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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
May 17, 2012 12:00 AM Spring in Poland
We returned the car in the evening in Boston Logan Airport. It was raining...
It is hard to believe but during our voyage through the USA we totally drove more then 10000 kms! USA is wide and the distances are big... Fortunately the price of the fuel is still about 50% less then in Europe...
Lufthansa flight from Boston departed on time so I did not have any problem to catch the onward flight to Gdansk.
It was lovely sunny day when I landed in my city.
And now?
Well, I plan to spend the summer in my Wojtkówka, working and meeting friends. Welcome to Gdansk my friends!
Few lectures are also on schedule and I should write new articles to save enough money for the next voyage.
I believe that in September I will pack my backpack again! There are still many places to discover in the world!
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May 16, 2012 12:00 AM Acadia National Park
Acadia is the only national park established in the State of Maine. You will find it on the Atlantic coast, in fact it is located on the huge island connected with the mainland by the bridge.
After a night in Bangor's Motel6 we drove almost an hour to the bridge. Then there is nice loop road going around the park, partly one-way. You have to pay 10 USD entry fee per car after season.
The marine landscapes of the rocky coast are the main attraction of Acadia - we drove through the Sandy Beach, Otter Point, Hunters Head. But they have also nice ponds and lakes inland.
A narrow an windy 3,5- mile road took us to the top of the highes peak on the island - Mt Cadillac - 466 m high. There is a nice view of the Frenchmen Bay with its little islands spread around.
In the afternoon we drove to Boston. It is hard to believe, but it is almost the end of the voyage...
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May 15, 2012 12:00 AM Vermont - Lake Champlain
Big Lake Champlain located on the US/Canada border is probably the main tourist attraction of Vermont State. There are causeways and bridges built between main island so you can easily drive island to island.
I enjoyed pastural landscape of the islands. Finally I reached the sanctuary of St Anne on the La Motte island. French Explorer Samuel Champlain landed here in 1609 and the lake was named after him.
He has nice, granite monument there, but the snctuary was locked...
In the afternoon we drove to the State of Maine enjoying on the way nice waterfall in Rumford... We are lucky regarding the weather - it was lovely day!
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May 14, 2012 12:00 AM White Mountains
Did you hear about White Mountains? Well, now I can tell you more. My friend Mark invited me to his lovely cottage in the White Mountains, New Hampshire.
Can you imagine the mountains up to 1000 m high, covered by the the delicate green foliage of the early spring? Here I am! The highest peak in the range (Mt Washington - some 1920 m above the sea level) was still covered by the white snow when we started to drive the mountain road to the top. At the gate they charged 25 USD per car and then said that only half of the road is open because the maintenance works... Uuuuu! We started to climb the steep road anyway. Even in the intermediate point it was cold and so windy that after few pictures we drove down. On the other side of the mountain there is and old railway who can take you up to the summit. But they charge 62 USD for the round trip journey...
In the afternoon we vidsited few lovely spots in the White Mountains: Glen Ellis Falls, amazing Echo Lake, Cascades of Diana and the Cathedral Ledge...
What a day. And what a lovely weather we had...
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May 13, 2012 12:00 AM Cape Cod, Rhode Island, Connecticut
I rented new car in Boston and we departed erly in the morning to see new places - First to Plymouth where the first imigrants from Europe were settled. They keep there the replica of "Myflower" sailboat. After that we went to the end of Cape Cod Peninsula - to see lovely little Provincetown -settlement of nice beaches and narrow streets. They have there 80m high granite tower - the ideal point for the pictures of the landscape. But it is closed for restoration...
Then we drove to the smallest US State - Rhode Island. The city of Providence - capital of this small state has surprisely big capitol building... Nearby lies Connecticut - slightly bigger state. Its capital - Hartford has many green parks especially in the capitol area. Some people say that capitol building in Hartford is ugly, because it is mish-mash of the different styles but I think that they exegerate...
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May 12, 2012 12:00 AM I am in the group 4! To Boston...
