The Rocc Flock: 1,589 miles, 39 hours and 37 minutes

Phew...we are home! We traveled 1,589 miles spanning 39 hours and 37 minutes in the car that took us to 3 different states. It was an amazing trip!
Why Maine? Last year, we had a map of the United States leaning against the window in our living room. I asked the kids which state they'd like to visit. Cameron instantly said Hawaii and I told him he's have to wait on that one. Allie said, "I'd like to go to the state where Miles' tail is hanging." That state was Maine!

Pulling out of our driveway!

Mike made a really fun scavenger hunt for the kids. We were mostly successful! NO deer and NO moose!! :(

Working hard on their hunts!

I got maps from AAA so the kids could experience what a real map was!

We headed out on a Friday to Littleton, Massachusetts. This was a great first leg of our trip as we got to visit Mike's friend from high school and his family. They live in a beautiful part of Massachusetts and the kids had so much fun playing together!

There's nothing like putting your backside in a sprinkler to make you fast friends!

We visited a lake in a nearby town to get cooled off.

The Hollander and Rocchi children!

Hope to see you again soon!

Friends since the 90s!

We then continued our trip north the next day to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. What a beautiful town!

We took a quick tour of The Warner House. This is the oldest brick house in northern New England.

The murals up the staircase were beautiful. We learned that the steps they built were wide enough for two people to walk up side-by-side. This was meant for people to take their time walking up the steps in order to enjoy the murals.

I really liked this room upstairs -- it was the music room. It was constructed so that the entire room was able to amplify the music being performed inside the room. The people attending the concert would open up the windows so the music could be heard outside on the sidewalk. Our guide told us the entire house would be able to hear the music coming from this amplified room.

We enjoyed seeing all of the hidden compartments in a young girls' desk.

We then went to Prescott Park. The land was donated to the city by two sisters, Josie and Sarah Prescott, in 1940. They were both public school teachers and used their inheritance to purchase the land along the Piscataqua River in order to create a public waterfront park. They then left a trust in their final will to continue this park. They achieved their goal!

We enjoyed a fantastic performance of "Beauty and the Beast".

It was HOT but we are still smiling!

Check out that straw!

Cool drawbridge - instead of opening up in the middle, it lifted straight up.

Stopped for a quick drink from the Portsmouth Brewery!

We continued north and began to enter the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

We then entered Jackson, New Hampshire. This would be our home for the next few days.

Before we left on the trip, the twins put together memory books to take along. I find the difference between the books perfectly matches their personalities!

Cam on the left -- everything had to be perfect. Allie on the right - free, artistic spirit!

We worked for a bit on our memory books...

The kiddos made themselves right at home....

It was a neat spot!

We then set out on our first hike -- Jackson Falls!

It's great having children who can now work a camera!

And then off to Mount Washington! This is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 feet. We were feeling a little bit of anxiety about this journey into the clouds!

Ummm, yea.

Got our bumper sticker!

Here's to hoping this will come true!

Here we go!

Up up up!

I was honestly nervous from time to time...

Mike spotted the road further up -- that's going to be us!

Can you see the cars??

SNOW!

Mike was cool as a cucumber.

The road turned into a dirt road pretty close to the top -- this was also slightly terrifying!

We made it!

Relieved!

That's where we started!

Still a ways to go to get to the summit!

Almost there!

Notice Allie has a sweatshirt and sweatpants on -- it was about 30 degrees colder on top1

Our little model!

We made it!

The Cog railway. Cam said he would like to hike the mountain next time and then ride this back down!

Quick lunch on top of the mountain!

Allie brought along her Polaroid!

And back down we went!

We made it!

This girl was a fan. She said Mt. Washington was her favorite part of the trip.

We then did a quick hike to visit the Glenn Ellis falls.

This little girls was the Most Improved Hiker Award on the trip. She was a trooper!

Cameron still holds the I Am Not Afraid of Anything Award!

We headed back to Jackson Falls to get cooled off a bit!

We found a "hot tub".

Upon looking at this picture, I am reconsidering the fact that we allowed him to go under!

