A view from near the top:

I shot a couple of panoramas, too, and stitched them up with Hugin

View Larger Map

The workflow to produce this data is a little bumpy, so I'm documenting it so I can remember it for myself, and presumably it'll be interesting for someone else as well.

Tools

• Garmin eTrex Vista HCx
• Mac running Leopard

Steps

1. Save the track on the GPS
2. Connect to your computer and use Garmin Bobcat to import it.
3. Load it in Google Maps. Drill down into your data set and turn off everything but the “path”
4. Right-click your path (very important) and say 'email'. (Sounds nuts, but it's the only export function I can find?) Drag and drop the file out of the email that got created and throw the email itself away.
5. Upload the kmz file to some hosting somewhere.
6. Go into Google Maps and search for the URL of that KMZ file.
7. Choose 'Link to this Page' … 'Customize and Preview embedded map'.

Moving time: 63 hours 52 minutes
Miles Driven: 3403.55
Average Gas Mileage: 35.6 MPG
Gallons of gas burned: 95.60
Avg Price/Gallon paid: $2.93
Total gas expenditures: $280.10

Eastern Vacation
Windjammer Cruise

Enjoy!

The wonder that was lime-infused watermelon.

The bed was incredibly comfortable, the innkeepers friendly and helpful, and the food fantastic. At 8pm they set out the dessert bar — all from-scratch made items, fantastic. #1 best feature of the room, though — huge whirlpool tub for 2. Breakfast was great too, lime-infused watermelon followed by our choice of a pecan crusted french toast or a omelette roulade — both were great. On top of that the inkeepers were totally helpful — they had directions printed out to all the local things worth seeing and would make recommendations based on our preferences. We ended up going to the impressive Ithaca Falls, a short walk from the inn, and then onto the Cornell Campus and their art museum. It was a decent museum, running on a pretty limited basis because it was the summer semester, but the view from the 5th floor was amazing — the whole city of Ithaca and Cahuga Lake.

Ithaca Falls, loving the Tv+Tripod, am right guys?

Is it possible for us to be mature adults? Probably not. Would I want it any other way? Probably not.

We liked Ithaca — it's probably the college-towniest college town I've ever been to. Dinner was great, too, a little tapas-style place, “Just a Taste”. They had a cool thing I've never seen before — flights of wine. You'd buy 5 3oz pours all grouped by theme — “Spanish Reds” or “Sparkling” or “Big Reds”, etc. It was neat to be able to compare and contrast similar glasses next to each other. Oh, and the food was fantastic.

Philly not taking itself too seriously — the founding fathers, ipod style.

After leaving Ithaca, we headed to Philadelphia. I got a deal at the Sofitel, the nicest straight-up hotel I've ever stayed at. The design was clean and modern and awesome, with a bed so comfortable we never wanted to get out. Room service served up a mean creme brulee, as well. Our view was nothing special — overlooking a lot of grotty rooftops — but for what we paid vs what we got, no complaints from me. Philly's an interesting city. It's a true metro, meaning downtown driving was a bad idea and not a lot of fun. We walked a lot, both the evening we arrived and the next morning. It's a lot less interesting and inspiring to see things like the liberty bell and the original congress building than I thought it would be. Architecturally, the city's a bit of an enigma. It has some incredible structures downtown (especially City Hall, dominating Penn Square just a few blocks from our hotel) but they're tarnished by everything being dirty and run-down looking. You walk through an otherwise spectacular arch and there's a mesh above you just inexplicably filled with gum wrappers, cigarette butts, and other crud.

A monster cheesesteak.

The real bright spot was the Reading Terminal Market — full of incredible food and people who care about it. I got an 'authentic' cheesesteak from one of the stalls recommended on Chowhound by a local, and Amber got a really good selection of antipasto from a Salumeria. My sandwich was pretty large, and by far the best of it's kind I've ever had. (As you'd expect/hope, it being the home of it's genre, of course.) The best word for it (and what set it apart from others I've tried) was 'balanced'. There was a far smaller amount of meat and cheese than I expected, but it was a perfect amount when set against the fresh-that-morning italian roll.

In other news, I'm going to be fasting for 20 days once I get home. This trip has not been a step forward on my path towards fitness, that's for sure.

Updates will probably slow down or stop from here on out — we're staying with friends and family, much less “vacationing” in the tourism sense. We've both concluded that we got full value of the “vacation” already, and everything from here on out is just a bonus.

Note: thanks to the awesome verizon 3G card for allowing this post to be published doing 60MPH on the I95 south of Philly.

