left Bar Harbor we were headed for Saco, ME (pronounced like taco not Waco). We arrived just in time to grab a pizza and head to the Saco Drive-In where we caught a double feature (Toy Story 3 and Karate Kid II). This drive-in is the second oldest drive-in operating in the U.S.. It was started back in 1938 and will hold 500 cars. As we sat watching the kids' movies there was a horror show playing just outside my window! Apparently the mosquitos didn't get the word that the temps here are a bit cooler! They were literally lining up along the rim of the window hoping to gain entrance to an all you could eat Coffman buffet! I tried swatting at them several times till I realized they were all outside.
With the movies ending at 1:10 a.m., we wearily made it back to our hotel and collapsed only to receive a call at 9:56 a.m. informing us that check out was at 10. AARRRGGGHHHH!! We were so tired that we didn't bother to charge phones or computer last night, but we quickly grabbed some showers and were out by 10:30. Fortunately there was not a late charge.
Bangor, Trenton, Maine
Hello everyone out there keeping up with "Where in the world are the Coffmans'." We had a fun fun time on Thursday, July 1, 2010. Sorry for the late post. Once we arrived in Trenton there was no signal for our phones or internet connection. (Withdrawals) What did we ever do before the internet? Well now for the update. We left Skowhegan, ME Thursday morning and drove and drove and drove. We stopped at yard sales and antique shops along the way. What was suppose to take 2.5 hours took all day. We stopped in Bangor, ME. Bangor is the home town of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox. We were going to stop and take pictures of the statue of Paul but was distracted by visiting the home of Steven King. Wow what a home. Complete with a double wrought iron gate shaped like a spiders web with a spider on it(see pictures).We finally arrived at Trenton, ME around 5:30 pm. We stopped at an interesting place and had to come back and watch the show. It was called Timber Tina's Lumber Jack show. They entertained us with many different displays of skill including crosscut sawing competition, axe chopping competition, timber climbing, undercut sawing, axe throwing and log rolling competition. They finished it off with chain saw carving and played the Beverly Hillbillies theme song. They don't have anything on us southerners. I was looking to fulfill a life long craving about going to Maine and eating the largest LOBSTER that I could possibly find. Well we succeeded. We stopped at a place called Down East (Down East Maine) Lobster Pound. This particular pound let you pick out the lobster of your choice and they would steam it instead of boiling it. It is said that steaming it as opposed to boiling it helps to retain the flavor better. Christy could not stand the smell. I compared her experience with the paella that she fixed for us and Marty. Very fishy smelling. Marty opted to go to Subway while the smell left the building. Christy would have gladly done the same if she would have known where a Subway was at the time. She sat at the table with us and covered her nose with a Snuggie. LOL We selected 3 lobsters all of which weighed 3.25 lbs each. They were huge. They cooked them and then brought them to us with a bowl of butter, a roll, corn on the cob and cole slaw. Hmm? Sounds like sides for BBQ. No BBQ sauce though. It was all I thought it would be and more. It is comparable to Al's craving for cheesecake. LOL We stayed at the Bar Harbor KOA and pitched a tent right on the beach. I woke up at 5 am to see that the tide had come in and was about 10 feet from our tent front. I took some pictures and went back to sleep. I got up around 7am and went for a strole on the beach with my wonderful wife. Did you know that on July 27th we will be married for 14 years! I'm such a blessed man to have the privledge of God allowing me to share the last 14 years of my life with my beautiful, loving, caring wife. I know gag get on with the update. She is the love of my life and I just wanted to take a moment to share how much she means to me. Thanks for that. Well any way we started walking and all of a sudden the boys came running out of the tent. We moved mound after mound of sea weed and found baby lobsters, crab, mussells, oysters, barnacles etc. Taylor found out what it was like to be clamped down on by a crab. Ouch!! Please see pictures for this day. Well that is all for now. Christy will post pictures shortly. Please tune in later for July 2nd and all the fun we had at Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain and more. Bye for now. Nathan
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Bridges of New England
Wow! What a day!! We awoke around 5:30 this morning. With the sun shining in all the truck windows. There was no sleeping in today. That worked well for us though because we had a long fun filled day of bridge hunting.
Our first stop was back in Middlebury to take pictures of the Newhart Bed and Breakfast. (The front of the building was all that was used. The rest was a set.) I also checked to see if Pine Tree, VT really existed, so we could visit the location of White Christmas, but it, like WKRP in Cincinnati, was a fictitious locations.
Again we took in the sights of beautiful houses in VT, NH, and ME, but we also added a covered bridge hunt to our itinerary. We have a VT map that showed the basic locations of all the covered bridges, (There are about 100 in VT alone.) but they were not always so easy to find. We managed to scope out a total of 11 in VT, NH, and ME. I have to say NH and ME are a lot more helpful with the placement of signs to direct you to these hidden treasures.
Our first big stop of the day was in Rutland, VT. My great-grandfather settled here with his parents after arriving from Ireland. We were unable to access the local cemetery because it was closed with no trespassing signs, but we did drive through the entire area and take in the sights and historic buildings - certainly a beautiful place to settle!
One of the most interesting bridges that we crossed was the Cornish-Windsor Bridge. It is the longest covered bridge in the U.S. and the longest two-span bridge in the world. It was built in 1866 and warned that "you must walk your horses or pay two dollars fine." This bridge crosses the Connecticut River and connects VT and NH.
