Friday, October 19, 2012
The Last Leg of Our Journey
We were in bed shortly after 10pm last night. The weather radio had us/me expecting rain and high/damaging winds during the night. I brought the grass-like mat that we use to wipe our feet into the trailer when I made my last entry just so that the wind wouldn’t blow it away. I had a hard time getting to sleep. Once I heard the rain at about 10:40pm I rolled over and went to sleep.
This morning Tom was off to the wash house soon after 6am and I was making and storing things in the sleeping bags just minutes after that. As we were eating breakfast the rains came again. We waited for a long while before the rains slowed down. I went up to the wash house and when I came back they had almost stopped. We went into high gear to get everything stowed and/or hitched. By 9:18am we had made our last trip to the wash house and were on our way to the dumpster and recycling area and then out of there.
The sun was trying to burn off the fog as we left. It was making a valiant effort and it was succeeding. We were actually able to see shadows.
The highway took us up the Allegheny Range at Blossburg to an elevation of 2157 feet. The fog that was still around made it look as if we were in the clouds.
After about 100 miles of driving for the day and nearing lunch time we stopped for lunch and a “quick cat nap” for Tom and then we headed on down the highway again. The sun was out, and the colors were wonderful. As we neared White Haven the road seemed to be a little wet and it got wetter - wet enough to call it rain. And it did rain. We were hoping that we would drive out of the rain-making clouds as we drove south. We did.
We passed the 200 mile mark for the day and still had a little bit to go yet. And we were still in the sunshine.
We arrived home at 2:20pm to 2 green trees in our back yard. We didn’t miss the color on these trees yet. The house was cool but we didn’t turn the heat on yet. We’re hoping that someone miss-read the card that Tom filled out to have our mail held. They usually deliver it the day we come home, but it was not here. Maybe it will be delivered tomorrow.
Our entire trip was 3290 miles into Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. Thanks for going along with us. It was fun.
Friday, October 19, 2012
What A Wonderful Day!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Note: Please forgive my mistake in naming yesterday’s blog. It should have been Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Doris’s birthday is on October 17 but I just had the wrong day assigned to it.
Also this is the blog for October 18 that I would have sent if I had internet service. Since I don’t I’ll send it on Friday, October 19 with that day’s blog.
What A Wonderful Day!
We were not in a hurry, but we were on the road by 9:10am. Well, not in a hurry if you were okay with your water tasting and smelling like rust. There’s even a sign hanging over the washers in the laundry room that your while cottons make become colored. There’s another sign in each of the toilet stalls announcing that the toilets are cleaned regularly. The stains in the toilets are because of the water. Yesterday the toilet in the trailer had rusty looking water in it. Get me out of here!
We were going to follow Rt. 6 east across the northern tier of the Pennsylvania counties: McKean, Potter and Tioga. It is a most colorful ride no matter when you take it.
Mt. Jewette is the home of the Kinzua Walkway. It has a graphic of the Walkway on the “Welcome to Mt. Jewette sign.
When I made the notes for this blog I wrote “M.J. has a mural on the side of a 2 story building in town.” I had wished that I was fast enough to get a picture of it. But reading some of the brochures that I picked up later in the day I learned that it is really a pictorial history of Mt. Jewette. How cool! And the colors were so vibrant.
Another thing about Mt. Jewette is that there is a 25 mph speed limit in town that everyone obeyed. I wonder if the town is a speed trap.
Another town that we rode through was Smethport. They, too, had signs. One of theirs was “Smethport - Home of the Wooly Willy.” Wooly bear caterpillars? Again in another of the brochures that I picked up I learned that “Wooly Willy” is that toy that so many kids had. It’s a board with graphic filings inside a plastic bubble-like thing in the shape of a man’s head. You used a small magnet in the shape of a rod to move the filings around and drop them on the man’s head for hair or on his face for a beard. I never had one but maybe you did.
Then there was the town of “Eulalia.” Tom said that it means “good speech.” [This is based on my memory of Greek. Tom] But I am now believing that I read or heard somewhere that it is an Indian word. There is even a St. Eulalia Roman Catholic Church in town.
In Coudersport there was a most amazing thing. The owner of this house has such an imagination. He had a dead tree in front of his house. It was a huge tree. It was about 12” to 14” in diameter and taller than two stories high. The limbs were removed almost right up to the trunk and all of the bark was missing. It was just like a smooth, bumpy pole. The tree was shortened to two stories with a flat top. At the top of the pole was a replica of a nest. Standing on the side of the nest as if it were just alighting on the nest was a large carving of an eagle with its wings spread. What a neat sight.
At Denton Peak we were at the peak of the Allegheny Mountains at an elevation of 2424 feet.
Finally we arrived at Hills Creek State Park. We did the minimum of setting up camp and getting lunch and then headed out to the Pine Creek Gorge. As we left camp we saw one deciduous tree in the brightest orange “dress” in the middle of a group of very dark pine colored evergreens. What an eye-full!
We had to go through Wellsboro. This is a quaint little town. Some years ago it installed gas lights in the middle of the islands of grass on Main Street. Now that it is autumn there are corn stalks leaning against the gas lights with many pumpkins sitting around the base of each light standard.
At Leonard Harrison State Park, 1833 feet in elevation, it was sunny and breezy but no hats, gloves or hooded sweatshirts were needed. The mountains on either side of the gorge contained a mix of bare trees and vibrant colors. There were several large birds flying around in the gorge. Don’t know what they were. A man there said that there was a bald eagle in the trees below us and he was waiting with his camera for the eagle to take flight. But the eagle wasn’t going anywhere. So we left to get gas for our trip home tomorrow and to get set up in the trailer. At 3pm it was 64 degrees.
The trailer was full of “if…then…” statements. You know the kind of thing “if this happens…then we will do this.” As the afternoon and evening moved on a lot of those things were resolved. So now we are ready to spend the night and get up and move again tomorrow. This will be our last move until next year.
The one thing that we are anticipating is that there is supposed to be some wind with high wind gusts and some hard rain. The anticipation is not a happy one. Although we have a hard roof over our head I still remember leaky tents of years gone by. I’ll let you know what happens.
Note: Please forgive my mistake in naming yesterday’s blog. It should have been Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Doris’s birthday is on October 17 but I just had the wrong day assigned to it.
Also this is the blog for October 18 that I would have sent if I had internet service. Since I don’t I’ll send it on Friday, October 19 with that day’s blog.
What A Wonderful Day!
We were not in a hurry, but we were on the road by 9:10am. Well, not in a hurry if you were okay with your water tasting and smelling like rust. There’s even a sign hanging over the washers in the laundry room that your while cottons make become colored. There’s another sign in each of the toilet stalls announcing that the toilets are cleaned regularly. The stains in the toilets are because of the water. Yesterday the toilet in the trailer had rusty looking water in it. Get me out of here!
We were going to follow Rt. 6 east across the northern tier of the Pennsylvania counties: McKean, Potter and Tioga. It is a most colorful ride no matter when you take it.
Mt. Jewette is the home of the Kinzua Walkway. It has a graphic of the Walkway on the “Welcome to Mt. Jewette sign.
When I made the notes for this blog I wrote “M.J. has a mural on the side of a 2 story building in town.” I had wished that I was fast enough to get a picture of it. But reading some of the brochures that I picked up later in the day I learned that it is really a pictorial history of Mt. Jewette. How cool! And the colors were so vibrant.
Another thing about Mt. Jewette is that there is a 25 mph speed limit in town that everyone obeyed. I wonder if the town is a speed trap.
Another town that we rode through was Smethport. They, too, had signs. One of theirs was “Smethport - Home of the Wooly Willy.” Wooly bear caterpillars? Again in another of the brochures that I picked up I learned that “Wooly Willy” is that toy that so many kids had. It’s a board with graphic filings inside a plastic bubble-like thing in the shape of a man’s head. You used a small magnet in the shape of a rod to move the filings around and drop them on the man’s head for hair or on his face for a beard. I never had one but maybe you did.
Then there was the town of “Eulalia.” Tom said that it means “good speech.” [This is based on my memory of Greek. Tom] But I am now believing that I read or heard somewhere that it is an Indian word. There is even a St. Eulalia Roman Catholic Church in town.
In Coudersport there was a most amazing thing. The owner of this house has such an imagination. He had a dead tree in front of his house. It was a huge tree. It was about 12” to 14” in diameter and taller than two stories high. The limbs were removed almost right up to the trunk and all of the bark was missing. It was just like a smooth, bumpy pole. The tree was shortened to two stories with a flat top. At the top of the pole was a replica of a nest. Standing on the side of the nest as if it were just alighting on the nest was a large carving of an eagle with its wings spread. What a neat sight.
At Denton Peak we were at the peak of the Allegheny Mountains at an elevation of 2424 feet.
Finally we arrived at Hills Creek State Park. We did the minimum of setting up camp and getting lunch and then headed out to the Pine Creek Gorge. As we left camp we saw one deciduous tree in the brightest orange “dress” in the middle of a group of very dark pine colored evergreens. What an eye-full!
We had to go through Wellsboro. This is a quaint little town. Some years ago it installed gas lights in the middle of the islands of grass on Main Street. Now that it is autumn there are corn stalks leaning against the gas lights with many pumpkins sitting around the base of each light standard.
At Leonard Harrison State Park, 1833 feet in elevation, it was sunny and breezy but no hats, gloves or hooded sweatshirts were needed. The mountains on either side of the gorge contained a mix of bare trees and vibrant colors. There were several large birds flying around in the gorge. Don’t know what they were. A man there said that there was a bald eagle in the trees below us and he was waiting with his camera for the eagle to take flight. But the eagle wasn’t going anywhere. So we left to get gas for our trip home tomorrow and to get set up in the trailer. At 3pm it was 64 degrees.
The trailer was full of “if…then…” statements. You know the kind of thing “if this happens…then we will do this.” As the afternoon and evening moved on a lot of those things were resolved. So now we are ready to spend the night and get up and move again tomorrow. This will be our last move until next year.
The one thing that we are anticipating is that there is supposed to be some wind with high wind gusts and some hard rain. The anticipation is not a happy one. Although we have a hard roof over our head I still remember leaky tents of years gone by. I’ll let you know what happens.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Happy Birthday, Doris!
Both of us awoke this morning with the same thought: “It’s too cold to get out of bed!” But Tom got out of bed long enough to look at the thermometer, turn on the heater and jump back into bed. The thought of shaving in a building with no heat and an outside temperature of 33 degrees was just too much. The inside temperature was 42 degrees.
And we each discovered that the best way to sleep in cold weather is with our heads inside the sleeping bag with a small hole just above our head to let in the oxygen.
About 50 minutes later we got up. Tom shaved and dressed while I tried to stay out of his way in this small living space. Then he did the same for me. It was easy for him when he had his coffee made and could just sit and drink his coffee while I made the bed and got dressed. We have worked things out as to the best way to live in this small space.
We both worked on breakfast, ate and cleaned up. The weather radio told us that the temperature was going up to about 60 degrees today, so we decided to just hang out this morning and go to the Kinzua Viaduct and the Kinzua Dam in the afternoon.
It was a short and easy trip to the viaduct. We had been here years ago when all we could do was to walk through a pathway to the end of the bridge and peer through the chain link fence to look down at the ground below. This railroad bridge was still in service until 2003 when the men were making repairs to the bridge. I expect that the men had enough warning to get down from the bridge and get to a safe place before a tornado came ripping through the valley and took the bridge down in 30 seconds.
I think sometime around 2009 or 2010 work was started to make this place an historical site. Work was done to build a walkway on the same supports that were originally used for the bridge but with them being reinforced. People walk on planks on the railroad ties out to a platform and look at the valley of disaster left behind by the tornado. The bridge supports are strewn on the valley floor, and dead trees tell of what happened here. One can not only look over the railings around the platform and along the walkway but look through the six approximately 30” square reinforced glass panels that are laid in the floor of the platform to see the wreckage below. This new Kinzua Viaduct State Park was opened in 2011.
Two asides: 1) All along the railings around the side of the walkway and the platform are iron rod railings. On top of these railings are 2x10 wood planks fastened to the railing at about a 50 or 55 degree angle. It had been coated with something that made it look gray. But all along the wood there were bare spots where the coating had been sanded off. If you looked closer you could see that at some spots someone had carved things into the wood or written them on the wood that were just too deep to be sanded out and repaired.
Aside 2) whether true or not, there was this statement that I overheard while on the walkway: the angle of the top wooden railing was used because kids were walking on top of the flat railing. I said it was a death wish and Tom said it was the kids’ sense of invincibility.
Other things that we saw were old wells that were used for drilling for oil. None that we saw were working. We also saw spots of color in the trees while most places we were too late for color there.
We drove over to Kinzua Dam looking for something that matched the picture that Tom had in his head. He couldn’t find it. We were glad for the drive but sorry that Tom didn’t find what he was looking for.
It was such a fantastically beautiful day. At 4pm it was 65 degrees by the thermometer in the van. It was just so nice.
We rode back to the campground looking for a gas station so that the van would have a full tank to start out tomorrow morning. Not finding any we had to go a half mile further to get it and then drive back to camp.
When we got back to camp Tom dug out the lounge chairs and we took advantage of the core-warming day.
Dinner made, cleaned up and dishes done (last time necessary for this trip) we settled in for a night of relaxation and computer work.
Tomorrow we travel to Hills Creek State Park. That means that there is no internet service. (We have one more trip to the laundry room to send this blog. I hope it’s warm in there.) So this is the blog entry until Friday night.
The weather radio says that there is rain coming. We hope we get out of here before it rains here. We were put in a “dry spot.” (If this is a dry spot I’d need hip boots for a wet one.) And in the best of all worlds we hope to get to Hills Creek and set up before the rains come; maybe even get to Leonard Harrison State Park before it rains. We’ll deal with a rainy night and a showery departure for home.
Talk to you next time on Friday, from HOME.
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Happy Birthday, Doris!
Both of us awoke this morning with the same thought: “It’s too cold to get out of bed!” But Tom got out of bed long enough to look at the thermometer, turn on the heater and jump back into bed. The thought of shaving in a building with no heat and an outside temperature of 33 degrees was just too much. The inside temperature was 42 degrees.
And we each discovered that the best way to sleep in cold weather is with our heads inside the sleeping bag with a small hole just above our head to let in the oxygen.
About 50 minutes later we got up. Tom shaved and dressed while I tried to stay out of his way in this small living space. Then he did the same for me. It was easy for him when he had his coffee made and could just sit and drink his coffee while I made the bed and got dressed. We have worked things out as to the best way to live in this small space.
We both worked on breakfast, ate and cleaned up. The weather radio told us that the temperature was going up to about 60 degrees today, so we decided to just hang out this morning and go to the Kinzua Viaduct and the Kinzua Dam in the afternoon.
It was a short and easy trip to the viaduct. We had been here years ago when all we could do was to walk through a pathway to the end of the bridge and peer through the chain link fence to look down at the ground below. This railroad bridge was still in service until 2003 when the men were making repairs to the bridge. I expect that the men had enough warning to get down from the bridge and get to a safe place before a tornado came ripping through the valley and took the bridge down in 30 seconds.
I think sometime around 2009 or 2010 work was started to make this place an historical site. Work was done to build a walkway on the same supports that were originally used for the bridge but with them being reinforced. People walk on planks on the railroad ties out to a platform and look at the valley of disaster left behind by the tornado. The bridge supports are strewn on the valley floor, and dead trees tell of what happened here. One can not only look over the railings around the platform and along the walkway but look through the six approximately 30” square reinforced glass panels that are laid in the floor of the platform to see the wreckage below. This new Kinzua Viaduct State Park was opened in 2011.
Two asides: 1) All along the railings around the side of the walkway and the platform are iron rod railings. On top of these railings are 2x10 wood planks fastened to the railing at about a 50 or 55 degree angle. It had been coated with something that made it look gray. But all along the wood there were bare spots where the coating had been sanded off. If you looked closer you could see that at some spots someone had carved things into the wood or written them on the wood that were just too deep to be sanded out and repaired.
Aside 2) whether true or not, there was this statement that I overheard while on the walkway: the angle of the top wooden railing was used because kids were walking on top of the flat railing. I said it was a death wish and Tom said it was the kids’ sense of invincibility.
Other things that we saw were old wells that were used for drilling for oil. None that we saw were working. We also saw spots of color in the trees while most places we were too late for color there.
We drove over to Kinzua Dam looking for something that matched the picture that Tom had in his head. He couldn’t find it. We were glad for the drive but sorry that Tom didn’t find what he was looking for.
It was such a fantastically beautiful day. At 4pm it was 65 degrees by the thermometer in the van. It was just so nice.
We rode back to the campground looking for a gas station so that the van would have a full tank to start out tomorrow morning. Not finding any we had to go a half mile further to get it and then drive back to camp.
When we got back to camp Tom dug out the lounge chairs and we took advantage of the core-warming day.
Dinner made, cleaned up and dishes done (last time necessary for this trip) we settled in for a night of relaxation and computer work.
Tomorrow we travel to Hills Creek State Park. That means that there is no internet service. (We have one more trip to the laundry room to send this blog. I hope it’s warm in there.) So this is the blog entry until Friday night.
The weather radio says that there is rain coming. We hope we get out of here before it rains here. We were put in a “dry spot.” (If this is a dry spot I’d need hip boots for a wet one.) And in the best of all worlds we hope to get to Hills Creek and set up before the rains come; maybe even get to Leonard Harrison State Park before it rains. We’ll deal with a rainy night and a showery departure for home.
