Author: Lisa

My SLO friend and fellow Roadtrek owner, who taught me so much about Addie!, Noni invited me to join her on Cape Cod where she’s vacationing for the month in a cottage by a pond.
What a wonderful day we had! First, we found a fun arts and crafts fair in the Village of Sandwich. Next, we explored the Heritage Museum and Garden. Then, we ambled on a boardwalk over dunes and a marsh. Dinner? Home grilled swordfish and corn with salad. Yum yum!
Noni’s backyard pond.

 

Garden pathway.

 

I love this tree-of-many-trunks!

 

Mushrooms, anyone? Gorgeous orange color!

 

So many types of hydrangeas!

 

Carousel from 1908!

 

Sprinkled all over – lego sculptures of birds and insects!

 

Okay, it’s not a waterfall… However, the fountain and pond delighted me!

 

Intriguing tree!

 

Shhh…don’t tell Addie I’m driving another vehicle.

 

When Noni was here earlier in the week, the high tide covered this marsh.

 

Boardwalk adventure.

En route to visit my friend Noni in Yarmouth on Cape Cod, I returned to Brandeis where I spent my freshman, sophomore, and senior collegiate years. (For my junior year, I was in Israel at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.) I felt strange walking around campus. So much has changed in the nearly forty years since I attended Brandeis – duh! And…the campus felt somewhat similar to Cal Poly! The same mishmash of architecture, same ongoing construction, same students wandering around… I felt both out of place and familiar…

Brandeis’ seal – the Hebrew word is Emmett (truth). I was bummed the bookstore didn’t have any baby clothes with this seal for my honorary grandson, Emmett. (I’ll need to check online!)

 

Reitman, my freshman dorm. I was in a two-room triple; most others were in doubles. I remember looking out of my window and seeing snow for the first time. I also remember sitting in this quad on the first warm Spring day – when the temperature made it to 50°!

 

The steps up to Rabb Hall where I had several classes. Oddly, the steps didn’t seem so steep today.

 

Usdan which used to be the student center and now holds offices. Starting at the end of my freshman year, I started working as an office aide for The Waltham Group, the student organization that arranges volunteering opportunities for students. The Waltham Group continues to be very active on campus.

 

The round classroom where I had several classes, including Death and Dying with Morrie Schwartz, made famous in Mitch Album’s book, Tuesday’s with Morrie.

 

My sophomore year was my hardest academic year since I wanted to study in Israel for a year and needed to complete a bunch of difficult required classes before studying abroad. That year, I closed down Gerstenzang Library most nights. This was the library for studying; Goldfarb Library was more for socializing.

 

Statue of Justice Louis D. Brandeis, first Jewish Supreme Court Justice.

 

When I was a senior, we had about three reported rapes on campus. A friend and I, both connected with The Waltham Group, approached Pres. Bernstein for his approval to create an escort service so women would not have to walk alone on campus at night. He gave us his approval, and the program was hugely successful.

 

Ridgewood, my sophomore dorm.

 

The Jewish chapel. Brandeis has three chapels (Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant), all situated around a pond so that none ever casts a shadow over either of the other chapels. From my reading, I see that in the past 40 years Brandeis has added space for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jains.

For the past several years on Yom Kippur, I have chosen to go on a reflective beach walk rather than fasting and sitting in shul, where I would focus on my hunger rather than my prayers.
Today for Yom Kippur, I toured Portland’s four lighthouses and used them as a prompt for my reflections, some of which I’m including in today’s post.
Lighthouses provide a warning about nearby dangers. If one sees a lighthouse, one can choose to heed its warning and steer clear – or take a chance and go toward possible danger.
We all have a lighthouse within – and can choose to heed its signal or ignore and take a chance.
My road trip adventure allows me to see my internal as well as external lighthouses. What dangers lie ahead? What do I want to avoid? What risks am I willing to accept? Where do I want to go? How do I navigate my future?
G’mar chatima tovah!
Two Lights Lighthouse

 

Portland Head Light

 

Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse

 

Bug Light

My Maine Adventure with Joel concluded today. Nice, though, he found a highly rated lobster roll food truck near the airport, so we enjoyed one last lobster meal before parting until I return to SLO. 
Addie and I, sans Joel, drove through Rockland and the Portland Trader Joe’s on our way to our campground. MAJOR thunderstorm just as I arrived at the campground! Fortunately, it subsided when I dumped my black & gray tanks and filled my fresh water tanks.
One last lobster meal before our Maine Adventure concludes.

