Day 1: Mia and I took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston and arrived around 5am. It was dark and about 40 degrees, we had both been up for almost a full day because our $200 upgraded seats (so that we could sit together) for extra leg room came with front-row seats to the always-on lights in front of the cockpit, bathroom, and kitchen area. Therefore we never could fall asleep, not even to the soothing sound of the flight crew talking all night. That expensive plan back-fired.

Taking a walk past stuff that is older than our country

So we arrived to Nick and Jen's apartment-treehouse just as the sun was rising and they were ride awake ready to hear about our travels so far.

We stayed up thanks to their coffee, the entertaining dog named Wonderful, and Nick's apple pancakes and eggs breakfast. This fueled us to go out walking around for the grand tour of their neighborhood. Nick and Jenn live in Somerville, MA, which connects south to Cambridge and east to Boston. Cambridge is home to Harvard and we walked from their place to a farmers market and up to a high point with a castle looking landmark and took in a view of the city. Then we came up with a game plan, to walk all through Harvard campus and Harvard square. This whole experience for me was like a illusion I've held in my mind about New England all coming true. It helped that the weather was perfectly crisp and clear fall weather. We circled back to their apartment and had some beer/wine/cheese/crackers before taking a nap in the afternoon. Mia and I needed it. 2 hours later we awoke and headed out for the night. Nick and Jen took us to a brewery and played some card games and met another couple. The six of us went to a pizza restaurant that also had "east coast bowling" which is miniature pins and bowling balls. unfortunately the place is as cool as it sounds and although we got stuffed on delicious pizza, we never got an open spot to try the mini bowling. Then we stopped by a soul music dance bar but our exhaustion finally caught up with us. With an early start looming on Sunday, we all went back to get some rest.

Wonderful the dog that seems too sweet to be real

Day 2: On Sunday morning we hopped in their car and headed up highway 93 north to New Hampshire. During the 3 hour drive we stopped for Dunkin' Donuts (I had never seen this in real life before landing in Boston). We drove around the White Mountain National Forest and took in all of the fall colors and scenic beauty. Then we took a shortcut to the Kancamagus Highway - famous for its seasonal scenic treasures. The plan wasn't to go on a long hike because the area was actually touristy at all of the parking lots leading to trails. So we would spot a cool looking turn-off near a path, creek, or bridge and just wander off to take photos, hop across rivers, and walk through the woods.

A panoramic photo from near the top of the waterfall

We found a waterfall flowing down smoothed granite, rocky riverbeds, foot bridges, and lookouts across valleys that looked like paintings.

Nick getting a photo on his film camera of Mia and Jen, with that crazy fall backdrop

Taken by Jen as Nick, Mia, Wonderful and I strolled across the bridge

That night when we got back it felt much warmer than the previous night and we were excited for good weather for Monday.

Me hopping across a river. In case you're wondering, yes, I did have a rock top and sink my foot in the water.

I got across the river and took this photo

From a scenic pull over looking down at the small town of Barnett

Day 3: On Monday, Jen and Nick had to return to their lives of school and work which left Mia and I to take the T into Boston proper and be tourists. I was blown away by the history and the combination of 250 year old streets, brick buildings and sidewalks, all next to state of the art modern buildings. This city is very cool. We walked through Boston Public Garden and picked up the Freedom Trail which is marked in many places by red-white-blue bricks, right through busy Boston. We stopped along the Granary Burying Ground with the graves of Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock and more of the historical figures. We stopped into an Old South Meeting House where public discussions about slavery and gender equality as well as the conversation that sparked the Boston Tea Party all took place. We passed through the Boston Public Market, a few more memorials and historically significant landmarks and then took a walk around the wharfs of Boston Harbor and met up with Jen. After lunch, and a walk through other parts of the city and to the Cheers bar, we headed back across the Charles and to their town to meet with Nick and get groceries for a feast that night. The weather was almost 80 all day and stayed warm that night, it felt like we had experienced fall and summer in Boston at this point.

Inside the Old South Meeting House. So much significance in history has happened here

Day 4: Then, the morning of Tuesday, before we would fly home, we got breakfast at a local small spot in Somerville and the weather was misty, cold and grey which resembled a true winter (by California standards). It even became so foggy that by the time we got in our seats in the plane, we could barely see the airport ground below the wing.

It was my first time back to the east coast since I was a baby, we stayed busy the entire trip and were treated so well by Nick and Jen that this will definitely be a special trip to me.

Chapters

Boston Trip