Allie opted to stay on top!

So relaxing!

We headed back to our "Betsy Ross" house as Gammy called it. We enjoyed FaceTiming with her and Poppy to fill them in on all of our adventures.

We sent a few postcards!

I went for a run the next morning all around Jackson. I stopped to read this plaque which explained the horse trough was donated in memory of another Prescott woman, this time Katherine Prescott. She had done a lot for the community and this horse trough was placed at the bottom of a hill for horses to get drinks prior to going up the hill.

These were neat -- in the days before snowplows, they would hitch these to horses to pat down all of the snow on the streets. People would then be able to travel with their horse and sleighs.

Do you notice something different on the Route 16 sign? We did and had to look it up! It is representing the Old Man of the Mountain located on a rock face in New Hampshire. We didn't get to see this - and actually wouldn't have been able to see the Old Man as it collapsed on my birthday, May 3, 2003.

Not our picture! Thanks, Google!

We then headed EAST!

Alas...this was the only moose we saw on our entire trip!

Luckily we had this little guy to keep us company!

Our next stop was Rockland, Maine. We walked out 7/8 of a mile to see the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.

Let's go!

It looked like this sailboat was going to run right into the lighthouse!

We made it!

Cam did a great job of taking our picture -- July 8th marked our 11th wedding anniversary!

The twins got their first experience of exploring the Maine coastline.

Grandma Stanton stopped in to say hello.

We stopped in at the Project Puffin Visitor Center. We learned that during the turn of the 19th century, Puffins were almost decimated from the islands off of Rockland, Maine. The reason was the fashion craze of putting feathers and entire birds on ladies' hats. In the 1970s, scientists worked to bring the Puffins back to these islands - and they succeeded!

We love Puffins!

We made a quick stop at the Camden Hills State Park. We drove up the "little" Mt. Battie (800 feet seemed like nothing compared to Mt. Washington!)

When we were looking at our pictures yesterday, Allie told us how Cameron was on the rock below his feet -- way below his feet - and Allie asked him to come up. He decided to take the "shortcut" and propelled his body as far up the big rock and possible and then proceeded to climb it. Needless to say, Mike and I did not know this was going on at the time.

Penobscot Bay

Thus began my attempt to get a good jumping picture....these were the best we got!

We then picked up some local seafood and headed north to Ellsworth!

Mike has become a champ at picking out really great spots through Air BNB. The entire Rocc Flock thinks the house in Ellsworth is the BEST ALL TIME!

Yes, there was a tree IN the house!

The Master Bedroom!

Short walk to the lake.

The kid's loft. They loved it!

We then began to prepare our feast!

Our anniversary feast!

The twins' picked out this ocean themed cake from the grocery store because they knew Mike and I both love the beach!

Loved this place!

We got to our cabin MUCH later than we had anticipated -- but got there just in time to catch the most beautiful sunset out on the lake.

Little bit of filtering going on here...

But not here!

These rocks are the reason the owners named it "Flat Rock".

Our Sunshine Girl

Mike and I agreed -- one of the best things from this trip was seeing how well the twins got along together. There was little to no fighting during the hours we were in the car. And they got along so well during all of our adventures....

And then....TIME FOR ACADIA!!!!!!!!

The children's rock climbing improved by leaps and bounds!

First stop - Cadillac Mountain! This is the highest peak on Acadia at 1,529 feet. Again -- SMALL compared to Mt. Washington!

So beautiful!

Love their matching shirts!

They were pretending to be bunnies here. :)

I LOVE LIFE!

Another attempt at our jumping picture!

I hope these kiddos always keep their sense of wonder and excitement for nature.

We completed the Jr. Park Ranger requirements and were awarded our medal!

This was a super cool part of our trip - this is called the Bar Island trail at Acadia - it's only available during low tide. We drove past it the next day at high tide and it's completely covered by water. So we were able to walk around and explore the ocean floor!

We learned all about Periwinkles during one of the Jr. Park Ranger activities we had to complete.

Found this fun guy....

