July 31, 2011

I am attempting to laboriously blog from my cell phone, as we have had no Internet service at the campgrounds where we've stayed, so please forgive my typos and lack of punctuation.

We left Cartersville on Wednesday evening to begin our Northeast tour. We hope to visit The Finger Lake Region and the Adirondacks in New York after Cleveland, Ohio. Then Acadia Park and Bar Harbor, Maine. Then we will head down the coast to Boston area and New York City.

We drove a few hours to a campground in Tennessee (Athens I75 Campground.) It was an unkempt place with knee-high grass outside our door and mostly permanent-type campers, but we had hookups (water,power, sewer, cable tv) and we could run our air so we were grateful for that. There was no one in the office when we arrived and no one there when we left, so we had no one to pay and no drop box etc. Poor way to run a business!

Friday was a good travel day though very hot when we stopped to walk Daisy and gas up (yikes!). Oh, and there was that fall I took when Chuck had to stop fast. I was making lunch and went flying and landed on my back Bruised both arms along with a cut, but lucky i didnt break something. Guess there are some benefits of ample padding!

I googled a campground for Thursday night and found Old I35 Campground in Jamestown KY. It was about six miles off 75 then a half mile down a dirt road which left our towed suv very dirty. The "campground" was, delightfully, in a wooded copse on the edge of a corn field. We were the only travelers there but there were a couple of permanent residents The lady who greeted us was very nice and later gave us fresh squash from her garden. Obviously, a farmer had decided to maximize the income from his land. We let daisy run in a mowed field after a supper of BLT's made with thick slices of Christians homegrown tomatoes.












The playground.....













Friday, July 29

We had a leisurely morning on Friday and didn't get on the road again until about 10 AM. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to shop for about an hour at the huge Tanger outlet at I 75.

We arrived at Punderson State park in Ohio at 4:30, no thanks to our GPS, which took us on the wrong 422 exit Our campsite, # 9 , was very sloped and Chuck struggled to get us level. A kind neighbor gave us a wood block that we added to our plastic blocks. When the front jack came down, it lifted the coach off the ground! This resulted in the tires actually being off the ground by a few inches. It looked and felt very odd and we still weren't level, which we knew could result in permanent refrigerator failure.

We decided we would cut our stay short. Punderson is a beautiful park, but the only decent site for a "big rig" is # 13.
To top it off, Chuck couldnt get a satellite signal through the in- motion unit, so he dragged out the manual dish. He worked til nearly dark before he gave up. He was greatful when I hooked Fox News up to the Bose. I said we could do without TV, but not Hunka!

Saturday, July 30

We left at about 9 AM to go to Chuck's cousin Barb's house for a lovely brunch and a great visit with many of Chuck's cousins and two amazing 96 and 90-something aunts, he had not seen for a long time. It was sad to say goodbye and we all promised to get together more often, hopefully at Redtop mountain state park.

After we returned to Punderson State Park, Shelene, my high school friend, and her husband Jim, arrived on their Harley for a visit. It was so nice to see them!

Later, we heard music across the lake at the Lodge and decided to drive over and check it out. It turned out to be a wedding in a tent, lakeside. The lodge was a picturesque Tudor style and the rock patio gave us a bird's- eye view of the wedding party and band, plus a gorgeous view of the lake at sunset. We struck up a conversation with a nice couple from Bainbridge who were there with their corgi dog, and ended up spending a couple of hours chatting with them.

July 31, 2011

We had a liesurely morning before packing up and heading Northeast to Geneva State Campground on Lake Erie.

We had our choice of beautiful campsites because it was a Sunday afternoon. Chuck unloaded the car and i went in search of the perfect site which was number 75. It is a heavily wooded site which was a surprise. Campsites near the ocean are sunny and treeless so we expected the same here.











Setting up was a breeze this time because it was level. We had just 30 amp power but no water, but our tank water lasted just fine. However, I was in clothes-washing withdrawal. :-). Chuck would tell you that I love to wash clothes every day, mostly just because Im excited to have a washer and dryer (all-in-one) in a camper!!!! ... but also because it's such a small thing that it holds only a few items.












We rode our bikes to the beach where we went for a nice walk and discovered a cove where boats were pulled up to the beach.
























When we came back we dressed for dinner and went into Geneva on the Lake. What a tacky little torist town that has changed little since I was young. The tiny lake- side cottages reminded us of scene from a 1940's movie.













But it is the town where Chuck proposed to me back in 1968. We were glad Piero's Italian restaurant was still operating We had yummy clam pasta and strolled awhile.












Geneva on the Lake is biker and old - car heaven with many Interesting sights to see! We walked down to the beach, then I challenged Chuck to a game of skeet ball in ome of the many arcades, because it's one of the few games I can beat him at. And I did!