Talk to you next time on Friday, from HOME.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Getting Closer To Home
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Getting Closer To Home
Moving day! Tom got up and headed for the wash house. I rolled over and started making and preparing the bed for moving. This is a sight to see. Well, not really. The bed in the trailer is a double bed (we have a queen size at home) with access to it only at the foot end and on one corner; three feet up the side and about two feet across the bottom. So to make the bed I lie on my side and pull up the sleeping bag on Tom’s side until it reaches the wall at the head of the bed and then roll onto Tom’s side and pull up the sleeping bag on my side of the bed. Then I wiggle down the bed making sure that the sides of the sleeping bag are up the walls about equally on both sides. When I bought these sleeping bags I bought extra large ones so we had enough room to wear an assortment of sweat suits or other things to bed. Soon I’m at the bottom and can get out onto the floor.
With this done I can pack the bed for traveling. Huh!?!? We use the friction of the sleeping bags to keep things from moving around while the trailer is rolling down the highway. (No one is going to tell us about how bad the roads in PA are. Interstate Rt. 86 where Rt. 219 travels the same portion of roadway is a real mess. It has a sign by the edge of the road that says ROUGH ROAD and they mean it. When I opened the trailer door at the campground I found three things on the floor but none of the things that I had packed in or under the sleeping bags. And the rough road stopped right at the state line between NY and PA.) I have yet to find any of those things that I pack in/under the sleeping bags in places that I didn’t put them at the end of a traveling day.
We are back into PA at a campground that has showers smaller than the one in our trailer and internet service if you go to the laundry room. We will be here for two nights and then move to Hills Creek State Park just outside of Wellsboro, PA. Since it is a State Park we will not have any internet service there. We will be moving there on Thursday so you will not hear from us on Thursday night.
A stop at Hills Creek is almost mandatory. It is so close to the Pine Creek Gorge which is known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We learned last night that this area is past its maximum burst of leaf color, and we saw evidence of that today; lots and lots of bare trees although we did see some color in New York. There was some around the campground where the rising sun shone off the leaves colors before we left. But the gorge is a thing of beauty in any season so we view it from the Leonard Harrison State Park side and the Colton Point side. Different views, same place; both awe inspiring. It’s just a relatively short distance to Hills Creek from here, so that we are confident that we can travel there and get to see the gorge in the same day.
We had a relaxing day and even a nap this afternoon. Tomorrow we get to see Kinzua Bridge State Park and maybe the Allegheny Reservoir.
Talk to you tomorrow; we hope.
Monday, October 15, 2012
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
Monday, October 15, 2012
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
We decided last night before we went to bed that we weren’t going to get up early this morning. So we crawled into bed, early for Tom and way early for me, and settled down for a good night’s sleep. Yeah, right!
I was awakened way too early with the trailer rocking and making noise. I opened the blinds that are beside my side of the bed and saw the trailer awning being shook by a fierce wind. The weather radio had told us that there would be a front passing through the area with showers and a wind. I wasn’t expecting something like this.
I lay back down and must have dozed off because I was awakened again by the same things. I sat up, looked out of the window (the awning was still in one piece) and then lay back down again.
The next time I heard and felt the same things Tom beat me to the sitting up part. He put on his sandals and went outside. I slid my feet into my shoes and followed him. He did most of the work because he knew what to do. I was there to lend moral support. The awning was rolled up and secured and we were on our way inside. It wasn’t as noisy or shaking as much. We got back into bed and tentatively lay down listening for more noises. It was soon after 2am. We went to sleep.
I was a wake and asleep all night but soon it was near 7am and Tom was getting up. I decided that I would too. Off to the wash house to get the day started and then back to get dressed and eat breakfast. And so our day started.
One of the things that was offered to us as a possibility for our time here was to take a ride on the Erie Canal. A brochure was given to us even though we thought we had spent enough on the tours. Tom looked over the brochure several times and said that he’d like to go to Lockport, NY, anyway even if we don’t get to take the ride. Then it was that we would have to see what time the cruises were being scheduled. So we were going to Lockport just to see what things were like there. And then he looked at the brochure a little more thoroughly and found out that the last day for the cruises was yesterday, October 14, the day we were on the American Falls tour. “A day late and a dollar short,” Tom says. “But we will go anyway.”
So we had about two hours just to relax. We haven’t had much of that kind of time so we just vegged and enjoyed it. I even dozed as I sat on the sofa. We had lunch and were off to Lockport, NY to see part of the Erie Canal.
We found the Cruise Office. Two vessels were tied to the dock. They were very trusting because no one was around and everything was open. Tom and I or anyone else could have just walked on the vessel and taken off or done damage. We looked at both vessels from the dock and walked further down the property to see the area from a different point of view.
We saw a sign across the canal for Upson Park and decided to go see what that was all about. Besides it looked like you could see behind a lock or something like that. So Tom asked “The Man” to take us there and that “he” did.
We found the thing that we were looking at from across the way. It did look like a sort of a lock that might have been used to put vessels in dry dock. We don’t know for sure and there was no one there to ask.[On further investigation it is indeed a place to put vessels in dry dock!]
Another thing we found was a Canal Trail. We followed it backwards and found the Canal Museum, one of the locks of the canal, the mechanism that opens and closes the gate and the place where the water bypasses the lock. There were lots of things in the museum to see and a video presentation about how a lock works, the history of the canal and a musical presentation of life on the canal, the “Erie Canal Song.” We found many things along the Canal Trail that raised even more “what’s that” questions. As we walked away from the park Tom was heard to say, “Oh, well, a day late and a dollar short.” It would be a place to which we would want to come back.
We headed back to the campground by way of the Hobby Lobby store for more yarn and a gas station for gas for tomorrow’s trip to Lantz Corners (Kane, PA) and the Foote Rest Campground. Back at our present campground where we will be for one more night, Tom grilled ham and potatoes for dinner.
It seems that the wind has died down. I haven’t put my head out of the door to find out for sure. Think there is a possibility of showers tonight and again tomorrow morning. Gee whiz! Just in time to break camp. Low temperature for tomorrow morning is in the low 40s with a real feel of somewhere in the 30s. “Tom, where are your gloves?”
This campground is less than a mile from the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. I think that is the name of it. Earlier in our stay here I heard this loud low frequency sound that I had been taught somehow to associate with a “bomber.” (Excuse me, Steve, if I get this all backwards.) But tonight is the loudest and the longest that I have heard them. It may have something to do with the weather we are having right now; the wind and all that.) It may have something to do with “touch and goes.” Every once in a while I get to see one of these “chubby” fuselaged planes as opposed to the sleek fighter jets. But tonight is the first time this noise has been so loud for so long.
Yesterday I forgot to say something about the black squirrels that we saw in Niagara Falls, NY Park. They were beautiful. Our guide offered us this explanation: some years ago, as a project, the students at Kent State University introduced some black squirrels into the schools grounds and kept track of them to see where they would show up. A few years ago they showed up in Niagara Falls, NY. I wonder how long it will take for them to get to your area.
The evening is getting late and I have a few things to do yet, including seeing to it that this thing gets posted. We need to get some rest so that we can get out of here tomorrow. Talk to you all tomorrow night from Foote Rest Campground.
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
We decided last night before we went to bed that we weren’t going to get up early this morning. So we crawled into bed, early for Tom and way early for me, and settled down for a good night’s sleep. Yeah, right!
I was awakened way too early with the trailer rocking and making noise. I opened the blinds that are beside my side of the bed and saw the trailer awning being shook by a fierce wind. The weather radio had told us that there would be a front passing through the area with showers and a wind. I wasn’t expecting something like this.
I lay back down and must have dozed off because I was awakened again by the same things. I sat up, looked out of the window (the awning was still in one piece) and then lay back down again.
The next time I heard and felt the same things Tom beat me to the sitting up part. He put on his sandals and went outside. I slid my feet into my shoes and followed him. He did most of the work because he knew what to do. I was there to lend moral support. The awning was rolled up and secured and we were on our way inside. It wasn’t as noisy or shaking as much. We got back into bed and tentatively lay down listening for more noises. It was soon after 2am. We went to sleep.
I was a wake and asleep all night but soon it was near 7am and Tom was getting up. I decided that I would too. Off to the wash house to get the day started and then back to get dressed and eat breakfast. And so our day started.
One of the things that was offered to us as a possibility for our time here was to take a ride on the Erie Canal. A brochure was given to us even though we thought we had spent enough on the tours. Tom looked over the brochure several times and said that he’d like to go to Lockport, NY, anyway even if we don’t get to take the ride. Then it was that we would have to see what time the cruises were being scheduled. So we were going to Lockport just to see what things were like there. And then he looked at the brochure a little more thoroughly and found out that the last day for the cruises was yesterday, October 14, the day we were on the American Falls tour. “A day late and a dollar short,” Tom says. “But we will go anyway.”
So we had about two hours just to relax. We haven’t had much of that kind of time so we just vegged and enjoyed it. I even dozed as I sat on the sofa. We had lunch and were off to Lockport, NY to see part of the Erie Canal.
We found the Cruise Office. Two vessels were tied to the dock. They were very trusting because no one was around and everything was open. Tom and I or anyone else could have just walked on the vessel and taken off or done damage. We looked at both vessels from the dock and walked further down the property to see the area from a different point of view.
We saw a sign across the canal for Upson Park and decided to go see what that was all about. Besides it looked like you could see behind a lock or something like that. So Tom asked “The Man” to take us there and that “he” did.
We found the thing that we were looking at from across the way. It did look like a sort of a lock that might have been used to put vessels in dry dock. We don’t know for sure and there was no one there to ask.[On further investigation it is indeed a place to put vessels in dry dock!]
Another thing we found was a Canal Trail. We followed it backwards and found the Canal Museum, one of the locks of the canal, the mechanism that opens and closes the gate and the place where the water bypasses the lock. There were lots of things in the museum to see and a video presentation about how a lock works, the history of the canal and a musical presentation of life on the canal, the “Erie Canal Song.” We found many things along the Canal Trail that raised even more “what’s that” questions. As we walked away from the park Tom was heard to say, “Oh, well, a day late and a dollar short.” It would be a place to which we would want to come back.
We headed back to the campground by way of the Hobby Lobby store for more yarn and a gas station for gas for tomorrow’s trip to Lantz Corners (Kane, PA) and the Foote Rest Campground. Back at our present campground where we will be for one more night, Tom grilled ham and potatoes for dinner.
It seems that the wind has died down. I haven’t put my head out of the door to find out for sure. Think there is a possibility of showers tonight and again tomorrow morning. Gee whiz! Just in time to break camp. Low temperature for tomorrow morning is in the low 40s with a real feel of somewhere in the 30s. “Tom, where are your gloves?”
This campground is less than a mile from the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. I think that is the name of it. Earlier in our stay here I heard this loud low frequency sound that I had been taught somehow to associate with a “bomber.” (Excuse me, Steve, if I get this all backwards.) But tonight is the loudest and the longest that I have heard them. It may have something to do with the weather we are having right now; the wind and all that.) It may have something to do with “touch and goes.” Every once in a while I get to see one of these “chubby” fuselaged planes as opposed to the sleek fighter jets. But tonight is the first time this noise has been so loud for so long.
Yesterday I forgot to say something about the black squirrels that we saw in Niagara Falls, NY Park. They were beautiful. Our guide offered us this explanation: some years ago, as a project, the students at Kent State University introduced some black squirrels into the schools grounds and kept track of them to see where they would show up. A few years ago they showed up in Niagara Falls, NY. I wonder how long it will take for them to get to your area.
The evening is getting late and I have a few things to do yet, including seeing to it that this thing gets posted. We need to get some rest so that we can get out of here tomorrow. Talk to you all tomorrow night from Foote Rest Campground.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Lucky Day!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Lucky Day!
This morning came way too early. The alarm clock screamed for attention and then off to the showers. I came back for my umbrella and I wondered if it wasn’t raining when Tom went to the shower room because his was still in the trailer. It was warm, at least warmer than we usually found in the morning. I wore my flannel shirt and fleece vest only because it was handy. I certainly didn’t need it. The wind was a bit fresh. I put the umbrella down because the wind wanted to blow it inside out. It was raining harder when I came out the of the shower house, so I used it without any problem with the wind.
We headed off to Denny’s for breakfast. We found a place to park very easily and were seated right away. The waitress was able to make substitutions we wanted in the menu item that we ordered. By the time we were ready to leave there were quite a few people waiting to be seated.
We were an hour early to go right to the church, so we went back to the trailer for about an hour. Then off to church, which “The Man” found readily when we could find the correct roads that “he” wanted us to use. [A note for all of the new people reading this blog and for those who have forgotten: “The Man” is the name of the navigator we use for our vehicles. It came from the name that our grandson gave to the navigator that his parents use for their vehicles when he was much younger. His parents use a feminine voice on their navigator and he calls, or used to call it “The Lady.” We use a masculine voice so we call it “The Man.”]
St. Paul’s Church is in a racially mixed neighborhood, and we thought that this congregation would be too. I was getting excited about worshiping with them. When we arrived we saw Caucasians entering the church. When we entered the church we were greeted warmly. One woman finally said that Tom must be the one who emailed the church, and we guess that she was the one who responded to that e-mail. Lots of people welcomed us. Lots of people made it a point to seek us out to Pass the Peace and welcome us. Still more found us after worship to welcome us and invite us for the coffee hour. But this was not a racially mixed congregation. But the pastor announced that the Forum topic today and the next few weeks was the purpose of St. Paul’s Church. Hopefully they will be discussing the possibility of reaching out to the neighborhood.
Back to the trailer to change our clothes, eat lunch and, for me, to doze for a while until it was time to walk to the tour office to board a bus for a tour of the American and Bridal Veil Falls. This was another four-hour tour on top of the one yesterday. We had wondered whether we really needed to go on this one today. After our ride on the Maid of the Mist and the visit to the Cave of the Winds we decided it was.
The elevator takes you down 180 ft. to get on the Maid of the Mist which takes you right up, personal with the Horseshoe Falls. We were given souvenir raincoats (ponchos) to wear to keep us sort of dry. We were told to tie a knot in the bottom of the poncho to keep it from billowing up like a balloon. It worked. The rush of the winds and the mist from the pounding falls tried it’s best to get us wet. They succeeded most of the time, but the poncho did not billow if you tied the knot properly.
A trip to the Cave of the Winds is a climb down some wooden scaffolding and then up along the Bridal Falls. To take this trip we were not only given the obligatory raincoat/poncho but also sandals to assure the best footing on the steps and platforms. The water cascaded along the rocks under you as well as beside you. At one point the water from the falls came over the railings of the scaffolding. I just had to go and stand on that part of the platform so that my feet would get wet by the water.
The Hurricane Deck was the top-most platform before going right up to the Bridal Veil Falls. Then the trip down some of the steps and up the ramp to the elevator that takes you up to the top. And the best part - you get to keep your raincoat and sandals! ;o)
About the scaffolding: this is what the platforms and steps for the Cave of the Winds trip is built on. Each November when the park closes this scaffolding is taken down, or it would be taken down by the ice in the winter months. Then in the Spring, before the season opens again, it is rebuilt. I wonder who in their right minds would climb on those rocks so close to the falls.
You get to see a lot more things like the rapids, the whirlpool and Terrapin Point. And we have experienced that the bus driver/tour leaders make a big difference in how you get to see the attractions and the information you get about them and the area. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader was born in another part of the state of NY and came here some 35 years ago. Today’s bus driver and tour leader was born in Niagara Falls, NY and grew up here. She could tell us about the factories that grew up in the area and did or left the area and for what reasons. She showed us where her father had a meat market on a street where parades where held and how on cold days they could sit in the window of the upstairs room and view the parade in the warmth. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader knew the facts, but today’s bus driver and tour leader provided the color.
We got home a little after 6pm and had finished dinner by 7pm, thank you Smart Ones and a trailer with a microwave. We had noticed the sky was clouding over before we left the park but it didn’t let down its water until just after 7pm. It’s a good thing that our drying rack was under the awning or our towels would have gotten even wetter than they were.
Now is computer time and working on pictures. I hope to get into bed very, very soon. All in all, we were very lucky today.
Lucky Day!
This morning came way too early. The alarm clock screamed for attention and then off to the showers. I came back for my umbrella and I wondered if it wasn’t raining when Tom went to the shower room because his was still in the trailer. It was warm, at least warmer than we usually found in the morning. I wore my flannel shirt and fleece vest only because it was handy. I certainly didn’t need it. The wind was a bit fresh. I put the umbrella down because the wind wanted to blow it inside out. It was raining harder when I came out the of the shower house, so I used it without any problem with the wind.
We headed off to Denny’s for breakfast. We found a place to park very easily and were seated right away. The waitress was able to make substitutions we wanted in the menu item that we ordered. By the time we were ready to leave there were quite a few people waiting to be seated.
We were an hour early to go right to the church, so we went back to the trailer for about an hour. Then off to church, which “The Man” found readily when we could find the correct roads that “he” wanted us to use. [A note for all of the new people reading this blog and for those who have forgotten: “The Man” is the name of the navigator we use for our vehicles. It came from the name that our grandson gave to the navigator that his parents use for their vehicles when he was much younger. His parents use a feminine voice on their navigator and he calls, or used to call it “The Lady.” We use a masculine voice so we call it “The Man.”]
St. Paul’s Church is in a racially mixed neighborhood, and we thought that this congregation would be too. I was getting excited about worshiping with them. When we arrived we saw Caucasians entering the church. When we entered the church we were greeted warmly. One woman finally said that Tom must be the one who emailed the church, and we guess that she was the one who responded to that e-mail. Lots of people welcomed us. Lots of people made it a point to seek us out to Pass the Peace and welcome us. Still more found us after worship to welcome us and invite us for the coffee hour. But this was not a racially mixed congregation. But the pastor announced that the Forum topic today and the next few weeks was the purpose of St. Paul’s Church. Hopefully they will be discussing the possibility of reaching out to the neighborhood.
Back to the trailer to change our clothes, eat lunch and, for me, to doze for a while until it was time to walk to the tour office to board a bus for a tour of the American and Bridal Veil Falls. This was another four-hour tour on top of the one yesterday. We had wondered whether we really needed to go on this one today. After our ride on the Maid of the Mist and the visit to the Cave of the Winds we decided it was.
