Home!

So it’s been about 10 days since I got home to Massachusetts. I had a glorious flight from Albuquerque to Dallas, then a 2 hour layover, and then a great 3 hour flight home. I’ve flown to and from Philmont over 15 times so this was no different than before. I used to not like sitting in the middle seat, but now it isn’t bad. I prefer the isle for connecting flights since it means I get off the plane faster. I typically don’t look like this on the plane though. And look at that leg room! Man I wish that was everywhere. The window seat is great for the views. I get to wave to these guys and see all the planes. If I have a suuuuuuper long flight and I’m stuck in the middle seat I’ll just listen to music, try to sleep, or stare at the seat in front of me. What’s your favorite seat? This is me waiting for my 9 hours of middle seat to London. I had one this time coming to Boston from Dallas, but it was in the emergency exit row so that was cool. One thing that is always annoying is that flight attendants always think I’m 15 years old. Grrrrrr I’ve been carded on an airplane for a seat. Anyways that’s enough about the airport. I just needed something to get me in the mood to write.

On April 4th my Mom and I went to the Minuteman National Historic Park. (By the way, from this point forward you will have to look up all the park acronyms.) It’s where the British fought the Boston Militia. (If I get the history wrong sue me. I’m doing the abridged version. ~haha punny me~) Luckily it was a beautiful day out. Then I went home and played more assassins creed origins. I’m almost 100% done.

Then the very next day we went to Rhode Island to knock out all the parks there. Anyone nearby would be like “wow that’s so far.” It’s absolutely not far at all! It’s cool not having to drive 400 miles to see something for once. First we went to the Blackstone Heritage Corridor. It’s kind of like if the Freedom Trail was on a river. There’s a bunch of mills and stuff. We didn’t get to see everything since the mills themselves were basically all closed and kind of far apart. Like in a different town far. We did go on a nice 2 mile walk down the river/canal thing. As you can see it wasn’t sunny, but there also wasn’t any rain so I think we lucked out. Next we hopped in the car and drove to Providence to see the Roger Williams NM. It’s basically a building with a park next to it. One thing my Mom is super into is taking a picture with all the signs. As you can see I’m not super into the idea. I was a tad stressed that we would get suck in South Boston rush hour traffic. It’s no joke and I was worried we’d be in it for hours if we didn’t hurry up. Fortunately the trip home didn’t turn out to be too long.

Ooook so on Saturday (the next day) we went to Cape Cod! The plan was easy: New Bedford, then the Cape, then back home. Boom! Only 300 miles. We went to the New Bedford Whaling NHP. They had a 1/2 scale replica of a whaling ship. It was really cool. I’d totally recommend the tour if you have time. It’s no ordinary museum tour. I felt like I was sort of there spearing the whales, doing the daily grind on the boat, and getting paid $3 a year. This place was only about 50 miles out of the way so it comfortably falls into my ‘100 mile detour’ limit.

Next we drove straight to the Cape Cod NS. There was surprisingly a lot of traffic for the spring. We took the Sagamore bridge since the other one was under construction. Mom drove most of the way since I was tired and she gets borderline terrified when I drive. :p It was trees, trees, trees, trees, and yes more trees almost all the way there. The visitors center is basically at the start of the Cape so we went there first so I could get a stamp and a patch. This is what I look like everywhere I go get a stamp at. At the time I wasn’t thrilled that my mom took this, but now I see it adds to the story. Thanks! The park ranger pointed out some spots to explore since there’s about 5000 total. *sarcasm* The first one was at the Cape Cod chip lighthouse. It’s the lighthouse on the bag of chips. I got a picture of bb8 in the frame too, but I had to stand awkwardly while some annoying tourists took forever to take pictures. After that we stopped at another similar lighthouse and then went towards Provincetown.

It was a glorious day at P-town and we headed right to the beach first. The original plan was to walk all the way out to the very tip. I’d follow the red line to the circle. I wanted to be all the way at the end. Unfortunately I’m not in the best shape so I rethought the plan and we just walked along the beach instead. I got a cool shot of BB8 too! I had to sacrifice my worthy cool person look to get the shot. Just like in most of my ground level pictures I’m laying on the ground looking like an idiot. So far I’ve been on a 100′ cliff, on the highway (it was in the middle of nowhere no worries), in the snow, and now on the beach! Here is what I look like^^ Would you do this for a picture?! All the marks in the sand to the right were from me trying to get a good shot for the first picture with the ocean. After the beach we got the sand out of our shoes then headed into downtown P-town for dinner. First we walked a little ways down the ‘Provincetown Causeway’. There was a shark warning sign nearby, but I didn’t see any sharks. We then went to a local bar for dinner. I had a burger and my mom had a lobster roll. I’m not super into lobster. That about wraps up the day. This is the key difference between Massachusetts and New Mexico driving: traffic. I’m used to going 85-100mph on the highway. I’m lucky to go 65mph in this traffic. I follow people super close (1 car length at 80mph) while my mom is too far (8 cars away at 80mph).

Today we went for a scenic walk in memory of my Dad who loved hiking. It wasn’t anything intense. Just a few steps in the woods. (Not the Fells for any winchester peeps reading this.) I was worried I’d have to go back up them all. We were basically walking in a marsh and I was a bit worried that my shoes would get wet. Mom brought hiking shoes so she was all set. Mine are in New Mexico. I didn’t think I’d need them here, but I was wrong lol. We got to walk through a small stone tunnel which was a bit cool. There also was a bunch of ducks, geese, and a verity of small birds. I like to see big things like ravines, mountains, and rivers, but it’s nice to see animals (that aren’t deer) once and awhile. Woo woo! At one point the path was covered by a beaver dam. Damn! <<<< The one time I can get away with swearing. If you look under the platform you can see some of the platform legs have been gnawed away by beavers. I jumped on it to make sure it was fine. After that we continue onwards and I did in fact get my feet drenched in water, which was pretty frustrating. Mom almost got attacked by ducks today which was a little out of the ordinary. She was eating her sandwich and they snuck up like they were going to jump her. We decided we should head out about then. Overall it turned out to be a pretty good trip. (Not because of the ducks.)

So this time rather than doing a blog entry on one specific thing I included a bunch of stuff. I’ll be in New Mexico in about 20 days and I’m absolutely pumped to start work again. Not working sucks. Bonus pic:Hot chocolate in an Icelandic cafe.