New England Trip

The last 200 miles from Statesville, NC to Hartwell was an easy drive.  We got home about 12:30 PM and began the process of unpacking and cleaning the motor home.

The total miles traveled, not counting local trips with the Acura and ferry miles was 4,179.  Excluding the 284 miles from our last fill-up in Virginia to home, we used 487 gallons of gas at an average cost of $4.23 per gallon for a total gas cost of $2,059.  Our overall miles per gallon was 7.99.  While this was expensive, round trip airfare to Nova Scotia for the two of us could cost about $2,600.  Travel by car would have only cost about $800 in gas but meals and hotel rooms would have been much more expensive – and we would have had to board our cat and dog for a month (not an option). 

Steve went to his doctor in Hartwell this afternoon and the tentative diagnosis was Legionnaires Disease – most likely contracted on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.  We went to a somewhat incomprehensible attraction called “Niagara’s Fury – The Creation of the Falls” that included man-made mist/fog in a dark room filled with people – a prime means of bacteria growth and transmission.  The doctor prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics.  It seems that Steve has been walking around with a case of pneumonia for the last month.

We hope you enjoyed our blog.  We will now look for some way to save it off line for our own memories.

Steve and Margaret

This morning in the campground we hooked up the Acura for towing, and had a visit from another camper interested in the equipment for towing and asking questions.  We spent a few minutes explaining the rig to him.  He and his wife and son were camping in one of the KOA cabins, but were interested in buying an RV and traveling to some of the places we had been, especially Nova Scotia.

We set out around 9:00 a.m., and had a wonderful drive through the valley, with mountains on both sides of the highway.   We stopped at a rest area to fix sandwiches for lunch, and enjoyed looking at some very cute puppies.  Toward the end of the drive there were some interesting passages where we had to use low gear on some steep downgrades, and we landed in Statesville about mid-afternoon at the KOA.  We had hoped to top off our propane tank here, but the woman at the registration desk could not leave the desk, and when she tried to call the person who could fill our tank, the phone number had been disconnected.  Traveling does have its challenges.

We will get an early start tomorrow, to be sure to make Steve’s 4:00 appointment with Dr. Stone tomorrow afternoon in Hartwell.  We are eager to find out what weird disease he is battling, and to get some medication for it if possible.

We took a scenic drive south through the valley and entered the Shenandoah National Park at its southern entrance station, Rockfish Gap, where the Skyline Drive travels north up the ridge, and the Blue Ridge Parkway heads south.  The National Park consists of the Skyline Drive (which travels 105 miles along a continuous ridge) and the slopes on either side of the ridge.  The elevation ranges from 2,500 feet to about 3,200 feet.  Every mile or so, there is an overlook with great views.  Unfortunately, today was hazy so we could not see far into the distance. 

The speed limit on the drive is 35 mph so it is hard to travel the full distance.  There are only four entrance stations at the following mile markers: 0 (northern end at Front Royal), 30, 65, and 105 (southern end at Rockfish Gap).  Today we only covered 40 miles to Swift Run Gap but it took 3 hours counting frequent overlook stops and a stop for lunch.

A couple of pictures from the drive follow:

Driving back from the Skyline Drive to our campsite, we took Highway 340 North to New Market, and enjoyed seeing beautiful farms in the valley between the Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest; then doubled back south down I-81 to the campground about halfway between New Market and Harrisonburg.  We always enjoy taking local scenic routes near the places where we camp, and the scenic routes here were really special.  Several times we saw breathtaking views of the mountains across the valley, and wished we could have captured the view in pictures, but the beautiful wide expanse of mountains and sky just can’t be captured in a photo.

For dinner, we had planned to go out, but we were tired enough to try the convection microwave feature on some frozen fish fillets for a quick supper.  The convection microwave worked really well.  We have a lot to learn about how to use it for various kinds of cooking, but tonight’s experience was a pleasant surprise.

Tomorrow we have a long drive to Statesville, NC, where we will have just a one-night stay.  We called Steve’s doctor in Hartwell for an appointment to figure out what is causing his persistent cough, stiff neck and headaches, and were able to get an appointment on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 (Doc. doesn’t work on Friday).  That means we will have a very early start from Statesville on Thursday to make it to Hartwell in time.  It will be good to find out what’s causing all this trouble for Steve and hopefully get some medicine to fix it.

It has been a good trip, with lots of wonderful experiences.  We wish that Steve had not felt so bad so much of the time, and would like to come back to many of the places we visited to enjoy them again.

As always, it will be good to be home.

Today’s drive was mostly easy and short, bringing us into Virginia early enough for a lunch stop at the Welcome Center where we got directions to a scenic drive along US Hwy 211 and a visit to Luray Caverns.  At the Caverns, we left Pumpkin and Wicket in the motor home in the parking lot, with the vents open and fans blowing, while we took a guided tour of the caverns.  We had a hard time hearing the Munchkin tour guide’s explanations over the voices of babies and young children along for the tour, but gathered some interesting information about the stalagmites and stalactites.  The caverns are beautiful, and must have been really spectacular to the explorers who discovered them by candlelight without all the electric lights and brick-paved walkways that had been provided for our enjoyment. 

Photos were a challenge in the dim light with spotlights placed on the scenic highlights.  Focus was difficult since the camera was handheld at 1/5 second shutter speed and the lens was wide open.  If we used the flash, the colors washed out.  The best picture follows.

We made it to our KOA campsite around 6:30 p.m., and fixed a dinner of leftover spaghetti in the motor home.  We have found that some very simple dinners, frozen or leftovers, that can be prepared easily, really help to make the travel days easier.  We have found that KOAs generally provide some minimum level of quality.  Some of the independent campgrounds permit permanent residents in old campers and provide more of a “trailer park” ambiance.  While you will find some semi-permanent trailer installations in some KOAs, these are “seasonal” arrangements and the owners have other homes.

Tomorrow we will explore the Shenandoah Valley.

Today was a long travel day from North Stonington, Connecticut to Abingdon, Maryland (just off I-95 about 30 miles north of Baltimore).  We had dreaded this day because it took us down I-95 through or near New London, CT.; New Haven, CT.; Stamford, CT.; New York City; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and Wilmington, DE. 

We had planned the day so that it fell on a Sunday hoping for little traffic.  During a rainy day in North Stonington, we researched our planned route and found that RVs with large propane tanks such as ours are not allowed on the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River, so we planned an alternate route over the Tappan Zee Bridge farther north.  We left the campground about 30 minutes later than planned because of a downpour.  It rained on and off all the way through New Jersey, but the traffic flowed smoothly, and there were no significant traffic problems.  The Tappan Zee Bridge from New York into New Jersey was beautiful, though a bit narrow, as is almost everything from our perspective.  About 15 miles into New Jersey, we picked up the Garden State Parkway south to the New Jersey Turnpike (. . . they’ve all come to look for America . . .. ) and on to I-95 south toward Philadelphia.  We skirted the west side of Philadelphia to cross the Delaware River just south of Wilmington and into Maryland.  To our surprise, after an easy drive around and through New York City and Philadelphia, we came to a crummy halt at the Delaware border. 

 First we had to line up to pay a toll over the bridge into Delaware.  Then we had to wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic to pay more tolls on the JFK Memorial Highway through Delaware into Maryland.  The tolls were around $8.00 for our four axles, but the worst of the drive was the long delay of traffic lines feeding multiple lanes of traffic from I-95, I-295 and other feeder roads into I-95 South to Baltimore, MD.  We spent an hour getting through about 25 miles of Delaware after covering well over 100 miles from Connecticut to New York, and another 150 miles through New Jersey to Delaware.  It seems that the Delaware highways are not well designed to absorb the huge traffic flow from New York and New Jersey, and the tollbooths for the Delaware Bridge and the Delaware highways beyond it are totally inadequate for the traffic volume.  Of course, we were traveling on Sunday, and there were surely lots of people coming home from the New Jersey shore and other points east on Sunday afternoon.  Probably people have the same complaints about the traffic through Atlanta.  Anyway, if we come this way again, we will plan to avoid Delaware.

 According to Google Maps, Hartwell to Boston via I-95 through Delaware is 1,004 miles.  Taking I-81 through Pennsylvania and avoiding Delaware is 1,015 miles.  Delaware has now joined Louisiana on our list of states to avoid.

 We arrived at the campground in Maryland around 5 p.m., and found that our campsite had a nice view of a finger of the Chesapeake Bay.  It had rained heavily during the day before we arrived, and there was a lot of black mud throughout the campground.  There was not much good area for walking dogs, but Wicket made do, and also met another Shih Tzu with the same coloring, female, about three months younger.  We enjoyed a night there, then set out for Virginia, leaving mid-morning to miss the Monday morning traffic through Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Today, we hoped to take the ferry to Block Island but we called to make reservations too late. Instead, we went back to Newport and took a scenic 10-mile drive around the island.

Our first stop was Fort Adams State Park. We had Wicket with us and could not find shaded parking so we did not take the tour of the fort. We found the “Sail Newport” facility, which is a public sailing center. The parking lot was filled with J/24s, many of which we remember from large regattas. The center will rent J/22s if you can document sailing skills. Sans Wicket, we might have rented one for an hour or so. Steve took a quick tour of the Museum of Yachting while Margaret walked Wicket. The Museum owns and operates the 12-Meter Courageous that Ted Turner helmed to two America’s Cup victories.

Our next stop was the Brenton Point State Park on the southern tip of Newport Island facing the Atlantic. The “beach” was rocky but dramatic with crashing waves. We saw at least 50 colorful kites being flown. Some were large and stationary; others were small and swooped like birds. We saw a kid expertly flying one of the swooping kites. The parking lot was packed, but that should be expected since it was a beautiful Saturday morning.

The drive took us through the mansion district of Bellevue Avenue where the most incredible mansions were built during the “Guilded Age.” A number of the most elaborate of these mansions are now owned by an historical preservation society and can be toured for a reasonable fee. Because of Wicket, we did not take tours but glimpsed the mansions through the gates.

