Made in Maine

If you couldn't tell already from the monstrous amount of photos posted to Instagram, Chris and I went to Maine last weekend. I usually like to be more secretive about trips until after they've been taken, but hell. It was a last-minute decision, I had already taken the days off work, so why not hop in the car and head North? A short fourteen hours later -- and an overnight stop in Massachusetts to see our friend-family -- we were there.

It's no secret to family and friends (and pretty much anyone with ears) that New England -- and Maine and New Hampshire in particular -- is our favorite place. And we miss it, hardcore. It's easy to forget, living far away as we do and only visiting twice a year or so, how much more at ease we both feel as soon as those state lines are crossed. The air feels cleaner, it smells sweeter, there's space. When I was younger, all I wanted to do was get the hell out, but now that I'm older, all I want is to get back. I never expected that.

We were mostly there to surprise my mom for her birthday, so it was especially nice to not have any plans. Our visits are typically planned around holidays or events, so to have a schedule that was pretty much wide open left plenty of time for bonfires, hiking, and of course a stop at the local church thrift store. Honestly, it was just nice to sit on the back steps of the house I grew up in and drink coffee and read while Chris threw a ball around with my mom's dogs. I'll count that as a vacation any day.

Come Wednesday morning, it was especially difficult to get in the car and point our compass back to Pittsburgh, but man was it a nice surprise to get back into town and be greeted with 70+ temperatures and GREEN. It's suddenly almost summer here and beautiful.

Photos, top to bottom:
1 - 4: Hiking with my mom.
5: Zebediah (Zeph's brother who now lives with my mom) caught a tree swallow. It didn't make it, unfortunately.
6 - 11: A rainy day at the ocean