the sherwood merrywalkers presents the great easter egg hunt  -  sherwood,  Saturday 3/31

Just sitting in a lounge getting ready to board our flight for home.  We have our sweatshirts packed so we are ready for the colder weather.  This morning we did an 11k around Fenway Park and some beautiful parks.  We did one section of Jamaica Pond, which is fantastic, but after the beautiful nature trails and through some great walking areas, we headed into the Mission Distrirct and we were glad we were walking this during the day.  We are going to try to load the pictures up as long as we have some time before boarding, but we aren't too sure about how good they will be.  It sure was fun, but it's always nice coming home.

We started very early this morning to make sure we got everything in.  We had to do one more walk in Boston, and we were finally done.  Today we had a chance to go through Beacon Hill,  hear the church bells and the choir at the Adventist Church and see where Lockhart presides over the Boston Pops every July 4th.  I swear I could hear the 1812 Overture in the background.
After we were through with that walk we headed over to Roxbury, only 2 miles from Boston.  This was done as a suburb in a city years ago.  It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  For the most part, it was a flat walk with only one hill located in the park where you had great views of the city.  We had lunch there and one of the checkpoints was an ice cream place, where Angela got a small Sunday so she could take the cup home to her nephew, and I just got a scoop of maple nut.  It was in the 80s, so it was a real treat.
Tomorrow we are off early again to do the walk around Fenway Park.  We leave right for the airport after the walk, so we may not get the pictures up until Tuesday. 
Angela and I had a great time and we still can't get over how much we saw.  We are both tired and we figure we'll sleep on the plane home.
See you on Wednesday.  Angela and Jane

Since Angela is doing the Freedom Trail walk in October with Tater Tours, we did our own version today starting with the National Park Service Tour, which was about an hour and a half, but it only took you one mile.  The official tour ended at the North Church ("one of by land, two if by sea".  Then we trudged up to the cemetery (yet another one) and then we headed up to Bunker Hill (and we did not climb up the 248 stairs.  Then it was off for a tour of the USS Constitution and a nice ferry ride through the harbor back to the downtown area.  About 5 p.m. we finally decided to stop for lunch/dinner and perfect timing for a light shower, which we missed while having dinner.  After, we were off again to Hard Rock and Quincy Street Market where we watched a knife juggler.  Then it was off to the Boston Commons were we so the most beautiful display of flags, 20,000 of them on the side of a hill.  They were put there on Wednesday for the first time every for Memorial Day weekend.  The flags were there to honor all of the Bostonian veterans.  While we were there we noticed that people were coming up and leaving notes and pictures of fallen heroes.  It was very impressive.  Boston Commons also hosts Frog Pond and Tadpole Park.  We also went over to the Public Garden to see their many statues, the beautiful pond with a bridge and their wonderful goose sculpture.  The little kids were having so much fun playing with them that we took probably way too many pictures, but it was a fun day.

We had a lot of places to see today, so we got an early start.
We started with the last walk in Portland where we toured one of the largest cemeteries yet.  It is supposed to be one of the top places for birdwatching.  They had some beautiful houses on the route, but all of the hoses paled in comparison when we hit Kennebunkport.  The walk took us through the grounds of a Monastery, then through the small town filled with quaint stores.  You have to just look at the pictures.  We had a chance to meet the librarian at a unique library and many of the walkers that were just out enjoying the day.  It looked very quiet out at the Bush estate, but what a slice of heaven they have.  We did talk to a contractor out there and he said one of the houses we looked at had about 10,000 sq. ft. plus 4 separate places for guests and a view of the ocean. 
A wonderful day to spend by the ocean and now we are back in Boston for the last leg of the trip.  Tomorrow, Fenway! Go Sox.

The guy at the Longfellow house asked us where we were from and when I said Portland, he laughed and said it could have been Boston if it wasn't for the toss of the coin.  I was so surprised that he knew that and he said out here, it's common knowledge.
The day started a lot cooler, in the low 70s.  We began by walking by these beautiful old houses that overlooked the river.  We had such a hard time trying to limit the pictures, but each house was so unique.  Then we headed downtown and went to the Universalist Church where we met up with Mo, the Sexton.  He was working on their gardens but offered to open the church for us.  We were amazed that the first draft of our constitution was drafted right in that church.  Also Longfellow had his own pew and there were memorials along the walls honoring some of the parishioners.  Continuing on, we headed over to the Portland firehouse, where we had a wonderful conversation with some of the fireman there.  They were telling us where to go for lobster and what to see in their neighborhood.  They were fascinated that we were on a walk and when we showed them the map, they were surprised how encompassing it was.  Angela was able to work her magic on a 5k walk that took the best of their 10k walk as well.  We also went past the park where Denzel Washington skated in the Preacher's Wife (and there was the cutest duck house there.)  We also went past the apartment that was used in the movie "Message in a Bottle", it was Sean Penn's Chicago townhouse.  And have you ever heard of Shipwrecked Beer?  Well we took a tour of their brewery and after they gave us a free tasting, which was pretty funny, considering it was at 11 a.m.  both Angela and I realized we don't have a high tolerance of alcohol, so we thought the rest of the route was pretty funny.  We eventually made it to the waterfront and decided on Gilbert's for lunch.  We went with the chowder and a lobster sandwich.  It was a very full day and tonight we pack up to get an early start with one more walk in Portland, stopping at Kennebunckport and then heading on to Boston, the last leg of our trip. 

