Someplace in New York!!!

If it's Sunday we must be in a new location!!!! Yesterday we left Twin Mountain, N.H. And headed west, to our present location, Lake George. Yes, that IS Nancy behind the wheel on the road. She's actually getting pretty good at driving this BIG RIG!!

It is an o.k. Campground....although it has many permanent residents.

I prefer the campgrounds where we have mostly touring campers. We arrived in good weather and shortly afterwards it started raining. We unhooked the car......and it would not start. We tried to jump it with our jumper box, no go!!! Once again a call to Cadillac customer service and a tow truck was sent out to start us up.

We toured the local area after dinner and then spent a relaxing evening at home. Sunday weather forecasts showed we were to have a nice day, warm and overcast day but nice. We hadn't stopped in Vermont on our way through so we left today and went back to Vermont. We headed north to Ticonderoga and took the ferry across Lake Champlain.

We went into Middleberry, Vermont found the town park and took Charley for a little walk. Charley met a little girl, Lily (4) and her brother, Ivan (2) and had fun running around the town park with them.

We found a quint farm market where Grandma and Grandpa were able to buy pure maple syrup for our grand-daughters! They all eat lots of pancakes and waffles and what better to put on them than pure real Vermont maple syrup??? Purchased with lots of love!

On our return trip we made a short side trip into Fort Ticonderoga!

What a day. They were having a re-enactment and there were lots of people in period costumes of the French-Indian Wars. To bad I forgot to charge my batteries in the camera......we did not get any photos, but the memories are here in our minds!

We have had the pleasure of spotting a few live animals.....a red tailed fox, a deer and a pheasant, but that is all. Still no MOOSE! Probably no moose in New York anyways. Had to find them in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont, I guess.

Hope this finds everyone in good health.

Monday morning ....rain. We decided to go into Albany and tour the state Capitol. We drove into Albany from Lake George and found a parking place right in front of the Capitol. That was a good sign....we have never been this lucky when we visited any other Capitol building. We were going through security and Tom had his jack-knife with him......it meant a trip back to the car cause you can't take it in with you.

When he returned we found we had just missed the 12:00 tour. The next one wouldn't be 'till 2:00... bummer. We really didn't want to wait, but the information officer said the noon tour left late and he would escort us up to catch it. We joined the tour in the senate chamber. We remembered that last evening on TV the Governor called a Special Legislation Session as NY still had not passed a budget this year.

All the senators were out for lunch or being accosted by lobbyists. We were elbow to elbow with a lot of New York State Senators, overhearing bits of deal-making in process. The Senate Chamber is beautiful .......we toured the rest of this huge building. It's outside is sorta ugly from the rest of Capitol buildings we have seen. But each building is a part of history and tour guides can be real entertaining. We were lucky we had a jovial tour guide, with lots of cute comments about the legislative process and some of the personalities he had seen.We asked about a gift shop....I have picked up some interesting items from other Capitol gift shops. They do not have one, but we can go to the Hallmark store and purchase some postcards of the outside of the building. We can't get far enough away to take a photo. At least I have a postcard of the outside.

We found a cozy pub in which to eat, not far from the Capitol. It is a really neat place and we had a great lunch. We headed for home. By the time we arrived back at our campsite the rain started all over again. Lake George doesn't impress us a whole lot..... maybe it was just the weather, but don't really think so!

To the Top of New England, Mt Washington, NH

When we awoke this morning it was beautiful.....the sun was shining, little white puffy clouds in the sky and the temperature appeared to be rising. A great day for touring. We drove north, then east and finally south to our destination......Mt. Washington Auto Road. For those so unlucky to know, this is where the highest peak in the east is. Mt. Washington also holds claim to having the highest wind speed ever recorded in the U.S..... 231mph, Also the chilliest temperature.

When we left the entrance to the mountain, the temperature was a balmy 78 and when we arrived at the summit the temperature was a chilly 41 (near freezing with the wind chill factored in)!!! The drive up the mountain is a thrill for those who like to live on the wild side. I choose to not look down very much...whereas Tom was driving and looking all over the place. I was nervous to say the least, I don't know when I became a little frightened of heights, but I seem to be lately.The drive was great.....the road steep, narrow, winding and no guardrails! Need I say more????

When we left the summit the caution signs all over told you to use low gear and stop often to let your brakes cool....which we did. We follow some directions nicely!