We began seeing signs in NH warning about moose. We were sad to not see any today; what a tease! I had commented that traveling east was not proving to be near the safari type trip that our trips out west have been. At one point, we veered off the GPS route to chase down another bridge. Our helpful lady spoke up and said bear right. When she says this the kids perk up and say moose left. This time, however, when she said bear right, I interrupted her and said, "No, bear left!!" A black bear was crossing the road right in front of us!! What fun! We also saw a raccoon making his way across the road this evening.
We went about a mile further down the road and visited our last bridge of the day in ME. We all piled out and went to walk across this bridge and view the sights below. How I wish we had had the camera ready when Caleb started down a steep rock and found a slick spot. He created his own slip and slide. He managed to stay on his feet all the way down, teeter at the bottom and catch himself before going completely in. After the initial shock, he looked like he thought it was great fun! Not five minutes later, Samuel and Taylor were precariously working their was across the rocks in the stream when Samuel too lost his footing. He wasn't able to make quite the save Caleb had. He ended up with a soaked shirt and pants. (The temps. around here have been in the mid 60's to low 70's, so he got to change clothes before getting on the road again.)
We arrived in Skowhegan, ME around 9:30 and found a nice little motel. The boys were thrilled to stop, though they have been being great travelers and even had the giggles a good bit of the day. There was enough time for them to get in a little bit of a swim. We have now traveled between 1850-1900 miles. We passed through Mexico and considered driving through Peru. The drive today was long with out as many miles covered, partly because of all the little stops we made but also because we weren't on interstates. Our speed ranged from 25-55 mph on the smaller state highways, but this is the way to truly see America. Grand sights can be seen of the mountains from the interstates, but the character and details of America are off the beaten paths. We should be on the coast by tomorrow. We only show that we have about 100 miles to go, but the GPS tells us that it will take us at least another two hours.
Our first stop was back in Middlebury to take pictures of the Newhart Bed and Breakfast. (The front of the building was all that was used. The rest was a set.) I also checked to see if Pine Tree, VT really existed, so we could visit the location of White Christmas, but it, like WKRP in Cincinnati, was a fictitious locations.
Again we took in the sights of beautiful houses in VT, NH, and ME, but we also added a covered bridge hunt to our itinerary. We have a VT map that showed the basic locations of all the covered bridges, (There are about 100 in VT alone.) but they were not always so easy to find. We managed to scope out a total of 11 in VT, NH, and ME. I have to say NH and ME are a lot more helpful with the placement of signs to direct you to these hidden treasures.
Our first big stop of the day was in Rutland, VT. My great-grandfather settled here with his parents after arriving from Ireland. We were unable to access the local cemetery because it was closed with no trespassing signs, but we did drive through the entire area and take in the sights and historic buildings - certainly a beautiful place to settle!
One of the most interesting bridges that we crossed was the Cornish-Windsor Bridge. It is the longest covered bridge in the U.S. and the longest two-span bridge in the world. It was built in 1866 and warned that "you must walk your horses or pay two dollars fine." This bridge crosses the Connecticut River and connects VT and NH.
We began seeing signs in NH warning about moose. We were sad to not see any today; what a tease! I had commented that traveling east was not proving to be near the safari type trip that our trips out west have been. At one point, we veered off the GPS route to chase down another bridge. Our helpful lady spoke up and said bear right. When she says this the kids perk up and say moose left. This time, however, when she said bear right, I interrupted her and said, "No, bear left!!" A black bear was crossing the road right in front of us!! What fun! We also saw a raccoon making his way across the road this evening.
We went about a mile further down the road and visited our last bridge of the day in ME. We all piled out and went to walk across this bridge and view the sights below. How I wish we had had the camera ready when Caleb started down a steep rock and found a slick spot. He created his own slip and slide. He managed to stay on his feet all the way down, teeter at the bottom and catch himself before going completely in. After the initial shock, he looked like he thought it was great fun! Not five minutes later, Samuel and Taylor were precariously working their was across the rocks in the stream when Samuel too lost his footing. He wasn't able to make quite the save Caleb had. He ended up with a soaked shirt and pants. (The temps. around here have been in the mid 60's to low 70's, so he got to change clothes before getting on the road again.)
We arrived in Skowhegan, ME around 9:30 and found a nice little motel. The boys were thrilled to stop, though they have been being great travelers and even had the giggles a good bit of the day. There was enough time for them to get in a little bit of a swim. We have now traveled between 1850-1900 miles. We passed through Mexico and considered driving through Peru. The drive today was long with out as many miles covered, partly because of all the little stops we made but also because we weren't on interstates. Our speed ranged from 25-55 mph on the smaller state highways, but this is the way to truly see America. Grand sights can be seen of the mountains from the interstates, but the character and details of America are off the beaten paths. We should be on the coast by tomorrow. We only show that we have about 100 miles to go, but the GPS tells us that it will take us at least another two hours.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Spontaneity - Where will it lead you?
Well we have discovered that if you want to make a trip within a 1000 miles radius, you CAN go to Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada from Memphis. We currently have traveled through 6 states and another country in the first 3 days and 1480 miles. How about that! We were so glad to have taken our chances and to have gotten into Canada - even without passports. The view from that side was amazing!! From what we could tell we would have only seen about half of it from the NY side. (We opted not to take up more time this morning to go to the NY side. We could see from the bridge, the limited view people were getting.) We did, however, get up this morning and take a ride on the Maid of the Mist right up into the base of the falls. At first we were just getting a nice little mist from the American Falls, but as we turned around in the basin of Niagara (Horseshoe Falls), our legs and feet got soaked. The lovely blue plastic slickers shielded the rest of us. It was quite the experience!