There is a 3 and one half-mile cliff-side walk where one can walk between the ocean and the mansions. We walked about one-half mile out and back and the views were awesome. The area that we walked was along the campus of the Salve Regina University. Several of the mansions have been donated by owners looking to shed the heavy tax and upkeep burden, to expand the campus of the University. The university administration building is housed in a particularly ornate mansion, and a small brick three-story university building with a flat roof next door is a really ugly contrast to its elegant neighbor.

We returned to downtown Newport and had a late lunch at a harbor-side bar after finding a cool parking deck in which to leave Wicket.

If you want to really enjoy a visit to Newport, leave the dog at home!

Several pictures follow:

First, “Courageous” in Newport Harbor at Fort Adams State Park

Second, the "beach" at Brenton Point State Park.

Third, a view from the cliff-side walk

Finally, one of the mansions donated to the Salve Regina University, as viewed from the cliff-side walk

Today was a perfectly beautiful day – blue sky, just a few white wispy clouds, and temperatures in the upper 70’s. We got moving early enough to go to the US Submarine Force Museum just west of Mystic Seaport, in Groton, Ct., home of the USS Nautilus submarine, which is the premier exhibit of the museum. The USS Nautilus was the first nuclear powered submarine in the Navy, and it is permanently moored at the museum in Groton, CT, home of the Electric Boat Company, which builds submarines for the Navy. The museum’s location is adjacent to the US submarine base in Groton, which is the homeport for all of the Atlantic Fleet fast attack submarines. We took a self-guided tour of the sub, and then wandered around the museum, looking at pictures of old and recent submarines. The museum was hosting a Change of Command ceremony for the SSN Miami today, and we saw lots of seamen and officers making the arrangements for the festivities, setting up seating and audio systems. A peek behind a door in the museum revealed a seaman pouring ranch dressing from a 2 gallon bottle into a dipping dish for the veggie tray.

From the museum, we drove back through Mystic Seaport and had lunch at a little snack bar on the water on the way back to the campground. We then had a couple of hours to walk Wicket and do some repairs to our rain gutters. The campground here has an adjacent RV parts store that helped us find the parts we needed to fix the gutters.

Around 4 p.m. we set out for Newport, RI for our America’s Cup Cruise. We had made reservations, and were advised to get there early because of traffic and parking problems. As it turned out, we allowed more than enough time, though we did have some hunting to do to find the meeting place for the two-hour cruise.

The sail was absolutely spectacular. We were assigned to the Intrepid, which is the only 12-meter to win the America’s Cup twice (1967 and 1970). She is a beautiful wooden boat, and we both got to take the helm for a while under sail. While Steve had the helm, he passed the 12-meter Enterprise that had set sail with us (where there are two boats, there’s a race), and Margaret held the lead downwind. We were both coached by the skipper, Mike, who shared with us a history of sailing catamarans. The weather conditions were perfect – mid 70’s and 12 mph of wind. The Intrepid had a perfectly balanced helm, and was very easy to steer. We got to sail her under the Newport Bridge twice, downwind with Margaret at the helm, and back upwind under Steve’s hand. Upwind, she made 7.5 knots and reaching she made 9 knots. Because it was a charter, we only had the smallest jib (designed for 25 mph wind) and a mainsail that was smaller than used racing.

So far, this was the high point in the trip - but only because we are sailing nuts.

On the way back to the dock, we passed an absolutely beautiful boat on a mooring, hailing from the Marshall Islands. Steve asked a crewmember if he knew what type of boat it was and he replied “Swan 80.” Back to an Internet connection, we looked up the Swan 80. We found a 2000 model for sale in Europe for about $5.3 million US dollars. There is a huge amount of money floating in Newport harbor.

It only took about 35 minutes to drive back to the motorhome, where Wicket was thrilled to see us, and Pumpkin put up with his boisterousness generously, as she always does.

A few pictures follow:

First, the tall ship Spirit of South Carolina docked as we waited for our 12-Meter charter.

Second, the 12-Meter Enterprise (photo from Intrepid) as Steve passed her to leeward sailing downwind.

Third, Margaret at the helm of Intrepid sailing downwind with Enterprise in the background.

Finally, Steve at the helm of Intrepid sailing upwind with the Jamestown/Newport bridge in the background.

Wicket wakes up a little later now that we are a few degrees west, and for that we are thankful. This morning’s walk call was at 6:20 a.m. The skies were cloudy and threatening rain, so we took our time with showers and breakfast. We also discovered that we had left our umbrella at the restaurant last night, which gave us a great excuse to drive back down to Stonington and see the lighthouse. We picked up the umbrella, and explored Stonington.

The lighthouse was built in 1823, and although the light is no longer in service, the beautiful building is used as a museum with a very large collection of old stuff from the lighthouse era. Like many of the New England lighthouses, this one was moved to its present location from the edge of the point, now protected behind a man-made breakwater. Through a glass section of floor, we could see the cistern that had been dug and framed under the building for collecting rainwater after the water from the well, also visible through a glass floor, proved too salty for use. We were able to climb the steep spiral staircase and ladder to the top of the lighthouse tower, and had a great view of the shoreline and the village.

There was an eclectic collection of stuff in the museum – weapons and cannonballs from the war of 1812, whaling harpoons, ice harvesting equipment, old medical equipment, and other stuff connected mainly by being old and from around here.

The curator of the lighthouse museum, a delightful woman named Louise, was a fount of information about the history of the town of Stonington. She told us about the factory that employed Stonington’s residents through many generations and different product lines – silk weaving machines, plastic Coke bottles, guns – and finally burned to the ground in a spectacular fire (coincidentally) just before it was to be re-developed into condominiums. Apparently such fires are part of a common history of New England towns..

On the way back to the motor home, with a grocery stop en route, we drove through the side streets of Stonington and took several pictures of beautiful houses, one with a copper roof and gutters. The neighborhood reminded us of the old neighborhoods of Charleston, Savannah and other coastal towns, and some historic districts in inland Southern cities. There are beautifully kept old homes even in areas that seem to be of very limited financial means. When we get home, it will be interesting to try to look at our towns and neighborhoods with a tourist’s eye, and consider whether we may have overlooked some beauty in the familiar rural poverty of the South.

By the time we got back to the motor home, the rain was settling in for a long siege. It rained most of the afternoon and into the evening. The kids who ran for cover in their campers when the rain started finally came out and jumped on the “jumping pillow” in the pouring rain. They probably had been getting stir-crazy in their campers like Wicket, and their parents seemed to have shooed them out about the same time Wicket announced that he had to go NOW, whether it was pouring rain or not. (Margaret bundled up in Steve’s rain jacket and followed Wicket around through the puddles. When you gotta go, you gotta go.)

The rain is beautiful to watch. Some day, we will have this kind of rain again at home. We will try to remember never to complain about wet dog hair and muddy feet again. According to NOAA, Hartwell had about ¾ of an inch of rain in the past week, and we hope some of it fell on our plants.

We went to the town of Mystic for dinner at the S&P Oysters restaurant. The meals were delightful, as was the restaurant surrounded by gardens on one side and the Mystic River on the other.

The first picture below is one of the lighthouse, and the second is a picture of the house with the copper roof.

Today we had a short drive (just about 150 miles) to North Stonington, Connecticut, where we are staying at a KOA near Mystic Seaport and Newport, Rhode Island. Since we had plenty of time, we drove part of the way on (our friend) US 1, which continues to be a much better highway than it was just south of the Canada border. Most of the time the road was out of sight of the coast, but we took a wrong turn at Narragansett, RI and had a driving adventure out to the coast. The views were great, but the drive through narrow streets looking for a place to turn around a 50-foot rig was the kind of exciting we like to avoid. As it turned out, we made a successful rounding of a couple of city blocks, and got back on our route without even holding up traffic. We did get a lot of strange looks.

On the way, we called America’s Cup Charters, an organization that offers daily sunset cruises out of Newport on board their fleet of 12-meter America’s Cup yachts. Their yachts include seven 12-meters, including three that won the America’s Cup (Weatherly 1962; Intrepid in 1967 and 1970; Freedom in 1980; and also Ted Turner’s American Eagle. We reserved tickets for Friday night, which seems the least likely to be rainy.

We pulled into the KOA around 2:30 p.m., checked in, found our site, and started working on leveling the motorhome when the skies opened up with a spectacular thunderstorm. For about an hour it rained bullfrogs, and the lightning was so close we didn’t dare stand outside the motorhome under the trees. There were several short showers after the big storm rolled through, and there are more storms on radar headed this way. Wish we could send some of this rain to Hartwell. It was interesting watching the downpour and remembering what that looked like in Hartwell so long ago.

Our campsite has a full view through the front windshield of the swimming pool and a “jumping pillow,” a sort of convex trampoline that forms a big mound inside a fenced area. It’s full of kids most of the time, so we’ll have to go out early or late to try it out. The KOA at Niagara Falls had one of these too, but this one looks better. The campground also has a huge field just outside the gate with picnic tables and tent camping sites, which is perfectly empty. Wicket had a wonderful time running his Crazy Ivans there after the rain blew over. It has been about a week since he had a place to run off-leash, and he was thrilled. Since we will be here for several days, this will be one of his favorite places.

Pumpkin is such a trooper. She doesn’t mind the long rides, and when we set up camp, she takes up her viewing station on the dashboard where she can look out the windshield through almost 180 degrees. She especially likes to watch the birds. Unlike Spice (our previous cat), she seems to have little interest in getting outside the motorhome, so we have not had the constant anxiety about escape that we had on our trip out west. She has not hidden in the dashboard again recently, either. She and Wicket have a good time playing together. They are about the same size and weight, so they are a good match.

For dinner we went down to the village of Stonington, which is a charming little town of narrow streets, restaurants and small shops. We ate at the Skipper’s Dock restaurant, recommended by one of the KOA staff. Our table was on a covered pier with wind curtains. It was chilly, and the mist was pretty thick, so there wasn’t much view, but we had a wonderful dinner. We were able to admire a dark blue J/24, and a larger blue sprit boat with a white deck that we couldn’t identify, on moorings in the harbor near the restaurant.