We headed south and found a lovely covered bridge which I just had to take photos of. Charley and Tom got out of the car and we all walked across the bridge. It was built in 1876 and it is number 51 in New Hampshire's covered bridges directory. Impressed? I am!
We kept seeing cool little spots in which to stop and take a peek at. Every corner you turn, every curve you round, every stop you make some new and exciting thing to marvel at is there. We stopped at a roadside stop and there were ducks in the water....Charley loved that. Tom let Charley wade and drink the fresh water. That spot was the Saco river and there was even a small dam there to enjoy.

Next turn (about 2 miles down the road) was a very tall waterfall. Yes, we took photos of that waterfall. There are a lot of waterfalls and covered bridges here in N.H. But most are off the road and you need to hike into them.....we are not into hiking.

This evening we will once again head out to see if we can locate the moose or bears alongside the road......hope they co-operate and show themselves. Sometimes you get lucky and they appear, other times you lose and they don't show. Guess what ..... NO MOOSEes or BEARS tonight again!!
We leave New Hampshire tomorrow and head west once again, this time we will be camping in New York. Hope you are enjoying our blog.....don't be afraid to leave comments that way we know you are keeping tabs on our progress. Happy trails to you.....

We think this sign represented pure fiction when we saw it in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont !!

Sidetrip to Littleton, NH from Twin Mountain, N.H.

This morning we started out in a light mist. We were going to tour Mt. Washington, N.H. It is the tallest mountain on the east coast. We drove about 20 miles and ended up in a torrential downpour, so we turned around and went back home. By the time we arrived back at our campsite, it was hardly raining at all. We sat around for awhile and watched the weather report, they said it would be rainy off and on all day. After a couple of hours we thought why not head into Littleton, N.H. It's only 15 miles away. So we did.

We found the covered bridge, lots of old buildings and of course some shopping.

By the covered bridge there was an old grist mill, built in 1798....someone had purchased it in the mid 1990's and they are once again using it, making organic flours and cereals. They have spent many hours bringing the building back to life...and doing a great job.

I did my thing with shopping, not purchasing a thing. While in town we went grocery shopping and then to Walmart and a scrapbook store. A great day in the end, actually. We drove home in the rain....or mist. When we got back home the heavens opened up once again!!!! We got dry and finished eating a great dinner and once again the rain stopped.

After a week and a half in Moose Territory, we still haven't seen any...... just wooden replicas and signs warning us all about them!!!!!!

On the way to Twin Mountain, N.H.

Tuesday, we went for a boat ride to Cranberry Island off the Maine coast. We saw the harbor seals on the way out, and once there we visited a museum of history for the area. The Bar Harbor/Mt Desert Island area has a 10' to 12' tide and most buildings are way up on stilts.

When we returned to Mt. Desert Island we went to Bar Harbor. Had a delightful lunch and then went shopping. Tom had seen a man on the boat ride with a tee shirt he liked so we went searching for one. No, we did not have any luck, but found another one he liked.
Wednesday morning and the weather is terrible. We had thought we might stay a couple of more days.....but the weather changed all that. We packed up everything and headed out for sights unknown. Driving on US2 through Maine was adventuresome to say the least. It's 2 lane all the way. They have all sorts of road work going on. Some of the roads were barely wide enough for a car to get through....but Tom managed to travel through them like a pro!!!! Along the way we saw road signs telling you "Moose Crossing" then the sign proceeds to tell you to be careful as the Moose will hurt you and your vehicle. That brings to mind about the 11:00 news the other evening. The big news story was there had been a four car pile up with a big moose. Love the back woods stories.

We arrived in New Hampshire and it was about 3:00 so we stopped at the welcome station.....if we wanted it would take us about 40 to 45 minutes to get to Vermont. We like N.H. So have booked two nights into our spot outside Twin Mountain, NH. The local guy here at the campground told us where to go around dusk and we should be able to see moose and a bear with her cub. We thought that might be good entertainment for us this evening. (Just like we used to do at Canadian Lakes when we went out looking for white tailed deer.) All we saw was a black bird though .... no Moose no Bear ... just the damned bird!! I think they are lying about the "Brake for Moose" message.

Bar Harbor, Maine

It's Monday morning and we moved on today. We left Freeport headed for Bar Harbor, Maine. It was an easy day as our trip was less than 200 miles. Tom drove the whole way. After finding our campsite we set up and head out.....taking Charley with us.

We found the visitor center for Acadia National Park, and then went up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. That is the highest mountain,overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast. The views of the harbor and beyond are magnificent. We walked the loops at the top of the mountain.

