Wisconsin bound....

Currently in Niagara Falls Ontario
Temp: 30 degrees(c)
Next Destination: Amherst, WI (Yes, we need a vacation from our vacation).

Recap:

Maine: The most gorgeous place in the US, to this point. A huge state with only 1.5million people and they all are very kind! We spent most of our time at Acadia National Park. Camping 2 nights in the park and 4 nights just outside of it. Make sure to check out Sand Beach, although the ocean water is freezing the views are fantastic and the water is pure and blue. We watched the harbor fireworks from the top of Cadillac mountain and ate amazing food at local restaurants and markets. Although Cadillac is only 1500ft high, it had fantastic views as well. We headed down to Stonington, a small fishing village, for a day. We had a delicious lunch at Lilly's cafe. A small local produce/meat restaurant in a two story home. We also got icecream and iced coffee -what a treat ! Maine was capped off with blueberry pie and a fantastic dinner at Cleonice (a fancy restaurant in Ellsworth, ME). Oh by the way... MAINE SEA SALT IS THE BEST ! www.maineseasalt.com


Quebec City: After a week in Maine we crossed the border and headed to Quebec City. A french speaking city with a ton of charm and amazing views. We spent a lot of time in Old Quebec, where buildings still stand from the 1600 and 1700's. This little city had cobble stone streets and felt like a mini version of Paris. We found a fantastic hip and modern sushi place called, YU ZU. We sipped Mojito's and chilled out in their ultra lounge while sampling amazing sushi. While in Quebec we found a small art gallery where we found some amazing paintings from European artists. Needless to say, we almost dropped $2200 on a painting but we decided it wasn't quite right for us. We spent about 4 days in Quebec and this was our favorite of all the Canadian cities.


Montreal: We only spent two days in Montreal but we spent one of them down town in old Montreal. Somewhat similar to Quebec city but more modernized and industrialized. It lacked the charm that Quebec had. Although we found some fantastic Sushi here as well, at Sushi Yu.


Niagara Falls: Last but not least, Niagara falls from the Canadian side! What an amazing view, time, and experience. Words cannot describe it! The Maid of the Mist was the highlight. The boat takes you right up to the falls where you are drenched by the mist from the falls. The temps were in the upper 80s so the mist felt great ! We also celebrated Brady's 26th birthday with a picnic and some wine! We stayed all day and took pics of the colorful falls at night. A must see if you ever get the chance ~!

PICTURES: they have been a pain to upload so we are going to try and put them on a different website... stay tuned. We will be in stable land for the next few weeks and will hopefully figure it out then.

So thanks for reading and staying tuned.
~carpe diem ~
Ashley & Brady

Internet....air conditioning and fast wi-fi ! oh and by the way it's 94 in Quebec !

Bonjour ~

We made it into Canada.... BUT ! Wait just one minute... we need to update you on the past 2 or was it 3 weeks~ !
So hang tight with the pics .... its not our fault the weather has been fantastic !

This is where we've been:
New York ( Brooklyn, Manhatten)
New Jersey (Ridgewood)
Catskill Mountains (Woodstock, NY)
Lake George (New York)
Lake Placid (New York)
Woodstock, New Hampshire
Acadia National Park (Maine)
Bar Harbor (Maine)
Jackman (Maine)
Quebec City (Quebec, Canada)



Since New York and New Jersey....

We traveled North West to the Catskill Mountains. Here we stayed at a quaint little KOA off the highway complete with clean showers and a swimming pool. You laugh but clean showers are a big deal !
One day we decided to check out Woodstock ... you know the famous 1969 music festival... I do believe we got a glimpse of it that rainy day we headed into town.... peace signs, tie dyed shirts, and hippies on every corner.... it was blissful.

After checking out a few galleries and art shops we headed to see the worlds largest kaleidoscope. It was in the middle of some back country roads in a silo. We had to lay down on the floor and look up into the silo to check out the view....absolutely fabulous ! The "show" was like a movie in kaleidoscope form. Well worth the trip to see all the different kinds of scopes and to the largest one of them all.