We were off, time to travel to the Kennebeck River. We arrived at the Sterling Inn which was a part of the New England Outdoor Center. After we entered, yet another Steven King background, we were directed to the local brewery for dinner. I mention Steven King again, due to the fact that the Sterling Inn could hold up to 40 people. We only saw one. You would look down these expansive hallways with doors on either sides, and you would see no one. The place was also for sale, bad sign. At night, when you looked to your feet, you could see light “shining” up through the old wooden slats that were supposed to be supporting us. Creepy, especially when it was dark, I was alone (with Harry Potter) and I heard the sound of rats in the walls. Josh went out to find some soap. In this one horse town, it took him a while. The local store was a mess, had everything from a life supply of condoms to old dusty taxidermy bunny rabbits with eyes looking off in different directions, but no soap. After being on a boat for 4 days and not taking a shower, soap is what we desperately wanted. We downgraded to shampoo, better than nothing. The whole place was like being camping, and fair enough, the rest of the New England Outdoor Center was a place where youth groups come for the summer….to camp.

The Kennebeck river took our breath away. So many lush trees, osprey nest tucked into the hills, light white water flowing all around us. I was expecting harder rapids, but the ones that we did encounter on our 3 hour ride were pretty sweet. The first half of the trip was where all the action was, then a 90 minute gentle float down to the pullout point. Josh was at the front of the raft, he had some wicked style. Both of us managed to stay in the raft (high five) and each got separate turns taking the inflatable kayak out after we got to calmer rapids. It was so peaceful, especially on the kayak. The river went on forever, and I just paddled away to my hearts content. Stopping just to ride the tide and feel the sun on the back. Josh rode a few little waves and I could see him smiling from a mile away. This my friends, is a vacation.

On to up state New York, Ithaca. Where in William Henry Miller Inn awaited our arrival.

Also, we both finished the new Harry Potter book (thanks to the drive from Northern Maine to Ithaca, NY for the time to finish them up.)

First, the crew was fantastic. They really know how to make you feel at home and comfortable. There's a little bit of work to do aboard — the sails don't put themselves up, and there's no dishwasher — so we could pitch in as much or as little as we wanted. They were happy to answer any questions we had, no doubt having answered most of them 500 times before, and were just fun and funny as well. I can imagine the strain of spending an entire summer living and working with your customers, rolling out of bed to face them every single morning, and them being the last people you see on the way to bed — and they handled it transparently.

The weather started out looking like it was going to be a negative, and ended up being really great. Our first two days were pretty much becalmed, foggy, and rainy, but by day 3, the sun was out, and the wind FINALLY started to blow. On the calmer days we had a little yawl boat to push us around, so we could actually go somewhere — but I could imagine the frustration of being REALLY on a ship like that, with someplace to be, and nothing but the fog and rain to look at. The contrast actually ended up being nice — the super windy/sunny days were actually a little tiring, and by the end of it I was shocked to find myself hoping for a touch of fog!

So, the trip. I would HIGHLY recommend it to a lot of people, but with some caveats.

The pros:

The food is incredible. The day started with the wood stove firing up around 5:30AM, and hot coffee and hand-made baked goods out at about 6. They were out until 8, when the “real” breakfast was unleashed — it varied from healthier days (oatmeal etc) to a full-on breakfast with pancakes and sausage, etc. Lunch was served around noon up on deck — again, everything handmade, a good variety, and really, really, incredible tasting uniformly. Dinner, more of the same.

The scenery is incredible. You poke up and around the Maine coast, a lot of relatively untouched (or just touched by the rich or isolated) islands, incredible forests coming right to the water, Ospreys and porpoises, incredible sunsets and (if you make it out of bed) sunrises, huge dynamic clouds, lovely fog-shrouding some of the time…. it's great.

It's really, really relaxing. It's the kind of relaxing that I don't think I've even gotten at a resort on the beach — I had nothing to do BUT relax. Take an extra nap, get through some books that have been on my to-read list for a while, do some swimming, get some sun, take some pictures — you get the idea.

The crews are great. See above. Maybe we had a fluke and got lucky, but all the other boats we saw had similar vibes going on.

Cons:

Pretty much no privacy. Our cabin was tiny (maybe 8'x8') and it didn't have walls, per se, except that they blocked light. Basically, they were curtains made of wood. When the people in the next cabin are whispering, you hear it. Not just that they are whispering, but what they are whispering. It was a romantic getaway in every sense but the physical, if you know what I mean (and I think you do.)

