There's not an "-er" in New England!

Wow, I thought we were busy when we were on the road, but getting home just in time for a wedding and the holidays, plus with a two month backlog of "shtuff", gets one pretty far behind on his blogging...
Many miles and states behind in fact, but that's mostly due to the sprint we made across the mid-Atlantic states prior to racing back to Texas.  So will use the remaining posts to catch up, and denote some of the final leg highlights...
After the bucket list hunt in NH, we were wandering east across the state (which is usually how we stumble upon things) when I saw a sign for Tilton, NH.  Called Ski to verify that it was the town where his sons went to prep school, then surprised the boys, Johnny and Packy, by showing up at their basketball practice.  Tilton has a national reputation for its basketball program and a number of players will go to D-I schools upon graduation.  Think the boys were most excited about eating somewhere besides the school cafeteria though!

Check out this youtube video of Johnny getting a defender to jump out of his shorts!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HntSGBqusy0

From NH we moved into Maine en route to Acadia NP.  Outside Augusta we saw the Ice Vault sign...

 

and since it was Bank of Maine we assumed it must be for "cold cash" storage, but learned from a local lobstah roll expert that it was a hockey aren-er and that there was a prep game that night.  Since they play on ice, I assumed it might be a little cold in there, but since it was 24 outside, how cold could it feel?  COLDER!  We did watch 1-1/2 periods of some pretty good hockey, complete with three fights and numerous powah plays, but the metal bleachahs in a building coldah than outside was more than I could handle.  Did have an interesting exchange with an oldah gentleman/fan.  While I stood in the concession area shivering and drinking cawffee (wearing my blaze orange Longhorn cap) he walked up and asked me if I was a "Moosah or a Wolverinah?"  Told him I was just a Longhorn...
Do have to give credit to Woofy's Seafood in Augusta where we enjoyed the lobstah rolls with a seafood plattah and rootbeer float.  Owner claimed to be the only conservative left in Maine, and he certainly talked the talk, especially when he found out we were from Texas.  Sadly for Maine, he may be the last conservative as he's ready to move to Texas and open up shop in a more business-friendly environment.  I believe his rolls would be a hit anywhere - Sophia certainly liked them and spent the rest of the trip on the lookout for lobstah roll signs!
Having reached the northeastern-most point in our trip, we turned south and stopped in Massachussetts to visit with the entire Northeast Chaptah of the Swingin' W Ranch and their families.  Did experience a first when we went out to Newburyport where the Merrimac Rivah dumps into the Atlantic ... not only did it provide another beach for Sophia, it also offahed spectaculah views of standing waves where the outflow met the tide, crashing waves where the ocean met the breakwatah ... and snow on a beach!  Jeez....

We then gathahed at the Witkowski's house for a Sunday night game between the Patriots and 49'ahs, touted (by the locals at least) as a Supah Bowl preview!  The visiting was fun, the food and beverages outstanding, and the game exciting despite the Pat's loss.  Have to give the NE Chaptah credit - they love and support their teams!  Since there's only about 12 minutes of actual football action in an average game, there was plenty of time to catch up with Ski, Doc, Mongo, Duvie, Dan-man, and Lestah between plays, plus the ladies gathered in the kitchen where conversation wasn't quite so loud!
With warm hearts and bellies, and an impending Nor'eastah, we slipped out of Bahston early the next morning and resumed our south/westerly route.