earlier this summer...

*********** (super long blog post disclaimer!!!)*******

with miss miley in tow, we packed our bags and headed to the airport.
24 + hours later we made it to maine.

what was supposed to be a 6 hour trip, turned into the worst flight experience EVER!
late flight, fog, closed airport, flight crew timing out, no plane...
our airline had every excuse in the book.

wichita to atlanta to portland.  that was supposed to be it.
instead...
wichita to atlanta to portland (never landed) to boston back to portland (never landed) to baltimore to boston and then took a bus from boston to portland.
phew!!!
miley was a trooper, never once whined or barked.  she had way more patience that i did.
i hate being at the airlines mercy.  HATE IT!
miley loved the bus ride though...the biggest windows in the world to look out of.

...and she got to add a couple more states to her list.

when we finally made it to tonya & sean's house, i totally broke down...
i was a big crying mess.
i had already had one meltdown on the last flight, but this one was completely different.
so happy and relieved to finally be there.  i was so physically and emotionally drained, but so happy to finally see my bestie and this wonderful place she gets to call home 6 months out of the year.

we dropped our bags and jumped right in.
red snappers for dinner...

 and a fire for smores.

when my head hit the pillow that night, i was out!
bright and early the next morning we loaded everyone up ( four of tonya's texas friends were also visiting)
and headed for the ocean to go catch some lobster.

we met up with captain robert and headed out.

each of us got to clean out and bait the traps and toss them back in.

 the bait was totally gross and stinky!

if i had breathed through my nose, i would of totally hurled.

we would find more than just lobster.

 i could say something about tamera and crabs here, but i won't :)

for as ugly and creepy as lobsters are...they sure do taste good.
i love to eat fresh lobster.
at some point i will show you how we cooked them...but this post is already gonna be long.

you have to hold them just right, or they could totally latch onto you. 
i did hold one, but the minute he reached his claws back i would panic.

the ones we caught were too small, so we had to throw them back.
we ended up buying some off another boat to eat for dinner that night.

 ...and we forgot a cooler so we improvised with some newspaper and the car trunk. :)

while we were out on the boat, we got to take in the beauty of the atlantic ocean.
some breathtaking scenery.

amazing lighthouses.

 this one is the second tallest in maine.

 the island it sits on is protected, so you can't get out and explore...bummer.

 as we were pulling away, the fog started to set in, making for a pretty picture.

i may just have to make this one into a canvas.

this is a much smaller one, that is now someones vacation home.
can you imagine??  lucky peeps!

we also saw a lot of puffin.
they are the funniest birds...they sort of look like a cross between a duck and a penguin.
they were all over the lighthouse island.

their beaks were very colorful and their orange webbed feet were comical.
especially when they would take off from the water.

 lift off!

there was a beautiful bald eagle too.

everywhere you turned...new england beauty.

...and all of that, was just in the first 2 days.
more to come.