We’re back from our trip and had a wonderful time! Actually, we’ve been back from our trip- it’s just taken me a minute to get back in the groove. We flew into Portland, Maine and meandered up the coast to Acadia National Park- stopping at towns, harbors, and lighthouses all along the way. After a few days in beautiful Bar Harbor, we drove over to Woodstock, Vermont and took in the beauty around there. We stayed in a most charming inn but, sadly, Bob Newhart wasn’t working the front desk. Apparently, because of a hurricane and an extra-rainy summer and fall, it wasn’t the greatest year for fall foliage, but it was still prettier than a Mississippi fall and we really enjoyed (or I really enjoyed) the cooler weather. 

A couple of weeks before our trip, my family got together at our house. My little brother, Lee, was set to leave for Africa about the same time we were going to Maine. Lee, just being Lee, was going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I was asking about his trip and he started asking about ours. He wanted to know what we were going to do and I listed our simple goals of enjoying the leaves and cool weather while taking in the rocky coast and lighthouses. He nodded slowly with a hint of sympathy in his eyes and pursed his lips as if he was waiting for more- like…. and after that we’re going to bike the Appalachian Trail through Maine, do a polar bear plunge in the Atlantic, and run in the Boston Marathon before heading home. It was then I was reminded that there two kinds of people in this world. Those who climb mountains and those who look at them. There are those who think vacations are a time to challenge themselves and live on the edge and those of us who are content to tank up on the hotel breakfast and enjoy the scenery (from elevations that don’t cause hallucinations without supplemental oxygen. True story.) We are not the same.