Epic Adventure 2: The Sun Sets... (Part 6 of 6)

(This is a continuation of a series of posts on our second long distance trip, see the first post if you want to start at the beginning.)

Sunset. It happens every single day. Many days we don't even think about it. Some days we look forward to it; others we complain we need more time. Some sunsets are uneventful, some are memorable. On this trip, we saw many sunsets that were memorable in many different places. It's hard to say which was the best. All were embraced for the fleeting moments they existed.

As we packed up to leave Acadia, we felt that we were nearing the sunset of our great adventure. We had a few more days till it was over, but the long haul home would begin when we pulled out of that amazingly beautiful place. We packed up the camper and hooked up prepared to leave. The ranger came by and stopped to check me out while I was finishing up so I wouldn't have to go by the office on the way out. We met a nice lady with 3 huskies who was also packing up and had been camping across from us. After a brief chat, we hit the road and pulled out of the Schoodic Penninsula headed down US Rt 1. After winding down Rt. 1 for a while we stopped for lunch and gas. A great little seafood joint, Carrier's Mainely Lobster, served us our last batch of fried clams from the northeast. This little place had a wall with buoys memorializing local fishermen who had died. It was quite a beautiful display.

Further south we routed over to I95 to pick up some speed. We were targeting Rhode Island for the evening which was over 300 miles away with Boston traffic and plenty of road construction between us and there it was going to take a while. When we hit the bypass around Boston, I noticed the sign for the Minute Man National Park. While this had not been on the list of places to go, I could not pass up seeing where our nation was born. The bridges in Boston were all decorated with American flags from 4th of July just a couple days before. It was a beautiful sight. It was after the park visitor center had closed but I did get to the Minute Man Statue as the sun was setting.

We pressed on and found our second hotel stay in Rhode Island. Since Acadia didn't have a bath house, we were all in need of a good warm shower and more spacious quarters always are a treat after days in the camper. We crashed another Comfort Inn, this one had a nicer breakfast but the room smelled like a sweaty locker room. We also took the opportunity to use the coin laundry there to do a load to refresh our range of outfits.

The next day we made a brief stop at the Roger Williams National Memorial. This is a quick stop that educates you on Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. He's also considered the father of the separation of church and state movement.

We then visited a friend of my son's whose family was summering in Rhode Island. It was a rainy day but always fun for the kids to have playmates for a few hours. We went down to the beach and drove around looking at some of the New England countryside.

We pressed on south skirting around NYC area and taking the Tappan Zee bridge further inland. We routed on south and made Delaware late that night to stay with my wife's best friend. We had a great visit and stayed through lunch the next day. The further south we drove the warmer it was getting. Then it was off again to the south crossing the Bay Bridge and navigating around D.C. down through Virginia and back to my cousin's in North Carolina. It was great to stop back in with the whole family. My kids getting so see their cousins they had not seen in a few years. I watched the kids pair up based on personalities. We went for a walk around their lake that is at the back of their neighborhood around to a local park. It had a new obstacle (read American Ninja Warrior) course. My son is a big fan of these and it had just opened.

After lunch we again hit the road for the last leg home. Coming home is always bittersweet. There's the enjoyment of sleeping in your own bed and getting to spread out after days of living in a tiny camper. The fun of seeing friends and family and coworkers. The comfort of life returning to normal. There also is some sadness that the adventure has come to a close. Our 16 day, 4000-mile journey had involved 2 countries and brought us lots of memories along the way. So as the sun set that evening, we crawled into our beds ready to get back to the normal life, but vowing to take another great adventure. And we'll continue to make taking adventures a regular part of our life.