After our walk down memory lane, we stopped at the beach to watch a firey sunset Back at the campsite we put Daisy in my bike basket and rode around the nearly- full campground, enjoying the cool evening air...relief from the unusually high temps. Nothing like the ambience of glowing campfires!

Monday, August 1

Took a long bike ride along a lakefront street where we saw many beautiful homes. We worked up a good sweat and appetite for lunch.

We spent the afternoon on the beach. I cant recall Lake Erie waters ever being so warm; 77 degrees! There is about a 10' wide area of smooth stones along the edge of the water which were difficult to navigate. I kept losing my balance, which made me feel ancient, when the waves hit, but once past the smooth rocks, it was nice and sandy.

Tuesday August 2, 2011

I-86 in New York very rough for about 20 miles. Scenery pretty though, on route to Taughannock State Park. Daisy is enjoying her water-filled cool bed under the dash.








Chuck enjoys driving approx 60' combined-motorhome and tow vehicle. Definitely a "man thing"!








......and i do a fair job as copilot/navigator using a gps on pc, one on a phone and a normal one. Sounds like over-kill, but if we make a wrong turn and get in a tough spot, we may have to Unhook the SUV to turn around On a couple of such occasions we drove 5+ miles to avoid that scenerio (GPS fault, not mine!)

We arrived at Pinetree Campground near Taughammock State Park(near Ithaca, Ny) at 4:30 pm What a nice surprise! Lovely park with shady and open spacious sites and scenic mountains in the background. Its only 83 degrees and breezy. Heavenly. We hear it is 95 in Atlanta. The owners, Sue and Richard are very nice and helpful. We hope the forcasted rain for tomorrow wont keep us from exploring the many waterfalls, gorges and wineries here! Cooked dinner and started a a load of laundry! Yea!

wed., August 3

Chuck cooked us a nice breakfast then we headed out to explore. Daisy was happy to be included!

We paid seven dollars to park at Buttermilk Falls State Park but were little disappointed to see that the Falls had very little water. We decided to hike to the top, but stopped just short of because the stairs were so steep that Daisy was having a hard time hopping up them. That's our story and we're sticking to it!

Then we drove to Robert E. Tremon State Park and walked to the falls there.  The path wound through charming little cabins snuggled deep in the trees.  The falls fell into a swimming area, complete with diving board and life guard.  What a pretty pool!

The trip up to the falls had worn Daisy out, lol, so we stopped for a few groceries at Wally World (yes, New York has rednecks) then returned "home" to cook dinner and crash.

It was an overcast, and sometimes drizzly day, but we didn't mind and were relieved to enjoy 72 degrees.  We hear it was 100 in Atlanta.

Note:  I went to the office this morning to use the campground's advertised internet access.  After I'd   worked for about 45 minutes,  they asked me to leave as they needed to use the connection.   That's a remote campground for you!

Friday, August 5th, 2011

We hated to leave the peaceful, country campground near Ithaca, where we stayed longer than we planned.  So we hit the road to Lake Placid, NY, home of two past winter olympics.  We took the scenic route, after checking it out on Google Earth to make sure it was ok for our rig.  The only bad part was weaving through downtown Lake Placid, a touristy town with lot's of traffic and a narrow streets.  (Sort of reminds you of Gatlinburg, TN.)   We arrived at the North Pole Campground, which was another great place with big, spacious, wooded campsites at 4 pm.   As "cruise director", a nickname I received from Tom Martin, I felt a little stress, wishing to always find  the best spots to stay and see.  I had succeeded again..yea!   We ended up staying five nights, there was so much to do and we liked it so well.  After we set up, we drove went to see the Ausable River that runs by the campground.  During dinner a crown fell out, so we hoped to find a dentist on Monday.

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

I put a roast in the crockpot while Chuck worked at assembling our birthday gifts to each other....an inflatable kayak.  We thought an inflatable would be great to store in the "basement" of the motorhome, just in case we came across a pretty body of water.  On previous trips we had taken our hard-shell tandem, but it was cumbersome to deal with on top of our SUV.

After some confusion about how to inflate it, it was finally firm as we thought necessary.  We strapped it on top of the SUV and drove it across the river access.   It felt quite different from our hard shell and both our backs hurt before our 3-hour paddle was through.  We plan to add some different seats and an electric pump with a guage.  With that said, the views were gorgeous and unlike any we had seen on the many rivers and lakes we have kayaked in Florida.

After dinner, we watched an HBO movie on my computer (I love hbogo.com)

Sunday, August 7th

We drove into Lake Placid to explore the town.  We had seafood pizza in a restaurant without outside dining overlooking pituresque Mirror Lake.  We stopped to view the ski slopes and couldn't imagine walking down them, let alone skiiing such steep mountain trails.  Of course, this is coming from "The Snowplow Queen", as dubbed by my family on our one ski trip together.

