Sept 6 2008--Safely home

We arrived home on 9/6/08 ,we were greeted with hugs from family members Dave and our sister Callie. Thank you Callie for staying long enough for us to have a chance to visit, before you return to Texas. As we were officially still on vacation we took this opportunity to do some local sightseeing tours. We began on Monday headed for beautiful Portland harbor and Casco Bay. First we took the Duck Boat tour ,taking us through all of downtown Portland and into the harbor. It was a beautiful summer day and so decided to have lunch at outdoor café along the wharf. Our next adventure was taking the mail boat and do island hopping on Casco Bay. The pictures are from both of these trips.
Wednesday was a perfect day to ride up Mt. Washington auto road. We filled the trunk of the (rental) car and headed out at 8am. Arriving in New Hampshire around 1030,Carl drove us to the
summit. The summit was overcast and covered in ice.We had no problem deciding to wear every piece of garment we had brought,including winter gloves. Had our lunch inside ,watched the Cog Railway come up and the sun burning through the cloud cover .By early afternoon the sky had cleared and the sun shone brightly. We spent a total of 4 hrs at the summit–just a great day. Highly recommended!!

We hope you enjoyed the blog and our trip to Alaska and back to Maine..3 months and over 11,ooo miles --- This is The End of this blog.. The Cozy Campers

Thank you,MN

We were a bit late in arriving but the time was very well spent with family. We want to thank you for the terrific hospitality. Really enjoyed seeing Mr Lincoln at work,while putting Senator Douglas in his place.

How did this Maine lobster get into your toilet tank??

Having Gone Full Circle

Here is a map of the final leg - Minnesota to Maine - ALL in ONE DAY! They have to make it one day as they have no place to sleep along the way! Home Base - please take note that the Cozy Campers will be sleepy campers when they arrive, unless they can find a Flying Cloud to sleep on!

Mr. Lincoln Discovered

Throughout the summer someone has been posting to the "Alaska or Bust" blog under the name of "Mr. Lincoln". Carl and Rachel have been mystified throughout the entire trip as to who this was (okay - this is not even close to being true, but we think "Home Base" was a little confused!!). The Cozy Campers arrived in Minnesota to discover the Mr. Lincoln had a debate scheduled with Senator Douglas (in the red vest) at the Landing in Shakopee, Minnesota. The Cozy Campers were chauffeured out the the Landing by a good looking friend of Mr. Lincoln and enjoyed a debate and horse ride while basking in the 90 degree heat.

Arrived in Minnesota

Posting by Taber: Ursula, Carl, Rachel and the screen door arrived in Minnesota Sunday afternoon. We have alerted the Minnesota State Patrol to begin the search for a missing camper. Ursula is feeling much better as a load has been lifted off of her back, but the rest of us are in quandary as we do not know what happened to the camper. We have enjoyed hosting Carl and Rachel in Minnesota and they are off on the road, hopefully they find a place to stay on the road as they no longer have a camper to sleep in! Maybe they can make a lean-to out of the screen door! Safe travels cozy campers.

Heading East- to Minnesota 8--28-2008

While in Washington State visiting with west coast families we did lots of sightseeing. On
Sunday the 17th went kayaking with Capt Tom as our guide,this included Reba and Tom also.
Monday the 18th to Port Townsend by ferry rented houseing at Fort Worden State Park. The next day had reservations for a 4hr whale watching. Returned disappointed not having seen any Orcas, we were given vouchers for another day trip. The weather looked promising for Thursday the 21st ,however this whale watch boat was an 8 hr cruise taking us further to Friday harbor in the San Juan islands .Couldn't pass up such a great deal and the weather was wicked awesome. On Friday we drove to Port Angles Wa and boarded a ferry taking us (family) to Victoria BC.Spent the afternoon playing tourists and eating lunch at the Swan Pub.Back on ferry at 6pm,saying goodbye to the Millers .We camped that night in Sequim Wa , the Fowells stayed at a jointing motel. Said our goodbye after breakfast on Saturday.

We started across Washington spending the night in Centialia Wa.,Sunday reached Richland Wa,Monday went across Idaho using rte. 12 Clearwater Canyon to an elevation of 5200 ft.
Reached Missoula Mt. and have been here for the last couple of days.

Sorry to report that our laptop is unreliable and unable to forward any more photos. :(
This could be our last entry as far as the blog goes. We really hope that all of you have had fun reading about our travels. If you wish,please leave comments as we are planning to keep this in our Alaska portfolio

Bellingham WA 8/15/08

We arrived in Bellingham at 0800 on a sunny morning - 3rd one off the ferry car deck. Daughter Stacy and grand daughter Lillian came down to greet us, but we missed each other , only to catch up with each other at the house. The video is coming into Bellingham , THANK YOU Stacy for the welcoming sign ! We loved it.

The blog maybe interrupted for the next week as we vacation with family here in the WA area