Our GPS, Jack, routed us home expertly in the dark.

After sleeping late (to about 8 am after a 6 am walk of Wicket), we did some housekeeping.  Steve went to one of two known Laundromats within 50 miles to do several loads of laundry.  The small Laundromat (“Coin-O-Matic” in Orleans) was packed at 9 am with all 15-20 washers and dryers busy.  Steve waited his turn for a couple of washers and found that they were really only one-half washers.  After finding that some of the clothes in one of the washers were not getting wet, half of that load was transferred to a third washer.  The half-washers cost $2.50 per half load and the dryers cost $.25 per 5 minutes.  A sign in the laundry directed customers to the bowling alley next door for restrooms.  The bowling alley displayed a sign at its front door that restrooms were for its customers only.  After two and a half hours, Steve returned to the campground with half the desired laundry somewhat dry and went directly to the motor home bathroom.

We then drove down to the Cape Cod Canal and took a 2 hour cruise up the canal and back.  The 17-mile canal (7 cut through land) joins Buzzards Bay from the south to the Cape Cod Bay to the north, cutting the landmass of the cape at the juncture to the mainland.  The southern end, before the land cut, has many beautiful homes.  Except at slack tide, the canal has a current of about 4 knots flowing one way or the other.  The following picture shows where the two canal digs (north from Cape Cod and south from Buzzards Bay) joined upon completion of the canal in 1816.  The building is a replica of a structure called “Grey Gables.”

On the way back to our motor home, we went to Woods Hole and visited the Nobska light marking the entrance to Woods Hole.  Since most of the coastline is private or requires a parking fee, lighthouses are an opportunity to get a free glimpse of the ocean around here.  The view from the lighthouse was very nice and a picture of the light follows.

We took a high-speed passenger ferry to Martha’s Vineyard Island.  The ferry was very impressive – a powered catamaran that cruises at about 35 MPH.  Once on the island, we took a tour bus that circled the island with a non-stop narration.  It was really quite interesting but there was only one opportunity for pictures.  Back in the town of Oak Bluffs (where the ferry arrived), we walked through an amazing area of tiny gingerbread cottages called the Camp meeting ground.

It seems that during the mid-1800s, thousands of Methodists would come to the island and camp in tents in a campground for week-long revivals.  The tents were erected on wooden platforms.  Later, ornate cottages were built using the platforms as foundations.  Today, around 300 of these cottages remain in a mostly walking-path community surrounding the old tabernacle.  The cottages are dripping in gingerbread and painted the most outrageous colors.

After a late lunch in a harbor bar, we returned to Cape Cod and picked up Wicket from the campground kennel where he had been boarded for the day.  We brought him back some presents that we had purchased on the Vineyard – a rubber chew bone, a stuffed lobster squeaky toy, and a CD of music called “Dog Dreams.”  He loves the lobster.

Three pictures follow – the cliffs and beach at Gay Head on the southwestern end of the island, a campground cottage, and the fast ferry’s departure from Oak Bluffs.

Steve still feels puny so we took most of the day off.  Margaret went shopping and found a pretty pottery dish while Steve watched a DVD movie.  She brought back some great sandwiches and we left for a visit to the nearby Chatham lighthouse.

Cape Cod is a very crowded place.  You cannot drive anywhere without being in traffic.  All of the towns charge admission to their beaches (about $15).

The beaches were not very inviting as the temperature was about 87 and the humidity was about 99.  We went to a National Seashore beach (Marconi) and had to park about two blocks away.  After slogging though deep sand in the heat, we arrived at a beach that looked like Coney Island – large bodies just a few feet apart.  The water temperature was 59 so the only people in the water were a few surfers in wet suits.  The surf provided a ride of 15 feet or so.  We turned around and left – thinking that these folks ought to head south for a better beach.

We visited the Highland lighthouse in North Truro.  The lighthouse was commissioned in 1857 and used a “First Order” Fresnel lens with a kerosene light source.  It now has a 110-watt electric bulb behind a flat plastic magnifying lens which produces the same amount of light.  There are six little light bulbs that look like flashlight bulbs– if one burns out, another rotates into position.  The lighthouse had been moved back 450 feet from the edge of the sand cliff in 1996 because of erosion.

There is a golf course (Highland Links) on either side of the lighthouse.  The golf course is a 9-hole links style course that dates back to 1892.  When (if) it cools off, we plan on playing the course.

We then visited Provincetown at the northwestern tip of the Cape.  Provincetown is a quaint town with very narrow streets and small guesthouses.  It is packed with mostly male homosexuals.  There was the occasional lesbian and heterosexual couple.  According to the Provincetown website, it is now “Bear Week” when heavy-set hairy men are welcomed to display their “bearness.”

On the way back to our rule-bound campground in Brewster, we passed a number of “resorts” on the bay side of the cape.  Many of these resorts consisted of rows of identical “cabins” about 6 feet apart.  The cabins looked like some sort of military housing but smaller and more crowded.  There were no vacancies at any of these grim places.

Cape Cod may have been a very nice place to visit 50 years ago before it became so developed and crowded.  The pretty spots are now under lock and key.  After you pay to get into them, you are shoulder to shoulder with the other customers.

Our five-day stop here may be several days too long.

Two pictures follow.  The first shows the view from inside the Highland Light – with shadows from the windowpanes and light apparatus.  The second is a promotional picture of some “hirsute darlings” for the Provincetown Bear Week event that Steve downloaded from a website.

Today was a long travel day (about 350 miles) from Bar Harbor to Cape Cod.  We had been warned about the Friday afternoon traffic heading from Boston to the Cape so we left the Bar Harbor campground promptly at 7:00 am.  Despite arriving in Boston at around 1:30 pm, we ran into very slow traffic on I-95 on the west side of the city.  Eventually, we got around the city and to the Cape Cod (Brewster) campground of Sweetwater Forest at 3:30 pm.

Some campgrounds have a lot of rules and this is one of them.  There are 10 rules about fire:

1.                       You must build your fire in the fire ring

2.                       You must use firewood in the fire ring (no charcoal or fireplace logs)

3.                       You may not use lighter fluid to light your fire

4.                       Your flames may not rise more than 24”

5.                       You must have a container of water handy

6.                       You may not leave your fire unattended

7.                       You must put your fire out by 11:30 pm

8.                       If you leave trash in your fire ring, you will be charged $15

9.                       If you move your fire ring, you will be charged $25

10.                  If you steal your fire ring, you will be charged $100

In the restroom, there is a sign asking that one not yell at the staff cleaning the restroom.  The restrooms are not very clean so some yelling might have occurred.

We assume that every rule has a story.  Once we stayed in a campground near Mobile, Al that banned explosives.  We have always wondered about that story.

This was our last day at Bar Harbor. We went into town in the morning to have breakfast at a popular little restaurant called “2 Cats,” specializing in eggs benedict, omelets, bagels, and other wonderful stuff. It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, because our waiter seemed to forget us, and our food was served very late, having apparently sat a while on the kitchen counter. After breakfast, we stopped by a sculpture artist’s studio, and then picked up Wicket for another trip around the Acadia National Park loop road on Desert Island.

We stopped at an area that we skipped earlier – “Thunder Hole.” When large waves crash into a narrow cut in the rocks, the water compresses the air in the cut and results in sort of a thunderclap. You can feel the impact through the solid granite surrounding the cut.

We then found another great bluff to set up our chairs, enjoy a cup of wine, and read our books beside the surf. It’s a new discovery for us that we don’t have to keep moving constantly, but can sit still and enjoy one beautiful place for a while. We met some folks (one wearing a Clemson T-shirt) from Iva, South Carolina. Iva is a wide spot in the road just across the state line from Hartwell.

Along the loop road we met a couple who were interested in Wicket and said they also have a Shih Tzu. To our surprise, the same couple - Jim and Allene - appeared later, back at the campground, walking their Shih Tzu named Ethel (!) right beside our campsite. Ethel would have nothing to do with Wicket, who was beside himself with excitement about meeting her, and was much more friendly than he has usually been around other dogs. We stood around and swapped camping stories with Jim and Allene for a long time. They are from Tennessee, and we may catch up with them again in Mystic Seaport on our way south, since our travel schedules seem to overlap again there.

We will need to get a very early start tomorrow morning, because we have over 350 miles to drive, and part of it takes us past Boston on a Friday afternoon, where we are told to expect most of the population headed to Cape Cod with us for the weekend.

There is a section of Acadia National Park about 45 road miles east of Bar Harbor, but just about 6 miles east by water across Frenchman’s Bay, called Schoodic Peninsula. We drove there today, picked up a picnic lunch in the town of Winter Harbor, and sat on the rocks at Schoodic Point to enjoy it and take in the spectacular view. Schoodic Point is a granite outcropping about 20 feet above the Atlantic Ocean where the waves come crashing in and burst against the rocks – shooting water about 40 feet into the air. The point is a wide table of pink granite, interspersed with lines of black basalt rock that hardened from lava that flowed into cracks in the granite many years ago. There was lots of room to walk out on the point, but the park ranger cautioned all of us to stay back from the edge. According to a local couple we met there, some people posing at the edge for photographs have been swept off the rocks by the crashing waves and drowned. We took lots of pictures (see attached).

From Schoodic Point, we drove around the park road, and found a little roadside spot to set up our folding chairs and enjoy some cold beers and our books beside the crashing surf. Wicket was with us, and found a good spot to chew a toy at our feet. After a while, we drove on around the park road through a fishing village and out to a beautiful lighthouse that the US Navy uses as a “satellite operations detachment,” protected with razor wire.. The lighthouse was so pretty, it would have been great to get a picture of it, but there was no way to get a good photo view.

