New Hampshire and Vermont: 8-27-15

A day late, but I did get the NH sign!

The beautiful state house in Concord.

A closeup of the newly refurbished dome.

We kept our eyes open looking for a moose,

but did not find one.

Stone Arch Bridge.

Amphibious plane on Granite Lake.

 

Welcome to the beautiful downtown of Keene, NH.

We had a lovely lunch here.  I chuckled at the pharmacy

still being called Apothecary! 

 

We have done it!  Bill and I have now been in all of

the 48 contiguous states.  Since we don't fly or do boats,

we will not see Hawaii or Alaska.  However, there

is still lots to see in the lower 48!

Vermont is known for its many covered bridges.

This one is in Brattleboro, VT.

The view from Hogback Mountain.

Silk Road Bridge in Bennington, VT.

Henry Bridge, also in Bennington.

Bennington Battle Monument.

I like the covered bridges on the moose.

 

 

New Hampshire and Maine: 8-26-15

Hampton Beach, NH.  Lots of expensive real estate!

An artsy picture of a beautiful house with

lovely greenery in the front. 

Close up of one a cormorant.  

Today we came to Maine for the first time.

York Beach with more expensive houses!

One of several interesting signs we saw in Cape

Porpoise and Kennebunkport.  No, George and

Barbara did not invite us to stop by.

Massachusetts: 8-25-15

We finally made it to MA!

We watched this plane make its approach

to Logan International Airport.

Boats on Massachusetts Bay.

Found this sign where we had a beer

in Concord, NH.  I got a chuckle out of seeing

Boston sports teams advertised!

Toms River Statues

This afternoon Bill and I went to downtown

Toms River to view statues that are on loan 

to the town until the end of August.

The bronze work is stunning!

Love the looks on these boys' faces.

There are 20 bronze statues all around Water Street,

Main Street and Washington Street.

Yes, that's a rabbit in her lap!

The trash must be really stinky!

Bill with the gardener.  There is a band aid on

the gardener's right wrist.  So life like!

I wonder what he's reading in the paper.

I decided to join these ladies for a moment.

Up close you can see the attention paid to details.

Tennis instructor with his student.

This art work by Brian Hanlon welcomes visitors

to the Jersey Shore at the intersection of Main Street 

and Route 37 East.  Bill was patient enough to take

the jug handle here slowly enough so I could snap the photo.

Casey, IL

We saw a sign on I-70 about the largest golf

tee in the world.  So we just had to go see it.

The largest golf tee is here at the Casey

Country Club!  That's Bill at the bottom.

We estimate it to be 35-40 feet tall.

Couldn't help think about my nephew, Greg,

who is an excellent golfer.

The town of Casey also had the world's

largest wind chimes.  They also have

the largest knitting needles and crochet hook.

I just had to ring these chimes as a ringer.  It was much

lower than our C3 chime at the church.  What a sound!

Had to end with these beautiful roses around the chimes.

Joplin, MO

Four years ago yesterday, Joplin was hit with an

EF-5 tornado and 166 people lost their lives.

We wandered into that section of town and came

across these.  They are storm shelters or bunkers.

The bottom 2/3 are set in the ground.  Many

people in tornado alley have them.

I know this is a long shot, but I wanted you to

see the sign that includes a tornado safe room.

Both the elementary and middle schools

were destroyed.  As you can see, both have been

rebuilt.

These dead trees across from the schools are

perfect examples of how the wind twisted them,

shearing off all growth.

The brand new middle school.  A lot of rebuilding

has taken place, but evidence of destruction

still remains.  It reminded me of the damage at the

Jersey shore after Sandy and I did not have the

heart to photograph it.

Northeast TX: 5-20&21-15

Once again, internet issues have hindered posting.

In Amarillo we drove over to the Cadillac Ranch

only to find the area a mud bath!   People came back

from spray painting these Cadillac cars with

ruined sneakers from the mud.  You can see the

water lying on top of the mud in this picture.

Here is a closeup of one of the spray painted Cadillac cars.

The following day we left Amarillo and stopped in

Groom, TX.  Sister Donna had told me about this

place that has bronze statuary depicting the stations

of the cross.  Here you see Pilate "washing his hands"

after condemning Jesus to death.

 

"Pieta"

Jesus stopping to speak with his Mother.

 

Long view of "The Last Supper" and "The

Crucifixion" on the hill.

 

Closeup of "The Last Supper".  Judas Iscariot

is to the far right.

 

 "The Crucifixion"

The tomb where Jesus was laid is empty.

The huge cross that is like a giant in Groom, TX.

I found this exhibit to be quite emotional for me.

Bill insisted I take this photo since we do not

see this where we live in NJ.

A few years my daughter and I saw this tiny general

store in Allenreed, TX.  I was surprised to see it was

still here on Route 66!