The elevator takes you down 180 ft. to get on the Maid of the Mist which takes you right up, personal with the Horseshoe Falls. We were given souvenir raincoats (ponchos) to wear to keep us sort of dry. We were told to tie a knot in the bottom of the poncho to keep it from billowing up like a balloon. It worked. The rush of the winds and the mist from the pounding falls tried it’s best to get us wet. They succeeded most of the time, but the poncho did not billow if you tied the knot properly.
A trip to the Cave of the Winds is a climb down some wooden scaffolding and then up along the Bridal Falls. To take this trip we were not only given the obligatory raincoat/poncho but also sandals to assure the best footing on the steps and platforms. The water cascaded along the rocks under you as well as beside you. At one point the water from the falls came over the railings of the scaffolding. I just had to go and stand on that part of the platform so that my feet would get wet by the water.
The Hurricane Deck was the top-most platform before going right up to the Bridal Veil Falls. Then the trip down some of the steps and up the ramp to the elevator that takes you up to the top. And the best part - you get to keep your raincoat and sandals! ;o)
About the scaffolding: this is what the platforms and steps for the Cave of the Winds trip is built on. Each November when the park closes this scaffolding is taken down, or it would be taken down by the ice in the winter months. Then in the Spring, before the season opens again, it is rebuilt. I wonder who in their right minds would climb on those rocks so close to the falls.
You get to see a lot more things like the rapids, the whirlpool and Terrapin Point. And we have experienced that the bus driver/tour leaders make a big difference in how you get to see the attractions and the information you get about them and the area. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader was born in another part of the state of NY and came here some 35 years ago. Today’s bus driver and tour leader was born in Niagara Falls, NY and grew up here. She could tell us about the factories that grew up in the area and did or left the area and for what reasons. She showed us where her father had a meat market on a street where parades where held and how on cold days they could sit in the window of the upstairs room and view the parade in the warmth. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader knew the facts, but today’s bus driver and tour leader provided the color.
We got home a little after 6pm and had finished dinner by 7pm, thank you Smart Ones and a trailer with a microwave. We had noticed the sky was clouding over before we left the park but it didn’t let down its water until just after 7pm. It’s a good thing that our drying rack was under the awning or our towels would have gotten even wetter than they were.
Now is computer time and working on pictures. I hope to get into bed very, very soon. All in all, we were very lucky today.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What a Tour!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What a Tour!
It was cold last night; very cold. I spent a few hours in the middle of the night wondering what I could do to get warm. When I looked at the clock it was 2:55am. The next thing I knew was that Tom was crawling out of bed and getting his shaving kit to go to the wash house. I looked at the clock; it was 5:45am. I called to him, “You can’t go to the wash house now. They don’t unlock it until 6am.” “Ooooh,” came the disappointed answer. “I just thought I’d get a head start on the day.” He turned the heat on and crawled back into bed for 15 minutes.
Temperature outside was about 30 degrees. Temperature inside was about 42 degrees. I felt bad for the people who spent the night in a tent.
We went to the shower house, which feels just a tad bit warmer than the restroom. There is no heat in either room but the construction of the shower house just makes you feel warmer. I think it was newly reconstructed in order to conform to the ADA law. There is a “handicap” bathroom in there with ample room for a wheel chair but not a grab bar in sight. Don’t know how anyone could transfer herself from her wheelchair to the toilet or vice versa. I assume that the men’s room is the same. There is no designated handicap shower or any shower with the correct equipment for a handicap person to take a shower. There is a ramp up to the outside door to remove the step up, but that’s all. Although the sinks are high enough to get a wheelchair under them I think the sinks are on top of a box-like construction where a person’s feet can approach the sink but that’s all the further a person in a wheelchair can go. geesh! The restrooms are just a plain old cinder block construction painted to make you feel better.
Through the rain (yes, again) I canhear first the fireworks and then the canon fire. Tonight the Canadians and the Americans are having a re-enactment of the battle, during the War of 1812, with the British for the land which is now Niagara Falls, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY. I think it is the entire weekend that the “soldiers” will be in the Park in Niagara Falls, Canada, with their tents and what-not. That would be neat to see. I have two friends (Hi, Martin and Andrew!) who participate in Civil War re-enactments, more so Martin than Andrew.
Today was the day that we were to take the tour on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We were told yesterday that the tour was to start at 8:30 but be at the tour office a few minutes early. On our way to the tour office we were told by the man who works in the campground office that the tour would start at 8:50. By the time we arrived at the tour office the man who works at the campground office had already told the tour agent, who was different from the person we bought the tours from yesterday, that we thought the tour was to start at 8:30. He apologized and told us that the tour started at 8:50 and they always have. At 8:30 another couple, Vince and Laura, showed up expecting an 8:30 tour start. So we four waited together until the bus arrived at 8:50. It turned out that we were the only ones on this tour on a 24 passenger bus! …Which was great for us.
The bus driver’s name was Martha and she was very knowledgeable as to the facts on both sides of the Niagara River. From the time we left the campground she told us about the things we were seeing and what roads we were on. I’m sorry that she will not be our driver tomorrow. She had dates and names down so pat. She even told us how to avoid the tourist traps, except for the one she delivered us to in order to use the “wash room” (Canadian term for “restroom) before the Maid of the Mist ride for our tour mates and the Skylon Tower ride and view for us, because we will get the Maid of the Mist ride tomorrow. She told us what to expect at the border crossing (open your passport to your picture and hold it up) and how to act (don’t kid with the agents). We got to walk behind the Falls, see the Giant Whirlpool, the Botanical Gardens and the floral clock. The clock is designed new each year and created and planted by the students of the horticultural school on the grounds of the park. There were pictures of the designs of the clock for each year from 1950 to 2007 in the base of the clock. The falls were awesome from every viewing perspective we had.
We got back to the campground a little after 2pm, which wasn’t bad timing for a 4-hour tour. I think a lot of the extra time was added as we waited, and waited and waited some more outside of the customs office just after we crossed the bridge into NY. After at least 10 minutes an agent came to the bus, collected our passports, took them to scan them and then brought them back. We were free. Once at the campground Martha drove around and let us off at our respective RVs. It was good to be home, but not for long.
We went out to find a restaurant for breakfast tomorrow, find the church and stop at Target to buy a few things we needed. Then back to the trailer and crashed.
The rain started just as we were coming out of Target and has continued for the most part since then. I think the weather forecast says it is supposed to be showers tonight, but so far the rain has not stopped long enough even to run to the restroom and back without an umbrella.
I feel very tired tonight. It’s not supposed to be as cold as it was last night. I hope not. When I get tired I get cold, and I don’t need a cold temperature on top of being tired. Right now, at 8:30pm, it is 45 degrees outside.
What a Tour!
It was cold last night; very cold. I spent a few hours in the middle of the night wondering what I could do to get warm. When I looked at the clock it was 2:55am. The next thing I knew was that Tom was crawling out of bed and getting his shaving kit to go to the wash house. I looked at the clock; it was 5:45am. I called to him, “You can’t go to the wash house now. They don’t unlock it until 6am.” “Ooooh,” came the disappointed answer. “I just thought I’d get a head start on the day.” He turned the heat on and crawled back into bed for 15 minutes.
Temperature outside was about 30 degrees. Temperature inside was about 42 degrees. I felt bad for the people who spent the night in a tent.
We went to the shower house, which feels just a tad bit warmer than the restroom. There is no heat in either room but the construction of the shower house just makes you feel warmer. I think it was newly reconstructed in order to conform to the ADA law. There is a “handicap” bathroom in there with ample room for a wheel chair but not a grab bar in sight. Don’t know how anyone could transfer herself from her wheelchair to the toilet or vice versa. I assume that the men’s room is the same. There is no designated handicap shower or any shower with the correct equipment for a handicap person to take a shower. There is a ramp up to the outside door to remove the step up, but that’s all. Although the sinks are high enough to get a wheelchair under them I think the sinks are on top of a box-like construction where a person’s feet can approach the sink but that’s all the further a person in a wheelchair can go. geesh! The restrooms are just a plain old cinder block construction painted to make you feel better.
Through the rain (yes, again) I canhear first the fireworks and then the canon fire. Tonight the Canadians and the Americans are having a re-enactment of the battle, during the War of 1812, with the British for the land which is now Niagara Falls, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY. I think it is the entire weekend that the “soldiers” will be in the Park in Niagara Falls, Canada, with their tents and what-not. That would be neat to see. I have two friends (Hi, Martin and Andrew!) who participate in Civil War re-enactments, more so Martin than Andrew.
Today was the day that we were to take the tour on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We were told yesterday that the tour was to start at 8:30 but be at the tour office a few minutes early. On our way to the tour office we were told by the man who works in the campground office that the tour would start at 8:50. By the time we arrived at the tour office the man who works at the campground office had already told the tour agent, who was different from the person we bought the tours from yesterday, that we thought the tour was to start at 8:30. He apologized and told us that the tour started at 8:50 and they always have. At 8:30 another couple, Vince and Laura, showed up expecting an 8:30 tour start. So we four waited together until the bus arrived at 8:50. It turned out that we were the only ones on this tour on a 24 passenger bus! …Which was great for us.
The bus driver’s name was Martha and she was very knowledgeable as to the facts on both sides of the Niagara River. From the time we left the campground she told us about the things we were seeing and what roads we were on. I’m sorry that she will not be our driver tomorrow. She had dates and names down so pat. She even told us how to avoid the tourist traps, except for the one she delivered us to in order to use the “wash room” (Canadian term for “restroom) before the Maid of the Mist ride for our tour mates and the Skylon Tower ride and view for us, because we will get the Maid of the Mist ride tomorrow. She told us what to expect at the border crossing (open your passport to your picture and hold it up) and how to act (don’t kid with the agents). We got to walk behind the Falls, see the Giant Whirlpool, the Botanical Gardens and the floral clock. The clock is designed new each year and created and planted by the students of the horticultural school on the grounds of the park. There were pictures of the designs of the clock for each year from 1950 to 2007 in the base of the clock. The falls were awesome from every viewing perspective we had.
We got back to the campground a little after 2pm, which wasn’t bad timing for a 4-hour tour. I think a lot of the extra time was added as we waited, and waited and waited some more outside of the customs office just after we crossed the bridge into NY. After at least 10 minutes an agent came to the bus, collected our passports, took them to scan them and then brought them back. We were free. Once at the campground Martha drove around and let us off at our respective RVs. It was good to be home, but not for long.
We went out to find a restaurant for breakfast tomorrow, find the church and stop at Target to buy a few things we needed. Then back to the trailer and crashed.
The rain started just as we were coming out of Target and has continued for the most part since then. I think the weather forecast says it is supposed to be showers tonight, but so far the rain has not stopped long enough even to run to the restroom and back without an umbrella.
I feel very tired tonight. It’s not supposed to be as cold as it was last night. I hope not. When I get tired I get cold, and I don’t need a cold temperature on top of being tired. Right now, at 8:30pm, it is 45 degrees outside.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Niagara Falls, Here We Come!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Niagara Falls, Here We Come!
This day started with me telling Tom, as he was almost at the door of the trailer to go to the wash house, that it was raining. So what else is new? And it continued to rain almost to the last things to do before we pulled out of the camp site. Poor Tom! He had to work in the rain to get us ready to go. We did get to walk to the wash house for the last time before we got into the van to leave. Geesh! But Tom was heard to say later, “Could have been a downpour this morning. That would have been worse.”
It was 42 degrees outside at about 6:15 am at Turning Stones, NY, and about 54 degrees inside. It was much warmer inside the sleeping bag. I had a hard time getting going this morning so we left a little later than we would have liked to leave. It was about 10:08am. There were small patches of blue in the sky that we could see as we started west on Rt 90. We were hoping that there would be more. The rain stopped completely about an hour into our trip.
It seems that the colors are starting to be coming to the middle of NY state. They are not vibrant yet, but they are visible in some spots. We enjoyed looking for those spots today.
Some milestone info:
11am - passed the 2500 miles for the trip
12:05pm - passed the 100 miles for today’s trip
About 12:30pm we stopped for lunch. We went into the trailer to make and eat lunch as we have done so many times before. Only this time it was 48 degrees in the trailer. We made our lunch and then took it back to the van to eat it while the sun was shining thru the front window and warming both us and the inside of the van. Nice.
On the final visit to the restrooms we saw a sign that told us that there was an information center for Niagara Falls at the next service area. We decided to stop to see what they had to say.
The woman at the information center was helpful with information about Niagara Falls and suggested taking a tour of either or both sides of the falls. When she talked of parking in the Niagara Falls Park area at $25 we sort of choked. She told us the cost of the tours, both the American side and the Canadian side. We sort of choked again. She told us that there was a tour company that made stops at our intended campground. So we had something to think about as we finished the drive to the campground.
We found the campground and the signs for tour information. We registered and went to find our site all the way in the back of the campground. Literally. Although there is barely space for one camper next to us the only thing farther back is the road around the campground and the tent area.
As we were going to check out the tour information at a place that would really know something about it, we were watching a small motor home (looks like an upgraded conversion van) was driving around the campground. I made some assumptions that it was to be our neighbor on the itty-bitty spot and was either trying to find it or was looking for another place. Both were true. The van stopped next to us and the driver was wondering way they were assigned all the way in the back with practically all of the rest of the campground unoccupied. I said that I thought that spaces were being assigned according to the size of equipment. We weren’t that large so we were assigned a space in the back shortened by the turn in the road. He asked about asking to have another space. We never thought of it. So he was going to ask. When we came out of the tour office we saw that they were in one of the front spaces. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the restrooms and showers are all the way in the front of the campground?
We decided to “bite the bullet” and take both the American and the Canadian tours. We take the 8:30am Canadian tour tomorrow morning. I keep thinking about how cold it will be that time of the morning. And we are going to go on a tour where the splashing of water is involved. We will take the tour of the American side on Sunday afternoon.
Talking about temperatures, at 8pm tonight it was 30 degrees outside by the mechanical thermometer on the awning post and 38 degrees on the electronic one with the sender in the hitching hardware of the trailer. I suspect the true temperature is somewhere in between. Now, at 9:30pm, Accuweather says the temperature outside is 35 degrees and the low for tonight is 37 degrees. I think something is off somewhere.
After dinner we packed the things we want to take with us tomorrow and decided what warm clothing we will need. The one good thing is that we can leave things on the tour bus while we are out seeing the attractions.
Off to bed to get some good sleep before we leave. We have the alarm set. We just have to hear it.
Niagara Falls, Here We Come!
This day started with me telling Tom, as he was almost at the door of the trailer to go to the wash house, that it was raining. So what else is new? And it continued to rain almost to the last things to do before we pulled out of the camp site. Poor Tom! He had to work in the rain to get us ready to go. We did get to walk to the wash house for the last time before we got into the van to leave. Geesh! But Tom was heard to say later, “Could have been a downpour this morning. That would have been worse.”
It was 42 degrees outside at about 6:15 am at Turning Stones, NY, and about 54 degrees inside. It was much warmer inside the sleeping bag. I had a hard time getting going this morning so we left a little later than we would have liked to leave. It was about 10:08am. There were small patches of blue in the sky that we could see as we started west on Rt 90. We were hoping that there would be more. The rain stopped completely about an hour into our trip.
It seems that the colors are starting to be coming to the middle of NY state. They are not vibrant yet, but they are visible in some spots. We enjoyed looking for those spots today.
Some milestone info:
11am - passed the 2500 miles for the trip
12:05pm - passed the 100 miles for today’s trip
About 12:30pm we stopped for lunch. We went into the trailer to make and eat lunch as we have done so many times before. Only this time it was 48 degrees in the trailer. We made our lunch and then took it back to the van to eat it while the sun was shining thru the front window and warming both us and the inside of the van. Nice.
On the final visit to the restrooms we saw a sign that told us that there was an information center for Niagara Falls at the next service area. We decided to stop to see what they had to say.
The woman at the information center was helpful with information about Niagara Falls and suggested taking a tour of either or both sides of the falls. When she talked of parking in the Niagara Falls Park area at $25 we sort of choked. She told us the cost of the tours, both the American side and the Canadian side. We sort of choked again. She told us that there was a tour company that made stops at our intended campground. So we had something to think about as we finished the drive to the campground.
We found the campground and the signs for tour information. We registered and went to find our site all the way in the back of the campground. Literally. Although there is barely space for one camper next to us the only thing farther back is the road around the campground and the tent area.
As we were going to check out the tour information at a place that would really know something about it, we were watching a small motor home (looks like an upgraded conversion van) was driving around the campground. I made some assumptions that it was to be our neighbor on the itty-bitty spot and was either trying to find it or was looking for another place. Both were true. The van stopped next to us and the driver was wondering way they were assigned all the way in the back with practically all of the rest of the campground unoccupied. I said that I thought that spaces were being assigned according to the size of equipment. We weren’t that large so we were assigned a space in the back shortened by the turn in the road. He asked about asking to have another space. We never thought of it. So he was going to ask. When we came out of the tour office we saw that they were in one of the front spaces. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the restrooms and showers are all the way in the front of the campground?
We decided to “bite the bullet” and take both the American and the Canadian tours. We take the 8:30am Canadian tour tomorrow morning. I keep thinking about how cold it will be that time of the morning. And we are going to go on a tour where the splashing of water is involved. We will take the tour of the American side on Sunday afternoon.
Talking about temperatures, at 8pm tonight it was 30 degrees outside by the mechanical thermometer on the awning post and 38 degrees on the electronic one with the sender in the hitching hardware of the trailer. I suspect the true temperature is somewhere in between. Now, at 9:30pm, Accuweather says the temperature outside is 35 degrees and the low for tonight is 37 degrees. I think something is off somewhere.
