After we left Jeanne and Delmarie’s on Friday, we drove through the Maine countryside. There is an active Shaker village near them, so we stopped to see it. The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village still has two living Shakers, and membership to the community is still open, but the rolls of the Shaker religion were closed in 1957 and no new people can actually join.

The Shakers have entered into an a trust with the State of Maine and some conservation groups guaranteeing that the land will be protected from development forever.  After we left the village, we tried to see the Atlantic coastline only to discover that there is really no road near the coast because most of it is privately owned and there are houses and trees that prevent seeing much of it.  We ended up staying overnight  in Wells, ME, which is right on the coast so we did finally get to see some of the ocean.

We made arrangements to meet our Cousin, Jennifer, her husband Mits and son the next afternoon. They live in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on the Vermont border. As we drove through New Hampshire from east to west, we saw some of the most beautiful colors.  It seems that the color in the trees was peaking over the weekend (which was a 3 day weekend due to Columbus Day) and there were thousands of people on the road. At one point on 93, traffic slowed to 10 miles per hour for about half an hour. Felt like we were back  in L.A.  Met Jennifer and her family at their house then we all went to a great lunch at a local BBQ restaurant, and after went to the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont.

Jennifer and Kathleen in front of the American Precision Museum.

Jennifer, Mits and Brid

This museum tells the history of manufacturing from the beginning of interchangeable parts for guns, which eventually lead to the development of interchangeable parts for consumer goods. Quite fascinating and very historical.  After we said goodbye to the Kobayashi’s, we started calling hotels in the area, only to find out that it was peak peeping season and there were no rooms anywhere.

We were afraid to drive on to Vermont, which had been our original plan, as the room situation was so bad, and the motels were few and far between.  We started driving east on 93, planning to check on motels/hotels in every city and town we went through. After about an hour, and as we were getting very frustrated and worried that we might have to spend the night in the car, Kathy’s phone rang.  It was our cousin Laura who lives in Kingston, New Hampshire.  We had planned to meet up on Monday as she was off from school, but when she heard about our quandary, she invited us to spend a couple of days at her house. Our Angel!!!!

It was wonderful spending time with Laura and her husband Wayne.  They have a lovely house that is only about a mile and a half from where our great grandmother had a farm. We visited on Saturday night while watching the Red Sox and Yankees play. Had a lovely breakfast the next morning, and took off to explore the area while Laura and Wayne had other plans.

Wayne sent us to highway 1A which actually runs along the Atlantic Coast.  We had a great day driving along the coast. The Atlantic was a little stormy, so it was gray and beautiful. We stopped at almost every pull out and finally quit taking pictures because we were sure we wouldn’t remember which was which.  Got back to Laura and Wayne’s around 5 and we went to a lovely restaurant near them and had more wonderful scallops!

Rock sculptures on a New Hampshire beach.

Atlantic coast in New Hampshire

The next morning we slept in late. Wayne had to go to work, so Laura took us out to a local breakfast place where they made their own corned beef hash.  Food was great. She then brought us to the house that our great grandmother had owned. She actually had a farm there. The house is still there, but it has been divided into condos. It’s right on a river, but my mom and aunts all called it a pond, as the river is rather calm in that area and it looks like a pond in front of the house.  We said our good byes to Laura around noon and took off for Gloucester, MA to actually spend a few days at the ocean.

The Squamscott River in front of Catherine McGinnis’s home/farm that her grandchildren called “The Pond.”

The Squamscott River in below Catherine McGinnis’ home/farm in New Hampshire.

Our great-grandmother’s, Catherine McGinnis, farm. It has now been turned into condos.