And another from our paddle yesterday......

August 9th, 2011 Lake Placid

Yesterday, we spent the whole morning trying to pay our bills online.  What a fiasco when passwords aren't working and we have spotty cell service.  In the afternoon we took a long walk and stopped to play miniature golf.  I was a couple of strokes up on Chuck until I took 7 to get through a windmill.  He won by 3 strokes.  He told me to be sure to mention the score.  I think he's still upset that I beat him at skiball. 

Today we went to a dentist who was nice to work me in to glue my crown back on.  Of course, it cost twice what Dr. Swanson would have charged back home.   Chuck had thrown the kayak in the SUV, so we grabbed some lunch then headed for Lake Placid, where we enjoyed paddling past the beautiful homes and boat houses,  some which were over 2000 square ft. alone!

After we deflated the kayak again (we're getting good at this now), we headed for the top of Whiteface Mountain via the Veteran's highway.  There was a hefty toll to drive to the top and then ride an elevator to the summit.  We were still wet from the kayak ride and it was 63 degrees and windy on top of the mountain.  I've taken our jackets everywhere, but forgot them today.  (Just like the time I carried them everywhere on outings off a cruise ship, but forgot them for the rain-forest tour....duh!).  We walked down a long tunnel through the mountain to the elevator.  The tunnel was 45 degrees.  We didn't spend much time on the mountain, but enjoyed the fabulous views from our car.

August 10th thru 17th

Wednesday August 10th, 2011

We thought we would never get out of campsite #86!  They should never have put a 40 foot camper on this site.  We had to drop the car, and thanks to a very kind man, he helped us push back bushes to make sure we weren't hitting a large branch.  Put some new scratches on the camper  , but Chuck thinks they will wax out.  We loved the campground, though, and hope to return again.

 

We stopped at a Walmart and ended up spending about 2 hours there stocking up and finding some "old People" kayak seats.  We finally settled on padded boat seats (more later).  Then we got off the highway to get gas and got stuck in construction, which was time-consuming and hard to navigate through.  We drove only 123 miles…oh well, before we stopped at what turned out to be a cruddy campground with a big puddle out our door.  The toothless attendant said we couldn't stay there if we didn't have a current rabies certificate for Daisy.  Fortunately, I found the receipt from her last vet visit that I had scanned into my computer.  Not surprising that August 10th was not our best day….it was the 2nd anniversary of the disastrous surgery that nearly killed me.

Thursday August, 12th

We left the ugly campground hoping to find a nice place to stay and go for a paddle to try out our new "old-people-seats" before the day's end.  The Vermont Mountain Region is beautiful and Rt. 2 winds along various rivers.  We saw numerous moose and elk-crossing signs, but one was special

 So you tell me!  If you see a moose are you going to brake, or just barrel on through it?!!

Some of the roads were very humpy-bumpy and even steeply banked, which made our top-heaviness evident.

We stopped at a tiny town called Danville.  It was just like a page out of the early 1900's.

When I went inside the general store, complete with snow shovels, I discovered it was also the post office and the craft store; a big yellow dog lying on the old scarred oak floors in the middle of the food aisle.

 It also had a lunch counter, so I texted Chuck, who was still in the RV, and told him to come inside and have a bite to eat.  I asked the proprietor what is a "grinder" (on the menu).  I was imagining ground beef or sausage, but he said it was a hoagie.  Chuck read the paper while we waited for our food and I chatted with a local couple a few seats down.

We pulled into Pleasant River Campground at about 3 PM, and it was a pleasant surprise.  The owners were very nice and they had a nice big spot for us in the trees.   And to our delight, they said they would take us and our kayak up the Alder River for $20.   Just what we were looking for!
The campground had lovely trails which we assume may be snowmobile trails, but forgot to ask.  Daisy enjoyed a nice walk after dinner.  We decided to stay there two nights.

Friday August 12th, 2011

At 11:30 the campground owner shuttled us up river about 7 miles.  We always feel just a little anxious when we're dropped off in the middle of nowhere, with spotty-at-best cell signal, no idea what this river will hold (and will our old-people-seats work out?).    At least we don't have to worry about alligators and poisonous snakes, like in Florida and South Georgia.  It was a cloudy day, 72 degrees and threatening rain (yes, I packed our jackets), so there was no one anywhere nearby, but here goes!  The Alder River turned out to be more swift and wider than any we had experienced.  There were even some mild rapids where we shouted "yahoo" as we had learned from the guide on the Nantahalia River years ago. 
There were also some shallow areas where we struggled to get over the rocks and chuck cracked his paddle pushing us off one area.  Fortunately, it held out for the balance of the trip.  Since then, he's JB-Welded it.  Even after stopping twice for a rest and once for lunch, it took only 3 hours and we were disappointed when we came to the turn in the river that would take us to the campground.  The old-people seats turned out to be just the ticket.  It was much easier to paddle sitting higher and the lumbar support kept our butts from going numb. 

