Burgers, Bunyon and Bad Vibes

None of us slept great at the Bear Paw, but I'm not sure adventurers adventure for the sleeping! We try to get in the groove of packing up in the morning and dancing around eachother in a small room to get ready. Thankfully, we are used to all sharing a bathroom so that part has been easy. I stop by the front desk to drop off the key and make sure we are all set for checkout and again, no one is there. Seems very trusting...or maybe it's all virtual? We grab a quick breakfast, some gas and we're on our way to officially start Route 2 which goes from Maine all the way to Washington. There is a portion of the road that goes through Canada but since the border is still closed, we have to skip a bit of the formal Route. We're not sure how long it will take us to travel Route 2 which is typically a one lane road that weaves along the lakes, coastlines and Canada. You can't put the directions in GPS because it is constantly trying to get you on a more main road. We made good time though and we were flying through Maine. Our original goal was to get all the way to Burlington, VT (passing through NH) but using a traditional highway that's an 8 hour drive. We decide to just see how it goes and go with the flow (or curve of the road).
Start Route 2

Adam and I do not fight often. I'd say maybe quarterly we have an argument of some sort, but typically it's resolved quickly. But on a roadtrip? We always have a HUGE fight. Typically it is on day 2 of the trip....and this trip was no different. For roadtrip #1 (Route 66) there was a moment where Adam stormed out of the van and I drove away. This time, no one got out of the van! Progress...not perfection. Abby reminded us to get it together and we listened. Abby has also been following in my footsteps regarding photography and has been happily snapping away at every stop we make. She typically makes fun of me for pulling over constantly to take a picture of a barn, or some random flowers or clouds, but now she gets out of the car with me and takes just as many pictures as me (maybe more).

We have a rule on the trip that everyone must try something new everyday. A new food, a new type of music, talking to a stranger...just something new. To support this, we have been trying to frequent local restaurants and stores so we can get the "new" vibe! Adam found a sub shop on our route for lunch that had a sandwich where the bread is replaced with HUGE PICKLES instead. Uhm. Yes please. The Legacy Sandwich. Adam orders online but when he tries to it says they are OUT OF PICKLES. Whatever, so I try "The Legacy Sandwich", Adam gets a turkey club and the kids go wild getting peanut butter and jelly, and peanut butter and fluff! When we go in shop, the clerk says they don't have online ordering (interesting) but we show our order and he suddenly remembers they do. We grab our food and go. Insert fight #3 for the day and the BIG one. Also, just so you know the Legacy Sandwich is where they put cut up tomatoes, peppers, and onions IN the sub roll and then they lay slices of salami ON TOP OF THE SUB ROLL and then top it with pickles. So just so we're clear, the meat LAYS ON TOP OF THE SUB ROLL. I am trying to embrace the newness while I am driving but it's very messy. All in all, glad I tried something new but we did make a quick stop to clean up the van floor which was covered with tomatoes, peppers and onions...

After lunch we talk about how long we estimate it to take to get to Burlington and its about 6 more hours. We know there isn't much on the list to see until Michigan so we decide to go for it and push hard now to get more time in the National Parks later. Plus, this way we can hit up Gideon's favorite burger joint in the world for dinner. Grazers.
On the way we get to stop at a local park and see a Paul Bunyon Statue. Apparently these are all over Route 2 so stay tuned for more.

As we drive Gideon quizzes us with lots of 21st Century quiz questions. We are actually pretty good together except sports. None of us can tackle those. We get to Grazers around 7:45 and we're a bit cranky from the long drive and the day full of parent fights (the kids were fine). Eat a yummy dinner and pack it back into the car to head to the hotel. We are about 10 minutes from the hotel when the "check engine" light comes on. Naturally, I panic as I have never seen this in my van before. Adam is googling and I'm driving really slow for no reason. Adam believes that it is likely the gas gap that is loose. I say a little prayer, we get to the hotel safely and I check the gas cap. It actually was loose...but after I fixed it the light still remained on. I try to ignore it and head into the hotel where I can safely obsess and google what the light means in our Sienna. I also have time to realize that tomorrow is Sunday so no one will be open to fix the van...

The hotel is better than Bear Paw BUT the room smells like smoke and it's the only room left. I remind myself that we wanted adventure and get into bed. As we are falling asleep I remind everyone of something super important .. "I don't like the smell in here".

Summary: Got the fighting over with; made lots of progress. Ended the day at Best Western, Waterbury, VT

Previous Day Next Day