From there we headed to Lake George.... let's just say it was like the Wisconsin Dells of New York. We ended up having the most amazing hibachi/sushi for dinner one night and hit up overlook mountain for some breathtaking views....
After 2 days of that we headed more north toward Lake Placid....which was fabulous for weather. About 70 during the day and about 45 at night. We met some friends who have been coming to the same campsite for over 11 years. They had never heard of the word "uftah"... or "good to go"... the gal actually asked me to spell "uftah".... this was funny....

The accents are fun too..... like car is "ccaaarrr" and coffee is "kawfee" fun stuff.
We also saw lots of rapids and waterfalls. The day we left we headed up White Face Mountain.
The temps were in the 50s and the fog was so thick that the sign declared "no visibility" as we drove in... but we didn't care we headed towards the top. When we got there it was raining and cold. We took the elevator up the summit where you felt like you were standing on top of the world....or just in a movie for better terms. As we headed back down the storm began to clear and we ended up seeing what you would see on a clear day.

Then we headed to Woodstock, New Hampshire where there is no tax on alcohol and their slogan is "live free or die"... so nobody has to wear a helmet when riding bikes. The scenery was beyond gorgeous ! The White Mountains were breathtaking and the rivers were so clean !
We only stayed for 2 nights because we had to work around the 4th of July people traffic.... so we ended up spending 2 nights in Acadia National Park and another 4 nights in Bar Harbor. . . . .

MAINE TO BE CONTINUED........

When in Maine !

Happy 4th Everyone ~ !

I'm jumping ahead a bit...but I had the most fantastic-out-of-this-world meal last night at a Bistro in Ellsworth, Maine. The name is Cleonice. Our servers name was Delian. She was the best waitress I've come across yet ! We started our meal with a glass of summer wine and a carafe of Sangria.
The tapas were a wide selection but we landed on an Artichoke pesto bruschetta and a house salad with the most fresh salad ingredients ever ! The Maine salt was what got me... I even tried to buy some but they were out of the small portions and I thought a pound was a little overkill. Their breadbasket was filled with a fennel wheat bread and a focaccia bread that was simply beautiful.

The main course:
Brady ordered fresh Tuna - the catch of the day
I had Ratatouille- and if you've never had it I'd either try to make it or go find some ! Made me want to cry.
I really think my next calling in life is in the food biz... making it and and making it look wonderful!

We were stuffed so dessert happened after.... a bit of dark chocolate....

I don't think my taste buds will ever be the same...

So remember: When in Maine go to Cleonice ! And make reservations :)

Shenandoah National Park # 2

Yes, we are still madly in love!


A sunset in Shenandoah


A waterfall in Shenandoah

Hey we're Alive !

Coming at cha' from the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
We are sitting in the laundry room waiting for our wet blankets to dry.
It seems whenever we go for long drives something in the back gets wet.

The weather has been way too nice to be on a computer...so sorry that it's been
kinda random - post wise.

More pics and info to come tomorrow... cross your fingers that it's a rainy night.

Location: Woodstock, NH
Temp: 63
Just came from the Adirondack Mountains in New York ... so freaking cool !
We met new friends camping ...they are from NY and have never heard the word "uftah"....
also we need to learn French asap for Canada ~ !

Much peace 2 all. . . . a&b

Today June 27th

We were running the laptop to the car this morning to get power and the battery died. Thankfully we have wonderful camp neighbors to give us a jump.
Note to self: Either get an electric site or no electronics. (period)

Shenandoah National Park (Virginia)

The beautiful canopy of leaves as we hiked down to the falls in Shenandoah National Park.


We even got up to see a sunrise :)


The curve in the road where we watched the sunrise in Shenandoah.


Sunrise at Shenandoah.



The storm moving in the night we arrived at Shenandoah N.P.


More amazing storm ~ !



Mountain weather can get crazy :)




Smiles in the car on the way to our campsite....















Rainbow after the storm ~















Rainbow after the storm (far away)















We made it to Big Meadows in Shenandoah ~ !

Still in South Carolina.....note: our pics are out of order....we will figure out this blogging thing eventually...