Afterwards we walked along the strip and did a bit of sightseeing. The fudge from the Hershey Store was quite tasty, and we were intrigued watching a fella perform his yo-yo stunts outside of Guinness World Records Museum. We took a peek at a place called Block City with lots of Lego creations and then made our way back to our car.
We were a bit apprehensive as to the reception we might receive when we got to the American border. The guy asked for our passports/id. When we handed him our drivers licenses and shot records for the boys he replied, "They let you in with this?! hmmm" It was a relief when he came back to the car and granted us access to our mother land. We simply aren't cut out to be aliens. (That's taking being green a bit to far!!) Goofy looking as we are, he decided to take his chances on us.
We left out heading for Rutland, VT which meant we had to cross the entire length of NY. I really enjoyed the sights much better once we began to reach the mountains. (I am no doubt a mountain kinda gal! I love the Rockies and the Appalachians - with or without trees, they are just beautiful to me!!) We took a couple of detours off the toll road to investigate and get better views of some lovely old homes/communities some dating back to the 1800's. We finally paid our last toll to the troll as Taylor said and continued into Vermont.
We have seen so many homes that have us in awe! Some were fixer uppers and others had already been restored. One of my favorite things about old homes is the lead glass and the windows that look wavy when you drive by. So much fun to see them and the landscaping!
As we drew closer to Rutland, Nathan said we should go ahead and drive on into Middlebury, VT - a place I had mapped out to go see our first covered bridge. A little sleuthing had also led us to discover that is where the bed and breakfast from the Newhart Show was located. I was driving and following the helpful direction of our TomTom with full trust in where she was taking us. We left the interstate to take a windy state highway. As I approached my next turn I was hopeful that we would get back to better roads, yet my next turn landed me on a gravel type road. After following it a bit, we stumbled upon our first covered bridge...SCORE!!! We did find the b/b, but they did not have a room large enough to accommodate us. The lady was very helpful though and invited us to come back in the morning to get some pictures in the daylight. (It was about 9:30 when we pulled in.) We pulled into the sleepy town of Middlebury (home of only 2-3 traffic lights) and decided that perhaps we should start with food first. We found the only local place still open and grabbed a bite while others out front were playing hacky sack or downstairs singing karaoke. After supper we were off to find lodging. Well, it is now 12:30, and this little town went to bed 3 hours ago!! Even the little hotels that have their vacancy signs lit, are not answering their doors. Hmmm...where we will we lay our heads tonight? (We have already checked out the nearest campground - it was WAY down in the boonies, and with no real lighting we couldn't tell where or what we might be sleeping in, near, or on.) Life can't be too dull when you live spontaneously.
I will try to work on pics tomorrow. I am posting them on fb for now, as it seems to be easier and faster to download them. We have found a quaint little parking spot at the Magic Wok Chinese and Thai cuisine that will have to "Thai"d us over for the evening. (Gotta spend at least one night in the truck for a bit of adventure, right?) Night all!
Afterwards we walked along the strip and did a bit of sightseeing. The fudge from the Hershey Store was quite tasty, and we were intrigued watching a fella perform his yo-yo stunts outside of Guinness World Records Museum. We took a peek at a place called Block City with lots of Lego creations and then made our way back to our car.
We were a bit apprehensive as to the reception we might receive when we got to the American border. The guy asked for our passports/id. When we handed him our drivers licenses and shot records for the boys he replied, "They let you in with this?! hmmm" It was a relief when he came back to the car and granted us access to our mother land. We simply aren't cut out to be aliens. (That's taking being green a bit to far!!) Goofy looking as we are, he decided to take his chances on us.
We left out heading for Rutland, VT which meant we had to cross the entire length of NY. I really enjoyed the sights much better once we began to reach the mountains. (I am no doubt a mountain kinda gal! I love the Rockies and the Appalachians - with or without trees, they are just beautiful to me!!) We took a couple of detours off the toll road to investigate and get better views of some lovely old homes/communities some dating back to the 1800's. We finally paid our last toll to the troll as Taylor said and continued into Vermont.
We have seen so many homes that have us in awe! Some were fixer uppers and others had already been restored. One of my favorite things about old homes is the lead glass and the windows that look wavy when you drive by. So much fun to see them and the landscaping!
As we drew closer to Rutland, Nathan said we should go ahead and drive on into Middlebury, VT - a place I had mapped out to go see our first covered bridge. A little sleuthing had also led us to discover that is where the bed and breakfast from the Newhart Show was located. I was driving and following the helpful direction of our TomTom with full trust in where she was taking us. We left the interstate to take a windy state highway. As I approached my next turn I was hopeful that we would get back to better roads, yet my next turn landed me on a gravel type road. After following it a bit, we stumbled upon our first covered bridge...SCORE!!! We did find the b/b, but they did not have a room large enough to accommodate us. The lady was very helpful though and invited us to come back in the morning to get some pictures in the daylight. (It was about 9:30 when we pulled in.) We pulled into the sleepy town of Middlebury (home of only 2-3 traffic lights) and decided that perhaps we should start with food first. We found the only local place still open and grabbed a bite while others out front were playing hacky sack or downstairs singing karaoke. After supper we were off to find lodging. Well, it is now 12:30, and this little town went to bed 3 hours ago!! Even the little hotels that have their vacancy signs lit, are not answering their doors. Hmmm...where we will we lay our heads tonight? (We have already checked out the nearest campground - it was WAY down in the boonies, and with no real lighting we couldn't tell where or what we might be sleeping in, near, or on.) Life can't be too dull when you live spontaneously.