After dinner we packed the things we want to take with us tomorrow and decided what warm clothing we will need. The one good thing is that we can leave things on the tour bus while we are out seeing the attractions.
Off to bed to get some good sleep before we leave. We have the alarm set. We just have to hear it.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Oh, phooey! It’s raining. No it’s not!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Oh, phooey! It’s raining. No it’s not!
Awaking this morning we found that it was 50 degrees inside the trailer and 42 outside. But the heater changed the inside temp rather quickly.
A rush to the wash house with the hopes you had everything you needed and a dash back to the warmth. We left at 9:30 with the hopes that we would find better at the next place.
On the way to Verona, NY, we rode along a body of water that had two of the most interesting dams on it. The first one looked like a “bridge to nowhere.” But all of a sudden the bridge ended! It didn’t reach the bank on our side of the water. That was weird.
Then I saw another one of those “bridges.” I tried to take a picture of it but I don’t know how good it is taking it inside the van on a bumpy road. I noticed that on this “bridge” the water upstream of the “bridge” was higher than the downstream side. Approaching it from the downstream side it looked like a dam. In trying to find the name of the body of water we were traveling next to we decided that, as a “best guess,” the body of water was the Erie Canal and that what I saw were two “movable dams.” Tom found this picture and explanation on the WEB. Nice catch.
The light rain or drizzle kept going in and out as the sun kept going out and in during our drive.
We just kept going today with no geocaching. We had laundry to do.
Tom told me that our new campground was just off the NY Thruway. We found a casino just off the Thruway at our exit, too. The name of the campground is The Villages at Turning Stone. In small letters at the bottom of the sign is “Enterprise of Oneida Indian Nation.” And they DO know how to make a campground! There are spaces between campsites. Everything is well manicured outside. We saw men with leaf-blowers blowing the leaves off the roadway and grass into an out of sight place. It looks like someone took one of these leaf-blowers and cleared our site. There are a lot of trees around here but no leaves on the ground. You can see the perfect circles around the base of the tree where grass dare not grow.
After the last two campgrounds that we have been in I just know that you are waiting for me talk about the wash house. Everything is spic-and-span clean. There are enough supplies including towels and even boxes of Kleenex Tissues. All of the stalls are much wider than you find in any public place, and the shower stalls are wonderfully wide. There is more room in one of them than in my shower at home! Can’t wait until tomorrow morning.
The sun had finally come out to stay, but we had laundry to do. Off to the laundry room. We decided to use it even though one of the dryers was out of service. The four washers were okay but the dryers left a lot to be desired. It took a long time and a lot of money to get everything dried. We should have looked for a laundromat somewhere else.
Supper done, Tom did the dishes while I tried to put away the laundry. He said that it was like packing the trailer all over again. And he was right. I finally achieved some sense of order and was able to sit and do the nightly computer things.
After about a 182 mile ride tomorrow we will be in the area of Niagara Falls. We will have 4 nights there. I hope we can see everything we would like to see.
Oh, phooey! It’s raining. No it’s not!
Awaking this morning we found that it was 50 degrees inside the trailer and 42 outside. But the heater changed the inside temp rather quickly.
A rush to the wash house with the hopes you had everything you needed and a dash back to the warmth. We left at 9:30 with the hopes that we would find better at the next place.
On the way to Verona, NY, we rode along a body of water that had two of the most interesting dams on it. The first one looked like a “bridge to nowhere.” But all of a sudden the bridge ended! It didn’t reach the bank on our side of the water. That was weird.
Then I saw another one of those “bridges.” I tried to take a picture of it but I don’t know how good it is taking it inside the van on a bumpy road. I noticed that on this “bridge” the water upstream of the “bridge” was higher than the downstream side. Approaching it from the downstream side it looked like a dam. In trying to find the name of the body of water we were traveling next to we decided that, as a “best guess,” the body of water was the Erie Canal and that what I saw were two “movable dams.” Tom found this picture and explanation on the WEB. Nice catch.
The light rain or drizzle kept going in and out as the sun kept going out and in during our drive.
We just kept going today with no geocaching. We had laundry to do.
Tom told me that our new campground was just off the NY Thruway. We found a casino just off the Thruway at our exit, too. The name of the campground is The Villages at Turning Stone. In small letters at the bottom of the sign is “Enterprise of Oneida Indian Nation.” And they DO know how to make a campground! There are spaces between campsites. Everything is well manicured outside. We saw men with leaf-blowers blowing the leaves off the roadway and grass into an out of sight place. It looks like someone took one of these leaf-blowers and cleared our site. There are a lot of trees around here but no leaves on the ground. You can see the perfect circles around the base of the tree where grass dare not grow.
After the last two campgrounds that we have been in I just know that you are waiting for me talk about the wash house. Everything is spic-and-span clean. There are enough supplies including towels and even boxes of Kleenex Tissues. All of the stalls are much wider than you find in any public place, and the shower stalls are wonderfully wide. There is more room in one of them than in my shower at home! Can’t wait until tomorrow morning.
The sun had finally come out to stay, but we had laundry to do. Off to the laundry room. We decided to use it even though one of the dryers was out of service. The four washers were okay but the dryers left a lot to be desired. It took a long time and a lot of money to get everything dried. We should have looked for a laundromat somewhere else.
Supper done, Tom did the dishes while I tried to put away the laundry. He said that it was like packing the trailer all over again. And he was right. I finally achieved some sense of order and was able to sit and do the nightly computer things.
After about a 182 mile ride tomorrow we will be in the area of Niagara Falls. We will have 4 nights there. I hope we can see everything we would like to see.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Another Rainy Day
Wednesday, October10, 2012
“Another Rainy Day”
Happy Wedding Anniversary To US!!
I sit here looking at the card that Tom gave me this morning that celebrates the promises that we made to each other only 48 years ago. It was a great day and a great 48 years since that we have walked with God’s blessings. We plan to continue in that way.
Today started with 56 degrees inside and 51 degrees inside. It doesn’t take long for the great little heater in the trailer to bring the temp up to a reasonable living temp for us folks. Tom is so good about turning the heater on when he leaves for the wash house.
The wash house is another matter in this campground. It rates an 8 out of 10 in the Good Sam book, but we have other ideas. It was a big shock when I went to it yesterday and found that there was hot running water but no soap and no paper towels or hand drying devices. The building is a small square with four private rooms on each corner. I think that it is a cinder block construction covered with rough wooden panels on the outside and stone tiles on the floor and floor-to-ceiling stone tiles on the walls. There is no heat in the building. Lights are controlled on a timer that goes on when you open the door and stays on until the timer runs out. Two of the corners are equipped with toilet and sink. The other two corners are the shower rooms. Each has a shower, toilet and sink. The one has a chrome organizer hanging over the shower head, two hooks on the door and a reasonable space to put things on the vanity next to the sink. There is an electrical outlet. The other shower room has nothing to hold soap, shampoo or any other things that you bring into the shower with you. The room does not have any hooks on which to hang things. It does have a very large vanity counter to lay things and that is across the room from the shower. Each room has a half roll of toilet paper. Luckily this place closes down for the winter next week.
Waffles for breakfast!!! Yeah!. And waffle iron worked well this time. Guess we’ll keep it. :o)
Even though it was rainy we started out going north on Route 9 and 9N along Lake George. We drove through some beautiful scenic areas that we could see some colors. It would have been better if the sun were shining. We also drove the “town” of Lake George. It’s a quaint little place with lots of clothing outlets and tourist traps.
As we did yesterday, we stopped to do some geocaching. We were luckier yesterday than we were today. :o(
The rain had stopped for a while and was misting while we were searching for the cache today. It was at the entrance to a private beach area for the residents of Diamond Point in Lake George. No one was there :D so we entered the beach and walked down the sand to the pier. I took a few pictures there. Since it was misting with fog over the hillside and clouds in the air I’m not too sure how the pictures will turn out. I did take a picture of the sign at the end of the parking area just before you enter the gate to the beach. It says that it is a smoke free zone. The last line was supposed to say that there is no alcohol allowed on the beach. But the line was painted over in the same color as the background of the sign. However you can still see the words that were originally carved into the sign.
We rode north until almost the end of Lake George and then turned around to go back to camp. It’s hard to drive in the rain and on wet roads and we were getting the bone chills of the day. Back at camp it was soup for lunch and settling in for a nap.
When we awoke we took stock of what we could use on a moving day and decided that we needed to get some more water and fruit. So off we went in the direction that “The Man” wanted us to go to find Target. On the way we found a Walmart. Since we were getting familiar with the layout of the store we decided to shop there. We went in and out and back to camp to get dinner and wash dishes.
We had visions of times that we could spend at the picnic table eating lunch and maybe dinner, so we had moved the table under the awning and dressed it with a table cloth. In the evening yesterday we put our chairs at the table and covered the table and chairs with a tarp. Tonight we undid the tarp, emptied the rain water from it, folded it and put it away. We undressed the table and put the table cloths in the van. We moved the table from under the awning so it wouldn’t be in our way when we leave tomorrow. Then we went inside the trailer to chase the wet chills away.
The night is being spent as it usually is: I’m writing the blog, email and other things on the internet and Tom is getting ready for tomorrow’s trip, checking his email, posting the geocaches and doing Sudoku puzzles. We are looking forward to a night of restful sleep and a good travel day tomorrow. Talk to you tomorrow night from Verona, NY. We will be there to do laundry and move on again on Friday.
“Another Rainy Day”
Happy Wedding Anniversary To US!!
I sit here looking at the card that Tom gave me this morning that celebrates the promises that we made to each other only 48 years ago. It was a great day and a great 48 years since that we have walked with God’s blessings. We plan to continue in that way.
Today started with 56 degrees inside and 51 degrees inside. It doesn’t take long for the great little heater in the trailer to bring the temp up to a reasonable living temp for us folks. Tom is so good about turning the heater on when he leaves for the wash house.
The wash house is another matter in this campground. It rates an 8 out of 10 in the Good Sam book, but we have other ideas. It was a big shock when I went to it yesterday and found that there was hot running water but no soap and no paper towels or hand drying devices. The building is a small square with four private rooms on each corner. I think that it is a cinder block construction covered with rough wooden panels on the outside and stone tiles on the floor and floor-to-ceiling stone tiles on the walls. There is no heat in the building. Lights are controlled on a timer that goes on when you open the door and stays on until the timer runs out. Two of the corners are equipped with toilet and sink. The other two corners are the shower rooms. Each has a shower, toilet and sink. The one has a chrome organizer hanging over the shower head, two hooks on the door and a reasonable space to put things on the vanity next to the sink. There is an electrical outlet. The other shower room has nothing to hold soap, shampoo or any other things that you bring into the shower with you. The room does not have any hooks on which to hang things. It does have a very large vanity counter to lay things and that is across the room from the shower. Each room has a half roll of toilet paper. Luckily this place closes down for the winter next week.
Waffles for breakfast!!! Yeah!. And waffle iron worked well this time. Guess we’ll keep it. :o)
Even though it was rainy we started out going north on Route 9 and 9N along Lake George. We drove through some beautiful scenic areas that we could see some colors. It would have been better if the sun were shining. We also drove the “town” of Lake George. It’s a quaint little place with lots of clothing outlets and tourist traps.
As we did yesterday, we stopped to do some geocaching. We were luckier yesterday than we were today. :o(
The rain had stopped for a while and was misting while we were searching for the cache today. It was at the entrance to a private beach area for the residents of Diamond Point in Lake George. No one was there :D so we entered the beach and walked down the sand to the pier. I took a few pictures there. Since it was misting with fog over the hillside and clouds in the air I’m not too sure how the pictures will turn out. I did take a picture of the sign at the end of the parking area just before you enter the gate to the beach. It says that it is a smoke free zone. The last line was supposed to say that there is no alcohol allowed on the beach. But the line was painted over in the same color as the background of the sign. However you can still see the words that were originally carved into the sign.
We rode north until almost the end of Lake George and then turned around to go back to camp. It’s hard to drive in the rain and on wet roads and we were getting the bone chills of the day. Back at camp it was soup for lunch and settling in for a nap.
When we awoke we took stock of what we could use on a moving day and decided that we needed to get some more water and fruit. So off we went in the direction that “The Man” wanted us to go to find Target. On the way we found a Walmart. Since we were getting familiar with the layout of the store we decided to shop there. We went in and out and back to camp to get dinner and wash dishes.
We had visions of times that we could spend at the picnic table eating lunch and maybe dinner, so we had moved the table under the awning and dressed it with a table cloth. In the evening yesterday we put our chairs at the table and covered the table and chairs with a tarp. Tonight we undid the tarp, emptied the rain water from it, folded it and put it away. We undressed the table and put the table cloths in the van. We moved the table from under the awning so it wouldn’t be in our way when we leave tomorrow. Then we went inside the trailer to chase the wet chills away.
The night is being spent as it usually is: I’m writing the blog, email and other things on the internet and Tom is getting ready for tomorrow’s trip, checking his email, posting the geocaches and doing Sudoku puzzles. We are looking forward to a night of restful sleep and a good travel day tomorrow. Talk to you tomorrow night from Verona, NY. We will be there to do laundry and move on again on Friday.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Lake George, Here We Are
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Lake George, Here We Are
When we awoke this morning about 6am it was 44 degrees outside. I would say that that was a bit nippy. But it was 54 degrees inside, but we don’t notice it because we are so warm in our sleeping bags. But Tom turns the heater on so that it feels good to get dressed.
A little something to add about the cold, “wet” sleeping bags from yesterday: I believe that condition was my fault. We have always left the vents open in the trailer. There’s one in the lavatory and one in the main compartment of the trailer. I never understood why it was left open when it was so cold. I always thought that hot air rises and all the air that we heated would go right out the vent. So Tom closed that vent. The result was that we had too much hot moist air in a closed room so we had condensation on the walls. Tom opened the vent later in the day. We had no problem with condensation this morning and I slept well all night. I did have that extra blanket tucked between me and the wall though.
Considering we didn’t do any stowing last night and we didn’t hurry through breakfast, I think we did a good job of getting out on the road by 9:45! We went west on the Massachusetts Turnpike and north on an Interstate up the east side of New York to Lake George. It took about 2 ¾ hours driving time which doesn’t count restroom stops and map stops. We decided not to eat lunch at the last stop but to continue on through to the campground which “The Man” said was only 12 minutes away. It was. We didn’t do much about getting settled because the sun was shining on our picnic table and we wanted to eat in the sunlight. We have “eaten out” so seldom because of the weather that we didn’t want to miss this chance. Tom grilled pork chops for tonight’s dinner but we ate inside because it was getting colder and dark.
At 10:40 this morning we achieved the highest elevation on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was at 1724’. The views were wonderful.
A note about state maps: We try to make sure we get a state map of each of the states through which we travel. We learned that last year on our trip west. They tell you where you are, how far you have to go and where you are going to be next. But getting these maps is challenging. Now that the states have to tighten their belts they can’t afford to just continually supply them willy-nilly. But if you are persistent you can get one. In one of the states we couldn’t get one when we were entering the state but could when we were leaving. There was a tall stack of them on the desk. Go figure. As we entered NY today the first Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk with many ads for tourist attractions. No maps. The next Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk and no maps on the desk. But I continued to look and sure enough found them in a rack with two stacks about 12” high. Go figure. One of the states, I think it is Vermont, is selling advertising on the face of the map. There are various ways to pay for maps for tourists and residents.
At the western end of Massachusetts there was a noticeable change in the trees. There was a little more color in the hills and mountains. We might have been two weeks early but now we are only one week early.
One of the strangest things that we saw today was the overhead foot bridge that allowed the hikers to cross the road safely. The sign on the bridge read “Appalachian Trail.”
Our campsite is in the open if you look up, but we are surrounded by pine trees. There are long yellow pine needles everywhere. While we were eating lunch we decided that the staff must have “groomed” our campsite by raking or blowing the pine needles off of the stones that are where we were supposed to park. We may not have found the exact place to park if the pine needles were still there. A yellow jacket came almost immediately, stayed for a while and disappeared. Evidently it didn’t like what was on the menu.
Finally we just stopped site prep and trailer prep to sit in our chairs that we brought with us. You know the kind: they’re the aluminum tubing chairs that when you sit in them you can sort of recline. It felt so good to just sit outside and look at the sky and the clouds and the trees and drift off to sleep. Who cares if the temperature is 60 degrees.
Dinner was great, dishes are done and the log is being written. I have some things to do tonight and then to hop into bed early. I hope. We will still be here tomorrow night and then Thursday is another moving day and another laundry day, the last one. This is another reminder that our trip is gradually winding down.
Lake George, Here We Are
When we awoke this morning about 6am it was 44 degrees outside. I would say that that was a bit nippy. But it was 54 degrees inside, but we don’t notice it because we are so warm in our sleeping bags. But Tom turns the heater on so that it feels good to get dressed.
A little something to add about the cold, “wet” sleeping bags from yesterday: I believe that condition was my fault. We have always left the vents open in the trailer. There’s one in the lavatory and one in the main compartment of the trailer. I never understood why it was left open when it was so cold. I always thought that hot air rises and all the air that we heated would go right out the vent. So Tom closed that vent. The result was that we had too much hot moist air in a closed room so we had condensation on the walls. Tom opened the vent later in the day. We had no problem with condensation this morning and I slept well all night. I did have that extra blanket tucked between me and the wall though.
Considering we didn’t do any stowing last night and we didn’t hurry through breakfast, I think we did a good job of getting out on the road by 9:45! We went west on the Massachusetts Turnpike and north on an Interstate up the east side of New York to Lake George. It took about 2 ¾ hours driving time which doesn’t count restroom stops and map stops. We decided not to eat lunch at the last stop but to continue on through to the campground which “The Man” said was only 12 minutes away. It was. We didn’t do much about getting settled because the sun was shining on our picnic table and we wanted to eat in the sunlight. We have “eaten out” so seldom because of the weather that we didn’t want to miss this chance. Tom grilled pork chops for tonight’s dinner but we ate inside because it was getting colder and dark.