Yes, Ash made it to South of the border too.


So we made it to "South of the Border"
There was advertising for it for every mile for at least 60 miles !


Southern Style - oh yeah baby!


And so with the good-byes of my yellow Schwinn I purchased a grey and orange Schwinn :)
Brady is tweaking the brakes/adjusting my seat.


I had to say goodbye to my yellow Schwinn. After 2 + years with her I left her at a Target bike rack with the sign in the picture wedged in her brakes. (sniff....)



As we were driving we spotted this "Gypsy Carvan" passing us.


It appeared that she had everything in the back of her little bus including a garden and moped.
I guess the next time we do this summer long traveling we will do it "gypsy" style.

more pics of South Carolina !

Ashley summoning the oak gods/goddesses.


bird jokes


A side view of the Angel Oak Tree.


One of the many huge branches !


Little people next to big tree :)

Here come the pictures :)

Sign we saw as we pulled in to watch the sunrise by the Charleston Coast.


Hints of color in the shoreline


The sun was actually on the other side of the bridge- which we thought we were facing but I guess not.



Sunrise at Charleston, SC.


Heading over the bridge in Charleston.

Cleveland to South Carolina to Virginia to New Jersey to New York !

Today: June 20.
Temps: Sunny and 80s.

Hello from Brooklyn NY!
Note: this is a recap from the last few days - the days before that will be complete with pictures once we get to our next destination- The Catskill Mountains.

We are sitting in our friend Dominique's living room listening to the sound of traffic and the buzz of NYC. She has been our tour guide since we arrived. Simply excellent ! I have a bummed knee so I will be sitting on the couch until Brady and Dominque return from Time Square and StoneWall and maybe a vegan bakery or two :) ( pictures and stories to come )

Flashback to Friday : We drove from 10:30 am-8pm from Shenandoah National Park to New Jersey where we stopped at our friends Jim and Mary's place for an amazing Italian meal complete with wine and a Sambuca and fruit dessert - a must try ! Thank you again for your hospitatlity and kindness ! SIDENOTE: If you can avoid driving even near D.C. do so ! The traffic was insane and added around 3 hours to our trip to NJ.

Yesterday : We made our way down to Battery park to check out the Statue of Liberty (which is smaller than one would think, the ratio of the pedestal and Lady Liberty herself is almost equal ) - but cool just the same.

Ground Zero was on our route too- a very powerful and humbling experience. Really no words to describe. Right now their is a re-build going on with pictures of what the new structure will look like and the museum in honor of 9-11.

Lunch was around the corner at DoJo's - a quaint restaurant tucked into the folds of city life. It was inexpensive and amazing food. Everything from fresh guac and hummus to tofu salads and portabella mushroms. Yum!

After stuffing our faces with vegan friendly food we headed toward Strawberry Fields and Central Park. Both a must see ! It was quite insane to walk past the gates where John Lennon was shot. Yoko Ono still lives at the Dakota to this day. She lights a candle every year on Dec. 8th in memory of John in her window. Words can't explain....pictures to come.

That was about where my knee gave in and our travels continued with a snow cone for icing my knee (colorful and sticky), a wheel chair ride around the MET and a cab ride back to the apartment.
But we did manage to make it to Mimi's where we ate fabulous authentic NY pizza ! Even without cheese !

Today : We are hitting the road and heading North to the Catskill Mountains where we will stay for at least 3 nights or longer. NYC is a very vibrant, energy packed, and quite eclectic place to see! So if you get the chance I'd say go for it :)

Until next time. Peace. a&b

97 degrees in South Carolina

So we couldn't take photos in the Hall of Fame...but this is right outside the exhibit areas.


Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame from afar.

After sleeping in Sunday morning at the Crown Plaza in downtown Cleveland (gotta love priceline.com) we grabbed the remaining fruit from our cooler and headed down to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. There we saw sights like, Michael Jackson's thriller outfit and famous glove, John Lennon's leather jacket and guitar, Elvis's car and love letters from fans as well as his "snowflake" uniform that he wore while touring....and so much more ! A very cool thing to check out if ever in Cleveland. Then we grabbed some burritos and hit the road....