I will try to work on pics tomorrow. I am posting them on fb for now, as it seems to be easier and faster to download them. We have found a quaint little parking spot at the Magic Wok Chinese and Thai cuisine that will have to "Thai"d us over for the evening. (Gotta spend at least one night in the truck for a bit of adventure, right?) Night all!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Nous sommes arrivés!
We began our journey around 10 at the Lego store and then drove up into some Amish country for lunch. Made a quick little trip through PA where we saw a few windmills and lots of grape vineyards and then into NY in hopes of seeing Niagara Falls. We did some sight seeing in Buffalo, NY - again loving the variety in architecture! Then we decided to see what would happen if we took the toll road towards Canada. We figured worst case scenario they would turn us around and send us back. (We brought no birth certificates or passports.) They asked what id we had with us, and we showed them our driver's licenses. They asked why we were coming over and how long we would be here. Then they had us pull over and talk with border services. They checked our history and asked what id we had for the boys. All I could come up with was shot records, but they were satisfied with that. They searched our car, and Samuel's biggest worry was that they would see his underwear when they screened his bag! ;) We have thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. We were able to see some beautiful views of American Falls and Niagara Falls. We took the tour behind the falls tonight and will ride Maid of the Mist tomorrow before heading back to see it on the NY side. The evening was finished out with dinner at a local pizza joint. The boys were ecstatic when we received our Canadian change, and we have been tickled to see signs on vending machines that read: use Loonies & Toonies only!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Where in the world are the Coffmans headed now?!
We enjoyed a midnight swim and soak in the hot tub - that put our 4 a.m. departure back just a bit. We pulled out at 6:35. Our first stop was in Bowling Green, KY where we visited the National Corvette Museum. (Couldn't help but think that we really should have had Jan and Karen there with us!) The guys ate it up! It is the largest museum of any car brand in the U.S. and filled with some really nice cars along with one that was absolutely hideous! From there we drove through Louisville and some really goofy traffic. We would travel along at a nice clip on I-71 only to have to slam on our brakes and sit on the interstate for minutes at a time. As we progressed there were no signs of any accidents or issues. The only thing we could figure was that there was rubbernecking at a car pulled to the shoulder. Again for about 5 minutes up to speed only to be brought to a halt or creeping along. Don't want to hear about bad Memphis drivers - hang out with Sunday drivers on I-71 for a real experience. As we passed through Louisville the boys were ready to call it a day when they spotted a skate park. I'll give them credit; it was impressive, but I'm not sure what they thought they were going to use since we have no skates or skateboards with us! :) Very interesting and pretty architecture in Louisville and Cincinnati, OH. We had much fun straining to see out all sides of the truck to take in the sights. We are trying to catch up on some sleep tonight in Columbus, OH after our 600+ mile trip and will begin a new adventure tomorrow. (Only approximately 3000 miles to go!) (Pics can be enlarged by double clicking on them.)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
I find life to be so tedious and complicated. I am thoroughly enjoying the work and progress on our tranquil backyard, but it pains me to know what motivated us to get this done after 12 years. It also pains me to exclude the joys of those I love from my life, but at this point it is my only survival skill. It frustrates me to want to pray for people I know have needs, yet know that my heart is not as it should be and that my prayers would be fruitless. I have been told before that I am the kind of person that is genuine. What you see is what you get; there is an honesty and sincerity about who I am. Yet in times like these, that is not always such a good thing. I am who I am. I am not completely happy; my peace is lacking; my spirits are down; my interests in others' has waned. Only one other time in my life can I remember such a harsh event that restructured my outlook on life. That event changed me and put me on guard for a year or two. I did not like who I was and the negative outlook I had. It took a long while and lots of gentle encouragement to see me through it. Even still, my life was forever changed. As with this event, my life will be forever changed and affected. Relationships I'm sure have and will suffer, yet I don't know of any way to speed the recovery or have feelings that are not there. It simply isn't me, and I am bitter that I am not able to enjoy it because of the grey cloud still hanging over my head. At the same time I am angered that I have to be subjected to others' joys and progress. There really is no true escape!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Miscarried Hopes - She says it so well
Learning to trust God again. by Karen Foster
“Lord, why did You let me get pregnant? You knew my baby would die within me. What can I learn from this miscarriage that I haven’t learned from the others?”
Grief overwhelmed me knowing I would never hold this baby, but the tears wouldn’t come. I remained oddly detached while my body cramped and bled. It took several days before I passed the tiny fetus.
Rather than pray for God’s peace as I had in previous miscarriages, I questioned His justice and raised my fist in anger. “How dare You treat me this way!”
It didn’t matter that I already had two young children; my heart was set on having another child. This was my third miscarriage in two years, and I was furious.
Heavy heart
“I trusted You to give me the desires of my heart,” I complained to God a few weeks later. “Well, I’m not going through this again.” I shoved my maternity clothes into a box destined for the local crisis pregnancy center.
Heavyhearted, I also sorted through baby clothes and blinked back tears. “I won’t need these.” I hastily added the tiny garments to the box along with my maternal hopes. Closing the box did not bring closure to my heart.
Painful memory
A tiny stuffed bear on my dresser caught my eye. It had arrived in a floral basket during a previous hope-filled pregnancy that ended at twelve weeks.