At 10:40 this morning we achieved the highest elevation on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was at 1724’. The views were wonderful.
A note about state maps: We try to make sure we get a state map of each of the states through which we travel. We learned that last year on our trip west. They tell you where you are, how far you have to go and where you are going to be next. But getting these maps is challenging. Now that the states have to tighten their belts they can’t afford to just continually supply them willy-nilly. But if you are persistent you can get one. In one of the states we couldn’t get one when we were entering the state but could when we were leaving. There was a tall stack of them on the desk. Go figure. As we entered NY today the first Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk with many ads for tourist attractions. No maps. The next Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk and no maps on the desk. But I continued to look and sure enough found them in a rack with two stacks about 12” high. Go figure. One of the states, I think it is Vermont, is selling advertising on the face of the map. There are various ways to pay for maps for tourists and residents.
At the western end of Massachusetts there was a noticeable change in the trees. There was a little more color in the hills and mountains. We might have been two weeks early but now we are only one week early.
One of the strangest things that we saw today was the overhead foot bridge that allowed the hikers to cross the road safely. The sign on the bridge read “Appalachian Trail.”
Our campsite is in the open if you look up, but we are surrounded by pine trees. There are long yellow pine needles everywhere. While we were eating lunch we decided that the staff must have “groomed” our campsite by raking or blowing the pine needles off of the stones that are where we were supposed to park. We may not have found the exact place to park if the pine needles were still there. A yellow jacket came almost immediately, stayed for a while and disappeared. Evidently it didn’t like what was on the menu.
Finally we just stopped site prep and trailer prep to sit in our chairs that we brought with us. You know the kind: they’re the aluminum tubing chairs that when you sit in them you can sort of recline. It felt so good to just sit outside and look at the sky and the clouds and the trees and drift off to sleep. Who cares if the temperature is 60 degrees.
Dinner was great, dishes are done and the log is being written. I have some things to do tonight and then to hop into bed early. I hope. We will still be here tomorrow night and then Thursday is another moving day and another laundry day, the last one. This is another reminder that our trip is gradually winding down.
Monday, October 8, 2012
And 286 miles later …
Monday, October 8, 2012
And 286 miles later …
Happy Birthday, Eleanor!
This morning was a cold, cold morning. I think Tom said that it was 48 degrees inside and 37 or so degrees outside. We both said that we were warm all night. I had gotten the extra blankets out. One went between me and the outside wall and the other lay at Tom’s feet ready to be pulled up in case he needed it. He didn’t need it.
I woke up about 6:20am just as Tom was going out the door. For whatever reason I felt the top edge of my sleeping bag and it felt a damp cold. I didn’t like the thought of a wet sleeping bag. I felt the wall. It, too, was cold as expected. But then my hand felt wet. I got the flashlight out and the wall shone back at me. It was wet. The cold outside and the warm inside had put some condensation on the wall. Oh, darn!
When I got out of bed I pulled the top of the sleeping bag toward the bottom of the bed so that it would be closer to the warmth of the room. If it was really wet it would dry sooner. It really felt/looked weird to see the sleeping bag all fluffed at the bottom of the bed. I’ve never left that bed like that. I had high hopes of what that bed would be like when we arrived home.
It was about 9am when we headed out toward Vermont. People were making preparations to leave. Gone was the party atmosphere of last night, although some of it was still there. One can party and work too.
All in all it was an interesting day. We found one cache in Vermont, decided not to try another one because of having to park on the side of a busy road to get it and couldn’t find the third.
We also found a mill next to one of the locations of The Vermont Country Store. They have two. This was not on our list of things too see or find but it was neat to be there. There were lots and lots of cars parked at The Vermont Country Store. People were sitting around outside in the temperature on the mid 50s. Some were having lunch. At the edge of the parking lot, which was filled to overflowing, was a small in length covered bridge call the Kissing Bridge. On the other side of the bridge was a “working” mill. At least the water was turning the wheel. The water fell onto stones and then ran down into a small pond. At the side of the mill one could see how the water was being brought to the wheel. Tom said that if you looked through the window a light went on and you could see the displays on the inside of the building. These included a model of an intact mill and some of the machinery and mill stones of the original mill.
I was too busy with some kind of fauna I found in the grass. It looked like a small, very small, lobster. It was not hurrying anywhere. It was greenish in color. It’s a wonder that I noticed it. I have some pictures; I hope they turn out okay.
We also saw the 18th century Rockingham Meeting House. It is now a historical site. The Meeting House was open so that we could go in. The first floor was completely divided into square boxes with aisles provided to get to the gates of the boxes. Wooden benches lined three sides of the boxes. Some of the boxes had name plates on them telling to which family that box belonged. There were even family boxes in the balcony. A sign in the narthex, or vestibule, said that Josiah White used to have a family box in that Meeting House. Then he sold it to someone else. The plaque also told how many descendents each head of each of those families had including living and dead descendents.
We decided it was time to start back to camp. “The Man” helped us find Interstate 91 in Vermont and we headed south. We were noticing that traffic was getting heavier and quickly realized that this was the other end of the Columbus Day holiday. We wondered if we would end up in a traffic jam like they had on the Massachusetts Turnpike on Friday night. The signs said that the right lane was going to end in 1.5 miles so people should merge left early. But by then cars were just packed on the road. We poked along for over a mile and then found that there was an accident in the left lane. So the left lane had to merge right and then, after the accident, the single file line of traffic could move left and through the construction zone. What a mess!
We arrived home at about 5:30, had dinner and were out on the road again for a bulb for the night light and gas. With all of our riding around today we passed 2000 miles for the entire trip.
Soon we will get to bed, after I put the covers back down again, and leave all the packing up for a move until tomorrow morning. Thankfully the sleeping bags dried during the day. Talk to you tomorrow night from Lake George, NY.
And 286 miles later …
Happy Birthday, Eleanor!
This morning was a cold, cold morning. I think Tom said that it was 48 degrees inside and 37 or so degrees outside. We both said that we were warm all night. I had gotten the extra blankets out. One went between me and the outside wall and the other lay at Tom’s feet ready to be pulled up in case he needed it. He didn’t need it.
I woke up about 6:20am just as Tom was going out the door. For whatever reason I felt the top edge of my sleeping bag and it felt a damp cold. I didn’t like the thought of a wet sleeping bag. I felt the wall. It, too, was cold as expected. But then my hand felt wet. I got the flashlight out and the wall shone back at me. It was wet. The cold outside and the warm inside had put some condensation on the wall. Oh, darn!
When I got out of bed I pulled the top of the sleeping bag toward the bottom of the bed so that it would be closer to the warmth of the room. If it was really wet it would dry sooner. It really felt/looked weird to see the sleeping bag all fluffed at the bottom of the bed. I’ve never left that bed like that. I had high hopes of what that bed would be like when we arrived home.
It was about 9am when we headed out toward Vermont. People were making preparations to leave. Gone was the party atmosphere of last night, although some of it was still there. One can party and work too.
All in all it was an interesting day. We found one cache in Vermont, decided not to try another one because of having to park on the side of a busy road to get it and couldn’t find the third.
We also found a mill next to one of the locations of The Vermont Country Store. They have two. This was not on our list of things too see or find but it was neat to be there. There were lots and lots of cars parked at The Vermont Country Store. People were sitting around outside in the temperature on the mid 50s. Some were having lunch. At the edge of the parking lot, which was filled to overflowing, was a small in length covered bridge call the Kissing Bridge. On the other side of the bridge was a “working” mill. At least the water was turning the wheel. The water fell onto stones and then ran down into a small pond. At the side of the mill one could see how the water was being brought to the wheel. Tom said that if you looked through the window a light went on and you could see the displays on the inside of the building. These included a model of an intact mill and some of the machinery and mill stones of the original mill.
I was too busy with some kind of fauna I found in the grass. It looked like a small, very small, lobster. It was not hurrying anywhere. It was greenish in color. It’s a wonder that I noticed it. I have some pictures; I hope they turn out okay.
We also saw the 18th century Rockingham Meeting House. It is now a historical site. The Meeting House was open so that we could go in. The first floor was completely divided into square boxes with aisles provided to get to the gates of the boxes. Wooden benches lined three sides of the boxes. Some of the boxes had name plates on them telling to which family that box belonged. There were even family boxes in the balcony. A sign in the narthex, or vestibule, said that Josiah White used to have a family box in that Meeting House. Then he sold it to someone else. The plaque also told how many descendents each head of each of those families had including living and dead descendents.
We decided it was time to start back to camp. “The Man” helped us find Interstate 91 in Vermont and we headed south. We were noticing that traffic was getting heavier and quickly realized that this was the other end of the Columbus Day holiday. We wondered if we would end up in a traffic jam like they had on the Massachusetts Turnpike on Friday night. The signs said that the right lane was going to end in 1.5 miles so people should merge left early. But by then cars were just packed on the road. We poked along for over a mile and then found that there was an accident in the left lane. So the left lane had to merge right and then, after the accident, the single file line of traffic could move left and through the construction zone. What a mess!
We arrived home at about 5:30, had dinner and were out on the road again for a bulb for the night light and gas. With all of our riding around today we passed 2000 miles for the entire trip.
Soon we will get to bed, after I put the covers back down again, and leave all the packing up for a move until tomorrow morning. Thankfully the sleeping bags dried during the day. Talk to you tomorrow night from Lake George, NY.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
A Quiet Sunday
Sunday, October 7, 2012
A Quiet Sunday
It was a little brisk when we awoke this morning and headed for the wash house. I would call 52 degrees inside the trailer (we don’t use the heater over night) and 42 degrees outside (we have no control over that!). We had a brisk walk to the wash house.
Today was a different kind of a Sunday for us. It started with breakfast in a small town, family run restaurant called Dominick’s. The food was nothing to rave about but it wasn’t bad. There were a good amount of customers. Even the water didn’t have that campground smell and taste to it. And the servers were pleasant. We left Dominick’s and walked to the corner store for a newspaper and then drove back to the campground instead of to church. Since we couldn’t get any information we just decided to come back to the campground.
Assuming that a lot of regular businesses would be open on the official Columbus Day, I had expected that a lot of the campers would have been gone because tomorrow was a work day. Wrong! Some had left or were preparing to leave but many had settled in to enjoy this brisk day around a campfire. Tom had mentioned that the “seasonal” campers here come for the community as much as the camping.
Tom settled down to devour the newspaper while I started to be unable to keep my eyes open. I soon decided to crawl into bed, so into the sleeping bag I went. I couldn’t get warm. That’s a sure sign of being over-tired for me. I did sleep but I still couldn’t get warm. I may need to put an extra blanket on the bed tonight.
After lunch we went looking for a cache in Connecticut. It was one for which we couldn’t stop when we had the trailer in tow. It was raining when we headed out but it soon stopped. I ventured a guess that we were headed in the correct direction. And we were. Tom found it rather easily. Now all we need is Vermont, which we will get tomorrow (we hope) and Rhode Island, which we have no hopes of getting this trip and we will have completed finding caches in New England. We’ll just have to come back.
The rain held off when we arrived at camp, so Tom grilled hot dogs for dinner tonight. After the dishes were finished it started to rain but didn’t last for long. Now we are settled in for logging the geocache find, picking up email, etc. Checking the weather forecast for the near future, the low tonight will be 35 degrees (where is that extra blanket?), and the high for tomorrow will be 57 degrees.
I think tonight will be an early bed time so that I will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow’s journey. Tom adds: Tomorrow we expect to explore part of the Connecticut River Byway as outlined in National Geographic’s “Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways.” This goes from the Mass. Border Northward along the Vermont and New Hampshire border. Of course we will enjoy the scenery, and also search for some caches.
A Quiet Sunday
It was a little brisk when we awoke this morning and headed for the wash house. I would call 52 degrees inside the trailer (we don’t use the heater over night) and 42 degrees outside (we have no control over that!). We had a brisk walk to the wash house.
Today was a different kind of a Sunday for us. It started with breakfast in a small town, family run restaurant called Dominick’s. The food was nothing to rave about but it wasn’t bad. There were a good amount of customers. Even the water didn’t have that campground smell and taste to it. And the servers were pleasant. We left Dominick’s and walked to the corner store for a newspaper and then drove back to the campground instead of to church. Since we couldn’t get any information we just decided to come back to the campground.
Assuming that a lot of regular businesses would be open on the official Columbus Day, I had expected that a lot of the campers would have been gone because tomorrow was a work day. Wrong! Some had left or were preparing to leave but many had settled in to enjoy this brisk day around a campfire. Tom had mentioned that the “seasonal” campers here come for the community as much as the camping.
Tom settled down to devour the newspaper while I started to be unable to keep my eyes open. I soon decided to crawl into bed, so into the sleeping bag I went. I couldn’t get warm. That’s a sure sign of being over-tired for me. I did sleep but I still couldn’t get warm. I may need to put an extra blanket on the bed tonight.
After lunch we went looking for a cache in Connecticut. It was one for which we couldn’t stop when we had the trailer in tow. It was raining when we headed out but it soon stopped. I ventured a guess that we were headed in the correct direction. And we were. Tom found it rather easily. Now all we need is Vermont, which we will get tomorrow (we hope) and Rhode Island, which we have no hopes of getting this trip and we will have completed finding caches in New England. We’ll just have to come back.
The rain held off when we arrived at camp, so Tom grilled hot dogs for dinner tonight. After the dishes were finished it started to rain but didn’t last for long. Now we are settled in for logging the geocache find, picking up email, etc. Checking the weather forecast for the near future, the low tonight will be 35 degrees (where is that extra blanket?), and the high for tomorrow will be 57 degrees.
I think tonight will be an early bed time so that I will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow’s journey. Tom adds: Tomorrow we expect to explore part of the Connecticut River Byway as outlined in National Geographic’s “Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways.” This goes from the Mass. Border Northward along the Vermont and New Hampshire border. Of course we will enjoy the scenery, and also search for some caches.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Golden Tree Tops
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Golden Tree Tops
Now this was a different kind of day! It is moving day and we have had moving days before. But this was the first time that we did not do a lot of the preparations the night before the move. Also, because of the nature of the land around the campground I wanted to wet Swiffer mop the floor before we left. I wanted as much of that “sand” out of the trailer as possible. I usually only sweep the floor with a broom. As a result of that and a few other things we did not leave the campground until about 9:45am which is late for us.
We arrived at Sunsetview Farm Camping Area in Monson, MA just before 3pm. Total traveling time was just under 3.75 hrs, plus 1.5 hour rest stop and lunch break, to go 241 miles.
This site is a “corner” site in a somewhat oval loop. The means that the opening to enter the site is somewhat narrow, it’s wider in the “middle” and is pointy in the back. And to beat all, the owners of this establishment made the “fire ring” so that it narrowed the opening to the site by about one-quarter. Tom backed the trailer into the middle of the opening and right on back to the sewer opening. After correcting for leveling we called it “good.” This, however, does not allow us to open our awning! We need approximately 7’ of space to open the awning and we have about 4’ at the back. Our awning is wet and should be dried out. I’m afraid it will get moldy until Tuesday when we move to Lake George, NY. Oh, yeah. The neighbor was taking advantage of an “empty” site to park his 3rd vehicle. Immediately, when a woman saw us she said that they would move the truck. And they ended up moving two of the trucks with the 2nd truck being moved opened up the width of the site a little bit more.
I worked on setting up the inside of the trailer until Tom had finished with the outside, and then we took off to find St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Thorndike (Palmer). We found it, and the grounds looked like the church is active. But when we checked the sign on the front lawn we found that the Rector is “Jesus Christ”, there is no Assistant Rector and no time or times were stated for worship. Not sure what we are going to do. But we did find a restaurant for breakfast.
Off we went to buy groceries and back to the campground. We were treated to one of the nicest displays that we have seen this fall. On the way home from the store the sun just looked as if it were sitting on the mountains and peeking in the cloud layer that was over us. This made the tops of the tallest trees look as if they were reflecting the sun’s golden ray. It was wonderful! We had an easy dinner and I continued to make sense out of the trailer. We sat down to eat at 7pm. What a stylish time for dinner! We were going to do dishes tonight but we are both so dog tired that we decided to do them tomorrow.
This is a holiday weekend and this place is jumpin’! Almost every site is occupied and the people are out talking to others and playing music. The campground owners have planned so many activities for all ages. But all we want to do is go to bed!
See you all tomorrow.
Golden Tree Tops
Now this was a different kind of day! It is moving day and we have had moving days before. But this was the first time that we did not do a lot of the preparations the night before the move. Also, because of the nature of the land around the campground I wanted to wet Swiffer mop the floor before we left. I wanted as much of that “sand” out of the trailer as possible. I usually only sweep the floor with a broom. As a result of that and a few other things we did not leave the campground until about 9:45am which is late for us.
We arrived at Sunsetview Farm Camping Area in Monson, MA just before 3pm. Total traveling time was just under 3.75 hrs, plus 1.5 hour rest stop and lunch break, to go 241 miles.
This site is a “corner” site in a somewhat oval loop. The means that the opening to enter the site is somewhat narrow, it’s wider in the “middle” and is pointy in the back. And to beat all, the owners of this establishment made the “fire ring” so that it narrowed the opening to the site by about one-quarter. Tom backed the trailer into the middle of the opening and right on back to the sewer opening. After correcting for leveling we called it “good.” This, however, does not allow us to open our awning! We need approximately 7’ of space to open the awning and we have about 4’ at the back. Our awning is wet and should be dried out. I’m afraid it will get moldy until Tuesday when we move to Lake George, NY. Oh, yeah. The neighbor was taking advantage of an “empty” site to park his 3rd vehicle. Immediately, when a woman saw us she said that they would move the truck. And they ended up moving two of the trucks with the 2nd truck being moved opened up the width of the site a little bit more.
