Nature’s Wonder & Trip Recap

Niagara Falls! Our final destination…we came, we saw, we are heading home.

Niagara Falls is absolutely amazing!

We purchased a Discovery Pass ($33 per person) which included the Trolley (good) which was nice to have someone else drive around and take a break from walking, the Discovery Center (good) – where we watched a 20 minute History Channel video, the Aquarium (ok) – small and not much to see, IMAX Theater (good) – watched a 40 minute movie, The Wind Cave (excellent) – rode elevator 175 ft.down down to experience the power of the falls and the coup de grace – Maiden of the Mist boat tour.
WOWZA! .. Is the best way I can sum it up, they get you right up in there. It was thrilling to get so darn close. This is a must do attraction!!!

Cave of the Wind

A person could easily do all the attractions in one day, however we decided on 1.5 days (2 nights). There isn’t a whole lot to do in the area after going to the falls, unless you like to gamble. I forgot to bring our passports. Damn! I thought about them, but forgot to get them ready beforehand. Then I rushed around Thursday night so we could leave a day earlier and totally spaced it out. It would have been nice to go into Canada but it certainly didn’t detract from the experience.

Note: One thing I noticed is this is a truly international phenomenon. There were a lot of Japanese and Eastern Indians …so much so… I looked it up on the Internet. For the Eastern Indians, quite a few others have asked the same question. The most popular answer seems to be that it is learned in school and its one of those must do when’s they visit our country or relatives visit.
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Heading Home!

Left the hotel at 7:15 this morning. We will be driving straight through so hope to be home before 9:00 tonight!!! We can’t wait to sleep in our own house, watch our own tv, lay on our own couch, cook our own food, hanging out with friends and family, etc.

It’s funny how we miss the mundane such as doing the laundry and mowing the grass.
(Paula – I know you would not agree with this!). LOL!

It’s been an enjoyable trip ….

We travelled 13 days, across 11states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont), went to Acadia National Park, crossed 4 Mountain Ranges (Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, White Mountains in New Hampshire, and Green Mountains in Vermont), conquered a couple of mountain peaks, hiked scenic trails, only camped 3 nights but discovered a lot of new places for our next trip. — and drove 3200 miles.
miles.

… and a lifetime of memories to be enjoyed! Until next time …

Goodbye Acadia

Goodby Acadia! Enjoyed the food, views, and hiking!

Momma slug and baby slug. I had to watch where I was walking because the path was rocky and had a lot of tree stumps. I happened to see this mushroom and slug.

Hiking along a carriage road near Jordon Pond

Cobblestone Bridge 1917

Sean and Shiloh taking a break for a photo op

hiking trail where I saw momma slug

Jordon Pond

Pretty Nridge I. Somesville, lovely blue sky day.

Echo Lake, Sean went swimming While I enjoyed the view

Hello New Hampshire

In Wisconsin we have deer crossings and in New Hampshire, its moose crossings. Check it out …

We decided to hit the road instead of staying another night in Maine and certainly glad we did. We started driving through the White Mountains and instantly fell in love with the area. We are definitely coming back to vacation here.

I now know the definitive answer to the question of mountains or beach … It’s mountains!! I love going on a beach vacation in the middle of winter, some tropical island or Florida :). But when it comes to mountains, I feel I’ve found my home. There is so much to see and do!

There is camping, great mountain hiking, lots of waterfalls, water activities. and covered bridges. Its our kind of place! We were trying to decide between camping or a motel. Town Hall in Conway, NH.

Drove a short way out of town towards Moose Brook State Park. Lo and behold …a bull moose crossed the road right in front of us. It was our sign to camp. So glad we did, weather was cool at night 32 degrees but warm during the day. We had a big roaring fire at night. Check out the size of these fire pits!!!

The next day we drive up Mount Washington. The highest wind speed in the world was recorded here – 231 miles per hour. We were very, very lucky because it was a clear blue sky both at the bottom and top of the mountain.

These pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. I will upload some others from my phone camera at a later date. We hiked down the mountain and then back up.

We didn’t know, but most people hike up the mountain in about 5 hours and them take a bus back down. The route is 500 ft. at the bottom to over 6200 ft. at the top. We took the auto road up – 8 miles.

This is the actual hiking path … A field of boulders marked by rock cairns to show the direction. You need to pick your way up and down over the many boulders. It was a lot harder than it looked when we decided to go for it … Our goal was a ~ 4 mile hike to a mountain lake we could see from the top. It took us 3 hours to go ~2 miles. Going down was a hell of a lot harder than going up…imagine that! I was so exhausted. Even the ‘mountain goat’ aka Sean, was tired. This was the most difficult hike we’ve ever done! Next time, we will hike up.