Caressing the bear, I remembered how distraught I had been during my second miscarriage, a year earlier. With the first signs of blood, I had raced to my physician. When he couldn’t hear the baby’s heartbeat, he sent me for an ultrasound.
“Is there any heartbeat?” I asked the female technician as she searched my womb for signs of life. Although she had been silent and businesslike, my question must have triggered her emotions. The light from the ultrasound screen allowed me to see her misty eyes.
“It’s OK,” I swallowed. “I’m prepared.”
The woman slowly shook her head, “I’m sorry. There’s no heartbeat.”
Questioning God
In that moment, I felt as though my own heartbeat had stopped. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I dressed and went to the doctor’s waiting room. My sense of loss was aggravated by the presence of pregnant women whose round bellies promised new life. My belly was a flat, senseless grave. “God, why can’t I have a baby?”
I thought of my two friends who were in their third trimester. “Did I do something wrong? Are You testing me?”
Frayed emotions
By the time I scheduled surgery to remove the baby and returned home, my emotions were frayed. Denial, guilt, grief, and anger vied for my attention. My husband held me close, but I couldn't be consoled.
Late that night, I rose from my bed and went into the living room. My Christian faith was the core of my life, and I needed to talk with God.
Words of comfort
My eyes were swollen from crying, but as I read my Bible, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 soothed me: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Then I mentally wrote all my questions and concerns about having another baby and prayerfully gave them to God. “Father God, the Bible tells us to cast all our anxiety on You because you care for us [1 Peter 5:7]. I trust You to get me through this miscarriage and eventually give me a baby or Your peace.”
Emotionally drained, I slept, knowing God understood my pain.
Faltering faith
But my peace was short-lived. Within a few months, I stopped trusting God. I’d see an infant or a pregnant woman, and my longing would resurface like a fresh wound. When my two friends gave birth to healthy babies, my unresolved envy turned into bitterness. One day I would wallow in self-pity that God found me unworthy. The next day, I was determined to have my own way.
By the time I got pregnant, I was skeptical. I told no one, other than my husband. So when that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at eight weeks, it felt like a cruel joke.
The bear in my hand symbolized those three futile attempts. I thrust the bear in a bottom drawer and stumbled into a spiritual vortex. I needed God’s strength, but this time, I would have no part of Him.
Though her experiences do not exactly mirror mine, her words so beautfully describe my pain and spiritual condition. In her article she goes on to talk of how she finally made her way back into a relationship with God. Sadly I have not reached that ability yet. I still feel betrayed and as though I can't trust in the only One that I ever thought I could place complete trust in. Regardless of what others say and how they try to encourage me by telling me that God did not do "this", I can't believe it. He is the giver and taker of life. If He wanted this soul so badly why not take it before I knew it was there?! What was the purpose of this torture?
Anther lady wrote: Later that night, I left the hospital with empty arms. I felt as though I had been robbed.
Once I was back home, well-meaning friends and family told me to be glad the baby hadn’t lived because it probably would have been deformed. Others said, “Don’t feel bad; you can always have another one.” I felt they thought my husband and I could get over this experience quickly and be happy again. But rather than being comforted, I was overcome with an intense feeling of loss. For months I felt anger, guilt, and depression, yet everyone seemed to tell me I had no reason to grieve.
Society seems to allow parents whose newborn infants die after a month or two to mourn. Parents of stillborns (a child sufficiently developed to survive outside the uterus but for some reason has died before birth) are allowed even less. Those who have miscarriages (a spontaneous termination of a pregnancy before the fetus is sufficiently developed) are often dismissed as not needing to mourn at all.
My arms ached to hold my baby. I often thought I heard an infant crying in the distance. I felt vulnerable and afraid that I might lose another child. During my four-month pregnancy, I had planned our baby’s future. When the baby died, that future died.
Many parents are surprised by the emotions they feel after a miscarriage. They often feel shock and disbelief. Life seems unreal for a time. They express depression, anger (directed at themselves, their mates, a doctor, God, or even life in general), guilt, irritability, lack of interest in normal activities, sadness. Many experience irregularities in sleeping or eating. Some feel anger or sadness in the presence of babies or pregnant women.
“Many people avoid you or say things that make you feel worse,” Janet, a young woman struggling to begin her family, said. “They try to be helpful and tell you how long to wait before you try again. All I wanted was someone to hug me and sympathize. I just wanted someone to be there and care.”
Brenda, the mother of two preschoolers, lost two babies. “After each miscarriage,” she recalls, “I was in the hospital for several hours. They put me in a room right across the hall from the nursery. Watching the nurses bring the healthy, beautiful babies to their mothers was torture. I wanted to die.”
“I had six miscarriages in a row,” Janet said. “To me it was still a baby, even if it was only an inch long. It hurts to lose a baby. Every time this happened, my doctor acted like it was nothing terribly important and simply said to get pregnant again. He told me that he had a patient who had lost thirteen babies. I guess that was supposed to make me feel better, but it didn’t.”
“There is really no answer to the question why,” says Dr. Steven G. Nance, a Payson, Utah, obstetrician. “There are certain specific medical problems we know of that cause miscarriages and stillbirths. In many cases, especially in the first few months, we attribute the fault to some kind of chromosomal abnormality in the fetus. Those that occur later in the pregnancy when the baby appears normal are often attributed to some maternal factor, such as uterine abnormalities. But in the vast majority of cases, there is no obvious reason.”
Whatever the cause, the end result is the same. Many children who were eagerly expected never survive.
