Friendships Through New England

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I have known Sherrill since I was seventeen and together we took the road trip of a lifetime. A real Thelma and Louise without the hunk or ending. I'm still sick but I'm very bored so I'll be brief. We flew into Portland, Maine on the red eye from San Francisco and rented a car that took us down the coast to Wells ( just pass Kennebunk). We then headed north to the White Mountains in New Hampshire where we had a time share in Bartlett called The Attitash Resort. It was the closest we could get to Vermont. Red eye's really stink if you can't sleep sitting up, just ask Sherrill. I had my drugs so I was a tad better off than she was. We had a stop over in New York but Jet Blue had a wheelchair waiting at every gate to help us. We really only had 4 days to accomplish our journey not including the last day of leaving, layovers and airplane stuff.

My ALS is very touchy with temperatures so I call this my "God trip" because the leaves were turning and we had sunny days in the 75-80 degree range...WOW! We drove the second and third day back and forth to see Pam in Vermont (2-3hrs from resort). I'm not one to stop and eat when on a schedule so poor Sherrill was handed a power bar whenever she got hungry. She said traveling with me is a great diet. She also risked her life in traffic to capture some of these shots. My camera was broken and I couldn't just jump out and get the shot. Sherrill was great!

We made a great team and she had to really carry most of the load but it was sooooo worth it! After 846 miles of driving we are now official "leaf peepers." Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are AWESOME in the fall. We took different roads every day and stayed off hwys except one night. The covered bridges, rivers, lakes and foliage were stunning!

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This trip was a mission to meet Pam and she was everything I had been drawn to and more. We were fascinated by the differences and similarities of our illness. Her caregiver was a spunky, funny and caring gal. I even brought home a few helpful tips and imparted a few. Seeing someone you already love is a surreal experience and was so rewarding. When I showed up with the Batman and Robin costumes she was a great sport. She is a heck of a woman and my rock.

Meeting Nancy was the cherry on top of my journey. Sherrill and I met Nancy and Stu on our last night at "the best" Italian restaurant in NH. What a kick in the pants she was. Warm,outspoken, funny and spunky. We acted like we were sisters and even looked alike. Sherrill was just thrilled to get a real meal. lol Sherrill was moved and inspired by these women too and really enjoyed the trip.

Between a rigorous trip, germy airplanes and no sleep going home I got really sick. I'm not getting better so I'm off to the docs. I hope these pictures give you a window into my trip. It was this times ten. :) In my sidebar is a picture of Pam and I, please hit "click here" because when you watch the video you help ALS research. Thanks!