No worries -- he wasn't alive. :(

We still thought he was cool.

Sand Dollar!

Hermit crab!

Seagull having his lunch.

Sea Star!

We then did part of the Ocean Trail....

Our little Jr. Ranger!

Thunder Hole!

Our friend Pete gave us the idea to try to find this spot -- all of the stones in his small part of the trail are completely smooth and round. Why???

We then headed back to our "Treehouse" as the twins dubbed it to enjoy another spectacular sunset and kayaking.

Little bit of yoga...

Mommy and Cam went out first.

Daddy and Allie heading out!

Then Daddy and Cam

We headed back to Acadia the next day and were super excited to go out with Diver Ed. This was per a recommendation by a friend and it was fantastic!

There he is!

He explained everything to us as he suited up.

We loved his Newfoundland pups!

This little guy is "Mini-Ed". He goes diving each time to help us be able to see the size of the sea creatures down there. This was number 187. Number 186 met a traumatic death earlier in the week. They didn't elaborate but we think perhaps a lobster squeezed a bit too tightly.

This is "Captain Evil". When Diver Ed went down, we could hear him talking and she would speak back to him. At one point, Diver Ed yelled, "Cam!!! Where's Cam!!!" Captain Evil, and Michael and myself were very confused because Cam was clearly sitting next to us. Diver Ed then went onto say that he thought Cam had fallen overboard because he "saw something with a big mouth and a big butt." HA! Too funny!

Diver Ed took a super cool camera down with him so then we could seeing everything on a high def television on the boat. There's Mini-Ed!

Diver Ed then came up -- and gave Cam a big, WET hug. He was still nervous that Cam had fallen in.

He then taught us all about the sea creatures he had brought up.

And proceeded to kiss many of them!

He even snuck in for a kiss with this grumpy crab.

And then the kids got to hold and touch everything.

Sea Cucumber!

Cam kissed a Sea Cucumber!

Lobstah

Thanks, Diver Ed! It was awesome!

Our view for lunch!

We then had a delightful lunch of Jordan Pond and then met up with Pete, a friend of Mike's from college. Pete has been going to Acadia since he was a kid so we were so excited to spend the afternoon with him. First stop: Bubble Rock!

We moved much faster with Pete in the lead!

There it is!!

I thought for sure this thing was going over!

Pete says this is the "Million Dollar View" of Acadia -- yes, it is!

Jordan Pond

We then checked out a less traveled trail...Pete warned us it would be a little scary at one part.

A much smaller Bubble Rock!

This right here was terrifying...at this point in the trail, we basically had to pass the kids over a narrow part to Pete.

But we survived and the view was spectacular!

Onward!

Me standing in Martha Stewart's driveway!

We then checked out Seawall. Pete explained that it was a huge wall of rock that was naturally formed by the ocean.

Feeling Zen.

We stopped at the Bass Harbor Lighthouse.

We stopped at the arched footbridge that Pete said is a favorite place for a picture.

We ended our afternoon with Pete with Dough Boys and Dough Girls at Bass Harbor. It was truly a perfect day!

And back to Ellsworth for one more glorious sunset.

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We of course checked out a lot of breweries during our trip....

Maine Beer Co

Allagash

Sea Dog Brewery

The next morning we began our trip south. We made a pitstop in Portland and explored it a bit in the evening.

We discovered Treehouse Toys -- AMAZING!!!

We were supposed to go on a whale watch the next day. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to the weather forecast. So we opted to check out Peaks Island. It did not disappoint!

We took the ferry.

There were so many neat places to explore!

Cam worked to perfect his skipping stone technique.

Success!

We called this Pride Rock.

I've never seen so many cairns in my life!

The fog was really neat.

Quick drink before we headed back to the mainland.

We checked out the Fort Williams lighthouse.

Quick story about this dog...he was way out on rocks that looked like they couldn't be reached because the tide came in. We all go really concerned for him -- maybe he got out there during low tide and was now stranded? Maybe his owner had fallen into the water? Mike called the non-emergency number and they were going to send someone over.