It's pretty rustic. You have to be ok with pumping the toilet by hand, and squinting to read in the cabin by the eensy little light.

In our minds, the pros way outweighed the cons — as rustic as it was, it beats camping, and at least things were clean. And on a 16 day vacation, we could handle 4 days of reduced privacy.

I'd totally go again. I would probably ad to my list of things to bring for next time:
One of those soft folding chairs you can take camping. Not a lot of seating on board, and it would have been nice to lean back on something. Some extra reading material. A book light for evenings in the cabin. Other than that — bliss.

Driving to Camden Maine was cold and rainy. Since we were about to board a sail boat for four days, this matter weighed on us quite heavily. GPS to save the day, we typed in REI with no luck whatsoever. Josh got clever and tried L.L.Bean, who would have thought that it would lead us to the preppiest outlet centers in the world — Freeport, Maine. We're talking L.L. Bean, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, North Face, Bath and Body works, Yankee Candle and not to forget, The Gap. I hadn't seen a such a large collection of white suburban middle class men bored out of their minds in a long time. Dragging their polo clad children behind them, we rushed by the find some rain worthy wear. All we really needed was two rain proof jackets, and even though we were in the outlets, it was becoming increasingly obvious that we weren't going to get out of this hell without paying up to $300. It was a sad day for me, I knew what that $300 could have bought at say….Target! But it was going to make for a more enjoyable boat trip so I grit my teeth and now I'm a happy owner of a bright red, insulated and oh so snuggly Cloudveil jacket. Straight from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Not that the fact that is came from Jackson Hole makes me love it anymore or any less. However, it should be handy if we ever get back into that backpacking stuff Josh talks about every once in a while.

When entering the town of Camden I couldn't help imagining scenes from countless Steven King books. The misty atmosphere,the lingering fish hooks and this unshakable,erie feeling and everyone knows you and all the busniess that you're up to. The eyes of the local fisherman seemed to follow our bright yellow pontiac with suspicion. This was all in my head, as Camden is a town the screams lazy comfort, with every step you take down it's tight winding streets. Easy living on the coast, where everyone's best friend is a local lobster. Just like our tour guide from Luray, we were anxiously awaiting the arival of J.K. Rowling's next Harry Potter adventure. As we walked towards or dinner destination for the evening, before boarding the ship, we found a local book store and pre-ordered a copy of her final classic. 4 days at sea will be quite relaxing, but oh the joy that awaits these sea legs when we return. – Amber

I was nervous, I couldn't explain why. I saw this line forming right outside of our ship “The Mercantile” and I was getting shy, like my first day of school. All this way to get to our destination and I didn't really want to play nice in the sand box with all the other kids. What if I really disliked them? What if they were hillbilly folk that just didn't understand me?i It was too late!! We were committed, paid in full and ready to board. So I did it, after all, i'm an outgoing person right? Tied up my boot straps and said hello to my crew mates. Turns out, I had nothing to be worried about.

The boat is classic, feels like something my ancestors would have ridden over in to the free land. Small galley where food is prepared on a constant basis on an incredible cast-iron wood stove, and a fun but competent crew that made us feel welcome from the first steps aboard. There's almost no power on board — some batteries that light up basically flashlight bulbs in our rooms. No power for the plumbing, we get to pump our water and pump to flush the toilet. There's no motor on the boat — if we need to go somewhere, we have to get pushed by a “yawl boat”. Then there is our room…or shall we say cozy hole. It's pretty much the smallest space I have every slept in. I'm not complaining in the slightest, I've heard too much of that for one lifetime. You'd think us Americans were spoiled or something…. ironic pause. Hello folks!! If you choose to spend four days on a 100 year old sailboat….don't expect rooms that you would see on Royal Caribbean. Needless to say, it's an adventure, and so far we are loving every minute of it. – Amber

The lushness that is the east coast it quite breathtaking. With that being said, we would like to take some of it away. Due to the density of trees along the highways, you can't see the landscape of most of the towns that we have been driving though. SInce we have our handy GPS we are going routes that are direct, not necessarily meant to be scenic. We have lucked out in a few spots, and like I said, the lush trees and sweeping hills are breathtaking. When we pulled off our next exit to Mystic, Connecticut we were surprised to see a scene picked straight out of Pleasantville — the part of the movie when the pastel colors turn up. Streets lined with perfectly potted plants and coastal waters flowing in and around the town.

