Nonie Yochim and Carolyn Gammon are in front of the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Mass. A section of this historic house was built in 1668 and in 1692 a new kitchen ell was added to the rear of the house as well as the famous "secret stairway" within the rebuilt main chimney. This house inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write the legendary novel of the name, The House of the Seven Gables. Richard and Carolyn Gammon and John and Nonie Yochim flew to Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 6, where they rented a car and traveled along the beautiful coastline of the New England states.

Hurricane Hanna caught up with them on Tuesday of last week when they were traveling the dirt roads of Vermont. The dirt became mud. The reason for traveling dirt roads was to find covered bridges and most of them were on these dirt roads. The weather was perfect the rest of the week as they passed through New Hampshire and Maine.

The towns of Maine are mostly all joined together and they all seem to be competing to see who can have the most beautiful flowers. They especially enjoyed Bar Harbor, Maine, with all the shops and the delicious lobster, and Brag Sugar Farm in Vermont where they had delicious maple ice cream that was called Maple Creamy.

They drove through the beautiful Acadia National Park and toured Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where they were able to find three lighthouses. They stayed two days in Massachusetts where they visited the historic House of the Seven Gables in Salem; took a trolley tour of the City of Boston; shopped at Quincy's Market; walked all over downtown Boston; and took a harbor cruise where they saw the USS Constitution "Old Ironsides."

This weary group returned home Saturday, September 13.