Charley loved the walk and as usual she met many new friends. Seems everyone had to leave their dog or cat at home and they just had to get their animal "fix" by petting Charley and she was always more than happy to oblige.
When we left the mountain we headed into Bar Harbor. My how it has changed since the last time we were here about 1987. It is a very quaint and lovely village. We arrived back at the motor home in time for cocktails, more of Charley's friends, and some time to relax before dinner. We did managed to take a few interesting photos for everyone to enjoy.
Our temperature is dropping again tonight so we will have temps in the 50's and daytime temps in the 80's. We are enjoying the weather.

Freeport, Maine

Saturday found us doing laundry. It sure is great to have the washer and dryer right in the motor home. We decided we wanted to visit Bath.

We didn't want to leave Charley, so she got to travel with us today. We headed out and Nancy got us off on the wrong road. Had to back track to get on the road to Bath. When we arrived we found the "Maine Maritime Museum, parked in the shade and cracked the windows so Charley wouldn't get too hot. It was a whopping 74 outside, so not too much problem was expected! She is such a good dog.......how could we ever get so lucky to get her?

Imagine our surprise when we got to the door and there was no admission fee today.

Nancy is in the pilot house of a harbor tug

A lobster trap similar to what Tom remembered at his Uncle Pete's in Kinnebunkport, years ago.

The museum has a new director and he started today so to honor him they were letting everyone in free! We walked in and took photos and enjoyed what we are saw....... This museum let's you see all parts to boatbuilding, from engineering to the finished boat. They have an old boat for children to have fun on...to showing how the wooden boats had the wooden boards that had to be curved and molded into different parts. The kiln where they heated pine tar to make the pitch that seals the seams in the boat.
After we tired out we decided to get back to the car and find someplace to eat. We found a great little Irish bar. We each ordered soup and a sandwich and Tom has a good time reading the walls and we both enjoyed the atmosphere and Irish background music. It was a good find and great meals.

We left Bath and headed to Portland to "Big Moose" Harley Davidson. Oh, the joys of trying to find light colored tees. Once again they only had cool shirts in dark colors. What's a south Florida person to do? We bought it anyhow!

Us with the Wooden Big Moose

We return to the campground and I hurried to make macroni salad. The campground had a spaghetti dinner to honor Fathers. We went, had a wonderful time. I went home to once again get another load in the washer. Another wonderful cool Maine evening. We had to close up as the temperature gets into the 50's each night. Isn't life great?

Freeport Maine

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Today was sunshine and warm weather. This morning all we did was sit and veg for awhile. About lunchtime we headed out for downtown Freeport. We drove into town along another route that did not take us past all the road construction we had getting to the campsite yesterday. Much easier drive though about twice as far.

We found a lovely little Chinesse restaurant and had a great lunch. Then it was into the L.L. Bean outlet store. It is really big and by the time we walked around it we were tired.

Then Nancy wanted to go across the street to the home store, Tom sat. After all that Nancy did a couple of more stores before heading out to grocery shop. We found out the campground has a spagetti dinner on Saturday nights and everyone is invited, just bring your own table service and a dish to pass.

We returned home the way the GPS brought us in yesterday and it is definitely much shorter! But it was really scary in the motorhome so I'm glad we have a different way to leave this campground on Monday!!!

Tomorrow my oldest son, Jeff turns 41 years old. Boy time does fly.....so glad you look back and remember all the good times.

Freeport, Maine

We left Mystic early this morning and the sun was out, by the time we drove to Providence the mist had started. In the next few minutes it started to rain and that is what Tom drove in all day. We took time out at a rest area and still made the new campsite by early afternoon. We had a lunch and got all set up in the rain. Tom tried to hook up the direct television but no can do!!!! Nancy needed to go into town so she left Tom and Charley and found the grocery store. Once Nancy returned home......the sun came out! Still can't get the satellite system up and running, guess we need to have another motor home come in with satellite system and they could help us.

Dinner was great, Nancy cooked a roast, salad, potatoes......and the grand and finishing touch, some cherry concoction in the crockpot and it was really tasty.

Cape Cod, Hyannis Port & Plymouth, Mass

Wednesday today we were going to leave....but Nancy wanted to try another day at the Cape. The sun was shining and it was to be a warm and sunny day...maybe a small shower late in the day. Not wanting to leave Charley, the cocker spaniel, another day we all headed out for the day. Driving to Cape Cod only takes a couple of hours from where we are parked.
We find a couple of Harley shops: I can't understand why we have a hard time finding light colored tee shirts? Harley shops all seem to carry a large selection of dark shirts, not so many light colored shirts. We did manage to find a couple of light colored tee shirts for Tom, and even a shirt for Nancy!

