Dana, Author at Empty Nesters’ Adventures

Rushmore and Charlie!

Today started with an early morning visit to Mount Rushmore and let us tell you, this is the time to visit! We barely saw another car on the approaching road, which was filled with tourist destinations that must be jam packed in the warmer months (in non-pandemic years). We zoomed past it all and strolled right up to the base of the monument. It was magnificent. Although the size was not quite as large as we were anticipating, the feat of carving such perfect likenesses of our past presidents out of the side of a mountain was impressive.

We also took a quick detour to take a photo of the in-progress (since 1948!) Crazy Horse Memorial: equally impressive, and amazing to imagine how it will look as the sculpting continues in the upcoming decades.

Then it was off to Bozeman to reunite with Charlie! We somehow managed to fit him and his bags into the already-stuffed car, and continue on to Idaho Falls where we’ll stay for the night. We’re pretty sure Phoenix doesn’t mind sharing the limited space with him.

30 hours in 2 days

On the Road

… is too much time in the car. Today’s drive took us through Chicago and the upper corner of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and across most of South Dakota.

Photo op of the day was the Jolly Green Giant statue somewhere off of 90 in Minnesota.

Tomorrow should be more exciting: Mount Rushmore! Then just a short 7.5 hour drive to pick up Charlie in Bozeman!

On the Road Again

On the Road

We left Maine at 5:45am to tackle the 16-hour drive to Mishawaka, Indiana. Eight states in one day. A whole lotta driving. Captured every state welcome sign although the final two were blurry because it was dark.

We made a spontaneous stop in Brewster, New York to say a surprise “hello” to Jeff’s cousin Susan, and her son & nephew, and her beautiful horses. Phoenix got to run around with some new friends too. A wonderful highlight of a loooooong day…

Maine: Winding Down

Temporary Home Town

It’s been amazing to be temporary Maine residents during this beautiful season. On the one hand, we wish things were more “normal”; on the other, we wouldn’t have had the flexibility and nerve to drive across the country and settle in for 6 weeks, were it an ordinary year.

And now the adventure is coming to an end … we moved out of our cute little apartment this morning, and back into the basement of my childhood home, where we will stay through the work week. We’re already making lists of things we have to do before we hit the road on Saturday: one more Scratch bagel! Surfing at Higgins Beach?! That island trail we wanted to run!

top of Bald Peak, where we had just heard that Biden-Harris officially won!

Phoenix Likes Maine

Temporary Home Town

Phoenix has decided that she likes Maine *almost* as much as she likes California. Here are some of her favorite experiences so far.

Walking out the breakwater to Spring Point Light

Old Orchard Beach walk with her big brother and his housemates

Exploring the beach in South Portland (Can you find Phoenix in this one?)

Posing in front of the most-photographed lighthouse in the world

Stopping mid-run to model in the fall leaves

Hiking in Cape Elizabeth with her new BFF Lucky

Finally getting to visit this “Cushing’s Island” she’s heard so much about

Life is good in Maine.

Maine! Settling In

Temporary Home Town

It’s been a fantastic first three days in Maine. Well worth the drive. So thrilling to know we’ll be here for five whole weeks. Phoenix is loving this corner of the country.

Already we’ve had a full spectrum of fall weather while enjoying walks, bikes, and runs in the great outdoors. The view from our “office” this week is significantly better than our Petaluma home office view, and we are getting used to working California hours on East Coast time. Leisurely outdoorsy mornings and then working after the dinner hour.

We’ve been extra-cautious and mostly quarantining while we await our Covid test results. Outdoor meals when possible and when not, socially distanced from the bottom of the spiral staircase to the top. We’re looking forward to getting the “all clear” tomorrow so we can be a little more relaxed indoors with our family pod here.