A riddle for you. What's red with white hearts, black, pink, tan, a Lady bug, lavendar, black with red roses, and green & yellow with an "O" on it??? Give?    All of us with umbrell's today...heehee It poured on us for most of the walk, the good news is most of us enjoyed the walk and kept dry! The wet weather didn't dampen our spirts as we walked through a beautiful greenway and  Burnt Bridge park.  We finished in good time and by the time I got home the clouds had broken up, the sky was blue and the sun was shinning! That's Oregon for you!!!

Last night we hit the Christmas Tree Store thinking, wow, this is going to be a huge Sleighbells.  Not!  It was a store filled with everything but Christmas stuff.  They did say they started putting their Christmas stuff in July, but it sure was a fun place to see and it was only across the street from the hotel.
This morning we started out early trying to get the walk in before it got too hot.  It was about 95 today and we did 2 5k which about did us in.  We met Sally and her husband getting the box money at the Starting Point.  It was fun to meet them and they said they had always wanted to do the Gorge walks, so we invited them to my house, so that might be really fun to host a couple from another group.  They were excited we were doing both of their walks.  We did stop and have a frozen hot chocolate and an Italian ice before heading over to Yarmouth.  What a nice nature trail and we loved the round brick memorials they had in their park.  We also saw at the Universalist Church they were having Sunday's talk on Margaret Fuller, so we looked her up and she was very interesting.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller
After the two walks we went over and met Lenny the Moose and then headed back for a  quick nap before dinner and then heading out to the last walk of the day which was at the Mall of Maine.  The walk box was in the Walking Company Store and you just walked the mall, pretty easy.  By the time we got out though, the wind was blowing and the temps were at 61.  Alleluia!
By the way check out the info on Herbie the tree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_%28tree%29

This morning we started out in the little town of Saco, ME.  It was filled with many historical buildings, a little covered bridge and the funniest lighthouse.   It also had one of the prettiest cemeteries, loaded with trees and shade, and today, being in the 90s, we loved it.
By the time we got to South Portland, we decided on a 5k and drove the rest of them and it took us over 4 hours just to drive them!  We ended up stopping for lunch and having some of their noted clam chowder.  We talked to a few Portlanders and they have suggested the Portland Lobster Company for lobster, so that is definitely on the agenda.  We did meet Kathy from the Historical Society who was so proud to show off their new facility and tell us everything about Portland and the important part it played in the ship building industry.  I did let her know about our new Rosie the Riverter statue on the Columbia.  After leaving there we headed out to Bug Lighthouse, called that because it is small.  Then we headed over to the Spring Point lighthouse where Angela climbed on top of the battery.  After doing the 5k we headed out to the most beautiful lighthouse located in Ft. Williams Park, which is filled with so many historical monuments artifacts from the Revolutionary to the WW ll.  We just found a good spot and sat ourselves down and listened to the waves and watched the gulls flying over the lighthouse.   Oh there is one picture, of a Ft. Gorges (gorgeous) that dating back to Revolution.  We met a concrete guy doing repairs on the Bug Lighthouse who gave us an update on Portland's history.  He not only told us where to get good lobster, but also said how Portland had been burned to the ground 3 separate times. 
Oh I did want to add one thing in from the other day.  When we did that Flume walk, it was also part of the Appalachian Trail.  I had no idea it started in New Hampshire and it ended in Georgia.  I always thought it would be cool to say you walked it, I just never thought it would be in New England!

We were so tired when we hit the motel last night and then we ended up with a horrible internet connection, so we finally had to give up,  So we did fix up the photos from Franconia State Park and Woodstock and did tag them, so please have a look.
Today we started really early by doing a 5k around Dartmouth in Hanover New Hampshire. There are so many famous alums from there, have a look at this web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dartmouth_College_alumni
Angela had 3 walks set up so we headed over to #2 and found out the start place, the library was closed, so we took some pictures (Fremont, NH) and we took off for Exeter. 
Exeter was a beautiful little town consisting of one of the most prestigious prep schools out here, starting at $43k per year. One of their more famous alums, Dan Brown, who names some of his teachers in all of his books and his movies have the Exeter flag always in the beginning.  A beautiful little town with cute shops and eateries.  We tried out one of their bakeries and then stopped for an ice cold root beer at another.  It was about 87 today, which was very warm, but they said tomorrow it will be HOT!  It is supposed to get cooler on Wednesday and in the 70s the rest of the week.  It was nice that this turned out to be an "easy day" for us.  When we got to Homewood Suites, they upgraded Angela's room to a 2-room suite, we are just rambling around from room to room with a living room inbetween.  Another perk is we get a nice hot dinner and great internet connections.  It's so nice Angela works for a hotel chain.

Comment: Is anyone planning a trip to go do the Crazy Horse walk on June 5th & 6th in Rapid City, SD?
Starr McKee
Email: bear1@bctonline.com