Btw — Shiloh rode in the backpack the whole trip.

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One of the many covered bridges in the area, I think there is over 25 of them within a 100 mile radius.

When leaving NH, we drive through Vermont Green Mountains. It’s a very pretty place to come back to again. The Green Mountain coffee was great!
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Staying at a Best Western Plus in Liverpool, NY tonight. Enjoyed the hot tub … We were a bit stiff from yesterday and sleeping on the ground. Tomorrow Niagara Fall!

Life is Good

Life is Good and Cool Moose … I will leave you all with a few of my favorite pics of Maine

One of the many harbors we saw.

Yummy Maine Lobster roll … I had four of these on this trip. Two were mini rolls.

Sean at the top of Flying Mountain.

View from the top!

The trail! It was a blast hiking these types of rocky trails.

Golden pond. Not really …. Very picturesque.

Nor’estern!

Chowdah, Lobstah and Haddock! I’m now speaking New England! … and have experienced all four! The first was the nor’eastern, it rained for almost 24 hours straight. Quite a monsoon. This was our first day at Acadia. Thank goodness we rented a Cottage in advance. There was no way we could have tent camped in this weather and survived. Instead, we were all snuggled up in our cozy little “Country Cottage”.

Side note: the news stated Labor Day traffic back to the cities of Hartford, Boston, and New York was backed up for hundred of miles. Can you imagine that? Not me! That’s why we plan our travel to avoid crowds & traffic whenever we can.

On Labor Day we drove through a small portion of Acadia National Park. Could not see a thing through the rain and fog, so went to Bar Harbor and walked around town, ate dinner. We were both tired and road weary so it was a lite dinner of Clam Chowder and oyster crackers. Sooooo good!

Also checked out the Atlantic Brewing Co and tried 4 (2oz) samplers of their beer.
Thunder Hole Ale was the winner. Lucky us, the full brew pub right down the road from our cottage.

Yesterday we spent the day hiking. We hiked the Gorham Mountain trail and a portion of the carriage roads around Jordan Pond. Good full day of hiking! It wasn’t real hot but very muggy and an overcast day but at least it wasn’t raining. We stopped into our local brewpub to re-energize after a long day!

I must be getting spoiled (yes) – don’t get me wrong, this is a beautiful place … Although I would not rate in in my top 10 of national parks. I think the east coasters need to see Wisconsin, or upper Michigan. ANP offers up excellent coastal views, pretty harbors, nice hiking trails, lovely white clapboard houses, and mansions. Otherwise, it’s woods and some big hills. I hope I don’t get flack for this statement.

Today is sunny! We are sitting on top Cadillac Mountain enjoying the gorgeous views.
Here’s a brief glimpse.

Gotta go now! My mountain goat spouse says to put away the electronics. Time for a bit of digital detox. Until later ….
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It’s now later. I take back some of my earlier comments on it being just woods….it is, but quite beautiful now the sun is shining. We did another great hike on the other side of the bay. Flying Mtn. Excellent harbor views, no crowds, and wonderful trail. I really like hiking on the gnarled tree roots and boulders! It makes the hike more challenging. Also, saw the sunset over Pretty Marsh, talk to some locals (one couple was the caretakers for Bartlett Island). The other couple was a local teacher and her husband was a lobsterman. I learned some interesting facts about the lobster industry and island lore.

Busy, busy day! Went up to star gaze at Cadillac Mtn. Saw the Milky Way which I haven’t seen this clearly in years. Finally stopped in town to get a lobster roll to go. Long fun filled day! Yeah for sunshine!!

Odds & Ends & Other Random Thoughts

Thank goodness for the iPass. Luckily I have one because of the work trips to Chicago. Do not leave home without it otherwise you will waste time at the toll booths — I bet we spend $40 in tolls, which isn’t a large amount of money, I’m more surprised there are so many.

Cicadas at Ravensburg state Park. They were so loud i couldn’t sleep. I was tempted to turn on my iPad in the middle of the night so i could record it — we’ve never heard anything quite like it before on any of our camping trips. It’s hard to explain because it wasn’t just the sound of crickets. It was more along the lines of a jungle full of insects.

Crossed the Delaware River — where Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York states meet —called the Delaware River Highlands Recreation Area.