When we returned to our campsite, we discovered new neighbors in a tent.  Yikes, they had a huge pit bull dog who wanted to eat Daisy, and we knew we'd have to let him have her if he escaped that leash he was lunging against.  Additionally, the five campers looked like mutants from the hills, and were scary even sans-dog.  The teenage girl was sitting at the picnic table as we approached, and she had to know her jeans were showing her whole naked backside!   We would have left the next day, even if we'd planned to stay longer.  That dog was truly vicious with his hair raised as he lunged at us.  When we were nearly out the door with daisy for a trail walk after dinner, we saw that monster with the pale yellow eyes come flying by our camper.  He was off his leash!!.  Thank goodness we hadn't left just a minute earlier.  Most campgrounds will not allow the large dog breeds with reputations for being dangerous.

Saturday, August 13th

We traveled more bumpy, curvy roads to Bar Harbor Maine.  We saw scores of antique stores all through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.   Hadley Pointe Campground, Bar Harbor, where we had reservations for five nights, turned out to be the least favorite of our sites.  All the campers circled around a big field where children and families played various games, which was a nice view.  Chuck pointed outside  and said "now, that's America".   We could not get level, so the campground greeter, Walt, suggested we pull out into further into the field, away from the shade trees.  

We regretted that we were taking up part of the play area (though there was plenty left) and apologized to the families next to us.  They said they didn't mind at all, and about 30 minutes later came bearing gifts….delicious candy cotton martinis.  We got all set up and went out to our lawn chairs with our Bose   and turned up the Buffet tunes (via Pandora Radio).   Turns out they have parrot heads in Maine, too!  They asked us to turn it up and later asked us to join them around their campfire.  We had so much fun learning the Maine vernacular such as cucca suckah, which is Maine-speak for poop sucker,  or the honey wagon that pumps out holding tanks. We got lot's of laughs over that one, trying to pronounce it.  We also learned a new phrase; "drier than a popcorn fawt" (fart).  We danced and sang and had a wonderful time, until Walt came by and told us to quiet down. 

Sunday, August 14th, 2011
Sadly our new friends left and we hugged and promised to try to get together again next summer.  We were tired and needed a break from sight-seeing, so I put some comfort food in the crock pot and washed three loads of clothes while Chuck removed and modified the screen door that wasn't closing properly.  Later we attempted to find the  to beach that was advertised to be a five minute walk.  After 15 minutes, we could see the water in the distance and turned back, as we weren't up for a long walk.
Monday August 15th

It was a dreary, mostly rainy day so we went for a long drive around Mt Desert Island.  We ate lobster rolls at a restaurant on the water and shopped around the busy Bar Harbor town for a bit.  Then we drove to toward Northeast Harbor and spotted Bear Island, where I had the most wonderful time last year.  Christian and Holly and the kids go every year and I got to join them on the private island for a very special vacation.  It felt a little sad to view it longingly from a distance of about 1700 feet.  In Northeast Harbor, we went to the Dockside Restaurant for a snack of their homemade onion rings (bad, bad, bad!).   When we returned to the camper, we took Daisy for a long walk.

Thursday, August 16th

We woke up to constant rain which lasted all day.  We didn't have "real" rain gear, only nylon, slightly rain-proof jackets, so we mostly stayed inside, played cards and drank bloody marys.

 Wednesday, August 17th

Finally, it was a gorgeous sunny day, so we (Daisy too) headed for Acadia Park.  We discovered that everyone in the Northeast had the same idea.   The traffic throughout the park was heavy.  At the visitor center we hoped to get a trail map so we could decide which trails to hike, but it would have taken 30 minutes in line to get one.  So we bought our park pass and played it by ear.  We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain to discover a traffic jam at the top.  We later heard that they closed it temporarily because of the heavy traffic. We walked all around the summit and saw breathtaking views of the ocean and ponds and a cruise ship in Bar Harbor. 

 It took some doing after that to find a parking spot at Thunder Hole, but it was worth it.  The crashing waves against the rocks are quite a sight to behold.   It took a few hours to complete the park loop, making various stops when we could find parking. 

 I was disappointed that we didn't get to hike a trail, though.  Back "home" for a rest then out for dinner at a good water-side restaurant where we dined on lobster at sunset.  We went for a long smokey walk back at the campground where the woods were thick with campfires.