R & J: ROAD TRiP

rich has always loved the east coast and went there quite a few times when he was younger. i have only been to NY, PA, NJ and Washington D.C., so rich convinced me to go on an east coast road trip with him and explore…and it was a blast. the first day of our trip was spent...DRIVING! rich drove most of the way. we stopped in pennsylvania and spent the first half of the night at a campground and the second half we spent camped out at a lutheran church's lawn (if you want more info, just ask. haha!). after our eventful first night and after some more driving, we arrived in ocean city, nj. ocean city is a hip little beach town with a boardwalk that has cute little shops, rides, a large ferris wheel, friendly people and all the delicious custard that you could ever want! the pics below do not give ocean city justice.

am i happy to be at the ocean? YES, YES AND YESSS.

we spent two nights in ocean city and then we meandered through new york, connecticut and rhode island and then arrived at myles standish state park in massachusetts. those states were all so beautiful. i could seriously gush about them for hours. we were able to see yale, brown and harvard. those campuses were all very distinct. rich decided that in another life, he would've gone to harvard and i decided that i would've gone to brown...if BYU did not exist in that life, of course ;) and we would've met and hooked up. ;) :o we camped at myles standish for a few days. it was a great camp ground and our tent overlooked a lake, so my camping experience was almost complete (mountains needed, according to rich). the other campers were super friendly and funny. i loved how they would say "welcome to mass!" with their cute accent.

while we were at myles standish, we drove into boston and rich got to introduce me to his favorite city. i completely fell in love with it. we will definitely be visiting that city again!

we also went to a red sox game! what an awesome ball park. i have to say that people from "mass" are the most awesome, happy and friendly fans. we probably met more people at that ball game than i have met in the last three years. :)

what is a vacation without a beach day? super LAMO. not wanting to be lame, we made sure to enjoy some lazy beach days. i loved laying out and watching the waves, my man and puma. i also liked watching all the east coast people frolicking about in their awesome beach attire. *easterners dress fabulous. *i was a total creeper.

the seafood everywhere was so delicious. wow! i am craving it right now. bragging alert: we each had a lobster (or more) a day on this trip.

we did a lighthouse tour in maine and also visited kennebunkport. i loved learning and reading about the history of light houses and how they were such a vital part of early american history. i have nerd tendencies...not gonna lie...

this is my dream house in kennebunkport. i have always had a dream of building my own house because i have a lot of ideas that aren't included in most homes. however, if some millionaire happened to gift this mansion to me, i can easily see myself forgetting that dream and being quite happy in this humble abode.

rich and i decided that we had not had enough of boston, so we went back to that fabulous city. while there, we were able to resume our unfinished freedom trail walk. i love my country so much and am grateful for the amazing history we have. this is behind old state house in boston (where the declaration of independence was first read). It would have been so amazing to be there and hear this part be read:"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." this ending still gives me goose bumps: "We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor". GO USA! :)

after camping at myles standish, we moved on to hampton beach in new hampshire. this campground was not as awesome as myles standish (there were probably only five trees in the whole campground) but it was located next to the most rad little beach town ever, so i forgive you, hampton beach. rich and i took surfing lessons. we have tried surfing before, but this time we had wetsuits, so we stayed in the water...for hours! we mutually decided that our new favorite activity is catching little and not so little waves--together of course. xoxo.

rich attacked some coral reef to protect me ;)

this is bear brook state park. during the day, i loved this campground the most. during the night, i hated this campground the most because it was kinda freaky. every night, puma and i were both terrified of getting killed by a bear or a moose, so we did not sleep very well. rich slept like a bear every night--except for when i was waking him up to do a bear, moose or crazy serial killer check. i am grateful to tell you that puma and i did not meet a bear, moose or a serial killer and we made it out alive.

vermont had a ton of trees. they also had delicious maple syrup....but not as good as my dads!

we started making our way back home and went through upstate new york. we were able to go and see the sacred grove and palmyra. it really is a sacred grove. the spirit there was so powerful and serene. i loved it.

in palmyra, we visited the printing press where the book of mormon was printed. the tour guide we had was the sweetest old man ever. he made us get behind the fence to take pics.

we also got to visit the temple there. :)

this is us camping in new york at damien lakes. i must confess, rich set up our tent and put it away every night. i love my manly man. thanks baby! your skills are too sexy.