A Happy Heart

One probably doesn't need to go far away to disconnect from the everyday stress. But there are certain places that are so incredibly beautiful that have a power no other place has. And most of the time, one has to travel far to get to that kind of place.

Maine is one of those places. The main purpose of this trip was for Aurelia to take care of a couple of things. We thought this was going to take at least a good part of the morning. But to our surprise, it literally took us 40 minutes total, including transportation from one office to the other and stopping for breakfast, to do both. I don't get over the fact that the moment that Aurelia printed her number at the DMV office, the number got called to go to the window. I've never seen that in the multiple DMVs that I've been in the country. It at least takes 40 minutes of waiting for them to call you.

So, we had all day to explore places. However, the weather was really awful: cold, rainy and windy. So we ended up visiting Two Lighthouses, the LLBean retail store and outlet, stopped to grab a bite and arrived in Bar Harbor at a very decent time.

The whole purpose of driving far north was to go to Acadia National Park, but we came too early in the year. The season starts on April 15th, which leads to Bar Harbor being a complete ghost town with only two businesses open and no one on the streets. We were still able to go to a couple of breathtaking places and the day today was absolutely beautiful. But we are going to have to come back another time of the year to hike and see the rest of the park.

Maine is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Of course, being surrounded by the ocean makes it that much better for me. Being here has filled me with great new energy. I've been able to relax and enjoy, which I desperately needed. To the point that our dinner tonight was a huge ice-cream and we sat down on a bench looking at the scenery, with a frozen hand and a happy heart.

Getting to Maine

We got up, ready and headed out. We had breakfast and hit the road. Almost the entire first part of the drive was uneventful, until at some point between New York and Connecticut a car in front of us in the left lane decided to come to a full stop after driving at around 70 mph because it needed to take the exit that was right there. We got really lucky because Aurelia handled it really well (I'm also an awesome copilot). But we got scared.

In Massachusetts we stopped at a geotechnical testing laboratory because Aurelia had to make a work visit. The nice thing about being an interpreter, is that I am always interested in learning about anything and everything. So I didn't mind the stop and the tour. It was cool to see what they did there and to see Aurelia in action (she's an awesome engineer).

We arrived in York around 5 pm. We stopped at a cool spot to see the ocean, but we didn't last long because it is really really cold. I have to admit that I am very happy that I decided to bring my ski pants in the end, and this is just the first day. However, the place where we stopped had a free sun screen dispenser with a mirror to apply it. You really don't see that kind of thing that often.

We got to the hotel, rested for a little bit and then headed to the Nubble Lighthouse: a breathtaking spot. Too bad it was so windy and cold. We took a couple of pictures and headed back to get ready for dinner.

We had a very nice fun dinner with a friend of Aurelia. We went to a restaurant that has been recently renovated and the inside is like a boat. It feels so nice to be in a new place, meeting new people, expanding your horizons and learning from it.

Packing, checked!

I love traveling in general. But road trips are my favorite kind. The very first road trip I did was with my mom when we traveled from Charlotte, NC to Monterey CA four years ago. A year and a half later I travelled back to the East Coast with my boyfriend. Since then, I haven't really done another road trip, until now, and I can't be more excited.

I have wanted to go to Maine for a while now. I've seen pictures and I have friends who have lived there, and it looks like a place I will fall in love with. A couple of months ago, my friend Aurelia told me that she needed to go to Maine to inspect her car. I mentioned to her that I was interested in going and now I am on a train on my way to meet with her to start the road trip.

I've lived in the US for almost 8 years now, and the past two I have lived in the DC Metro Area. Almost every business person living in DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston takes the train quite often. I had never done it until now. And I am happy to admit that it has been a pleasant experience. 

Packing was not that pleasant, though. I was hoping that the weather would be as nice as it has been in the past week. But that will not be the case. Temperatures are going to drop and it is going to be raining and even snowing. So packing to be prepared for cold, wet weather in a small carry-on for a week was hard. I did manage though, despite the fact that at the very last minute I decided to bring my ski pants and jacket. But I think that at the end I am going to be very happy that I did that.

Aurelia picked me up from the station and since the sunset was reflecting very nicely on the New York City's buildings, we decided to drive to Liberty Park to take pictures. We got there too late to take good pictures with the phone. But it was very beautiful. Of course, getting out of there got complicated. Aurelia thought that after two years of living here, she would know her way around, but that was not the case. We ended up (twice) in some Port Authority gate and had to turn around. 

We finally made it home. We went to a restaurant to have dinner and it was pretty horrible. But the company was great and I am very happy to be here and ready for our trip that starts tomorrow.

Y logré empacar

Siempre me ha apasionado viajar. Pero debo confesar que mi tipo de viaje favorito es el viaje en carretera. La primera vez que lo hice fue hace cuatro años con mi mamá cuando manejamos de Charlotte, Carolina del Norte a Monterey, California. Un año y medio después, hice lo mismo de regreso a la Costa Este con mi novio.

Desde entonces no había vuelto a viajar en carretera, hasta hoy. Siempre he querido ir a Maine; tengo varios amigos que han vivido ahí, he visto fotos, y me parece el tipo de lugar que me enamorará. Hace un par de meses estaba hablando con mi amiga Aurelia y me comentó que tenía que ir a Maine a verificar su coche, le dije que me gustaría acompañarla y terminamos organizando un viaje de una semana.

Llevo casi ocho años viviendo en Estados Unidos y los últimos dos en el área metropolitana de Washington, D. C. Cualquier hombre o mujer de negocios que viva en Washington, D. C., Philadelphia, Nueva York y Boston está acostumbrada a viajar en tren para reuniones de negocios. Yo, en cambio, nunca había viajado en tren. Voy camino a encontrarme con Aurelia para después seguir el viaje en coche a Maine.

Por el contrario, empacar no fue tan placentero. Tenía toda la esperanza de que el clima fuera a estar tan agradable como lo había estado la semana pasada, pero no será así. Va a hacer mucho frío, estará lloviendo e incluso nevará. Y cuando hay que empacar para clima frío, una tiene que estar preparada para todo. Solo que la ropa de invierno ocupa mucho espacio y tuve que hacer malabares para que la ropa de una semana me cupiera en una maleta pequeña. Pero lo logré, con todo y que a última hora decidí traer mis pantalones y chamarra de esquiar (aunque algo me dice que voy a agradecer mucho haberlo hecho).

Llegué y Aurelia me recogió. Camino a casa, el sol se estaba poniendo y reflejaba de una manera muy bonita sobre los edificios de Nueva York, así que decidimos ir a Liberty Park a tomar fotos. Cuando llegamos ya era muy tarde y no pudimos tomar buenas fotos con los teléfonos, pero se veía muy lindo el paisaje. Nos tardamos bastante en salir de ahí porque aunque Aurelia pensaba que después de dos años de vivir aquí ya se sabe mover, terminamos en la entrada de la Autoridad Portuaria (dos veces) y tuvimos que dar la vuelta para poder salir.

Finalmente llegamos a casa y fuimos a cenar a un restaurante bastante malo, pero la compañía fue muy buena. Estoy feliz de estar aquí y muy emocionada de empezar a manejar mañana temprano.