The sky was clear blue today, with puffy white clouds. Our first adventure was a morning sail on the Margaret Todd, a 151 foot four-masted schooner docked in downtown Bar Harbor. The wind was light, but the six sails, four of them gaff rigged, caught what little wind we had, and a park ranger pointed out islands and wildlife to be seen along the way. The highlight of the trip was seeing a bald eagle perched in the top of a bare tree on one of the islands just off Bar Harbor. The eagle sat still in the same tree for a long time, so we had lots of time to look at him through the binoculars and take pictures. It was really wonderful to see his huge size, his white head and gold beak so clearly. There is an eagle nest on the island which the ranger had spotted, but although he showed us approximately where it was, we weren’t able to see the nest clearly from the boat. The sail lasted about two hours, and went around the four Porcupine Islands that skirt Bar Harbor. There were three huge Newfoundland dogs aboard who are mascots of the ship, one named Maggie, and another, her pup, named Schooner..

After the sail, we drove back up Cadillac Mountain (it’s just a three mile drive from the park road) to enjoy the clear view and take pictures. Then we returned to the campground to pick up Wicket, and drove to the Bass Harbor lighthouse at the farthest south tip of Mount Desert Island. There weren’t as many spectacular photography stops along this afternoon’s drive, but we enjoyed it.

A picture of the SV Margaret Todd and of a view from the summit of Cadillac Mountain follows.

We did not get rain today, but we did have low-hanging clouds that obscured the top of Cadillac Mountain. From the route to the top, we got some interesting pictures of clouds hovering over the islands just off the coast, but at the top of Cadillac Mt. we were literally standing in a cloud that was blowing around us. We drove down the mountain to find beautiful weather around mid-day, and had a great tour of the coast. Along the way, there were lots of walking trails to take from the overlook areas, and one that we took led to a beautiful view of surf breaking on rocks below a spectacular house on a bluff.

Cadillac Mountain is named for a Frenchman who once owned most of the land around Frenchman’s Bay under a deed of gift from the King of France. Cadillac later founded the city of Detroit, and the Cadillac automobile was named for him.

Here there are private properties adjacent to the park properties, and the road runs in and out of the park and private land. We learned that the Federal government has set a limit on acquisition of properties by national parks, but private citizens can give an easement to the park, essentially giving the development rights to their property to the park as a charitable contribution. Acadia National Park has lots of property contributed in this way. The private homes on the easement land remain, and can be maintained and rebuilt as needed, but no additional development of the land can be done without the park’s consent and control.

Mount Desert Island is more like a peninsula with the Atlantic on the east and south sides, and bays on the western shores. We drove clockwise around the park road from Cadillac Mountain near the north end of the island, down the east side along the Atlantic Shore, and then back up the middle of the island past some inland lakes. The coastal views of surf on the rocky coast were beautiful. One sandy beach, aptly named “Sand Beach,” was full of people who didn’t venture far into the cold water but tolerated the chilly air in swim suits remarkably well, threw Frisbees, and lay on beach chairs in the sun. At the rocky beach stops, we saw lots of people wearing flip-flops picking their way over the steep rocks. One guy stood right on the edge of a rock, high above the breaking surf, to have his picture taken with a very small child clinging to his neck. It seems that our athletic shoes have become frumpy.

On the way north up the west side of the park, we stopped at the Jordan Pond House, which is actually a new structure that replaced an inn and restaurant that was built in the 1800’s but burned to the ground in the 1970s. The house is famous for its “popovers,” very light pastries served with butter and locally produced blueberry and strawberry jam. We took an outdoor table overlooking Jordan Pond, and had popovers with iced cappuccino for “tea” and enjoyed them immensely, despite the swarming bees that have been attracted to the dishes of jam on many tables. People were alternately buttering their popovers and fanning the bees away. Maybe the atmosphere is better in a stiff breeze. We bought some popover mix and jam in the gift shop, and will try our hand at making them at home.

Acadia National Park is definitely on our top 10 list of beautiful places we have seen. It’s up there with Zion National Park, Big Sur, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. Different from all of those, but absolutely beautiful. And one of the really special features of it is that it’s got some of the familiarity of the east coast, only extra special.

Today’s drive from New Brunswick to Bar Harbor, Maine was supposed to be a short, easy one of about150 miles. We decided to take Coastal US 1 south along the coast, thinking it would be more scenic than the inland route on Hwy 9. Wrong decision. It seems that both the US government and the state of Maine have abandoned Coastal US 1. The road was narrow and in very bad shape, with a crumbling shoulder, and one section of about a mile that was completely unpaved. If the route was scenic, we missed most of the view, concentrating on the potholes and the risk of running off the road. It took us about 6 hours in all. We have learned to stop counting on US highways to be reliably good ones.

To make the drive even more challenging, the wind was howling the whole way, and for the first time we felt the motorhome really shudder in some of the gusts. We passed several large motor homes going the opposite direction, and they really looked ungainly, swaying from side to side in the wind as they lurched down the bumpy road. We must have looked like that too. When we got close enough to Bar Harbor to see the ocean, it was frothy with white caps from the wind.

We found the campground on Mt. Desert Island with no trouble, and got settled in around 5:00 p.m. Our site is in a wooded area, with good shade. We have wireless Internet and cable TV service here, so we will be able to catch up with the rest of the world after a week out of touch.

We drove to Bar Harbor for dinner at the Chart Room Restaurant, and had very good food while enjoying a great view of the harbor. After dinner, we drove down the coast, through downtown Bar Harbor, and on around Cadillac Mountain around the point of Mt. Desert Island before returning to the campsite. Acadia National Park occupies much of the land on Mt. Desert Island, and we will start exploring it tomorrow.

Rain is forecast here, and the TV weather map indicated that there might have been rain in Hartwell today. NOAA reported only 0.13 inch in Anderson, but we’re hoping Reed Creek got a good soaking.

Margaret was thrilled to learn by email from Judy Peebles that Libby, the dog at Liberty Hill that a neighbor was trying to rescue, was adopted on Saturday by a wonderful family. That is great news, and really confirms how valuable the Humane Society can be as a support for people in the community who care about animals. Thank you to all who helped make this happen for Libby.

Wicket woke us up at 5:40 a.m., with the sun pouring in the windows, and it was actually a pleasure to take him out on the lawn by the beach in the early morning. It was cool and sunny, and the water was a deep blue. Gulls were crying overhead, and a seal raised his head out of the water about a hundred yards off the beach.

Our ferry departure was scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with check-in at noon. Since we were ready to go, we left the campground around 10:00 a.m., and stopped in Annapolis Royal for some provisions. At the local hardware store we bought some bug spray in hopes of getting rid of the bugs that keep biting us, especially Margaret. There are some large gnats and mosquitoes that we have seen, but we aren’t sure what is causing the large, very itchy and long-lasting bites. We need to find a way to get Pumpkin and Wicket out of the motor home with us for a while so that we can give it a good spraying, and hope to find a way to do that in Bar Harbor, our next destination where we will stay for several days.

Annapolis Royal is a beautiful little town, with a public park right on the Bay of Fundy, and lots of stately old homes, many of which have been made into Bed and Breakfast Inns. There is also a public Historic Garden with huge rose bushes covered with blooms. As we were leaving, some sort of town festival was going on, with tents set up near the water, and the narrow roads lined with parked cars. We wanted to stop and take some pictures of the old homes, but couldn’t find a place to stop and park our enormous rig.

Towing the car has made it possible to go places that the motor home can’t go, and we are glad for the times we can unhook and take the car alone for sight-seeing. It has been a special pleasure to drive the Acura on mountain roads, and the contrast between its quick steering and the clumsy handling of the motor home has made us appreciate it even more.

We arrived at the ferry dock in plenty of time, and were the first vehicle to board, owing to our early arrival and size. They parked us all the way at the bow end of the car deck, so we were nearly the first off at the unloading. We enjoyed the 3-hour ferry ride again, but were disappointed that again we didn’t see any whales. The captain had seen two pilot whales the day before, but they were not there for us today. We had another interpreter doing educational talks on deck during the ride, and she reminded Margaret very much of Maria Smith, one of our Hart County Humane Society founders who has since moved to North Carolina. She had Maria’s buoyant enthusiasm and friendliness. We learned from her the reason for the lack of very large, old-growth trees in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It seems that the port of St. John on New Brunswick was once a major ship-building site, taking advantage of the many Tamarack trees in the area with the strength and flexibility of wood to build strong ships. The large old trees that once grew there were all cut down, either to build ships or to sell the lumber around the world.

We also learned about the Marco Polo, a 3-masted clipper ship built in St. John that in 1841 held the world speed record for the round trip between Liverpool, England and Port Phillips Head, Australia, in 5 months, 21 days. The ship’s grounding in the mud during her attempted launch, and again soon after, reportedly affected the shape of her keel, which is thought to have improved her speed. It took the record tides in the Bay of Fundy to get her refloated. After many years of use, she developed a leak, and was deliberately grounded off Prince Edward Island to save the crew and the cargo.

Our campsite at New River Beach was only about a half-hour away from the ferry dock, so we were settled in camp by 6:00 p.m. This is the same campground where we stayed on our first night in Canada just a week ago, and it’s where we were when we called Blue Cross for information about doctors and hospitals for Steve when he was so sick last week. We are so grateful that he got steadily better beginning the morning we left here. Although we have learned from people here that the Canadian health care system is well-funded, affordable and accessible to all, we are glad not to have had to visit hospitals for a first-hand experience with it during our stay.

We had dinner tonight at a restaurant on the bay, just down the road, that was recommended by the campground staff. The food was great. The beer and wine were weak, but they had rice pudding for dessert!

This is about the halfway point of our trip, the eighteenth of thirty-seven days. Tomorrow we head south for Bar Harbor, Maine.

A picture from the Bay of Fundy Ferry is attached.

We had a long but relatively easy drive south from Cape Breton back to Annapolis Royal. For part of the way, we altered our route from the one we took north to Cape Breton on Monday, to stay on the limited access highway. It was a longer drive, but easier, and with fewer delays in small towns and on narrow twisting roads. We saved a little time and a fair amount of hassle.