Knowing that many parents will face a miscarriage or a stillbirth sometime during their childbearing years doesn’t make it any easier to experience. Generally, the grieving process moves slowly from shock and numbness, through searching and yearning, to disorientation and depression, and finally to acceptance and an ability to enjoy life without feeling guilty.
“Lord, why did You let me get pregnant? You knew my baby would die within me. What can I learn from this miscarriage that I haven’t learned from the others?”
Grief overwhelmed me knowing I would never hold this baby, but the tears wouldn’t come. I remained oddly detached while my body cramped and bled. It took several days before I passed the tiny fetus.
Rather than pray for God’s peace as I had in previous miscarriages, I questioned His justice and raised my fist in anger. “How dare You treat me this way!”
It didn’t matter that I already had two young children; my heart was set on having another child. This was my third miscarriage in two years, and I was furious.
Heavy heart
“I trusted You to give me the desires of my heart,” I complained to God a few weeks later. “Well, I’m not going through this again.” I shoved my maternity clothes into a box destined for the local crisis pregnancy center.
Heavyhearted, I also sorted through baby clothes and blinked back tears. “I won’t need these.” I hastily added the tiny garments to the box along with my maternal hopes. Closing the box did not bring closure to my heart.
Painful memory
A tiny stuffed bear on my dresser caught my eye. It had arrived in a floral basket during a previous hope-filled pregnancy that ended at twelve weeks.
Caressing the bear, I remembered how distraught I had been during my second miscarriage, a year earlier. With the first signs of blood, I had raced to my physician. When he couldn’t hear the baby’s heartbeat, he sent me for an ultrasound.
“Is there any heartbeat?” I asked the female technician as she searched my womb for signs of life. Although she had been silent and businesslike, my question must have triggered her emotions. The light from the ultrasound screen allowed me to see her misty eyes.
“It’s OK,” I swallowed. “I’m prepared.”
The woman slowly shook her head, “I’m sorry. There’s no heartbeat.”
Questioning God
In that moment, I felt as though my own heartbeat had stopped. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I dressed and went to the doctor’s waiting room. My sense of loss was aggravated by the presence of pregnant women whose round bellies promised new life. My belly was a flat, senseless grave. “God, why can’t I have a baby?”
I thought of my two friends who were in their third trimester. “Did I do something wrong? Are You testing me?”
Frayed emotions
By the time I scheduled surgery to remove the baby and returned home, my emotions were frayed. Denial, guilt, grief, and anger vied for my attention. My husband held me close, but I couldn't be consoled.
Late that night, I rose from my bed and went into the living room. My Christian faith was the core of my life, and I needed to talk with God.
Words of comfort
My eyes were swollen from crying, but as I read my Bible, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 soothed me: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Then I mentally wrote all my questions and concerns about having another baby and prayerfully gave them to God. “Father God, the Bible tells us to cast all our anxiety on You because you care for us [1 Peter 5:7]. I trust You to get me through this miscarriage and eventually give me a baby or Your peace.”
Emotionally drained, I slept, knowing God understood my pain.
Faltering faith
But my peace was short-lived. Within a few months, I stopped trusting God. I’d see an infant or a pregnant woman, and my longing would resurface like a fresh wound. When my two friends gave birth to healthy babies, my unresolved envy turned into bitterness. One day I would wallow in self-pity that God found me unworthy. The next day, I was determined to have my own way.
By the time I got pregnant, I was skeptical. I told no one, other than my husband. So when that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at eight weeks, it felt like a cruel joke.
The bear in my hand symbolized those three futile attempts. I thrust the bear in a bottom drawer and stumbled into a spiritual vortex. I needed God’s strength, but this time, I would have no part of Him.
Though her experiences do not exactly mirror mine, her words so beautfully describe my pain and spiritual condition. In her article she goes on to talk of how she finally made her way back into a relationship with God. Sadly I have not reached that ability yet. I still feel betrayed and as though I can't trust in the only One that I ever thought I could place complete trust in. Regardless of what others say and how they try to encourage me by telling me that God did not do "this", I can't believe it. He is the giver and taker of life. If He wanted this soul so badly why not take it before I knew it was there?! What was the purpose of this torture?
Anther lady wrote: Later that night, I left the hospital with empty arms. I felt as though I had been robbed.
Once I was back home, well-meaning friends and family told me to be glad the baby hadn’t lived because it probably would have been deformed. Others said, “Don’t feel bad; you can always have another one.” I felt they thought my husband and I could get over this experience quickly and be happy again. But rather than being comforted, I was overcome with an intense feeling of loss. For months I felt anger, guilt, and depression, yet everyone seemed to tell me I had no reason to grieve.
Society seems to allow parents whose newborn infants die after a month or two to mourn. Parents of stillborns (a child sufficiently developed to survive outside the uterus but for some reason has died before birth) are allowed even less. Those who have miscarriages (a spontaneous termination of a pregnancy before the fetus is sufficiently developed) are often dismissed as not needing to mourn at all.
My arms ached to hold my baby. I often thought I heard an infant crying in the distance. I felt vulnerable and afraid that I might lose another child. During my four-month pregnancy, I had planned our baby’s future. When the baby died, that future died.
Many parents are surprised by the emotions they feel after a miscarriage. They often feel shock and disbelief. Life seems unreal for a time. They express depression, anger (directed at themselves, their mates, a doctor, God, or even life in general), guilt, irritability, lack of interest in normal activities, sadness. Many experience irregularities in sleeping or eating. Some feel anger or sadness in the presence of babies or pregnant women.