We drove to Hyannis Port and actually found the Kennedy compound. We walked the

beach and got really close. Charley loved all the attention she received while walking on the beach. Hyannis Port is really not a very large place, but it is always fun to look at the lifestyles of the rich and famous!Cape Cod is much larger than I thought it was. The bridges to get out on the Cape were both built at the some time between 1933 and 1935. All the bridges here on the east coast are very high, I suppose for ocean freighters to get under.After finding someplace for lunch we headed to Portsmouth,

Massachusetts.

We arrived, found parking and then the "rock"

and a replica, the Mayflower II.

Took photos and thought of Emily our oldest grand-daughter. Emily loves history and this would be great place for her to visit.
The day was lots of fun and Charley loved being with us, instead of being left alone in the motor home.

Newport, RI & Mystic, CT.

Monday, Was a little on the cool side and a little overcast. We thought we should tour some of the area. We headed out eastbound and took the scenic drive into Rhode Island and further into Massachusetts. Our first stop of the day was in Newport, R.I. It is a very old city, stores and houses abut the street with no lawns and sometimes not even sidewalk.

We found the old mansions and took in the sites. For those of you who think Gordon Drive in Naples is great you should see some of the old mansions in Newport and realize some are old and some are new, but all are spectacular.

Tuesday was a little quieter. We spent the morning with Charley and just vegged. What a nice

a.m. Then in the late a.m. About 11:00 we went Into Mystic and found Mystic Village. This area has really old homes and stores placed into an area with nice walkways and lovely gardens with many unique shops. After shopping some we found a nice little restaurant for a light lunch.

From there we went into Mystic proper and found an old shipyard.

Then we returned home for little resting.Before heading out we found all the birthday cards we wanted to send out this wee

k. Our friend, Lloyd will get his late, par for Nancy! But, Jeff, Emily and June should get theirs on time. Now then I must remember that Judy B.'s card needs to go out early next week. We decided that we want to stay here another day so we took care of that, we won't leave until Thursday.

Later in the day we went out again and found many small villages and they all had great marinas. Needless to say Tom was in his glory.

We went from one marina to another to another.

After that we once again went into Mystic and Tom managed to take some really neat photos of the old cantilever bridge. He was fascinated with the weights on the bridge.

Then it was home for dinner.

Old Mystic, CT.

Saturday found us with our last day in N.J. We went into Smithville for Nancy to shop the pretty historic village.

Nancy had a ball, where else but in the lovely New Jersey countryside can you find old buildings restored and still in use? The quaint village had buildings from the 1700's and most were in very good shape.

The old grist mill was in a danger of falling in the pond, but all the rest were really neat. They even had a small railroad running around the property.

Sunday we wanted to leave N.J. Early. We hoped to make it through N.Y.C. Before really bad traffic started. I'm not sure we made it before the traffic, but we did manage to get though fairly fast. We could not use any of the tunnels as we carry propane, and explosives are taboo!!!

so we needed to go over the George Washington Bridge. Hey, they have so many lanes over this bridge you can choose if you want the upper or lower deck. We thought we would use the lower part.....wrong move it was closed and everyone had to use the upper deck. Nancy sat in back with Charley trying to get photos of the N.Y. Skyline, but it was cloudy and overcast, so she got a photo of a cloudy day in which you can't see anything.

The New York skyline ;)=

Tom drove all the way to Old Mystic, Connecticut. Nancy does not like to drive in traffic.....so Tom was the "Mr. Nice Guy" and drove all the way. When we checked into the campground we were given a local map of the area.Anyone remember the movie "Mystic Pizza" with Vincent DiOnofrio and Julia Roberts?

Well, we actually ate there.

Pretty good pizza!!!

Then Nancy and Tom started to walk the city. Tom got a charlie horse in his calf, returned to the car and Nancy kept on walking the downtown area. Upon returning to the car it was still early so let's explore and find Stonington Village, CT.

We find the city and wow once again the streets are really narrow. Some streets are two way but southbound traffic must yield to any
northbound cars. We find the harbor and it is neat and all the other words that Nancy has been using along the way. We get out of the car
and take a couple of photos. When we think we should head back

we go real slow so we can take a photo of the old museum, which just happens to be on the two way part of the one lane road.

What a great day.