The sun is setting on the Bay of Fundy. Steve is washing the motorhome windshield so that we have a clear view of the beautiful water, and will have a clear view of the road tomorrow. Traveling 300 miles into a headwind is deadly for bugs and makes a real mess on the windshield.

The campground is not as empty as on our last visit. All around us, people who seem to be part of a local group are setting up camp in trailers and small campers for the weekend. It’s a friendly and spirited group, and we expect they will have a great weekend. We met some very nice neighbors from Germany in a rented small RV, and enjoyed watching people playing soccer and dogs enjoying the large open lawn between the campers and the beach.

Margaret took lots of pictures of the sunset, and one is attached.

Our over-riding impression of Nova Scotia is “tidy and quaint.” There are few signs on the road, and hardly any litter. Nearly all of the houses are well kept and have some sort of flowers in the landscape. Most houses over 50 years old are restored. Occasionally, there are truly majestic vistas but in between, everything is just pretty.

We will be leaving tomorrow morning to catch the ferry back to New Brunswick. It’s hard to leave Nova Scotia, because there is so much more here to see and do. We would like to come back, and also see Prince Edward Island and maybe Newfoundland and Labrador.

Today we played golf at Le Portage Golf Club in Cheticamp on the northwest coast of Cape Breton Island. It has been a long time since we played golf, and we were as rusty as we had feared. Among some beautiful shots, we had some really dreadful ones, and our scores were not worth reporting. We did take some pictures of the golf course, which was beautiful, and enjoyed the views of the highlands and occasional glimpses of the Bay of St. Lawrence.

On the way home, we stopped at a Co-op in the town of Cheticamp for groceries, and at a turn-out along the coast to take some pictures and enjoy the pounding surf. We got some fresh salmon to grill for dinner.

We were really tired when we got home, in part because we had gotten up at 3:30 a.m., hearing a strong wind, to retract the motor home awning so it wouldn’t be torn up by the wind. (Since he was up early for the awning retraction, Steve noticed that the sky began to lighten at 4:15 a.m. – a clear indication of how far north we are.) We did some housekeeping chores in preparation for tomorrow’s drive, then cooked the salmon and enjoyed it for dinner.

Tomorrow we are headed back to the southwest end of Nova Scotia, to the Cove Campground in Annapolis Royal, where we stayed before the drive to Cape Breton. After one night there, we will catch the ferry back to New River Beach, New Brunswick, where we stayed on our way up, then head for Bar Harbor, Maine for several days.

A puzzle for us has been the insect bites we have had in New Hampshire, Maine and Canada. A few times we have felt the bite when it happened, but other times we have just noticed bleeding at the site, or a terrible itch and large swollen welt that lasts for a several days and keeps itching. Insect repellent seems to help, but does not totally prevent these bites. We thought the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes in Georgia were bad, but they are weak compared to these critters!

Looking back at the blog on the Internet, we found that a part of the July 3 post was missing. Here is part of it. Maybe the server deleted it because it’s a quote from an Arlo Guthrie song.

All around here we are warned about wildlife. Road signs advise us to brake for moose, and warn that a collision could be fatal, not just for the moose. We haven’t seen a moose, but we did see a deer along the road not far from the campground entrance. At the campground dumpsters, a sign warns not to over-fill the dumpster, else we will be visited by critters – not the cuddly kind. We are also warned not to leave garbage outside at the campsite. The dumpster has been overflowing, and we haven’t seen any bears or other critters yet.

Here’s a little ditty Margaret has been trying to recite from memory along the road, and almost could. Anybody know if there’s a tune to this?

Mooses Come Walking by Arlo Guthrie

Mooses come walking over the hill Mooses come walking, they rarely stand still When mooses come walking they go where they will When mooses come walking over the hill Mooses look into your window at night They look to the left and they look to the right The mooses are smiling, they think it's a zoo And that's why the mooses like looking at you So, if you see mooses while lying in bed It's best to just stay there pretending you're dead The mooses will leave and you'll get the thrill Of seeing the mooses go over the hill.

1993 Arloco Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

A picture of the golf course follows.

Today we drove north on the Cabot Trail through the northern end of Cape Breton Island, the highlands of Nova Scotia that were so attractive to the Scottish settlers because of their resemblance to the Scottish Highlands. The highest point in these highlands is 1,747 ft. at White Hill. We drove along beautiful scenic drives with spectacular views of the Bay of St. Lawrence on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Pumpkin stayed in the motor home for the day, but Wicket went with us, and enjoyed smelling everything along the way.

At the northernmost point on Cape Breton, we took a pig trail to “Meat Cove,” a little cove where whales often come close to shore, and we saw some whales following one of the whale-sighting tour boats. We had a picnic on a bluff above the water, and watched for whales with our binoculars. The road was rough and unpaved, but there were several motorcyclists who followed us up and back. We were glad to have the Acura for this side trip, since it handles the curves and rough roads so well.

We enjoyed the drive back down the Atlantic side of Cape Breton, stopping at several turn-outs where there were beaches or rocky outcroppings that offered a good ocean view. We stopped at a few artist studios near the town of St. Anne’s. There is a well-marked road to follow for this self-guided tour, and it took us back down toward Baddeck and across to the western side of Cape Breton and our campsite. We were tired and glad to be “home.”

Several pictures follow.

1. Northwest coast (Gulf of Saint Lawrence) inside the Cape Breton Highlands National Park 2. Two pictures of upper Aspy Bay at the Northeast corner of Cape Breton 3. The northern-most tip of Cape Breton at Meat Cove 4. Green Cove on the Atlantic coast of Cape Breton Highlands National Park

With so much to explore on Cape Breton Island, we had some trouble planning our tour, but or the first day we settled on a drive through a region of inland salt-water lakes called the Bras d’Or Lakes. The name Bras d’Or means Arms of Gold, and although we did not see any gold, the lakes are long and narrow, reaching like arms across the land toward the Atlantic. The town of Baddeck (emphasis on the “deck”) is especially nice, with restaurants and shops, and a yacht club where we took a picture of what we think was an Etchells, to bring home to Ed Sherman. We ate lunch in Baddeck, and then drove on around the lakes to Sydney Mines, where we went all the way to the coast and took a picture of a lovely old Catholic Church with a convent next door. We wound up the tour with a stop at a Highland Village, a museum that is actually a re-enactment of an early settlers’ village, with local historical society people playing the parts of the settlers. It was impressive to learn how the Scots who fled the take-over of Scotland by the English in the early 1700’s, and took passage on sailing ships to the “new world,” were often dropped off on beaches without any of the cleared land and development they had been promised. They managed to survive bitter winters, bears, and poor nutrition, and established small communities in Nova Scotia, which they named as their “new Scotland.” They built log houses, and eventually frame houses; raised sheep, pigs and chickens, and kept horses for transportation and farming work. At the Highland Village we visited, Wicket was allowed to go on the tour, and met a pig, some chickens and a horse, all very exciting for him. We learned the Gaelic welcome, Failte Is Furan Oirbh, which means Welcome on you.”

Several pictures of the Bras d’Or Lakes follow.

The drive to Cape Breton Island was long – about 300 miles - and took us through some very empty countryside. Most of the time, the road was pretty good, though we had many long slow upgrades that we had to take slowly. The road runs fairly straight through the middle of Nova Scotia. There was enough traffic to keep us company, but not enough to slow us down. We stopped in New Glasgow at a WalMart (They are everywhere!) for some supplies we needed. We crossed onto Cape Breton Island near Port Hastings at the Canso Causeway, and followed signs for the Ceilidh Trail along the west side of the island to Dunvegan, where we had reservations at MacLeod’s Campground.. We thought a lot about Bill Starcher, our crew on Cahoots for many years, who named his J/22 Ceilidh. It’s pronounced Kay-lee. The name means a community sing and dance, or party. In this part of Cape Breton Island, there are lots of fiddle players and parties that last late into the night.

We found MacLeod’s Campground with no trouble, and discovered it is right on the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with a beautiful private beach, and lots of terrific tent campsites near the beach. We remembered our tent-camping days, and thought what a great place this would have been for that kind of camping. Although our motor home campsite is a long way from the beach, on a hill, we have a great view of the Bay. The sunset and moonrise out here are beautiful. There are large grassy fields where Wicket can run his “Crazy Ivans” off his leash without disturbing anyone.

Attached is a picture of the beach. Instead of shells, the beach has beautiful lava rocks polished by the surf in shades of rose, blue, and black.

This morning Pumpkin gave us a scare. We couldn’t find her anywhere in the motor home. We searched high and low, and at last it seemed that the only possible hiding place was under and behind the dashboard. After about an hour of searching, sure enough, she climbed out from under the dashboard on the driver’s side. As they say in government, this will require a two-pronged approach for a solution. First: to plug up the under-dashboard spaces with pool noodle pieces. Second: to create a new hiding place that is easy for Pumpkin to use, and hard for Wicket to access. He sometimes plays too rough with her. Although he never hurts her, he is a bother, and when she gets tired of it, she is reluctant to give him the swat he deserves. Puppy training is a challenge.

We spent the day touring the countryside east of Annapolis Royal, taking little back roads out to small communities on the Bay of Fundy coast. Driving through the Annapolis Valley, we felt as if we were in the Shire, with small, neat farmhouses surrounded by well-tended fields and pastures. We never saw any extravagant houses, only modest dwellings, but all of them very well kept. We had seen the same uniformly well-kept but modest homes in the New Brunswick towns as well, with neatly trimmed lawns and shrubbery around even the plainest houses. We were struck by the difference between this place and the US, where housing varies from mansions to slums, and both the finest and worst neighborhoods often lack the sense of community that was so obvious here.

Along the coast, we found a beautiful little village named Cottage Cove where residents gather in a public park on the Bay of Fundy shore for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. We also found Margaretsville, where civic groups offered ice cream and sold souvenirs to visitors on the wharf. Talking to local residents, we learned that although the sales tax is very high (about 13%), businesses get rebates on the sales taxes they pay for business-related expenses, and the entire population has publicly funded health insurance. Had we needed to visit one of their hospitals, which seemed likely for a while, we were told our charges would probably have been just a few dollars. It really seemed as if we might find ourselves in line behind Bilbo Baggins at the market.