 

Smiling as I reflect on my Maine Adventure with Joel and contemplating the next phase of my journey.

 

Restaurant parklets dot the cityscape of many towns I’ve visited, including Rockland.

 

Rockland.

 

Lobster buoy sculpture in Rockland.

Today, Joel and I took the ferry to Schoodik Peninsula and biked the loop around the splendid scenery – trees, rocks, water. Green, brown, gray, blue…multicolored delight! I seldom ride a bike and surprised myself by relatively easily completing the ride.
After returning to Bay Harbor, we picked up the popovers we ordered in the morning before ferrying to Schoodik. Yum yum!
Dinner presented a bit of a challenge. With only a few restaurants open, we could neither get seated nor order takeout. Plan B: I made dinner in Addie, Joel made a campfire, and we enjoyed s’mores for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel biked; I hiked. 🙂
We parked at the Visitors Center, so Addie could rest for a bit. Joel hit the carriage roads on his Bike Friday; I took the shuttle south to Jordan Pond. My original plan consisted of hiking the five miles from Jordan Pond to the Visitors Center. However, I miscalculated by three miles and wandered a bit finding the trailhead. Although my five mile hike turned into a nine mile adventure, I met Joel at Addie seven minutes before our agreed upon time! A treat six miles into my hike: Joel and I met near a carriage road bridge, perfect photo op.
Jordan Pond.

 

The trail next to Jordan Pond.

 

A bridge to…?

 

A double carriage road bridge.

 

The leaves they are a changin.

 

Eagle Lake – I think! I hiked by a bunch of lakes and ponds, some named and some anonymous.

 

Biker Joel.

 

Hiker Lisa.

 

After our adventures, we reenergized with clam chowder in Bar Harbor.

Another big driving day from New York to Vermont to New Hampshire to Maine!
New York: Before I left my campground, I had to see Moreau Lake itself, a beautiful Adirondack lake ending its season now that Labor Day is over.
Vermont: Before I began my adventure, Joel requested a postcard from each state I visit, providing me with stamps to facilitate my mailing them. (He’s saving these for me to put into a collage when I get home. 🙂 ) I’ve kept this up in every state – I think I’m now at 23 states + Canada – finding, writing, and sending postcards all along my way. Sometimes acquiring postcards is easy, sometimes it’s a bit more challenging. The search for a Vermont postcard lead me to a gift shop along the highway in the Green Mountains. In the shop, the guy working suggested a waterfall and a gorge – all on my route. He said if I see these, I’ll see the best that Vermont has to offer. So, off to Thundering Brook Falls and the Quechee Gorge I went!
New Hampshire: I thought I’d find a little town with a little gift shop in the White Mountains to get my New Hampshire postcard. Wrong! Ultimately, I found one at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center! I pulled off the road at one trailhead to take a look at the trail and take a few photos.
Maine: While checking into my campground, the proprietress showed me how easily I could walk from my campsite to a suspension bridge onto a little island they own with a one mile trail looping around the island. Since I had been sitting and driving so much, I followed her instructions and, much to my delight, got a kick out of the long and high bridge and the foliage.
Moreau Lake – to the left of this photo, out of the frame, someone is driving some type of equipment to rake the sand.

 

Thundering Brook Falls, Killington.

 

Covered Bridge of Woodstock, Vermont.

 

Quechee Gorge.

 

Quechee Gorge

 

The bridge and road over the Quechee Gorge.

 

Franconia Notch State Park. The leaves are beginning to change!

 

Only one section of the bridge! It went UP, ACROSS, and then DOWN!

 

View from Hastings Island, Bethel, ME.

 

I love how the light plays on this multi-trunked tree.

Travel day through upstate New York and the Adirondacks to Moreau Lake State Park. Although it added time and distance, I adored the scenery of the back roads rather than the monotony of the interstate.

Lunch stop at Verona Beach State Park. Very windy!

 

Verona Beach State Park.

 

Verona Beach State Park.

 

 

On the road. I didn’t catch it in this picture, but some of the leaves are already changing. The switch from summer to fall is happening quickly!

 

Moreau Lake State Park.

 

Moreau Lake State Park.

So friggin’ amazing!!! Five photos/videos from the Canadian side, five from the US side!!!

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls Video (click on the photo to open the 33 second video in another window)

 

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls

 

US Falls

 

US Falls Video #1 (click on the photo to open the 3 second video in another window)
US Falls

 

US Falls Video #2 (click on the photo to open the 5 second video in another window)

US Falls