I worked on setting up the inside of the trailer until Tom had finished with the outside, and then we took off to find St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Thorndike (Palmer). We found it, and the grounds looked like the church is active. But when we checked the sign on the front lawn we found that the Rector is “Jesus Christ”, there is no Assistant Rector and no time or times were stated for worship. Not sure what we are going to do. But we did find a restaurant for breakfast.
Off we went to buy groceries and back to the campground. We were treated to one of the nicest displays that we have seen this fall. On the way home from the store the sun just looked as if it were sitting on the mountains and peeking in the cloud layer that was over us. This made the tops of the tallest trees look as if they were reflecting the sun’s golden ray. It was wonderful! We had an easy dinner and I continued to make sense out of the trailer. We sat down to eat at 7pm. What a stylish time for dinner! We were going to do dishes tonight but we are both so dog tired that we decided to do them tomorrow.
This is a holiday weekend and this place is jumpin’! Almost every site is occupied and the people are out talking to others and playing music. The campground owners have planned so many activities for all ages. But all we want to do is go to bed!
See you all tomorrow.
Friday, October 5, 2012
We Climbed Mt. Washington!
Friday, October 5, 2012
We Climbed Mt. Washington!
The weather didn’t look promising when we woke up this
morning. The weatherman had higher hopes than what was visible even when we
left the campground this morning. We were headed for the Kancamagus Highway in
New Hampshire.
Thank you, Vera, for telling us about this drive. It was a
beautiful drive. And, yes, it did remind us of the Loyalsock in Sullivan
County, PA, and we can see why the Loyalsock reminded you of the Kanc. The
water of the Swift River along the part of the Kancamagus Highway at one of the
places that we stopped flowed over rocks which water had made smooth after
many, many years. I think I have a “love affair” going on with these rocks.
Large or small, they have a character all their own. Even the ones that are put
on the countryside to control erosion were an art form themselves.
The trees along the Kanc were an explosion of color, albeit
some of the trees have lost their leaves already. There were some reds and
oranges but not as much as the yellows and browns. Some trees are already bare.
There were some leaves falling as we drove along. Winter is coming, although
the 65 degrees to 73 degrees temperatures wouldn’t tell you that today.
We drove the 34.5 miles highway in one direction, stopping at several overlooks, and even finding two geocaches, and then
started back over the highway in the other direction. It looked very different.
We could have stopped at every scenic overlook. But we discussed what we would
like to do next and decided a look at Mt. Washington was the next priority and
the cog railroad if we had time. So we started to hurry to get to the Mt. Washington
Auto Road. We could have driven up the road to the summit of Mt. Washington or
we could have taken the guided tour. Well, maybe we could have driven. They
monitor the vehicles that are going in. One of the requirements is that the
wheel base of the vehicle is no more than a certain length because of the
curves in the road. Tom couldn’t find the information about the wheel base of
the van but he paced it off and figured that the van wouldn’t meet the
standard.
The other choice was the guided tour and it was the best
choice by far. We were in time to get tickets and the van to which we were
assigned left in about 10 minutes. The driver gave information about the rocks,
trees, names of the mountains and ravines and other assorted information as
well as taking questions. There is no way that Tom or I would like to drive up
that road or drive back down. Did I mention that there is no guide rail?
We watched the vegetation on the mountain change with the
different heights of the mountain because of temperature and water. At the very
top there was practically no vegetation. We saw the cairns that marked the
hiker’s trails up and down the mountain including the Appalachian Trail.
Then we were at the top! We had climbed Mt. Washington, in a
way, and we have our pictures with the summit sign to prove it. Sorry. I just
had to say that with no disrespect to Lois, Tom’s sister, who not only climbed
Mt. Washington the right way but also trekked the entire Appalachian Trail from
beginning to end. Congratulations Lois!
We had about a half hour to look around before the van would
take us back down. I wanted to stand at the sign at the top of Mt. Washington.
Little did I know that there was not a smooth path to that sign but, indeed,
one needs to climb the last 15’ to 20’ to the top. These are not the smooth
stones and rocks that were worn down by the passage of water over time. These
rocks were left here by the glacier when it came south and then melted. But
with Tom’s help and some people along the way I made it to the top and Tom went
on his own steam. Each small group helps another group by taking pictures of
the entire group so that everyone would be in the picture. It was windy and
cold but not as cold as I thought that it would be. Some people didn’t bring
anything along to keep themselves warm and were walking around in shorts and
short-sleeved shirts.
The half hour went fast and soon we were in the van headed
down. The views were spectacular. It was a trip well worth taking.
Once at the bottom we started for the campground with a stop
for gas. Tomorrow is moving day, back to Massachusetts, and we want to have
enough gas to make the 200 miles without stopping for gas.
It was dark by the time we got to the campground. We had
dinner, did some prep work for moving and then started the computer work. We
would like to get to bed early tonight but I don’t know if it will happen.
Off to Monson, MA, the same place we were last week. We just
didn’t want to be on the road on a Sunday. Since this is a holiday weekend we
stayed another day. Talk to you tomorrow from Monson.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
One of Two Goals Met
Thursday, October 4, 2012
One of Two Goals Met
I was beginning to think that the only kind of weather this place knows is wet whether; it is raining or recovering from a real rain that makes puddles. We had just the barest of sprinkles this morning when we awoke. We thought that the rain would stop. But, not on your life. It got worse. But we went about our business any way.
Today was the day that we were going to Freeport. It was a good day for it; you didn’t want to be outside. Might as well go inside and spend your money. The only thing we knew about Freeport was that the flagship store for L. L. Bean is there and so is the Desert of Maine.
We decided to go to L. L. Bean’s first. Since we didn’t have an address for L. L. Bean and “the man” in the navigator didn’t seem to know anything about the main store being in Freeport we decided to just go to Freeport and we were sure there would be signs to the store.
So we followed “the man’s” instructions until there was a detour. He was not too happy when we had to turn onto a road other than the one that he wanted. Finally we listened to him and he took us to Freeport. But there were no signs to L. L. Bean. So we turned left and went a couple of miles down the road. We didn’t see anything that looked like an L. L. Bean store so we stopped and asked the navigator where the store was. It told us that the nearest L. L. Bean we 87 miles away. We turned around and went back to where we entered the road through town. Within two blocks we saw a sign to L. L. Bean’s Parking so we took that road along a very long building. We found out that that building was, indeed, the store for which we were looking.
The first part of the store was for hunting and fishing items. We went around the building, past a café and saw a huge boot. It is another one of L. L. Bean’s trademarks. That boot was in front of the main store. We went inside and were surprised how big it was. Then I remembered that someone told us that everything in L. L. Bean’s catalog is in the store. It was fun just to mosey around in the store.
While looking around the men’s department we found a display of moose with antlers locked in mortal combat. They did not survive because they could not get unlocked. They finally died of starvation. Someone found the antlers still locked and donated them to Maine’s Wildlife agency to use for educational purposes. They partnered with L. L. Bean to have them mounted. There were a series of signs that explained the process of formulating the size of the moose, detailing the inner structure and then putting the hide on the forms. The explanation made me enjoy what I was seeing all the more.
At 1pm we went to the van to get something to eat and then we traveled back to a different L. L. Bean store to look for some sheets. All of the things for the home were in this store. After making up my mind about what I wanted I couldn’t find several of the items that I wanted. But that was okay because what I wanted could be ordered with the same discount that was being offered at the store . . . if you remembered to ask for it.
We came out of there and looked past L. L. Bean’s Bike, Boat and Ski to a couple of blocks filled with outlets for almost every kind of store imaginable. On the other side of the street starts an area called Freeport something-or-another with so many more outlets including an L. L. Bean Outlet. I was told to go there to look for socks.
It was just an amazing place and an amazing experience. Poor Tom. He is not a shopper to begin with and he had to stand and sit through this whole day of shopping. There was no time for the Desert of Maine but we weren’t sure that we were going to go there anyway.
We headed back to the campground with the same experience with “the man” when we made the detour. It was after 5:00 by the time we arrived back at camp. After a little organizing to make some space to move we worked on dinner and then did the dishes.
We really didn’t feel like it but they needed to be done tonight. We will be going to New Hampshire tomorrow and expect to be out all day again. We will be going into New Hampshire to ride the Kancamagus Highway and visit The Cog on Mt. Washington with the possibility of riding The Cog to the summit. It will be another long day but we know it and are looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to be better than we have had in the past three days. Then the next day, Saturday, will be moving day.
I hope you all have some really great weather to enjoy the Fall.
One of Two Goals Met
I was beginning to think that the only kind of weather this place knows is wet whether; it is raining or recovering from a real rain that makes puddles. We had just the barest of sprinkles this morning when we awoke. We thought that the rain would stop. But, not on your life. It got worse. But we went about our business any way.
Today was the day that we were going to Freeport. It was a good day for it; you didn’t want to be outside. Might as well go inside and spend your money. The only thing we knew about Freeport was that the flagship store for L. L. Bean is there and so is the Desert of Maine.
We decided to go to L. L. Bean’s first. Since we didn’t have an address for L. L. Bean and “the man” in the navigator didn’t seem to know anything about the main store being in Freeport we decided to just go to Freeport and we were sure there would be signs to the store.
So we followed “the man’s” instructions until there was a detour. He was not too happy when we had to turn onto a road other than the one that he wanted. Finally we listened to him and he took us to Freeport. But there were no signs to L. L. Bean. So we turned left and went a couple of miles down the road. We didn’t see anything that looked like an L. L. Bean store so we stopped and asked the navigator where the store was. It told us that the nearest L. L. Bean we 87 miles away. We turned around and went back to where we entered the road through town. Within two blocks we saw a sign to L. L. Bean’s Parking so we took that road along a very long building. We found out that that building was, indeed, the store for which we were looking.
The first part of the store was for hunting and fishing items. We went around the building, past a café and saw a huge boot. It is another one of L. L. Bean’s trademarks. That boot was in front of the main store. We went inside and were surprised how big it was. Then I remembered that someone told us that everything in L. L. Bean’s catalog is in the store. It was fun just to mosey around in the store.
While looking around the men’s department we found a display of moose with antlers locked in mortal combat. They did not survive because they could not get unlocked. They finally died of starvation. Someone found the antlers still locked and donated them to Maine’s Wildlife agency to use for educational purposes. They partnered with L. L. Bean to have them mounted. There were a series of signs that explained the process of formulating the size of the moose, detailing the inner structure and then putting the hide on the forms. The explanation made me enjoy what I was seeing all the more.
At 1pm we went to the van to get something to eat and then we traveled back to a different L. L. Bean store to look for some sheets. All of the things for the home were in this store. After making up my mind about what I wanted I couldn’t find several of the items that I wanted. But that was okay because what I wanted could be ordered with the same discount that was being offered at the store . . . if you remembered to ask for it.
We came out of there and looked past L. L. Bean’s Bike, Boat and Ski to a couple of blocks filled with outlets for almost every kind of store imaginable. On the other side of the street starts an area called Freeport something-or-another with so many more outlets including an L. L. Bean Outlet. I was told to go there to look for socks.
It was just an amazing place and an amazing experience. Poor Tom. He is not a shopper to begin with and he had to stand and sit through this whole day of shopping. There was no time for the Desert of Maine but we weren’t sure that we were going to go there anyway.
We headed back to the campground with the same experience with “the man” when we made the detour. It was after 5:00 by the time we arrived back at camp. After a little organizing to make some space to move we worked on dinner and then did the dishes.
We really didn’t feel like it but they needed to be done tonight. We will be going to New Hampshire tomorrow and expect to be out all day again. We will be going into New Hampshire to ride the Kancamagus Highway and visit The Cog on Mt. Washington with the possibility of riding The Cog to the summit. It will be another long day but we know it and are looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to be better than we have had in the past three days. Then the next day, Saturday, will be moving day.
I hope you all have some really great weather to enjoy the Fall.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I Shot a Moose!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I Shot a Moose!
I felt good this morning, as I slept all night through and I awakened before 6am. But I could have really gone back to sleep. I dozed until Tom left for the wash house and then got out of bed working my way down the mattress as I “made the bed” as I went. I’ve become rather good at the maneuver. I’m just glad that no one was watching me.
Off to the wash house, back to get dressed, breakfasted and out for the day. There were showers in the weather forecast but we had high hopes of having a good day of seeing the colors in the western mountains of Maine anyway. We were on our way by 8:30.
Following some not-so-clear directions from the woman in the office of how to get to Lewiston, we started our “scenic tour” as suggested in a book that was on the AARP website. The sprinkles kept coming and we kept going. All of a sudden it was a beautiful day again.
We found 3 caches along the way in the showers. We had no problem walking around finding the caches and didn’t really get damp. We have another one to find if we want to go after it. Tomorrow is supposed to be another day like this one so we’re not so sure.
One of the things that we had trouble finding was a place to take care of the “call of nature.” There was actually no place along the highway that either of us could use. We saw a sign for an outhouse and pulled into what seemed to be a small park. We found the “CLOSED” sign on the outhouse but found a wonderful little stopping place with a nice little creek and waterfall and the resulting white water as it cascaded through the rocks. This was Coos Canyon in or near the town of Byron. We have some wonderful pictures that we will have to share. Tom says that he will have to download GIMP, a free photo editing program so he can deal with the pictures immediately and post them with the blog. So until we get home you will just have to wait to see the pictures. Sorry. It was just a nice little falls.
Still on Rt. 17, at the site of one of the caches was a magnificent scenic overlook called “Height of Land.” It was created in 2011 so it was very new. The Appalachian Trail crossed the overlook at one end. There was a bus there that had passengers on a fall color tour. Some of the passengers were looking for the trail both over and down the mountain and up the mountain. When they couldn’t see it they were getting very frustrated. They were even taking pictures of the sign that announced the presence of the trail. At that point I didn’t know where it crossed so I was of no help. Don’t know if they found anyone who knew where it was.
The overlook was high in the mountains with views of many mountains in the distance. We could see the Mooselookmeguntic and Rangeley Lakes. Of course we took many pictures, which you will get to see later. But we still didn’t find the thing that we really needed at that point.
At Oquossoc we picked up Rt 4 again as we turned east and then south. This is the farthest north that we have ever been in Maine. We turned our faces toward “home”. About noon the sun came out full blast. It was a wonderful sight. Everything looked brighter. The temperature came to be 69 degrees at one point this afternoon.
As we were traveling south and down the mountain and being followed too closely by a rental truck we saw a sign for a rest area. But how to stop safely with a vehicle that close was a problem. But Tom did it and we went in seeking that which was oh, so necessary. And there they were, two little cinderblock buildings. Each was rather fragrant after a season of use but each stood ready to serve. Ahhhh! Such relief.
We traveled on south down the road. The one thing I wanted to see this trip was a moose. We heard a story about a moose coming to visit some diners at the lobster pound at which we ate, but he did not do it again for us. And as many times that we were warned by signs along the way that there was high moose traffic for the next x miles, we did not see any moose. Now I was saying that I would be happy to just get a picture of a sign that had the moose on it. We missed one and then there it was my sign, moose and all. And the warning was different this time. Also it came in plenty of time to stop and was at a spot where Tom could safely stop the van. I got out of the van and shot, with the camera, a moose.
We stopped to eat at a restaurant about mid afternoon. No cooking tonight for supper. We bought what we needed in the way of groceries. Now we were really ready to get “home.”
Because of work traffic and traffic signals, we arrived in the campground just before 5:30. Tom set a waypoint on the navigator so we allowed “the man” to tell us how to go. He got us here safely and correctly. He even chose a shorter route than following Rt 4. And it worked!
We were really tired when we arrived at the campground. But there was evidence that it had rained here, and possibly, rained hard. There was a puddle at the one end of our pull-through camp site (meaning that you don’t have to back the trailer out of the site) about the size of Lake Mooselookmeguntic. No! That’s not true but it is rather large. It is about as long as our camp site is wide and both covers the road and a considerable distance into our site. Tom chose to park the van on the other side of the trailer. geesh!
We had a quiet evening except for getting some nectarine stains on my top. Another geesh! I have some Oxi-clean spray for stain removal which seems to be doing well. We shall see tomorrow.
Tomorrow we expect to go to Freeport, where we will visit the LL Bean flagship store and possibly go to the Desert of Maine or see some of the shore.
Some statistics:
We hit the 1000 miles from home mark yesterday.
We hit the 1200 miles from home mark today.
We traveled more miles today than we did yesterday.
We found three geocaches today.
I Shot a Moose!
I felt good this morning, as I slept all night through and I awakened before 6am. But I could have really gone back to sleep. I dozed until Tom left for the wash house and then got out of bed working my way down the mattress as I “made the bed” as I went. I’ve become rather good at the maneuver. I’m just glad that no one was watching me.
Off to the wash house, back to get dressed, breakfasted and out for the day. There were showers in the weather forecast but we had high hopes of having a good day of seeing the colors in the western mountains of Maine anyway. We were on our way by 8:30.
Following some not-so-clear directions from the woman in the office of how to get to Lewiston, we started our “scenic tour” as suggested in a book that was on the AARP website. The sprinkles kept coming and we kept going. All of a sudden it was a beautiful day again.
We found 3 caches along the way in the showers. We had no problem walking around finding the caches and didn’t really get damp. We have another one to find if we want to go after it. Tomorrow is supposed to be another day like this one so we’re not so sure.
One of the things that we had trouble finding was a place to take care of the “call of nature.” There was actually no place along the highway that either of us could use. We saw a sign for an outhouse and pulled into what seemed to be a small park. We found the “CLOSED” sign on the outhouse but found a wonderful little stopping place with a nice little creek and waterfall and the resulting white water as it cascaded through the rocks. This was Coos Canyon in or near the town of Byron. We have some wonderful pictures that we will have to share. Tom says that he will have to download GIMP, a free photo editing program so he can deal with the pictures immediately and post them with the blog. So until we get home you will just have to wait to see the pictures. Sorry. It was just a nice little falls.