We’ve seen no police cars, and traffic has been light. Gas prices are very high, working out to around $6.00 per gallon, though sold by the litre. Many of the roads are very rough, owing primarily to the frost heaving every winter that requires extensive maintenance. Almost everywhere we’ve been, there were stretches of road construction, but the roads are otherwise pretty good. We’ve had some trouble adjusting to the mileage and speed limits in kilometers, but have increasingly gotten used to multiplying km/h by 0.6 to estimate mph.

Returning to the campground tonight, we packed up for an early departure tomorrow, with a long drive to Cape Breton ahead.

Attached are a couple of pictures of the Bay of Fundy coast.

This was the best day of our trip so far. The weather was beautiful, and Steve was feeling so much better that we decided not to spend the afternoon with doctors. He had slept well, and had no fever.

We left the campground early to drive around 25 miles to the ferry. The route was well marked, which we especially appreciate, driving a long rig that can’t back up and requires a huge circle to turn around. We waited in a line of RV’s to board, then had fun driving down a ramp onto a lower deck of the ferry, and squeezing the rig between a row of other RV’s and the wall of the central stairwell to the upper passenger decks. We made it fine, and even had room between our rig and the one beside it to open the door and get out easily.

We had to leave Wicket and Pumpkin in the motorhome, but they seemed to manage the ride very well. We spent the trip on the upper decks, where there were lounges, snack bars, and open outer decks where we could enjoy the passage outside.

The ferry trip was about 3 hours, and it was great to be out on the water. We joined a group watching for whales, including the Right Whales that breed off the coast of Georgia but travel all the way up here to live and feed in the Bay of Fundy. There are only about 350 of them left in the world. We didn’t see any whales, but did see some porpoises.

The Bay crossing was about 45 miles, and we docked at Digby, on the north side of the west end of Nova Scotia. We had about a half hour’s drive to our campground (Parkers Cove), which is unbelievably beautiful, a broad stretch of grassy lawn with a 180 degree view of the bay, all the way to the New Brunswick Mountains on the far horizon, and only about half a dozen other camper sites occupied. The campground is next to a little fishing village. There are several lobster boats that rest on cradles beneath them on the bay bottom twice a day when the tide is out.

The motor home is parked facing the bay – about 50 from a cliff to the rocky shoreline. Wicket even had some open grass where he could run “Crazy Ivans,” his flat-out run in wide figure-eights around us, making close passes beside us at full speed. Most campgrounds are very strict about keeping dogs on a leash, so it’s great to find a place where he can run.

After we set up camp, we explored the town of Annapolis Royal, stocked up on supplies, and toured the power plant that makes power from the tides in the Bay of Fundy. The tides here rise as much as 40 feet, turning about every 6 hours, as the ocean tide pushes the water up into the narrow neck at the back of the bay. The ferry tour guide explained that it takes the water about 6 hours to flow back out of the bay, where it meets the ocean tides that give it another shove back up the bay, much like pushing a child on a swing. There are wide dry stretches of shoreline when the tide is out that remind us of Lake Hartwell with no rain.

We had dinner at a little pub in Annapolis Royal, and came back to enjoy a beautiful sunset and a new moon rise over the bay.

Attached is a picture of the campsite and the sunset.

We had planned to leave at 8:00 a.m., and by golly it was exactly 8:00 when we got on the road. This is not always true for us. It seems that everything takes longer than we expect, and if anything can go wrong, it will do it when we are trying to break camp and make a drive schedule. Same as going to work: when you absolutely have to leave by 7:30 to get to a meeting, the dog will not pee, and the cat has thrown up on your shoes.

We had mapped a route for today’s drive to New Brunswick, but comparing our plan to the GPS suggested route, we decided to take the low road by the river rather than the high road that might have some challenging mountain passes. It was a good decision. We made it to New Brunswick about 5:15 p.m., which was 6:15 Atlantic time, and we were both really tired.

Steve is still feeling very sick, and we called Blue Cross this evening to find a hospital up here in their network where he can be seen by a doctor. They have several. We will go to the hospital in Digby tomorrow afternoon when we get off the ferry. It’s a bit scary to need medical care this far from home, and having good health insurance is very reassuring.

Starting last night, Margaret felt like she was catching Steve’s cold, and the forecast was for rain and some severe thunderstorms, so we just stayed at the motorhome. Steve worked on our blog draft while Margaret took inventory of the stuff we might have to declare at the Canada border. We also put together all the insurance and animal vaccination papers, hoping to make the crossing easy and brief, and did some clean-up. A day of campground people-watching and listening to music is a really nice interlude.

There are remote campsites here across the lake that can only be reached by boat. That would be good camping with the right equipment and a sailboat to bring along. We saw some families loading up powerboats with provisions and towing canoes to their campsites.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today, we slept late, hoping that Steve would feel better after some rest.

The campground is quite “rustic” – the bathhouse’s electrical system consists of orange extension cords stapled to the walls. The showers are on timers – 5 minutes hot water for a quarter, but you can have all the cold water you want. We saw coin-operated showers out west, but this is the first time we’ve seen them around here.

Since a cold front with rain and storms is forecast for Thursday, we decided to drive down to the White Mountains today. We took a toll road (the “Auto Road”) to the top of Mount Washington (and the Mount Washington State Park) – about 7 miles long with an average grade of 12%. On the way up, we saw a small black bear crossing the road. At about 3,000 ft. elevation, the trees became stunted – gnarled conifers averaging about 3 ft. high.. According to a CD tour given to us at the start, some are over 100 years old. At about 4,500 feet, we reached the tree line. From there to the top, the mountain is just rocks covered with lichen interspersed with moss and grasses growing in gravelly soil.

At the top we saw the Tip Top House – a hostel built in 1853 consisting of a dining/sitting room, a bedroom with 9 curtained shelves stacked 3 high for sleeping – like Pullman berths. The berths did not appear to be over 6 feet long. The fee at that time was $4 per night but it amounted to a month’s wages for most folks.

At the weather station, we saw the summit forecast for tonight – low in the low 40s with winds becoming 35 to 50 mph. The highest recorded wind was around 230 mph in the 1930s. We saw the building John told us about that is chained to the ground so it won’t blow away. While we were there, the weather was pretty mild – alternating sun and fog with 15 – 20 mph winds and temperature around 55.

Wicket went with us and enjoyed his day out of kennel. We have had to leave him in the motor home for all of our previous excursions. When he goes along, he never fails to generate smiles from passers-by.

We saw many people who had hiked up the mountain. Our friend Sally Brooking probably could (or has) run up. (Have you, Sal?) The Acura required 1st gear both up and down.

We took a scenic drive back to the campground, where we fixed some left-over spaghetti and salad. Canada is picky about what food you can bring in so we are tying to empty our larder of fresh meat and vegetables.

The other campers here seem to mostly be local North Country folks. At dusk (around 9:30 pm), there are 8-10 swimmers in the lake, both children and adults. The air temperature is 63 degrees and the water temperature can’t be much higher.

Three pictures of Mount Washington follow – the stunted growth below the tree line, the rocky surface above the tree line, and a view from the summit:

Internet access is really not reliable on the road. Last night we put together the text and pictures for the blog for the last three days, expecting to send them out this morning before a mid-morning departure. As it turned out, Steve worked on sending the posts until about 10:15, and we barely made our check-out time of 11:00 a.m. The signal strength of the campground network was weak, so that was most likely the problem. Do not worry about us if there are long gaps between our posts. We will not have Internet access again until July 5, and after that not until July 11. And that assumes we will actually be able to connect.

Tonight we are camped at Umbagog (pronounced Uhm-BAY-gog) Lake State Park in Errol, in extreme northeast New Hampshire on the Maine border. The campground is fairly primitive, but the lake is beautiful. A spectacular sunset is just now finishing, and shading the lake pink and purple. We hope to find a way to get out on the lake in a canoe or something while we’re here. We grilled some salmon for dinner, and are enjoying the evening and the quiet of a small campground.

The White Mountains are just south of us, and the tallest peak is Mt. Washington, at 6,288 feet, just a bit shorter in elevation than Mount Mitchell near Asheville in North Carolina. Our friend John Hamerslaugh says that Mt.. Washington has a concrete block weather station and a building that is held down by chains like mooring tackle, to keep it from blowing away in 200 mph winds.

We will be staying here for three nights, and hope to make a trip up to the top of Mt. Washington while we’re here, if the weather permits. We took PoohDog to the top of Mt. Mitchell years ago, and thought Wicket would enjoy a trip like that. He will certainly appreciate getting to go along, rather than be left in the motorhome.

Steve still feels pretty bad with his cold, and we are hoping that several days rest here with limited travel will help him feel better again. Today’s trip from Vermont was only about 160 miles, but it took about six hours driving over some terrible roads. At one point, we went under a 13 ft. bridge with our 12 ft. 10 in. overall height – a real white-knuckler – on an alternate route intended to avoid a 12 ft. bridge on the main road. Steve got out to watch the clearance while Margaret drove under the bridge and listened for scraping noises. (We made it fine.) The two-lane road was worse than I-10, like a washboard, and went up and down some very steep grades where the motorhome struggled to hold 30 mph uphill at 3000 rpm, or a safe slow speed down 6% grades. For a while, the road ran beside a whitewater river called Androscoggin fed by the waters of Umbagog Lake, so the view was great.

We are out in the boonies for sure. We can barely pick up some Canadian TV stations (in French!) with our antenna, but no high-def., and no PBS. Margaret has to do with out her nightly NewsHour fix. We can, however, receive an NPR station with some static. The nearest cell phone access is about 40 miles to the west.

There are many Aspen trees in the campground – at about 1,200 feet elevation. We are not used to seeing Aspens below 8,000 feet.