“Many people avoid you or say things that make you feel worse,” Janet, a young woman struggling to begin her family, said. “They try to be helpful and tell you how long to wait before you try again. All I wanted was someone to hug me and sympathize. I just wanted someone to be there and care.”
Brenda, the mother of two preschoolers, lost two babies. “After each miscarriage,” she recalls, “I was in the hospital for several hours. They put me in a room right across the hall from the nursery. Watching the nurses bring the healthy, beautiful babies to their mothers was torture. I wanted to die.”
“I had six miscarriages in a row,” Janet said. “To me it was still a baby, even if it was only an inch long. It hurts to lose a baby. Every time this happened, my doctor acted like it was nothing terribly important and simply said to get pregnant again. He told me that he had a patient who had lost thirteen babies. I guess that was supposed to make me feel better, but it didn’t.”
“There is really no answer to the question why,” says Dr. Steven G. Nance, a Payson, Utah, obstetrician. “There are certain specific medical problems we know of that cause miscarriages and stillbirths. In many cases, especially in the first few months, we attribute the fault to some kind of chromosomal abnormality in the fetus. Those that occur later in the pregnancy when the baby appears normal are often attributed to some maternal factor, such as uterine abnormalities. But in the vast majority of cases, there is no obvious reason.”
Whatever the cause, the end result is the same. Many children who were eagerly expected never survive.
Knowing that many parents will face a miscarriage or a stillbirth sometime during their childbearing years doesn’t make it any easier to experience. Generally, the grieving process moves slowly from shock and numbness, through searching and yearning, to disorientation and depression, and finally to acceptance and an ability to enjoy life without feeling guilty.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Life is indeed strange. Storms have always set me on edge yet I have chosen to stay home and face serious storms with some threatening, powerful tornadoes in order to avoid being in the presence of a new baby in the family. I have now also removed my sister from my fb page because even with her hidden, I occasionally catch a glimpse of her profile picture and don't want to see her pregnancy progress either.
A friend said something to me a couple of weeks ago that I have be running through my mind. I appreciate greatly her support, encouragement and kind words, but this in particular has really struck a chord. She said that perhaps I am not so much the one with the problem but rather everyone else who wants me to hurry up and be "well". Having never been in my shoes there is no way anyone else could fully comprehend or appreciate the pain and anger I am feeling. I do need to heal, but I am so tired of feeling like there are those who think I should hurry up and move on.
My child had a very brief life but will always be a part of me. Are new parents ever urged to hurry up and get over an event in their child's life and move on because there is a tomorrow? All I have of my C.J. are the 12 weeks that I carried him, followed by the time I carried his deceased body in mine and then the sad goodbye. My memories of him won't grow and progress. Why should I be encouraged to give up the only memory I have of him, the only time I was able to spend with him, and move on? I am moving on within my nuclear family as much as I can, and I feel comfortable interacting with them, but I am not ready to celebrate anyone else's joy of pregnancy or new life. I may be burning bridges or creating scars, but all I can do at this point is find the only way I can to survive. I don't feel that pouring salt on the wound is going to help me heal. If you are one of the ones that I have hurt, shut out, or reclused from please understand that life has not been kind to me as of late. It is nothing that you personally have done but I need to be separated for a time.
A friend said something to me a couple of weeks ago that I have be running through my mind. I appreciate greatly her support, encouragement and kind words, but this in particular has really struck a chord. She said that perhaps I am not so much the one with the problem but rather everyone else who wants me to hurry up and be "well". Having never been in my shoes there is no way anyone else could fully comprehend or appreciate the pain and anger I am feeling. I do need to heal, but I am so tired of feeling like there are those who think I should hurry up and move on.
My child had a very brief life but will always be a part of me. Are new parents ever urged to hurry up and get over an event in their child's life and move on because there is a tomorrow? All I have of my C.J. are the 12 weeks that I carried him, followed by the time I carried his deceased body in mine and then the sad goodbye. My memories of him won't grow and progress. Why should I be encouraged to give up the only memory I have of him, the only time I was able to spend with him, and move on? I am moving on within my nuclear family as much as I can, and I feel comfortable interacting with them, but I am not ready to celebrate anyone else's joy of pregnancy or new life. I may be burning bridges or creating scars, but all I can do at this point is find the only way I can to survive. I don't feel that pouring salt on the wound is going to help me heal. If you are one of the ones that I have hurt, shut out, or reclused from please understand that life has not been kind to me as of late. It is nothing that you personally have done but I need to be separated for a time.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Is this the new "normal" for me?!
I am still very bitter and angry. The more I looked for answers in scripture the more questions came up and very few have been answered. It has caused me to question everything I ever believed! I still feel as though this is a very sick joke! I am still in no way interested in meeting or being near our newest nephew. The thought of hearing him, seeing him, or being in the same vicinity is very unnerving to me. Nor do I want to hear of his accomplishments or share in the progression of my sister's pregnancy - one which I was initially very excited about even before we knew of our own. Now I don't want to hear her news, see her pictures or follow through this joyous event with her. I cannot seem to get past how it is that I am supposed to rejoice that my child is in heaven and not having to suffer, yet all these other people are rejoicing that their babies are alive and thriving on this horrible planet! That seems like quite the double standard to me!!!!
