Vacation back East...Day 5

We woke up in Erie, PA and was excited to go to Niagara Falls and ride the Maid of the Mist. We started out, and I resumed my phone call with Expedia/Enterprise to change our drop off location to be Buffalo (because I was on hold last night for 45 minutes, and didn't get a response back after they put me on hold).

Once again, I was put on hold for a long time again, finally got through just to hear that there was going to be a drop off fee of $700...YIKES!?!?! We had originally looked at dropping it off at Boston, and it was only a $300 fee (but we didn't do it because we weren't sure about our plans due to busy airports and such). So needless to say, we for went that plan, decided to go back to Baltimore and call our boss to explain the situation...We were truly blessed to have an understanding boss and Rachel was beyond sweet to help us fix the mess.

We said goodbye to our Niagara Falls plan, and plugged in the directions to MapQuest. Just a side note, we would be lost without MapQuest, however it seems to me that they are constantly taking us away from the freeways and bringing us into the scenic route. I knew I should have bought a map...but being cheap, and each state was $5, and we would have gone through 3-4 states...we did MapQuest. But we didn't get lost, even though we were for sure that we had missed a turn here and there because the roads were endless and a little bit questionable!! LOL, but if it wasn't for MapQuest, we would have missed our experience in the Appalachian Mountains...and what fun would that be? I don't know how many of you have watched triller movies with the stars of hillbillies of the Appalachians...but we were constantly letting out nervous giggles when we felt we were lost...and the gas stations were clueless on how to get anywhere past 5 miles away and they DIDN't have maps...



But the drive was beautiful, and we enjoyed the time together...

Joe drove the WHOLE trip...what a trooper!!



Halfway through, we started getting into farms...





We got into Baltimore at 8:00, and I just HAD to see the ocean...unfortunately, it is only a Penninsula, so we couldn't see far out, but it was fun to smell salty sea air, and hear the water coming in...I LOVE WATER!! But especially the OCEAN!! It is so peaceful and just...PERFECT!! If I had my wish...we would always be near the ocean...if only it was closer to family...







We drove, and drove, and drove, and were beyond lost trying to get the the ocean and then to get back to Laurel, MD...meanwhile we ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. This is the view from the bridge, it was so pretty but sadly the picture doesn't capture it right...