Still on Rt. 17, at the site of one of the caches was a magnificent scenic overlook called “Height of Land.” It was created in 2011 so it was very new. The Appalachian Trail crossed the overlook at one end. There was a bus there that had passengers on a fall color tour. Some of the passengers were looking for the trail both over and down the mountain and up the mountain. When they couldn’t see it they were getting very frustrated. They were even taking pictures of the sign that announced the presence of the trail. At that point I didn’t know where it crossed so I was of no help. Don’t know if they found anyone who knew where it was.
The overlook was high in the mountains with views of many mountains in the distance. We could see the Mooselookmeguntic and Rangeley Lakes. Of course we took many pictures, which you will get to see later. But we still didn’t find the thing that we really needed at that point.
At Oquossoc we picked up Rt 4 again as we turned east and then south. This is the farthest north that we have ever been in Maine. We turned our faces toward “home”. About noon the sun came out full blast. It was a wonderful sight. Everything looked brighter. The temperature came to be 69 degrees at one point this afternoon.
As we were traveling south and down the mountain and being followed too closely by a rental truck we saw a sign for a rest area. But how to stop safely with a vehicle that close was a problem. But Tom did it and we went in seeking that which was oh, so necessary. And there they were, two little cinderblock buildings. Each was rather fragrant after a season of use but each stood ready to serve. Ahhhh! Such relief.
We traveled on south down the road. The one thing I wanted to see this trip was a moose. We heard a story about a moose coming to visit some diners at the lobster pound at which we ate, but he did not do it again for us. And as many times that we were warned by signs along the way that there was high moose traffic for the next x miles, we did not see any moose. Now I was saying that I would be happy to just get a picture of a sign that had the moose on it. We missed one and then there it was my sign, moose and all. And the warning was different this time. Also it came in plenty of time to stop and was at a spot where Tom could safely stop the van. I got out of the van and shot, with the camera, a moose.
We stopped to eat at a restaurant about mid afternoon. No cooking tonight for supper. We bought what we needed in the way of groceries. Now we were really ready to get “home.”
Because of work traffic and traffic signals, we arrived in the campground just before 5:30. Tom set a waypoint on the navigator so we allowed “the man” to tell us how to go. He got us here safely and correctly. He even chose a shorter route than following Rt 4. And it worked!
We were really tired when we arrived at the campground. But there was evidence that it had rained here, and possibly, rained hard. There was a puddle at the one end of our pull-through camp site (meaning that you don’t have to back the trailer out of the site) about the size of Lake Mooselookmeguntic. No! That’s not true but it is rather large. It is about as long as our camp site is wide and both covers the road and a considerable distance into our site. Tom chose to park the van on the other side of the trailer. geesh!
We had a quiet evening except for getting some nectarine stains on my top. Another geesh! I have some Oxi-clean spray for stain removal which seems to be doing well. We shall see tomorrow.
Tomorrow we expect to go to Freeport, where we will visit the LL Bean flagship store and possibly go to the Desert of Maine or see some of the shore.
Some statistics:
We hit the 1000 miles from home mark yesterday.
We hit the 1200 miles from home mark today.
We traveled more miles today than we did yesterday.
We found three geocaches today.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Happy Birthday, Adrienne!
October 2, 2012
Happy Birthday, Adrienne!
We love you!
Greetings to you from Range Pond Campground, Poland, ME. We were on the road by about 9:30 this morning. It had promised to be a gorgeous day in Trenton, ME, but we had to move on.
We arrived at about 1:00 this afternoon. Tom wasn’t sure he was going to like it here, and as I sat in the van waiting for him I thought I would like it here. I think we have settled on something in the middle. The campground is flat. I’m used to the rolling hills of Pennsylvania State Parks. It had rained recently as evidenced by the puddles in the ruts in the roads. I thought the ground was sandy and maybe it is. But mixed in with that sand is something that reminds me of clam shells that were ground fine. They are shiny iridescent flecks that stick to everything. Although there is a plastic, grass-like mat on the ground on which we wipe our feet, a piece of outdoor carpet on the step into the trailer on which we wipe our feet for the second time and an old bath mat just inside the door on which we wipe our feet for the third time there are still these iridescent flecks on the floor of the trail all the way from the door to the vanity and on the carpet under the table. I have swept this floor 3 times in the 6 hours that we have been here. My mother would have said, “This, too, shall pass”; my friend would say, “I can do anything for 3 more days.” We will be moving on on Saturday.
We came planning that we would do laundry after we arrived. We didn’t count on the toll that it would take on us doing after breaking camp and driving/riding for even such a relatively short distance. It took us as long to drive here as it did to do the laundry. There were four washers (one of which didn’t fill the washer with water for the rinse cycle) and three dryers (one of which didn’t get hot) and all seven were not in the greatest of shape. We worked with them as well as we could and then called it quits.
But we are here and plan to be busy in exploring Maine, and geocaching, so that we will not be in camp much more than to sleep.
Organizing the trailer was done in fits and starts. I needed to get some of it done in order to have the space to sort the laundry. After the laundry was done and brought back to the trailer I needed to create a different kind of space to be able to put the laundry away. It was finally finished, or as finished as it is going to get tonight. Tomorrow is time enough.
What we have in mind for the next three days is a trip in the western mountains of ME which starts close to here; the Kancamagus Highway and Mt Washington with its cog railway both in New Hampshire; and Freeport, ME with L.L.Bean and the Desert of Maine. Freeport is near the coast so we might go looking for the water again. Friday seems to be the nicest day according to the weather report so we will probably go into New Hampshire on Friday. Otherwise, everything is “up for grabs.”
It’s not too late but we are tired and will soon be going to bed. Hope you all have a good night and a great day!
Happy Birthday, Adrienne!
We love you!
Greetings to you from Range Pond Campground, Poland, ME. We were on the road by about 9:30 this morning. It had promised to be a gorgeous day in Trenton, ME, but we had to move on.
We arrived at about 1:00 this afternoon. Tom wasn’t sure he was going to like it here, and as I sat in the van waiting for him I thought I would like it here. I think we have settled on something in the middle. The campground is flat. I’m used to the rolling hills of Pennsylvania State Parks. It had rained recently as evidenced by the puddles in the ruts in the roads. I thought the ground was sandy and maybe it is. But mixed in with that sand is something that reminds me of clam shells that were ground fine. They are shiny iridescent flecks that stick to everything. Although there is a plastic, grass-like mat on the ground on which we wipe our feet, a piece of outdoor carpet on the step into the trailer on which we wipe our feet for the second time and an old bath mat just inside the door on which we wipe our feet for the third time there are still these iridescent flecks on the floor of the trail all the way from the door to the vanity and on the carpet under the table. I have swept this floor 3 times in the 6 hours that we have been here. My mother would have said, “This, too, shall pass”; my friend would say, “I can do anything for 3 more days.” We will be moving on on Saturday.
We came planning that we would do laundry after we arrived. We didn’t count on the toll that it would take on us doing after breaking camp and driving/riding for even such a relatively short distance. It took us as long to drive here as it did to do the laundry. There were four washers (one of which didn’t fill the washer with water for the rinse cycle) and three dryers (one of which didn’t get hot) and all seven were not in the greatest of shape. We worked with them as well as we could and then called it quits.
But we are here and plan to be busy in exploring Maine, and geocaching, so that we will not be in camp much more than to sleep.
Organizing the trailer was done in fits and starts. I needed to get some of it done in order to have the space to sort the laundry. After the laundry was done and brought back to the trailer I needed to create a different kind of space to be able to put the laundry away. It was finally finished, or as finished as it is going to get tonight. Tomorrow is time enough.
What we have in mind for the next three days is a trip in the western mountains of ME which starts close to here; the Kancamagus Highway and Mt Washington with its cog railway both in New Hampshire; and Freeport, ME with L.L.Bean and the Desert of Maine. Freeport is near the coast so we might go looking for the water again. Friday seems to be the nicest day according to the weather report so we will probably go into New Hampshire on Friday. Otherwise, everything is “up for grabs.”
It’s not too late but we are tired and will soon be going to bed. Hope you all have a good night and a great day!
Monday, October 1, 2012
What’s That Bright Ball in the Sky?
Monday, October 1, 2012
What’s That Bright Ball in the Sky?
It wasn’t raining this morning when we got up but wasn’t promising to be a nice day. We did rejoice at some sun shining at one point but it soon disappeared. It was damp and windy.
We decided that we wanted to see the Penobscot Narrows Observatory and that we would just go, rain or no rain. So we had our empty propane tank refilled, took it back to the site, and then headed for the Observatory and Fort Knox Historical Site rain or no rain, mist or no mist.
It was well worth the trip. The bridge is a thing of beauty. I hope the pictures turn out well. The ones taken from the van were taken through rain spotted windows so I’m not too sure about them. Tom was doing most of the picture taking so I’m not sure what views were captured. I can’t wait to see them.
There was a sign there with information about the structure of the bridge. I think that the cables were made of 1/5” diameter material. Seven of these were twisted together and then coated. I’ve forgotten most of the details but the “WOW factor” remains.
An interesting side highlight was that we had to cross the Penobscot Narrows Bridge to get to the Observatory. The old bridge was right next to the new one. The new bridge is much higher than the old one and I could look down on it from the shotgun side of the van. Looking down I saw a huge nest that was built on the cables of the old bridge. I estimate that it could easily have been 30” in diameter and 20”-24” high. There was quite a bit of nest building debris on the floor of the bridge. The indentation on the nest had enough room for a very large bird and a few chicks. When we were asked if we had any questions I had forgotten about the nest. Darn!
Then we headed off to Fort Knox. The weather was still misting so we were careful walking on the wet granite. It was amazing to find out how this fort was built to protect the territory from an attack by the British who wanted, among other things, the vast forests to make masts for their fighting ships. Most of the fort was made of granite. A few of the casements had the canons placed by the window to show how the canon was shot. After the canon was ready to be shot (with a 100 lb ball loaded) it was rolled toward the narrow square window. It was aimed by the Gunner and when he gave the signal another soldier pulled the string that started the process of the canon actually firing. As the canon recoiled back along the rail the shutter banged closed. We saw more of the fort including some shadows made by the sun and the sides of the fort. But soon we had to return to the campground.
After lunch the weather turned really nice so we went geocaching. We got 4 out of 4. The two more interesting ones was a fake bird house hung at the windows of the Acadia Welcome Center and a mailbox supposedly belonging to G. O. Kash.
Then it was time to buy food for the van (gas) and water and milk for us.
When we finally got back to our site we started dinner (grilling for the first time since we started our trip) and organizing for a travel day tomorrow. So we will be moving tomorrow so that we can get on the road. At least I want to get to our new “home away from home” as early as possible because tomorrow is also laundry day.
Dinner and dishes done we are ready to settle down to enjoy the night and be rested for tomorrow’s adventure. The weather is supposed to be nice and we are looking forward to a good day for traveling.
What’s That Bright Ball in the Sky?
It wasn’t raining this morning when we got up but wasn’t promising to be a nice day. We did rejoice at some sun shining at one point but it soon disappeared. It was damp and windy.
We decided that we wanted to see the Penobscot Narrows Observatory and that we would just go, rain or no rain. So we had our empty propane tank refilled, took it back to the site, and then headed for the Observatory and Fort Knox Historical Site rain or no rain, mist or no mist.
It was well worth the trip. The bridge is a thing of beauty. I hope the pictures turn out well. The ones taken from the van were taken through rain spotted windows so I’m not too sure about them. Tom was doing most of the picture taking so I’m not sure what views were captured. I can’t wait to see them.
There was a sign there with information about the structure of the bridge. I think that the cables were made of 1/5” diameter material. Seven of these were twisted together and then coated. I’ve forgotten most of the details but the “WOW factor” remains.
An interesting side highlight was that we had to cross the Penobscot Narrows Bridge to get to the Observatory. The old bridge was right next to the new one. The new bridge is much higher than the old one and I could look down on it from the shotgun side of the van. Looking down I saw a huge nest that was built on the cables of the old bridge. I estimate that it could easily have been 30” in diameter and 20”-24” high. There was quite a bit of nest building debris on the floor of the bridge. The indentation on the nest had enough room for a very large bird and a few chicks. When we were asked if we had any questions I had forgotten about the nest. Darn!
Then we headed off to Fort Knox. The weather was still misting so we were careful walking on the wet granite. It was amazing to find out how this fort was built to protect the territory from an attack by the British who wanted, among other things, the vast forests to make masts for their fighting ships. Most of the fort was made of granite. A few of the casements had the canons placed by the window to show how the canon was shot. After the canon was ready to be shot (with a 100 lb ball loaded) it was rolled toward the narrow square window. It was aimed by the Gunner and when he gave the signal another soldier pulled the string that started the process of the canon actually firing. As the canon recoiled back along the rail the shutter banged closed. We saw more of the fort including some shadows made by the sun and the sides of the fort. But soon we had to return to the campground.
After lunch the weather turned really nice so we went geocaching. We got 4 out of 4. The two more interesting ones was a fake bird house hung at the windows of the Acadia Welcome Center and a mailbox supposedly belonging to G. O. Kash.
Then it was time to buy food for the van (gas) and water and milk for us.
When we finally got back to our site we started dinner (grilling for the first time since we started our trip) and organizing for a travel day tomorrow. So we will be moving tomorrow so that we can get on the road. At least I want to get to our new “home away from home” as early as possible because tomorrow is also laundry day.
Dinner and dishes done we are ready to settle down to enjoy the night and be rested for tomorrow’s adventure. The weather is supposed to be nice and we are looking forward to a good day for traveling.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
It has been raining since forever. I think I even saw Noah
working at the end of the campground. I just followed the animals I saw going in that
direction.
I didn’t even note the temps for today. I did manage to get to the wash house early
this morning without the umbrella. And I would have returned to the trailer
unscathed except I stopped to help a man who was wandering around with his
towel on his shoulder and his shaving kit in his hand muttering, “Do you know
where the wash room is. I’ve been wondering around trying to find it. They
should give you a map when you come here.” (They did, or at least we were given
one showing where our trailer site is, how to get to it and where all the important
buildings are. He must not have looked at all of it.) I pointed him in the
right direction. I stayed around to make sure he didn’t find the one thing I
didn’t tell him and sure enough he did. I had to call out to him to correct his
journey. He said, “Thanks” and continued on his way. By the time I got back to
the trailer my shirt was marked with little drops of water. It wasn’t a real
gushing rain. But then it started.
Off to the Governor’s for breakfast. It was a decent breakfast
for a reasonable cost, but as Tom said, “It’s not as cheap as the Palace.” (a
place back home at which a group of men from the church meet.) When we were
finished it still wasn’t time to go to St. Andrew so we went back to the
trailer for a while. It was still raining when we left there.
We didn’t have much time to spend but we were more
comfortable in the trailer than sitting in the van with damp clothing. It was
pouring rain when we went to the van to go to church and we dodged the rain
drops as we ran for the entrance. We didn’t bother to take the umbrellas
because we didn’t know if they would have a place to put them.
There were several other vehicles with out of state license
plates so we weren’t the only visitors. We were welcomed warmly when we entered
and shown the way into the nave. There were two early elementary age young men
handing out bulletins. Nice to see is generation of “the Church” trained
to become active in its life. I felt very much at home there.
When we left St Andrew we, again, dodged the rain drops both
in the parking lot and in the campground. After a quick lunch we bedded down
for a quick nap. There was not much else we could do with the rain coming down
and pour - I mean, poor visibility.
When we awoke the rain had settled down to a light shower.
So we headed off the L.L. Bean Outlet which was just up the road and was having
a sale. We did make a very, very small purchase but didn’t find anything else
of interest to us. There were several people with arms full of items, “mainely”
clothes. (There are several businesses that have made use of the name of their
state in the names of their businesses.) It was only sprinkling very lightly
now. Maybe, just maybe. . .
Now it was time for dinner. While we were eating it started
to rain again. I think I could hear my heart drop to the floor. But, by the
time it was time to do the dishes the rain had stopped again. After the dishes
we started in on the logs and blogs and planning for our next few days
including the weather for each of the next few days.
It seems that we have a reasonable chance for a somewhat
nice day for tomorrow to get to the Penobscot Narrows Observatory; a one minute
elevator ride to the top with a 380 degree panoramic view of the Maine
countryside. We are promised at least a let up in the weather for tomorrow so
we are hoping that we can get this visit in. It and Fort Knox Historical Site
are the two things I would like to do while we are here. It “was named after
Major General Henry Knox, America’s first Secretary of War and Commander of
Artillery during the American Revolution.” (from the pamphlet “’Protector of the Penobscot’”
distributed by the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Park and Lands, State
of Maine). We will not be traveling around Big Sur or getting to New
Brunswick for any caches.
It’s 8:10pm and it is still not raining. We are to have some
showers sometime in the near future. I just hope we will be able to see what we
want to see tomorrow.
Pleasant dreams to all.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Rain, Rain and More Rain
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Rain, Rain and More Rain
It was a chilly morning. It was 56 degrees inside the trailer and 49 degrees outside. But I never felt the 56 degrees inside because Tom turned the heater on when he left for the wash house. I got the good one.
We tried waffles this morning for breakfast. We use a Belgian Waffle Iron on the stove. The first one turned out very nice. But the second one was a disaster; one side didn’t stick to the waffle iron but the other side did. He had to scrape the waffle from the iron. We hoped that soaking it would take the remains of the waffle off the iron. I took the iron to the wash tub outside the wash house which is intended for washing dishes and anything else that needs it. Using a brush that is intended to be used on non stick surfaces the iron was made “clean” in good order. Now we are wondering if the waffle iron is still good or does it get thrown out. [sigh] We did enjoy the pancakes made with the rest of the waffle batter.