Our bed and breakfast, The Old Mystic Inn, got a little confused as to which day we were coming to visit. All got sorted out, and our lovely host felt really bad about the whole mix up. When all was said and done he ended up finding us another room which was quaint and granny like (which is what we were going for at this stop), a 10% discount on our one night stay and a generous gift certificate to the resturant we had reservations at. Now that is what I call hospitality. Fine dining came in the form of Captain Jack Packers Resturant. The best meal to date on our trip started with Lobster Lolly Pops and appropirte dipping sauces.Josh had a bone in rib eye, I enjoyed the savory wine and gouda topped flavors of my filet mignon. That night was very relaxing, I slipped into my P.J.s and (mt) hoodie and headed out to do what you do in the east/south parts of our country at night — sit on the porch and read.

I'm currently enjoying a light novel by Neal Pollack called Alternadad. Pretty much a realistic journey of Neal's quest to be a “cool” dad. So far it's coming to the conclusion that what you think is cool dramatically changes once your child enters this world. With that being said, so much of who we are can still be “cool” — not losing that is the battle Neal writes about. I can see his story very clearly in my mind's eye and can imagine myself attacking parenting in some of the same ways as he did. As I quietly read Josh played around with night shots on the Old Mystic's property. Turns out it's harder than you would think to take pictures of fireflies. He figured out the trick to taking them, but as he did so a friendly neighbor was taking her dogs out to relieve themseles and they were not so friendly. Our stay in Mystic was short and sweet, but we must underline the sweet part as it left a very good taste in both of our mouths. Highly recommended if you find yourselves in that part of the country. – Amber

When I think of a destination I would like to relax in, I'm not sure Virginia has ever been on that list. As we entered the (not sure what they are known for) state, I felt as if we were coming into a town that hadn't seen visitors for quite some time. First impressions are most often incorrect. The sleepy town of Luray, Virginia was very welcoming and held a secret under it's pine swept streets. The night we arrived we enjoyed a low priced fare of half chicken, beans and potato salad. A little runny yet very similar to the type my grandmother has made. Our fine dinning experience was thanks to Uncle Bucks Kitchen, a small hole in the wall joint that was the only thing open in town after 9:00 p.m. A comfortable stay in the old reliable Best Western, led us into another day.

At breakfast, as it was now Monday morning, we sampled the standard life of the locals — at least the women. A group of them shared a dining room with us over breakfast — all in their mid to late 50's with too much time on their hands and too much to talk about. Small town……thats all I really need to say.
The reason we were in Luray was because it held the sights of the Luray Caverns. We spent about two hours mist these stalagtights and stalagmites, words I hadn't heard since elementary school. The tour also made me feel like I was in elementary school. Taken back to a time when the eagerness of standing in lines made me fidgety. Our tour guide was a 16 year old girl, lanky with rusty brown hair. She looked to be the type that was anxiously awaiting the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The fact that I know the title and all ready have it pre_ordered, also puts me in this category. Lanky was in a completely different category. The category which includes the girls that have a crush on….not Harry, but maybe Neville. Someone who has posters hanging on her walls of her colonial home and knows the complete recipe for the truth serum.
She was a very interesting tour guide to say the least. Neither of us could place her accent, which sounded normal other than the vowels, which rolled out at 1/5th speed. Our tour went off without a hitch. The beauty of what lies below the ground we walk on every day was astonishing, like the hidden caverns you expect to see in movies. The smell was musky and wet and so were the floors. Josh managed to “gracefully” loose footing at one point and …… knock his noggin at the same time. I have to give him credit, he did not fall…. nor did he drop our camera. Which worked out well since the pictures below do a better job at depicting the beauty than my words do. We continued heading northeast to Baltimore, Maryland.

Ahh the not so beautiful city of Baltimore. I can't say I would ever visit again. Our little family is in agreement on this matter. Baltimore should have more to boast about, city on the harbor coastal setting, a cool baseball stadium, decent mall, buildings and….okay I really can't find anything they should boast about. One person we met there suggested that it's close enough to DC that all the good stuff “drains” that way. Our hotel was on the harbor and upscale, freshly pressed linens, internet connection and helpful staff. The food we had for dinner was okay, but, all in all, not going back. We had planned to eat at a famous crab place, but as luck would have it, they were most known for the unusual “black pepper crust” on the crabs — the one flavor I'm probably least fond of. Had a nice enough time in Baltimore, but i've come to the conclusion that when I'm with Josh I could have fun in a padded room….maybe a little too much fun. So next…. off to Mystic Connecticut. – Amber