We decided to drive through the night from Cleveland to Charleston, SC where we watched the sunrise on the a local beach. There were lots of dead jelly fish on the shore....
It's not even 10am and the temps are insane !

The highlights of the night drive were the Appalachian Mts. emerging from the darkness and the amazing amount of fireflies lighting up the roadside as we drove through the turnpikes driving 600 miles in one night- caffeine pumping in our veins...

Now we are headed to see the Angel Oak and to "re-evaluate" our car situation... i.e. do some laundry, get the stench out of the back seat area and figure out where the next meal is...

Ciao ~! a & b

Photo Album # 3 (Cleveland)

A large "FREE" stamp downtown Cleveland, This was oddly enough donated by "BP" to the city of Cleveland.


Mecca #2, Progressive Field, Cleveland Ohio
Check out these seats!



The "official" drum man --- You may recall the movie 'Major League'. It was a movie about the Indians that was filmed at county stadium in Milwaukee. This guy has been to every home game for 37 straight years!



Leaving the field after an Indians victory!


Progressive Field, Cleveland

Photo Album # 2

The Rose Garden, (Columbus, OH)


The Rose Garden (Columbus, OH)

Photo Album to Date

At the "Mecca #1" : The Ohio State University



Our first meal on the road (just outside of Indianapolis)


(The Heartland Cafe, Chicago IL
Great Food with small town Charm)

Rockin' in Cleveland

( This was June 3....leaving Amherst, WI )


Today: 6/12
Temp: 85 - yes it's 12:15 in the morning..
Place: Cleveland, OH
Next Stop: Hwy 77 S to South Carolina.... or somewhere in the Appalachian Mts.

Greetings from the armpit of the U.S.
Yes, we've made it to Ohio and seen our fair share of sporting venues.
After leaving Indianapolis we scooted over to Columbus for an afternoon
of picking up Ohio State gear and checking out the stadium.

After the stadium we headed to the Park of Roses where over 35,000 roses were in bloom.
It was nothing short of spectacular. Who would have thought Ohio had such a place?~
We then decided to drive 3 more hours to our campsite in Streetsboro where we pitched the tent for 2 nights.

Needless to say they were very fun-filled nights with the a raccoon in the garbage, a cat on the picnic table and some wild animal that sounded like it was hunting for a baby rabbit. Gotta love the outdoors :) During the daytime we went swimming and hiking at the Cuyanoga National Park and came back to our homey little set up.

Which leads us to today, checked into the Crown Plaza in downtown Cleveland where nobody dwells the streets on the weekends. It's a ghost town after 5 pm on Fridays. Crazy.

Brady's dream came true at 7:05pm as we sat and watched the Cleveland Indians smoke the Washington Nationals at Progressive Field. We sat in the 4th row right behind 3rd base right next to the dugout. Killa' seats on a humid but fabulous Cleveland evening.

Tip 4 u: air mattresses are no good to sleep on, neither are yoga mats...any suggestions? Also, Walmart will not take back your used air mattress unless you utilize Brady's sweet talking methods :)

Next stops.... Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and then South Carolina to check out the Angel Oak ....
a 1500+ Year old tree :) Oh yes !

Much peace.... a & b

Almost out of Illinois

Today 6/8: Rainy and 60.
Current Location: De Kalb, IL
Next Stop: Indianapolis, IN

Recap on the last 2 weeks:

Closing the chapter on Green Bay and hauling all our stuff and then some back home (Amherst)
Going through all our stuff (again) and getting rid of more than half
Packing our life into the back of a Toyota Rav 4 ( less our two cats )
Hitting the road and visiting all our family/friends on the way out.

Tip of the Day :
Do not hide your parking sticker behind a sun shield/visor in your car - you will get a ticket.

Officially hitting the road in the morning. We will get better at this blog thing/make it worth looking at in the days/weeks to come. Hang in there :)

Welcome to Brady & Ashley's Blog!

We will have more to post once we are finally on the road. We anticipate our departure date to be June 8th.

Brady