The little town of Errol, NH has the most amazing store. It occupies 1 of the three blocks in town and is a log structure on three levels. They sell: gas, groceries, hardware, all terrain vehicles, wood stoves, bush-hogs, outboard motors, guns and ammunition, clothes, fishing gear, camping gear, lumber, a Subway, and we don’t know what else. The hardware section rivals an ACE and the camping gear is nearly an REI. The fishing gear department must be 1,500 square feet.

3 pictures follow - one of the Vermont countryside and two of sunset views from our campsite.

Today we went for a cruise of the shoreline of Lake Champlain on the "Sprirt of Ethan Allen," a 140 foot boat (a motor vessel, not a sailboat). The boat had three decks, and a deli/bar, and provided a narrated tour of the lake shore at Burlington, VT. It was nice to be out on the water, and we got a good view of the city and some education about the lake's history. From the water, the views of the Adirondack mountains on the New York side and the Green Mountains of Vermont were really beautiful.

In the evening we met John and Joyce Hamerslaugh for a wonderful dinner and a walk through downtown Burlington. The town's main street, closed to auto traffic, is a great gathering place, full of people walking, shopping and having dinner in restaurants with tables out in the street. We have been so impressed with Vermont's civic responsibility, for example, keeping the landscape free of unsightly advertising, and making recycling a priority with easily accessible collection facilities. We learned on the cruise that the tallest building in Burlington is only 11 stories high, to protect the beauty of the skyline and the surrounding mountains. We also learned, however, that the city gave that building's developer a variance to exceed the city's building height limit by 2 stories in return for the developer's commitment to build affordable housing nearby. But, like anywhere else, things sometimes go wrong. The 11 story building was built, but the affordable housing wasn't. The developer paid a fine, but townspeople are still grumbling about the extra 2 stories that they feel spoils the view.

Tomorrow we are off to New Hampshire and then to Nova Scotia. It will be interesting to be in Canada for the Fourth of July. We will send more posts to the blog when we come back into Maine.

At one of our gas stops today we checked mileage, and found we had gotten 9 mpg from Pittsburgh, PA to Albany, NY. Most of that driving was without hills, and we know we’ve gotten lower mpg in West Virginia and in some of the driving through the Adirondacks today. However, we were impressed that the motor home is getting about the same mileage we got with the Expedition pulling the trailer on the trip to the west coast.

We had a long day today, about 360 miles from Niagara Falls via Albany, NY to South Hero, Vermont on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. The route was longer than the crow flies, but we couldn’t cross the Adirondacks on back roads with the motor home. We had a toll road all the way across New York State, and the highway from Albany north went through the public/private Adirondack Park, so we enjoyed a beautiful drive with limited access, no advertising, and many rest areas. The scenery was wonderful – beautiful vistas of mountains and valleys, and occasionally lakes. It was like being on the set of On Golden Pond or Dirty Dancing.

With a big rig, there are always adventures. Looking for a Wal-Mart (pharmacy with a big parking lot for a motor home), we stumbled into Saratoga, and it was only when we saw the Horse Crossing signs, and the racetrack just beside the road, that we realized where we were. We were looking for some cold medicine for Steve, who has caught the epizudics (what Margaret’s father used to call it) somewhere along the way. Our GPS completely failed us, directing us through Saratoga and expecting us to find the Wal-Mart in a practice track at the Saratoga racetrack.

Eventually, from a "The Next Exit" book we also carry, we figured out that the Wal-Mart was on the opposite side of the interstate. It was a reminder that, as good as electronics can be, a sailor should always take sightings with a sextant and keep a dead reckoning log, and not rely on a GPS, and especially not on a Wal-Mart. We got the cold medicine at a truck stop.

We passed an exit to Lake Placid, where the US Olympic Team keeps a training facility. The Lake Placid Olympics seem like just yesterday, but they were in 1980.

Our route took us north to Plattsburgh, NY, where we caught a ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont. It was fun to squeeze the motor home, towing the Acura, into the narrow lane on the ferry.

The ride was just about 12 minutes, and in another 10 minutes we found the Apple Island campground, which is our home for tonight and tomorrow night. Along the way, we talked by phone with a friend from Buccaneer sailing, John Hamerslaugh, who lives in Montpelier,VT, and we arranged to have dinner with him and his wife tomorrow night.

One of the features of our motor home is a mechanism that allows the living area to expand by about three feet with a motorized slide on the driver’s side of the motor home just behind the driver’s seat. Unfortunately, the driver’s seat partially blocks the movement of the slide, so it’s necessary to pull the driver’s seat all the way forward and vertical before letting the slide out. Margaret forgot to do this today, and broke off some wood trim that borders the edge of the slide as it passed the back of the driver’s seat. As bad as he felt, Steve repaired the broken woodwork, filling some of the screw holes with epoxy putty that is curing overnight for reinstallation tomorrow. Margaret helped, and was contrite. Part of traveling is handling unexpected problems on the road, but we really try hard to avoid bringing them on ourselves.

It’s raining hard tonight, and we hope to have a break in the weather tomorrow to enjoy Lake Champlain. Wish we could send this rain to Hartwell!

Pictures of the road through the Adirondacks and of the motor home on the ferry to Vermont follows:

Today was a short travel day from Grand Island, NY (Niagara Falls area) to Cayuga State Park on Lake Cayuga, east of Seneca Falls, NY.

Lake Cayuga and Seneca Lake are among the “Finger Lakes” of New York. They are both about 40 miles long (north to south) and about 2 miles wide. They are separated by a strip of land about 6 miles wide. There are 12 wineries on the western shore of Lake Cayuga.

After we parked the motor home in the state park, we drove down the western shore of Lake Cayuga with the Acura and stopped at three wineries for tasting – Lakeshore, Goose Watch, and Buttonwood. We only tasted one wine at Goose Watch because it was so crowded with tour buses. Some of the tasters seemed very “experienced” that day and the few staff were overwhelmed.. The tasting experience cost $1 to $2 per person and involved 6 – 8 sips of different wines. Although the tastes poured are very small, they add up quickly, and it is interesting how quickly one can get tipsy from a few sips of wine at two or three tastings.

Steve found the white wines pretty good but the red wines seemed a little “rough.” Understand that Steve knows little about what wine should taste like. We liked several of the wines, but were interested to discover at dinner later in the motor home that an Oregon Cloudline Pinot Noir we’ve enjoyed recently was much better than anything we’d tasted during the afternoon.

We returned to the campsite by a route along the shore of Seneca Lake, and stopped to take some pictures of the lake and of some wildflowers we wanted to identify. Along the way, we enjoyed seeing more of the huge weeping willow trees that grow here, and some interesting farm houses that have a New England look very different from southern farm houses: high pitched roofs, and a gothic shape, but without the gingerbread.

As extravagant as this kind of traveling seems, with gas prices so high, it is really wonderful to see the country up close, and meet the people. When we think of what we could be spending on airfares and hotels, it sure seems good to come home to our own moveable place with the dog and the cat and a candle on the dinner table.

News Flash - The blog entry for Wednesday, June 24 was incorrect. It was actually Wednesday, June 25.

This morning we ran some errands, then went to the Robert Moses Power Plant to learn about how the New York Power Company uses the Niagara River to generate power. There was a self-guided tour that was interesting and informative, with some educational exhibits about how electrical power is generated and used. The exhibits were interactive, and had us pedaling a bicycle or moving magnets to see how electric power is generated or used. We got a laugh out of the fact that several of the exhibits didn’t work because of a burned-out light bulb or other low-tech problem. As usual, budget cuts have apparently hit the PR function of the power plant especially hard. The guy at the entry desk was very helpful, though, and gave us some good maps and information for the rest of the day.

We drove north to the little town of Lewiston, north and downriver of the Falls, where we had a good lunch at a little riverside bar where the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours depart for a very wet and wild ride though the Whirlpool turn on the river. While we enjoyed lunch on the deck, we watched a busload of Asian tourists deck themselves in yellow foulies and orange life jackets for an E-ticket ride, and another group of drenched tourists return.

From Lewiston we drove the scenic route along the shore of Lake Ontario, stopping at a state park to see the lake, and on to the 30 Mile Point Lighthouse, one of a long string of lighthouses that mark the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario near the entrance from the St. Lawrence River. It was great to drive through the countryside and see the huge old trees, especially the giant weeping willow trees, the small villages, farms and vineyards along the way. Surely the best way to get beyond the stereotypes of other states and regions is to drive through their heartlands and see the homes and businesses of the people who live there.

We stopped at a state park along the way to look at the lake. Lake Ontario was shrouded in haze or fog today, and didn’t give us any great views of a distant horizon. The beach was made of small pebbles in sand, and while we were there, the wind was calm and the water flat.

After a much longer drive than we expected, we reached the lighthouse, and took some pictures. The lighthouse now has an automatic light, and is no longer tended by a keeper, but most of the original buildings are still there. On the way back, we took a different route to cross the old Erie Canal at the town of Lockport. For all its history, the canal is now apparently just a river of very consistent width without a lot of traffic.

We leave tomorrow for Seneca Falls, NY, in the Finger Lakes Region, on the way to Vermont.

A picture of the lighthouse follows.

It had rained during the night, and was still drizzling when we woke up, so we took our time, much of it spent trying to figure out why the local Internet server was blocking our attempts to post to the blog. In the afternoon, we set off for Canada.

By mistake, we left the maps in the motorhome, but we figured we could just follow highway signs to the Canadian side of the falls. Not so simple. The best way to the Canadian falls is not well marked on the highway, so we finally crossed the border several miles down-river at the I-190 crossing. As it turned out, our route from there took us along the river where we got a good view of the big power plant on the US side, and then found an “Aero Car” (cable car) to ride across the river at the Whirlpool.

