Our Final Destination

Well...... After driving 3500 miles in the course of 11 days, WE FINALLY MADE IT TO BOSTON! Danvers, actually but it's close enough. Plus, we drove through Boston to get here so that totally counts. Anyway, more on the arrival in a bit. Let's start from the beginning of the day.

As usual, we woke up in a different household then we were in the night before. This time, it was in the lovely home of Chris Larson and his family. We had slept on the pull out sofa from the couch in the living room. It was very comfy and we slept like rocks the entire night. Now, usually when you sleep in the living room of someone's house you typically get woken up by someone coming downstairs to have breakfast or whatever. OH NO! Not this time. The whole family slept in until at least 9 which was so awesome and much appreciated by us because we got to sleep in a little longer. :) 

They were so kind to us that morning and Chris went out and bought bagels and cream cheese for the whole family for breakfast. It was a pretty slow moving morning for us because we didn't get out the door until almost 11. It was ok though because we weren't planning on getting to our final destination until late that night anyway, so leaving later worked out just fine for us. Anyway, we said our final goodbyes to the Larson's but first, we had to take a picture. So, I drug them all outside in front of their yard (even the dog) and snapped a couple photos before we were on our way. They were all very sweet and definitely want to go back and visit in the near future. Fun Family! 

We were so excited because it was our LAST big driving day before making it to Boston. With that said, in my opinion, it took forever to get there. My GPS said it was only going to take about 7 hours to get to Boston but I think it took longer then that. However, it might have taken longer because we seemed to stop at almost every rest plaza there was between Rochester NY and Boston, MA. Don't ask me why we did that because I really couldn't tell you. The only thing that I can think of is that we figured that since it was such a short trip (you know with it only being 7 hours haha) that we could take our time and switch drivers every hour or something! It turned out being fine and we got there safely. 

We decided to stop for lunch in Albany, NY. With it being the capital and all we were assuming there would be a variety of food options to choose from so we didn't try and use the internet on my phone to find anything. It was the weirdest thing. There were hardly ANY food places. We drove around and around and couldn't find anything..... until Subway. I really didn't want to go to Subway because I felt like we had gone there the past 3 days (which we had) and was sick of it but because we couldn't find anything else decent and affordable, we decided to go there. 

Albany in itself is a beautiful town because it has so many historic buildings and of course, the state capital of New York. I took a lot of pictures on the way into town but we weren't very happy with them after not being able to find food that I decided to not take very many on the way out. haha...

When we finally arrived in the state of Massachusetts it was heading toward the late afternoon hour. I, of course, took a picture with the sign (my last one- state #12) at the rest plaza and we continued on our way. Right before we got there Teej had this brilliant idea to check and see if there was a Red Sox game that night. There was a game vs. the Tampa Bay Ray's and it started at 7:15. By the way we were driving there was a possibility that we could make it if we could get tickets. So, Teej decided to call the ticket office and see if there were even tickets available. At this point it was an hour and a half before game time so we didn't have high hopes. The ticket office said that they had 2 available at a very reasonable price so we jumped on them and were told to pick them up at will call once we arrived. WE WERE STOKED! However, we were still about an hour away from the city. 

We were moving pretty quickly on the highway until the dreadful BOSTON TOLL BOOTH came along. The line was so backed up that we couldn't even see the front of the line. At this point, my impatient nature took over and I was ready to get out of the car. The right lane was moving A LOT faster then the one we were in so I pressured Teej to get over to that lane. He listened and we slowly edged our way over into the other lane. We felt like legit people on the east coast because we totally eased our way into the lane. The line started to move much more quickly after that and we were out of the toll booth and on our way to Boston in no time. 

Once we arrived in Boston, we immediately hit traffic. Not only was the Red Sox game going on but the Boston Celtics Game 7 Playoff was going on so there was double the amount of traffic as normal. Thankfully, Fenway Park is pretty close to the interstate so it didn't take us much time to get there. However, the roads are very narrow and weird in Boston so I got confused of where my GPS was telling me to go so we made a few wrong turns before arriving. We finally parked and had to pay a god awful amount for parking but we figured it was worth it since it was the FREAKING RED SOX! It was Teej's first Red Sox Game and my first EVER professional baseball game so this was a big deal for both of us. 

It was so hot and humid when we got there. I packed a little cardigan to wear if it got cold but it never did so that thing just stayed in the bag the whole night. The stadium was so awesome. We both loved how old and historical it looked. The strip that we walked down to get in the stadium was so festive with all the banners hung from the years that they won the championships, etc. Traditional hot dog vendors roamed the streets along with the fans who were all decked out in Red Sox gear. The sun was starting to go down and so I was quickly trying to take photos before it got dark and I had to use the stupid flash on my camera. 

We immediately went up to will call and got our tickets that were waiting there for us. Our tickets said that we were seated in section 9 so we walked out and around the building to find our seats. The atmosphere of the entire stadium was just so cool. It has been a hundred years since the stadium opened so we felt so honored to be sitting in such historic seats. As the game started we noticed how many of the people there were so incredibly into the game itself. In a way it reminded me of a timbers game back in Portland except 100x more intense and there isn't any singing. People were clapping when something minor happened such as a basic out to second or when someone got to walk to first base. I will say this: Red Sox fans are loyal! They were losing 2-1 at the bottom of the 9th inning and the sox came back and won it with a walk off homerun. There was a guy on first and the next batter up hit a homerun to win the game. It was such a fun experience to see how excited and happy the fans were. It almost felt like they had won the World Series or something by the way they were acting.

Teej and I stuck around after the game and walked down to the dugout to take photos. We wanted to spend more time there but the security people started kicking everyone out so we figured we'd better go. It was ok though because if we decide that we want to stay in Boston I'm sure we will go back to more games in the future. 

Well, the Celtics also won their series and are on to play the Miami Heat next. Good luck, I say. Overall, it was a great night for Boston sports. With that said, we knew that there was going to be a lot of game traffic from both games so we decided to find somewhere around the area to eat. We picked this steakhouse called Longhorn's. The food was great and very reasonable. By the time we left there was no traffic and we were able to get to my aunt Michele's house in Danvers by midnight. I felt so bad that we arrived there so late but Michele didn't seem to mind, thankfully. We sat up talking for a bit and then headed off to bed. We were exhausted by that point. 

It was a great way to end the trip and begin our time here in Boston. I mean what better way to say Hello to Boston by going to a Red Sox Game and experiencing them winning in the bottom of the 9th. I hope that is a good indication of how our time here will be; unexpected and exciting. 

So far, today has been pretty low key. We have been visiting a lot with my aunt Michele and cousin Charlie. It's been nice and relaxing. More to come later. 

I think I will continue to write posts while we are here in Boston if you all are interested. :) So, I guess I will see you all again soon. 

Love to all! 

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:5