Sometimes dreams really do come true!  When I was in high school, a friend of mine and I got our hands on a road atlas and began dreaming about taking a trip around the country.  One place I desperately wanted go was Portland, Maine so that I could say I’d been to Portland’s on both sides of the country.  Today I fulfilled that dream, in a manner of speaking.  But my sister, Sherill, had also advised me on other places in Maine to see.  We sort of got to do that.

Starting out in New Hampshire, we saw remnants of what must have been a very colorful fall.

One last river

Entering Maine

Cattails

I keep being tempted to pick some of the apples I see.

One of the places Sherill told us we should see was Ogunquit. We ran into a snag trying to get there.

We think this was Ogunquit. On the far side, we caught our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean. We gave up trying to get to it.

We made it to Kennebunkport before dark.

This is the main square.

A beautiful church

A bright Christmas display and its reflection

We walked all over town until dark

The view from the bridge

After all the shops closed up, we drove north to Portland, Maine.  Our idea was to find some place where we could eat Maine lobster.  We followed signs to the waterfront and found a little restaurant with a bar, but there was only one lobster item on the menu…a lobster roll.  This was essentially pieces of lobster and lettuce on a bun.  I ate the lobster and left the bun.  Mark had a seafood platter that included scallops, clams, oysters, and fish from Maine.

The food was good…

…but the atmosphere was better. There was no loud music, no distracting television, and everyone was actually having conversations.  One woman at the bar sang “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah” and the whole restaurant joined in, including us! The group of women at the table near us were having a good time and even knew the waitresses’ names. We think we happened in on a local hot spot that tourists haven’t found.

Mark and the bouncer at the door

This was downtown Portland on our way back.

In Kennebunkport, we got a moose and a lobster catnip toy for our kitties.

Dobby and Kimba wore themselves out playing with them.

We are spending tonight in the parking lot of a Walmart in Biddeford, not far from Kennebunkport.  It’s a little noisy, but there was no other campground open in the area and at least we’re close to the store if we need anything!

Just got this from Mom about my stepfather:

Due to Dr. Kim’s (Cal’s surgeon) really being on the ball (just spoke with him last night), at 8:00 a.m. I just rec’d a call from a Dr. Bill, head of the St. Vincent’s Radiation Oncology Dept., telling us that we have an appt. with a Dr. Jeannie Louis tomorrow at 10:00.  He was so jovial and up-beat that I couldn’t help but feel greatly encouraged by his call.  We are hoping and praying that WHEN the V.A. makes their determination, that they will pay retroactively for these treatments at St. Vincent’s, seeing they don’t have the equipment to offer Cal the type of radiology he needs for his particular cancer type.  We are praising God for an over-the-top blessing.