I talked with the nurse today about questions I had regarding the Rho-Gam shot a little over a week ago. I have read that if this shot is not received within 72 hours of delivery and the body begins making antibodies, the shot will not kill the ones already present. NO ONE TOLD ME I NEEDED TO COME IN IMMEDIATELY TO HAVE THIS SHOT AFTER MISCARRYING!!!! I WAS NOT WARNED OF THE TROUBLES IT COULD CAUSE!!! I READ IT ON MY OWN! All they can do now is test me in another month or two to see if my body has created the antibodies. If it has then I have a 1:4 chance that my body would begin attacking any future children I might conceive. I MAY HAVE JUST BEEN SCREWED OUT OF ANY MORE CHANCES TO HAVE CHILDREN. They may as well go ahead and steralize me if that is the case!!!! This was certainly not news I needed to hear. I didn't know whether I even wanted to try again, but this certainly doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about the new normal that I have. I seem to be screwed at every turn!!!
I talked with the nurse today about questions I had regarding the Rho-Gam shot a little over a week ago. I have read that if this shot is not received within 72 hours of delivery and the body begins making antibodies, the shot will not kill the ones already present. NO ONE TOLD ME I NEEDED TO COME IN IMMEDIATELY TO HAVE THIS SHOT AFTER MISCARRYING!!!! I WAS NOT WARNED OF THE TROUBLES IT COULD CAUSE!!! I READ IT ON MY OWN! All they can do now is test me in another month or two to see if my body has created the antibodies. If it has then I have a 1:4 chance that my body would begin attacking any future children I might conceive. I MAY HAVE JUST BEEN SCREWED OUT OF ANY MORE CHANCES TO HAVE CHILDREN. They may as well go ahead and steralize me if that is the case!!!! This was certainly not news I needed to hear. I didn't know whether I even wanted to try again, but this certainly doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about the new normal that I have. I seem to be screwed at every turn!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Birth Announcement
Today I introduced C.J. to my facebook world. Our precious son, too quickly taken. Because we know that life begins at conception, we know that we delivered a baby to be around 12 weeks of age on March 16th at 10:45 a.m. I debated as to whether or not to share some of his sweet pictures with the world. Part of me ached because these are the only baby pictures or any kind of pictures for that matter that I will ever have to brag on. I feared whether people might see me as odd, off, or deranged for sharing his sweet images, but what is there to be ashamed of in his precious developing life? I do not want to hide my son as if there was any sort of shame involved. No, my son's eyes never sparkled like those of a young child. I never got a picture of his tiny yawn, although we did admire his most delicate little lips and the tiniest tongue imaginable. For this I am certainly not ashamed. For those who might not understand, perhaps the answer is because they themselves have never been there. But we were so honored to be able to hold his fragile little body in our hands and say goodbye even though we were never blessed with the opportunity to hold his new young body so full of life. People encourage me to see beyond this and keep going, but I cannot...will not move on and leave C.J.'s memories behind. I will NOT put him in my past and continue on without him. I will not tuck away a child that part of society does not even recognize as a member of our family. He was and will forever be my fourth son and his memories regardless of how painful will always be a part of me and with me. Sleep in heavenly peace, C.J.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
I tried desperately to go back in time this weekend. I loved my baby so, but now I wish he had never been conceived! What was the point! He never have a chance to form memories or relations but those of us left behind did! I would have been so much better off if he, my precious fourth son, had never been conceived!!
I returned Friday to the Dewey Bald Observation Tower in Branson, MO and climbed the 55 steps to the top of the 40 ft lookout. It was in that exact same spot nearly 15 years ago that Daddy told me that I was going to make someone a good wife some day. My eyes teared as I began thinking that he was trying to let me down easy. Little did I know that it was his practice proposal. Yet today I am wondering if I will ever be that good wife again. All I am able or want to do at this point is run and hide. I still talk with Nathan and my boys, but my spirit is crushed and I want nothing to do with anyone else. I sat at the top of that tower complaining to and questioning God and His love. My feeble peon brain cannot grasp how casting on and knitting you in my womb, He immediately and knowingly dropped stitches so that your fragile life would unravel before it ever fully began. What kind of sick joke it that?! HOW is that love? Sure the Bible says that I should rejoice in the fact that your little human body never faced trials, turmoil and pain but rather went straight back into the arms of our Lord. But how would you have missed out on anything if your little soul had never even been created?! Yet He played yo-yo with my emotions, and I am to thank Him, praise Him and give Him the glory?! Am I to mourn my own life, the lives of my family and friends as well as all the little babies I see because we were all damned to remain on this awful earth?!
As it is I have insulted people I love, hurt those around me, and closed my life off to outsiders. People talk about me needing meds or counseling so I can function and get back to "normal." In my mind that translates, "We need you to mourn but move on. Celebrate new life; greet each new day as an opportunity. Life will get easier. Life will go on." THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!HOW while my child is decaying in the ground can I possibly move on and celebrate ANY new life knowing my child is rotting while they are holding there precious breathing flesh and blood? They will have to accept that I cannot and will not put my pain and emotion on the back burner in order to make them more comfortable. If I am such a burden and so awkward to be around and obviously I am the problem than perhaps to lock me away until I can be "fixed" would be best. I wouldn't cause anyone else discomfort and once I was reprogrammed to be the happy, fully functional, wife, mother, daughter, D-I-L, S-I-L, friend, I could be released back into society!!
As I sat listening to the songs chime at the chapel, it seemed so ironic!! I went to those places to find peace and feel closer to God. Although some peace did come to me as I regressed into my past, I have never in my life felt further from Him. Never have I felt so abandoned and alone and wonder, "Where did MY God go? The God who loves me and want only the best for me? Where is He NOW?! When I cry out to Him, I feel I have so much anger and bitterness He will never hear me anyway.
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