Most people go on vacation to relax, my husband and I go on vacation to see how much we can get done in this (always too short) period of time. The last time we went to FL we decided it would be a nice relaxing trip where we didn't do anything; instead when we got on the plane to come home we were amazed by how much we did do and were more exhausted then when we went down.
So the next year we decided to go to a resort where everything is all inclusive and it would force us to hang out on the beach and relax, well it did do this but we also did two 8hr excursions (we had originally booked 3 but canceled the 3rd). Did one afternoon of a walking "tour" to an unexpected bat cave, and tried to do an evening of dancing which turned into drinks in a cool mansion, and let's not even talk about the fun filled jam packed trip to Ireland.
This past week we were on our way to ON for a family event and decided to take a couple of extra days exploring New England. I booked and planned the first two nights but after that we were roaming free with no schedule.
Day 1: Left the house by 11am and drove 5 hours to a quaint village in NB where we stayed at a beautiful hotel and celebrated our "fake" anniversary day.
Day 2: Travelled along the NB coastline and over to Deer Island and then onto Campobello. Toured the entire Deer Island and actually go out to take a couple of pictures, but then put the pedal to the metal as we were unsure if the next ferry was still in operation as we were possibly on the last day of crossing. Got to Campobello and hit the ground running (or driving) stopped at the Roosevelt cottage and toured around but wanted to get ahead of poky and her son so we took off and as we are crossing the bridge to the US realized we missed Quoddy Point..oh well next time. Drove another 4 hours to Bar Harbour (aka Barr Harr Brr)..we didn't stop but took the scenic route through con
struction to arrive at a cute cottage with the hardest bed known in the universe. Dropped our bags and toured the town for the evening then went out as my husband forgot to pack underwear and BH doesn't sell this...so we went 1/2 hour out of town to get some and on our way back got stuck in a traffic accident for which we were rerouted at 9:30pm in the dark and on an unknown road. As we drive along doing 80mph to keep up with the guy who did know where he was going. I peered though the glass trying to see between the squashed bugs which we had earlier in the day turned on the windshield wipers in attempt to get rid of them but only to smear them more. We finally got out of this adventure alive and finished off the evening with a bottle of wine and a sticky bun, collected earlier from a town bakery.
Day 3: We started by touring through Acadia National park and Cadillac Mountain, we venture along the main coast line, but after three hours of this decided we needed to make some time if we wanted to get some outlet shopping in Kittery done before the end of the night...a
nd really after you see two hours of coast line I think you get the idea. So I found (my day to navigate) the nearest interstate and off we went. Found a hotel, dropped our luggage and shopped until the stores closed!
Day 4: We were only suppose to do a couple hour run this day, so we got up and continued shopping and then made tracks for North Conway where we did a little more shopping and decided it was too early in the day
to stop so lets continue on up through the mountains an stay somewhere up there tonight. We ventured up the steep slopes of Mt Washington..which by the way has no guard rails. By about 4000ft I was thinking we should have taken the tour bus as every time Brian went around a corner I tried to use my spidey senses to see if another car was coming as they said
there was enough room for two cars but I think they were referring to minis! I couldn't look out the window as my eyes were glued to the road as we went up and up. I would occasionally looked over to say "yup we are climbing" as if he wasn't aware of this fact. I am sure the people going down were laughing as I hung onto the door handle and leaned over to Brian at each corner. Once we arrived at the top and looked over the mountain...and my heart calmed down..I realized it was worth it. It was a beautiful day, it was clear and warm(it was about 17) and was only one of 10 days they had good weather..yeah us. The drive down was not as bad as I
looked around and laughed at the looks on the passengers faces who were ascending. We continued on, now proud owners of the "This car climbed Mt Washington" sticker and travelled down through the mountains to a little town (but actually had a motel) called Lancaster. We searched the map for our next day adventure and decided to go just to the other side of NH.
Day 5: Well so much for the other side of NH. We were in Lake Placid by noon and ON by dinner! Which made for an easy run on Day 6..but on Day 7 we decided we were going to head home and do it in two 7 hour runs instead of one 14 hour run.
Day 7: We ventured off after an emotional morning guiding ourselves through Montreal and onward east. We kept saying we were going to stop somewhere to grab a bite but after awhile I started digging in the cooler in the back to find some sandwich supplies. Note to self: making a sandwich in the car is fine, but remember NOT to put the mustard on the sandwich before you bend over it to pick up the cheese you had placed on the floor...else you will end up with a mustard boob! At 8:30pm we landed in our first destination, tired, hungry and smelling of mustard. Happy to have a comfy bed and drift happily off to sleep.
Day 8: Since my parents ditched up for breakfast (they were travelling back from ON as well) we enjoyed our breakfast and packed up and headed in the final leg to home. As the fog lifted over the hills and the sun ripped though it made for some beautiful scenery(no I did not take a picture..as that would mean stopping) We did stop for lunch and a pee break and stopped to visit said parents on the journey through, but after we picked up our puppy and got read the riot act from our cat, we breathed a sigh of relief to be home from our "relaxing" vacation!
While we will probably never have a relaxing vacation as I want to try to fit as much in as possible as I don't know when we will be back..this year we are talking about a cruise...after all how busy can you be:) I am sure we will find a way.
So why does it take longer to plan an vacation than it does to be on one? It doesn't matter if you fly off to an all inclusive or go camping, it all takes longer than it should. By the time you decide where you are going, what you need to take, arrange the details through the travel agent or Internet, arrange for animal care..etc. I am exhausted before I even begin on the adventure.
