Where The Sun First Kisses The United States

Four days. Three hotels. Countless Cracker Barrels.

The journey is as important as the destination, and our journey was incredible.

Mississippi. Alabama. Georgia. Tennessee. Virginia. West Virginia. Maryland. Pennsylvania. New Jersey. Connecticut. New York. Massachusetts, New Hampshire. And finally...Maine. We plowed on through, not quite able to make it in three days as planned. We just didn't have that last three hours in us the third day, so we opted to finish it yesterday. I'm so glad we did. Jonni took her time, driving the "scenic routes," and we saw some amazing things along the way. And the entire way, we had blue skies. The clouds were merely there as accessories.

The worst part of the drive was the ever-rising gas prices.

The fun part was that we took each adventure as it presented itself. Like day three, when we saw the exit for Hershey, Pennsylvania. The car practically drove itself off the exit and we drove seven miles down a winding road to stumble upon...CHOCOLATE WORLD!!!

This place was crazy...and huge! It was like an amusement park. We actually road the tram that took us through the chocolate making process. I took a video of it with my phone, but it really just looked like a bad acid trip.

Yesterday morning, we packed up for the last time on the road and took off...and almost immediately we stumbled upon the headquarters for Stonewall Kitchens. Jonni and I are both fans of their salsas, spreads, jellies, etc. It was a beautiful place, and we were disappointed we had already eaten breakfast at McDonald's, because they had a beautiful cafe.

On up the road, and before we knew it, we saw the Atlantic. We had to get Cole out to see what the beach was all about. A little skittish in the surf at first, I have a feeling Cole, the Road Dawg, will love it before the month is over.

On the way, we saw Kennebunkport, my favorite little town so far. And of course, if you're in Kennebunkport, you can see the Bush compound:

Finally, we arrived in Owl's Head and our little piece of Heaven for the next month. The view is where the Penobscot Bay flows into the Atlantic. Or, as my friend Walt Grayson so eloquantly described it, "where the sun first kisses the United States each morning."

So, here's the little cottage where I'll spend my days penning my book:

That's our 1930's beach bungalow in the background. And here's the view I'll have as I write:

I feel inspired already!

Blessings to all who read this!

Susan