Twelve Feet, Six Continents, One Year

(I'll add more pictures once our internet improves) Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that the National Park Service has something called the Junior Ranger Program. Now I’m an expert. Now Henry and Lily have taken the “JR Oath” to protect the natural and cultural resources of our parks. Now Henry and Lily have badges/patches from two parks (Acadia and Minuteman). So buckle, up folks, here’s a little story. At the park’s visitor center, a young person can present themself and receive a Junior Ranger “program,” which is a little like a scavenger hunt. Today, in Minuteman National Historic Park (outside Boston), the requirements for earning a badge included three site-specific worksheets and two “extra” activities. The first site was a no-brainer, since the visitor center where we started was an eligible site. The kids devoured the exhibits and then sat through a half-hour movie in the center’s theater in order to gather their data. One question stumped me: it wasn’t Paul ...

Welcome to the northeastern-most corner of our RV adventure. On the afternoon of Friday, August 30th, we reached Acadia. This involved much less traffic than I expected, especially as we drove north from Boston on Labor Day weekend. Life was still exciting, though, as we navigated the RV through tiny Maine villages and up to our oceanside rental house.   We are joined for this weekend by Uncle Alex (Elise's brother), Aunt Suzanne and Cousin Claire. WE celebrated being together by going for a hike near Long Pond. We had about two miles of "moderate" hiking to an elevation of about 650 feet and then about three miles, mostly along the lakeshore. It was very photogenic. Jon, Claire, Lily, Alex, Cate, Elise, Suzanne, Ali and Henry in front of Long Pond at the start of our hike. All smiles! The troop  Lily and her lipstick rock One of the coolest trail signs I've ever seen. Appearing soon in a Patagonia catalog Cate was very specific abou...