And again, even with a new smoke alarm, the alarm went off with the cooking of the waffles. It has always done that. Tom even bought a new alarm hoping that it wouldn’t sound off but it did. Don’t know what’s going on with that.
At about 10:15, 53 degrees and showery we headed out to do the things that needed to get done: find the church, find the restaurant and buy some water. When we go camping we go prepared with the name and address of a church and then always go looking for it so that we know how far it is, how long it takes us to get there and what time the worship services are. We just don’t like to be surprised on Sunday morning. We were surprised to find out that St. Andrew’s is almost next to Darling’s Chevrolet dealership. We KNOW how to get there! It’s an easy less than 10 minute trip to get there and we know that the worship service is at 10:30.
And another thing we have been doing in the later years of camping is to go to a restaurant for Sunday breakfast. Looks like this year we will be going before we go to worship. Tom had remembered seeing a sign outside a restaurant saying that it is open every day at 6:30 but he didn’t know the name of the restaurant or where he saw the sign, except that it was on our way to the RV park on Wednesday. So we went looking. And we found it. We will be eating at the Governor’s Restaurant on Sunday morning before worship.
Now off to buy groceries. We did not see a supermarket in our travels through and around town. However we did see a Wal-Mart. It just irks me to support Wal-Mart but I had no choice. We made short order of finding what we wanted and left.
We put our purchases away and it was soon lunch time. We decided to eat and go out “sight-seeing” anyway despite the showers and generally misty weather. We ate, gathered the camera, scenic tour book and water bottles and were off to see what we could find en route and at Schoodic Point which is off of Rt 1 onto the Schoodic Peninsula. What wonders there were to behold! Even in the showery mist one could see that the leaves are beginning to turn color. We are about 2 weeks early but Maine is a fine place to see them start to turn color. I took about 100 pictures around the peninsula, mostly of the water. Everywhere there was water. Some of the places had soft waves lapping the shore while other places boasted big sassy waves hurling themselves at the rocks making white sprays of water. This was at Schoodic Point, the very end of the peninsula. Even on such a gray day as this it was a wonder to behold. And we spotted a light house on our trip around the peninsula. They are wonderful to see. When we were in the area of the point I could hear the bell buoy exclaiming its watchfulness. It was like music.
After we finished on the peninsula we headed north again to see if we could find the “Maine Coastal Island Wildlife Refuge” as stated in our Scenic Tours book. But what we found was the “Downeast Coastal Conservancy” which is involved in environmental conservation of the whole area. There was a trail from the parking area but we didn’t take it on this rainy day.
The road on which we found the conservancy seemed to be a back road in Maine. The houses were not well maintained and yards were full of various odds and ends. There was one yard that had lobster traps stacked high and wide. Almost everyone seemed to be in the lobster business in one way or another. I wanted to take a picture of the yard but missed my opportunity going in one direction and couldn’t find it going in the other. Oh well, I saw it and I will remember it.
We turned the van toward our “home away from home” at about 3:30 and were there about 4:15 at 59 degrees. We had driven about 100 miles today. Then we “crawled in” for a short nap before dinner. And as another tradition was upheld tonight, we had corned beef hash and peas for dinner on a rainy day.
Dinner and dishes are finished and we sit here for a quiet time before bed; another day finished. We are 69 degrees inside and 55 outside. With all of the cloud cover we may not have such a cold night. We shall see.
Rain, Rain and More Rain
It was a chilly morning. It was 56 degrees inside the trailer and 49 degrees outside. But I never felt the 56 degrees inside because Tom turned the heater on when he left for the wash house. I got the good one.
We tried waffles this morning for breakfast. We use a Belgian Waffle Iron on the stove. The first one turned out very nice. But the second one was a disaster; one side didn’t stick to the waffle iron but the other side did. He had to scrape the waffle from the iron. We hoped that soaking it would take the remains of the waffle off the iron. I took the iron to the wash tub outside the wash house which is intended for washing dishes and anything else that needs it. Using a brush that is intended to be used on non stick surfaces the iron was made “clean” in good order. Now we are wondering if the waffle iron is still good or does it get thrown out. [sigh] We did enjoy the pancakes made with the rest of the waffle batter.
And again, even with a new smoke alarm, the alarm went off with the cooking of the waffles. It has always done that. Tom even bought a new alarm hoping that it wouldn’t sound off but it did. Don’t know what’s going on with that.
At about 10:15, 53 degrees and showery we headed out to do the things that needed to get done: find the church, find the restaurant and buy some water. When we go camping we go prepared with the name and address of a church and then always go looking for it so that we know how far it is, how long it takes us to get there and what time the worship services are. We just don’t like to be surprised on Sunday morning. We were surprised to find out that St. Andrew’s is almost next to Darling’s Chevrolet dealership. We KNOW how to get there! It’s an easy less than 10 minute trip to get there and we know that the worship service is at 10:30.
And another thing we have been doing in the later years of camping is to go to a restaurant for Sunday breakfast. Looks like this year we will be going before we go to worship. Tom had remembered seeing a sign outside a restaurant saying that it is open every day at 6:30 but he didn’t know the name of the restaurant or where he saw the sign, except that it was on our way to the RV park on Wednesday. So we went looking. And we found it. We will be eating at the Governor’s Restaurant on Sunday morning before worship.
Now off to buy groceries. We did not see a supermarket in our travels through and around town. However we did see a Wal-Mart. It just irks me to support Wal-Mart but I had no choice. We made short order of finding what we wanted and left.
We put our purchases away and it was soon lunch time. We decided to eat and go out “sight-seeing” anyway despite the showers and generally misty weather. We ate, gathered the camera, scenic tour book and water bottles and were off to see what we could find en route and at Schoodic Point which is off of Rt 1 onto the Schoodic Peninsula. What wonders there were to behold! Even in the showery mist one could see that the leaves are beginning to turn color. We are about 2 weeks early but Maine is a fine place to see them start to turn color. I took about 100 pictures around the peninsula, mostly of the water. Everywhere there was water. Some of the places had soft waves lapping the shore while other places boasted big sassy waves hurling themselves at the rocks making white sprays of water. This was at Schoodic Point, the very end of the peninsula. Even on such a gray day as this it was a wonder to behold. And we spotted a light house on our trip around the peninsula. They are wonderful to see. When we were in the area of the point I could hear the bell buoy exclaiming its watchfulness. It was like music.
After we finished on the peninsula we headed north again to see if we could find the “Maine Coastal Island Wildlife Refuge” as stated in our Scenic Tours book. But what we found was the “Downeast Coastal Conservancy” which is involved in environmental conservation of the whole area. There was a trail from the parking area but we didn’t take it on this rainy day.
The road on which we found the conservancy seemed to be a back road in Maine. The houses were not well maintained and yards were full of various odds and ends. There was one yard that had lobster traps stacked high and wide. Almost everyone seemed to be in the lobster business in one way or another. I wanted to take a picture of the yard but missed my opportunity going in one direction and couldn’t find it going in the other. Oh well, I saw it and I will remember it.
We turned the van toward our “home away from home” at about 3:30 and were there about 4:15 at 59 degrees. We had driven about 100 miles today. Then we “crawled in” for a short nap before dinner. And as another tradition was upheld tonight, we had corned beef hash and peas for dinner on a rainy day.
Dinner and dishes are finished and we sit here for a quiet time before bed; another day finished. We are 69 degrees inside and 55 outside. With all of the cloud cover we may not have such a cold night. We shall see.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Lord, we thank you!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Lord, we thank you!
When I heard Tom go out the door this morning I looked at the clock which was telling me that it was 6:18. Oh, I thought, I can stay here until 6:30. The next thing I know it was 6:40! I quickly got up, took care of my needs and started to make the bed in preparation for loading it with the things we put on the sofa over night. So goes life in a small room. Soon Tom came back, and both of us prepared ourselves for the day.
Before breakfast Tom went out to check the mouse traps. We had caught TWO hitch-hikers. After we ate Tom emptied the traps and reset them again. Tomorrow we shall see how many we catch.
Breakfast was a simple matter of oatmeal and then we started packing the things we would need for our trip to “the Island.” Acadia National Park is part of Mt. Desert Island in the Downeast region of Maine. The land for Acadia was once owned by some very rich people. They decided that they wanted to do something to preserve the environment so they donated it to an agency which became the National Park Service. We realized that our heavier coats were in the van at the dealership. But we decided to go anyway. We wanted to take the loop and visit Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and climb Cadillac Mountain among other sights.
Just at the end of our preparations there was a knock at our door. It was Lincoln, the man who drove us to the dealership to pick up the loaner car. He told us that the van was ready. It was just about 9am and it was ready for us! We were expecting to have to field a phone call mid afternoon and drive back to the dealership to get it. So we loaded the Impala, stopped at the office to mail a card and headed off to Darling’s Chevrolet Dealership. We saw the van parked in the front lot so Tom pulled up beside it and, at my suggestion, left me to transfer our belongings to the van. He came out to me just as I was finishing my job. We were ready to go to the island without any strings.
By 9:30 we were pulling out of Darling’s lot and were headed for the island. We stopped at the Information Center and got a hang tag for the van. We headed onto the one way loop around the park and soon met up with the people who wanted us to pay for the privilege to drive around the park. Tom showed the man our senior pass and his driver’s license and in we went, for free. That Senior Pass has already saved us more than we paid for it and it is good for ever.
We stopped to see Sand Beach and so did a lot of other people. Parking was at a premium. But the second time through the lot we found a place. We headed for the beach. It didn’t take me long to decide that this was the day that I was going to fulfill my dream. If I couldn’t swim in the ocean I was going to get my feet wet. Oh, I guess I could have gone swimming but I wasn’t willing to get down to next to nothing to swim in cold water and come out in high 60 degree weather. So Tom went back to the van for my sandals while I took of my shoes and socks and rolled up the legs of my jeans. I went into the shallow water. I was not satisfied. I wanted to go in deeper. I rolled up my jeans a little higher and went out a little further. I was looking for a wave that was coming in a little high and with some force to it. I got it. Truly. It hit the front of my legs and splashed up my legs covering my jeans where I had rolled them up. I was more surprised that I was so wet than at it being cold. It wasn’t really that cold. I wasn’t worried. I knew they would dry. When I was able to tear myself away from the water I put on my sandals. I’d rather the sand dry off my feet in the sandals than in my sneakers. Oh, by the way. I wasn’t the only one who was getting their feet wet either.
I heard a voice while I was putting the sandals on and continued a conversation with “the voice.” We talked about the rain that was supposed to be coming in at 2pm. But how could it? The sky was so blue and the sun was out so perfectly. When I looked up I found that I was talking to a Park Ranger. She was really sure that the rains were coming this afternoon. It was then about noon.
We decided that we would snack carefully on what we had and then stop at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound for our Lobster dinner. Yum!
We stopped at the Thunder Hole. It’s a configuration of the granite rocks that when the waves at high tide come into the “hole” (space between the rocks) it makes a loud thundering sound. We were past high tide so they only splashed upon the rocks. Still no rain.
We drove up Cadillac Mountain. At 1535 ft it is, at least, the highest point on the east coast of the United States. It was 53 degrees in the sunshine. It afforded a wonderful view of the water on both sides of the mountain. This was about 3pm. The skies were gray but still no rain.
Tom was very interested in seeing a lighthouse. The only one that visitors to the park could see was at the southernmost tip of Acadia National Park. We decided that this was doable. So off we went again. We had to go north before we could go south to the lighthouse. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot when we arrived but there were more when we left and more coming. We traveled a path down to the steps that led to rock on which one could walk to the lighthouse to take pictures. I stopped at the stairs. They were very steep. I told Tom to go. He knew that I wasn’t going to make it. I had a nice conversation with a woman who wouldn’t go down them either. I did get to see the top of the lighthouse while standing at the side of the parking lot. 3:40 and not rain. Not a sign.
Off to dinner. The Trenton Bridge is so named because it is set at the Trenton side of the Trenton Bridge. We picked our lobsters from the cooler, they were weighed and cooked. We found some place to sit and wait for our number to be called. When it was we went for them. They were in a rectangular pan with some reasonable sides to it. Our tools were a nut cracker and a seafood pick. We sat at the table and devoured two lobsters. When we left the restaurant at about 5:20 it was raining.
We were soon back at the trailer where the inside temperature was 59 degrees and the outside temperature was 53 agrees. The heater was put on. We did the dishes and settled down for a relaxing evening. We could hear the rain on the roof of the trailer sometimes but not always. It’s supposed to get a little more serious later on.
This afternoon Tom said something like “What a welcomed change in fortunes.” I agree.
Lord, we thank you!
When I heard Tom go out the door this morning I looked at the clock which was telling me that it was 6:18. Oh, I thought, I can stay here until 6:30. The next thing I know it was 6:40! I quickly got up, took care of my needs and started to make the bed in preparation for loading it with the things we put on the sofa over night. So goes life in a small room. Soon Tom came back, and both of us prepared ourselves for the day.
Before breakfast Tom went out to check the mouse traps. We had caught TWO hitch-hikers. After we ate Tom emptied the traps and reset them again. Tomorrow we shall see how many we catch.
Breakfast was a simple matter of oatmeal and then we started packing the things we would need for our trip to “the Island.” Acadia National Park is part of Mt. Desert Island in the Downeast region of Maine. The land for Acadia was once owned by some very rich people. They decided that they wanted to do something to preserve the environment so they donated it to an agency which became the National Park Service. We realized that our heavier coats were in the van at the dealership. But we decided to go anyway. We wanted to take the loop and visit Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and climb Cadillac Mountain among other sights.
Just at the end of our preparations there was a knock at our door. It was Lincoln, the man who drove us to the dealership to pick up the loaner car. He told us that the van was ready. It was just about 9am and it was ready for us! We were expecting to have to field a phone call mid afternoon and drive back to the dealership to get it. So we loaded the Impala, stopped at the office to mail a card and headed off to Darling’s Chevrolet Dealership. We saw the van parked in the front lot so Tom pulled up beside it and, at my suggestion, left me to transfer our belongings to the van. He came out to me just as I was finishing my job. We were ready to go to the island without any strings.
By 9:30 we were pulling out of Darling’s lot and were headed for the island. We stopped at the Information Center and got a hang tag for the van. We headed onto the one way loop around the park and soon met up with the people who wanted us to pay for the privilege to drive around the park. Tom showed the man our senior pass and his driver’s license and in we went, for free. That Senior Pass has already saved us more than we paid for it and it is good for ever.
We stopped to see Sand Beach and so did a lot of other people. Parking was at a premium. But the second time through the lot we found a place. We headed for the beach. It didn’t take me long to decide that this was the day that I was going to fulfill my dream. If I couldn’t swim in the ocean I was going to get my feet wet. Oh, I guess I could have gone swimming but I wasn’t willing to get down to next to nothing to swim in cold water and come out in high 60 degree weather. So Tom went back to the van for my sandals while I took of my shoes and socks and rolled up the legs of my jeans. I went into the shallow water. I was not satisfied. I wanted to go in deeper. I rolled up my jeans a little higher and went out a little further. I was looking for a wave that was coming in a little high and with some force to it. I got it. Truly. It hit the front of my legs and splashed up my legs covering my jeans where I had rolled them up. I was more surprised that I was so wet than at it being cold. It wasn’t really that cold. I wasn’t worried. I knew they would dry. When I was able to tear myself away from the water I put on my sandals. I’d rather the sand dry off my feet in the sandals than in my sneakers. Oh, by the way. I wasn’t the only one who was getting their feet wet either.
I heard a voice while I was putting the sandals on and continued a conversation with “the voice.” We talked about the rain that was supposed to be coming in at 2pm. But how could it? The sky was so blue and the sun was out so perfectly. When I looked up I found that I was talking to a Park Ranger. She was really sure that the rains were coming this afternoon. It was then about noon.
We decided that we would snack carefully on what we had and then stop at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound for our Lobster dinner. Yum!
We stopped at the Thunder Hole. It’s a configuration of the granite rocks that when the waves at high tide come into the “hole” (space between the rocks) it makes a loud thundering sound. We were past high tide so they only splashed upon the rocks. Still no rain.
We drove up Cadillac Mountain. At 1535 ft it is, at least, the highest point on the east coast of the United States. It was 53 degrees in the sunshine. It afforded a wonderful view of the water on both sides of the mountain. This was about 3pm. The skies were gray but still no rain.
Tom was very interested in seeing a lighthouse. The only one that visitors to the park could see was at the southernmost tip of Acadia National Park. We decided that this was doable. So off we went again. We had to go north before we could go south to the lighthouse. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot when we arrived but there were more when we left and more coming. We traveled a path down to the steps that led to rock on which one could walk to the lighthouse to take pictures. I stopped at the stairs. They were very steep. I told Tom to go. He knew that I wasn’t going to make it. I had a nice conversation with a woman who wouldn’t go down them either. I did get to see the top of the lighthouse while standing at the side of the parking lot. 3:40 and not rain. Not a sign.
Off to dinner. The Trenton Bridge is so named because it is set at the Trenton side of the Trenton Bridge. We picked our lobsters from the cooler, they were weighed and cooked. We found some place to sit and wait for our number to be called. When it was we went for them. They were in a rectangular pan with some reasonable sides to it. Our tools were a nut cracker and a seafood pick. We sat at the table and devoured two lobsters. When we left the restaurant at about 5:20 it was raining.
We were soon back at the trailer where the inside temperature was 59 degrees and the outside temperature was 53 agrees. The heater was put on. We did the dishes and settled down for a relaxing evening. We could hear the rain on the roof of the trailer sometimes but not always. It’s supposed to get a little more serious later on.
This afternoon Tom said something like “What a welcomed change in fortunes.” I agree.
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