The Whirlpool is a large round bulge carved by the river into the comparatively soft bank where the river makes a sharp right bend. It works like a traffic circle where you miss your turn. The river water flows into the circle and all the way around it counter-clockwise, passes its entry point, and then flows out to the right. The guide on the Aero Car ride told us that at night the river flow is reduced for power generation, and the lesser flow causes the whirlpool rotation to change to clockwise. This change has the effect of flushing any collected debris out of the whirlpool and on downstream. We could have learned more about the whirlpool, but our guide, Nicole, read her script poorly over a crummy PA system, and the river roar mostly drowned her out. You are therefore not subject to a longer lecture about the Whirlpool, so there is a good side to everything.

Following the road along the river, we came to a little currency exchange office advertising an ATM. We stopped to get some Canadian cash, and encountered a Mr. Brennen Darrell Hope, proprietor and seller of ice cream and various combination discount tickets for attractions at the Falls. Mr. Hope is a very congenial man with whom you will never have to say anything at all to keep a conversation going. He told us proudly that after many days of just breaking even, he had finally made $50 yesterday, and that he is working hard to make his entire year’s income in the short summer tourist season. He was red-faced and sweating, both from working hard and from a faulty air conditioning system. He had to re-fill the ATM machine for us to get our cash, which extended our visit with him. By the time we left, which was difficult to accomplish and still be courteous, Margaret felt so sorry for him she was thinking of just handing him the cash. If you ever need some good deals on tickets to Niagara Falls attractions, consider giving him your business at www.niagarafalls101.com. He chased us out to our car to be sure to give us his card and website. Based on our experience, the package prices he offers really are good deals, better than the deals we got with the same attractions a la carte.

Just a bit farther down the River Road, we came to the Falls, and sure enough, the view from the Canadian side was spectacular. Since the view is all spread out along a mostly straight road, with most of the Falls on the U.S. bank, there is a long riverwalk with lots of restaurants and shops, all directly across from the Falls. We found a parking place, and joined the flow of tourists, squeezing into a vacant space on the overlook rail where we could take pictures and gawk at the falls.

We went to a heavily advertised attraction called “Niagara’s Fury – The Creation of the Falls”. Cost was $17.00 each. A wad of people at a time filed into a room with a big screen on one wall and a very impressive sound system. A 8-minute animated film was eventually shown (after we stood in the room for about 15 minutes because of technical issues) about a beaver writing a research paper about the falls. It seems that a book fell on the beaver and knocked him out. In his unconscious state, he went back in time to before the falls existed. A snowy owl told him stuff about the falls and they met wooly mastodons playing hockey and a polar bear. Then he woke up and wrote his paper very quickly. The screen resolution was very high definition. Then after another wait, we filed into a room with a circular screen. Wind blew in the room and the floor shook. There was snow, rain, and fog. We got splashed. There were pictures on the screen of ice and falling water. Then there were aerial videos of the falls. We don’t really know what it all meant and can’t recommend it.

We had an early dinner at the Edgewater Grill and Tap on the river. Our table on the balcony had a great view of the falls. From time to time, mist from the falls would drift onto us. The food (a grilled chicken salad and a chicken wrap sandwich) was quite good and the portions were generous. With margaritas, the meal cost $48 – well worth it considering the view.

When we returned to the USA over the Rainbow Bridge, a Border Patrol lady took our passports and asked us about our citizenship. We confirmed that we were US citizens. We were then asked where we were coming from. Steve feared that it must be a trick question but answered “Canada.” After we declared that we had not purchased anything in Canada, the lady seemed satisfied and let us back in.

The following picture is of the Canadian Falls from the Canadian side.

We got an early start, driving north to Erie, PA where we could see Lake Erie from the highway, and across the west end of New York to Buffalo. The parts of Buffalo that we saw were mostly quite ugly - old and industrial. But the courthouse with its huge clock tower, and several churches with tall spires, had good bones, and would probably be beautiful with some sand-blasting or pressure-washing.

Our campground is on Grand Island, which sits in the middle of the Niagara River just a few miles south of (and above) the falls. It’s a bit disorienting to navigate around a river that flows north.

With most of the afternoon free, and the weather beautiful, we went to see the American Falls. On the way, we stopped at a river overlook where the strong northbound current fought with a 20-knot north wind to build very rough chop on the water. We watched a powerboat struggling against the headwind and drifting sideways.

The falls are truly amazing. The river flowing to the falls runs at what appears to be 15 to 20 mph in big rapids. Then, suddenly, the river disappears into a cloud of mist. At the edge of the falls, the ground trembles slightly from the impact of the water below and the roar is palpable.

After viewing the falls from several locations above, we took an elevator down to the base for a ride on one of the Maid of the Mist boats. We were issued blue plastic ponchos to keep us not so wet. The falls are at least doubly awesome from below. The boat took us up the river along the base of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls to the center of the base of the Canadian Horseshoe falls. There, the river was very rough, the wind was gusting, and the air was dense with mist. We could see the green water coming over the top but nothing below 150 feet or so. There was too much spray to take a picture at the base of Horseshoe Falls. Below is a picture of the American Falls from the boat.

Apparently, we bought the lottery ticket a day too late – not a single number on our ticket was drawn, not even a seven.

Two pictures follow – both taken of the American Falls from the Maid of the Mist boat.

Another travel day, this one almost 400 miles through the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia into Pennsylvania. Although there were no really significant mountain passages, we struggled all day with uphill grades where we could not maintain minimum speeds and downhill grades where we had to hold the motorhome back. A big part of driving this rig is managing inertia.

West Virginia is the home of two great whitewater rivers, the New River and the Gauley River. Lots of people come here to raft down the rivers on guided tours. Paul Jennings, we thought about you and your stories about raft trips up here.

We stopped at a visitor center with an overlook of the New River Bridge, advertised as the longest arch bridge in the northern hemisphere. The bridge is a beautiful design that we saw repeated in several smaller spans as we drove on through West Virginia. (The bridge builds up a patina of rust that actually helps protect it from more damaging rust in the structure. It is as tall as the Washington Monument plus twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. Coal mine tunnels had undermined the ground where the base footings were built, so the engineers developed some special concrete footings for the bridge arch.

Steve drove most of the way, but Margaret drove through Pittsburgh, and on the north side we encountered a great deal of road construction with very narrow lanes. Much of the way there was a barrier at the right edge of the road with no shoulder, and a median wall on the left side of the left lane. We had to thread our way through the narrow lanes with big trucks passing. For future runs through big cities, we will use the Internet to try to find road construction advisories and alternate routes.

We bought a Powerball lottery ticket with 7 as the Powerball number -drawing for $61 million to occur tomorrow night. What shall we do with all that money??

We arrived at the Bear Run Campground in Portersville, PA in late afternoon, and will travel to Niagara Falls tomorrow.

Picture of Wicket at the bridge overlook follows:

Hello all,

Our first day on the road was full of lucky sevens – a good omen for the trip, we think.

Leaving Hartwell, we took GA Hwy 77 to pick up I-85 at Exit 177.

After taking I-85 to Charlotte, we turned onto I-77 North, and drove through Statesville, NC to the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the skinny south-western tip of Virginia. The motor home handled the drive through the rolling piedmont without much trouble, but the rise to 3,500 ft. across the Virginia state line was a challenge. The engine temp gauge stayed on the cool side of center the whole way, but we stayed with the big trucks in an extra right lane for under-50 speeds for about 10 miles. There were times we were making only 30 mph up the steepest grades.

The views, however, were beautiful. Broad valleys with small farms nestled in thick hardwood forest. There were no billboards in sight, just sweeping views of mountains, valleys and a good road. If not for the cell towers, it would have seemed completely unspoiled. Some day we hope Georgia will outlaw the TOPLESS billboards that welcome travelers to Hart County.

Strangely, I-77 North merged with I-81 South just north of the Virginia line. The two routes cross in an X and briefly merge in a sort of do-si-do before going their separate ways. While the two highways were merged, I-77 borrowed exit numbers from I-81, so we took Exit # 77 to the KOA campground in Wytheville, VA where we had reservations. (Thanks to our Virginian friend Spencer for educating us that Wytheville is pronounced Withville.) At the KOA we were assigned camping site # 77, a pull-through site where we did not need to un-hook the Acura and can get a simple and early start in the morning. After our first fill-up, we found that we obtained 7.4 mpg today.

As soon as we can buy a lottery ticket, we will play some sevens!

It’s wonderfully cooler here, only about 300 miles north. The high was around 79 degrees, and the low tonight is forecast to be 53.

Not much excitement to report yet, but when you’re just trying to make time going north, that’s exactly what you want – no excitement.

Hi friends and family,

In this blog, we will share the story of our RV trip to New England and Canada in the summer of 2008.

We are traveling with two young animals.  Pumpkin is a girl cat about 1 year old and Wicket is a boy dog - a 7 month old Shih Tzu.  They recently joined us after our two elderly animals (a fourteen year old cat - Spice and a 15 year old dog - Bogart) died last summer and fall.

We are traveling in a 2002 Southwind 32VS (by Fleetwood) motor home that we recently purchased in early 2008.  We are towing a 2000 Acura 3.2 TL behind the motor home for transportation from campgrounds. 



Here are some pictures of the inside of our traveling box:

Dining Room - rear end of sofa in foreground:



Kitchen - Stove burners and sink under countertop covers:



Bedroom - queen width bed but double length:


Our plan for this trip is as follows:

June 23 - Leave Hartwell
Stop in Wytheville, VA for one night.
Stop in Potersville, PA for one night
3 nights in and around Niagara Falls, NY
1 night in the Finger Lakes region around Seneca Falls, NY
2 nights on Lake Champlain around Burlington, VT
3 nights in the mountains of New Hampshire near Errol, NH
9 nights in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada
5 nights in Bar Harbor, ME
5 nights on Cape Cod, MA
4 nights near Mystic, CT and Newport, RI
Stop in Abingdon, MD (north of Baltimore) for one night
2 nights in the Shenandoah Valley, VA
Stop in Statesville, NC for one night
July 31 - Return to Hartwell

Not counting side trips, the route is about 4,300 miles.

In most locations, we are supposed to have WiFi internet access and plan to post reports of our adventures to this blog.

We hope you enjoy reading about our travels.

Steve and Margaret