It is easy to get to the Chicago O'Hare airport from the downtown: Blue line urban trains go there and you will pay 2.25 USD for the ride! Checking in for the AA flight to Boston they wanted me to pay extra 25 USD for my backpack to be checked. They I got a boarding pass with "Group 4" printed on it. What is it? Well. I had a seat at the end of the plane but thez allowed me to board with the last passengers. Why? I did not pay much for my ticket. AA segregate their passengers and those who paid more have priority boarding.
My friends: Eva and Mark were waiting for us in Boston airport. So nice! We went to see Boston Waterfront and tried big American steak in the restaurant. Talking, singing and drinking in the evening. It is so good to have friends!
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May 11, 2012 12:00 AM Chicago, Chicago!
After 15 days of driving around the Great Plains we reached Chicago. A huge 5000-miles loop is now completed. We returned our car.
It was sunny day in Chicago. It was my third time in this metropolis. No much changes in the downtown: The skyscrappers are still imposing. I liked very much new Millenium Park with the modern fountain.
In the evening I met again after 3 years one of the biggest American globetrotters: Kevin Hughes. I saw him for the last time in Magadan - on the Russian Siberian Far East. We went to the 66-floor of Hancock Tower for the glass of wine and the great view. Till the wonderfull sunset we were taking about our travel plans. What a evening!
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May 10, 2012 12:00 AM Wisconsin Dells
Who knows about Wisconsin State? It was on our way from Minnesota to Chicago. The capital of this state - little town of Madison lies between two lakes. Nice place, but except the huge capitol buidding there is not much to see.
But nosth of Madison you will find the interesting place to visit: the rock formations in Wisconsin Dells. The best access is by the river - they offer 2-hours tours aboard little boat for hefty 26 USD pp. The rocks are nice and we had a good weather for the pictures. There are two landings during this boat tour: first gives you the opportunity to visit narrow Witches Canyon. Second will bring you to the huge stone mushroom and other sculptures carved by the nature.
Tomorrow we will drive to Chicago...
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May 09, 2012 12:00 AM On the way to Minnesota...
It was a long day - more then 650 kms to drive. We departed from Bismarck - the capital city of North Dakota early in the morning. The day was cloudy. In Fargo - last town on the Dakota's side of the border we visited "Bonanzaville" - one more place with the houses from Wild West era. Interesting, because the houses are all authentic ones - brought here from the different corners of Dakota.
In Minnesota there was already more sun and much warmer. I like Minnesota with the green pastures, small lakes and fresh green of the spring.
Just after 4 pm we arrived to Minneapolis and immediately drove to the sister city of St Paul to see the famous cathedral. It was still open.
There are many similarities between this huge church and St Peter cathedral in Rome...
It is time to have a rest in our Motel6 - I think I can recommend them to the other travellers. The service was OK in all motels of this chain. And the price if you decide to stay in the room is the same like in the youth hostel...
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May 08, 2012 12:00 AM Sunny day at Mt Rushmore
Rapid City in South Dakota has 42 US presidents! In the downtown they have a bronze president on every corner of Main and St Joseph streets! At many crossings you can see 4 of them - one on every corner. From George Washington to Bill Clinton... Wow!
But people from all over the world came here to be photographed on the corner of Rapid City. They are coming to this remote corner of Dakota to drive another 22 miles to Mt Rushmore monument.
We had surprisely strong sum in the morning when we were driving there. Entry to the monument is free, but you have to pay 11 USD per car to park. Then you can go and see the famous 4 faces of the US presidents carved in the mountain. They are uphill from the grand terrace. It is hard to imagine that every face is 20 m high. There is museum where you can see the history and carving process.
There is also presidential trail. I expected that this trail will take me up - to the faces. No, it will take you only to the bottom of the mountain and the studio of artist... Dissappointing...
But Mt Rushmore is still worth to see!
Some 17 miles away they are carving in the other mountain the statue of Crazy Horse - Indian Chief. Much bigger. Polish-origin sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski projected the monument and started works in 1947. So far only the chief's face is ready... In the afternoon we were driving more then 150 miles to North Dakota. We saw the bisons in the endless grassland and experienced very strong wind. Medora in North Dakota is the western-most point on our route. It is the time to turn back to the southeast...
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