I could do a day by day synopsis. Instead I will focus on impressions and wet your appetite for a similar adventure . Here is Christopher Columbus, harbour side in Boston., Massachusetts. Who knew he was so petite or that the sky could be so blue mid Sptember?
Boston is a great city experience with which to start a trip whose inspiration is nature, its colours, textures and impact.
I could highlight any number of Boston gems . I will focus on a few . Firstly Boston Public Garden -
George Washington memorial in Boston Public Garden
Boston is also a seaside city . From here we saw the first of the rich wildlife to be experienced in New England. The whale watch was truly wonderful and we were graced with a beautiful sunny day and a wonderful array of hump back whales when we got into the ocean.
Boston also houses some fine art in its Museum . Indeed it is strange to come all this way to see for the first time this JMW Turner, entitled Slave Ship, from 1840, providing a painterly challenge to one of the scourges of his time. The power of a picture to challenge is a timeless truth.
And I so enjoyed Winslow Homer when I saw his exhibition in London and here he was at home.
Nature , art and eating are the themes of the trip so far. Wonderful baking at Tattebakery.com is to be recommended, in Boston's fine Charles Street.
However the lobsters and crabs of Massachusetts and Maine are not to be missed and we didn't!
Nature , art , history are some of the joys of our trip . And the visit to Salem was a good example of the appreciation that Americans have for their history and the surviving buildings and artefacts which mark it, however gruesome .
Really Americans are relatively new incomers . We were struck by their pride and preservation of historical sites and buildings. This was the case in Salem with its vicious treatment of so-called witches , and also in Kennebunkport where early 18th & 19th century houses have been preserved . The personal tour we were given around this gem , gifted to the Kennebunkport Historical society, was detailed, knowledgeable and quite unlike anything I've ever experienced . Neil, a retired teacher , brought real passion to his task.
But the beautiful weather also allowed us an unseasonal dip in the Atlantic and a few wonderful sunset scenes and sandy beach walking ( a rare treat for Hove dwellers!) .
Further north, the themes of nature and art were again in evidence at Bar Harbour where we had the joy of seeing seals and bald eagles on a glorious day - there were seals under the rocks and eagles overhead, venturing from pine trees for prey. Again our tour guide was a local retired teacher of rare knowledge, enthusiasm and dry wit.
And whilst we have motored in our Chevrolet, playing lots of our music including Johnny Cash , Kate&Anna McGarrigle , the Killers ,Laura Marling, Van Morrison and 10000 Maniacs , we have noticed a number of things :
-The telegraph poles and electricity wires are above ground, crisscrossing town and country roads alike.
- There is so much space
-Antique outlets , car lots and garages predominate along the road side- but where do people buy fresh food?
- Already, Halloween is in evidence and the Fall is being celebrated with arrangements of pumpkins and chrysanthemums - along the roadside and on many porches....and it's mid September!
- Car drivers are mainly responsible and compliant , which is good news as we drive our hired red Chevrolet the length and breadth of New England. "We drove the Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry" we sing every day!
- The American flag is proudly flying everywhere - outside most houses and in every "Main Street"
- The coffee is mostly stewed and awful and tea made properly is non- existent !
Our Best Buy of the trip so far is an electric kettle for $14.79 which combined with a little cow jug have meant we can have authentic tea ( we always travel with tea bags!)
- The quality of customer service is great . Perhaps in part this relates to appreciating the importance of tourism to the economy ? ( see below)
Back to nature and history .......Today's adventure on the Washington Cog Railway took us up to the top of the Presidential Mountain range ,some 6286 feet , on a diesel cog train, which first ran this route in 1869. 
A steam train coming back down the railway
The diesel train setting off - drivel by two diesel fuelled and propelled cog wheels
The ride is steep and a feat of nineteenth century engineering , providing spectacular views and fast reducing temperatures as we reached the mountain top , for which we were just about prepared!
Breathtakingly clear views from Mount Washington
Again our guides were knowledgeable, enthusiastic and proud , very aware that tourism is key to the local economy , and determined to have satisfied customers; which they achieved .
Finally , we stopped in North Conway and found more history outside the longstanding Zeb's General store - an old Ford pick up truck from 1929
The leaves are starting to turn, and hopefully there will be more to report on them next week , as our New England adventure advances into Vermont .
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