Travelled through many states, I especially love the signs the state slogans …

Wisconsin – Stay Just a Little Bit Longer, America’s Dairyland

Illinois – Mile After Magnificent Mile

Indiana – Restart Your Engines

Ohio – So Much to Discover; Birthplace of Aviation, The Heart of It All

Pennsylvania – State of Independence, Memories Last a Lifetime

New York – I Love New York, The Empire State

Connecticut – Full of Surprises

New Hampshire – You’re Going to Love it Here

Massachusetts – Make It Yours, The Spirit of America

Maine – The Way Life Should Be, Vacationland

I think Maine has the best slogan. Although, upon entering New Hampshire we did see a travel sign ….

i also enjoyed the huge signs ‘NH Liquor Store Lottery Tickets’. I guess this is where the ticket pickers and lager lovers go for their fixes.

Stopped for gas in Newtown, Sandy Hook. The only reason I even mention it was because we noticed some signs with 12/14 and remembered this was where the school shootings took place. It did look like a typical New England town. Too bad we only knew the town existed because of the trade by played out on TV. I know will have a better memory of my limited view of your town.

Merging onto the Massachusetts turnpike – one big cluster fuck – and that’s putting it mildly. You would think with all the years of history and traffic congestion they could figure out a better system. Even with ez pass, we had to wait to get through and then wait again to merge — in the meantime those with tickets breezed right through. WTF?

Splurged on a Best Western Plus. Stayed in Haverville, MA. about 30 miles from Boston. We needed a jacuzzi after being in the car for two days. Plus a pool, pillow top beds, balcony, refrigerator, microwave, and breakfast!!! We made a trip to the super market and state run liquor store across the road. Great selection of food at the super market, not so great of a selection of beer at the liquor store. Sean was able to find some local beers, I choose Beck’s. Bought our first (I hope of many) lobster rolls. Yummmm!!!

This morning we went to Rye Harbor, NH and visited the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion Historic Site. It’s the former home of New Hampshire’s first royal governor, Benning Wentworth, who served in office from 1741 to 1767. The rambling 40-room mansion which overlooks Little Harbor, is one of the most outstanding homes remaining of the colonial era. Its stateliness and impressive interior and furnishings reflect aristocratic life in Portsmouth in the 1700s. We needed to wind around a neighborhood, so we saw a lot of New England styles homes. Gorgeous houses!

And ……..We walked on the same ground as George Washington who visited the governor!

Next up in the same area if the rich and famous (I tell ya’, their country club makes ours look like some lower end public course)…. Truly amazing views. We were only passing by on our way to Fort Stark State Park. Another piece of history, but only from the 1900’s. we walked around the old fort and enjoyed the views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Made a stop in Freeport Maine – home of LL Bean. Wow! it isn’t one store, its multiple stores – each one based on your interest. For example: a single store for camping & hiking, another one for fishing & hunting, a third for biking, kayaking, and canoeing, etc. We took turns shopping because we are finding New England in general isn’t a very dog friendly place. It was overwhelming, the best we each could do was to a sport shirt for me and a pullover for Sean.
There is a slew of outdoor stores in this town. It could be its own vacation destination.

So much to do, so little time. I’m having an extremely hard time staying focused on our ultimate goal of Acadia. So much history and things to look at, the old buildings, cemeteries, houses, shipyards, ocean …. The list goes on and on … My head is spinning trying to take it all in!

Spending the night at Boothbay Harbor established 1764. Midtown Motel – very quaint and clean! Had an excellent dinner if shrimp, scallops, and baked haddock.

Now time for bed cuz we are getting up early for another full fun filled day of exploring. Acadia, here we come!

Molly Maguires

This is our history lesson for today as we drive through Wilkes-Barre Luzerne County in coal mining hills of Pennsylvania. The Molly’s were an underground society (haha – no pun intended) of Irish/Irish American coal miners. They were seeking better wages and working conditions, then some Pinkerton guy – most likely paid off by the mining companies testified against them and a bunch of people were arrested and hung in 1887 ish. For more info, go to wikipedia.

Last night we stayed at Ravensburg State Park south of the Williamsport area. We pulled in around 6:00 pm and set up the tent. We both agreed it was much better having our own stuff and camping versus the fleabag motel from the night before. Side note: we calculated our hourly rate for our stay at $6/hr.

As luck or lack of….depending on how you look at things, there wasn’t any water because of a broken water main … So the ranger stopped by later in the evening and gave us our money back. So far, pretty cheap overnight accommodations.

Another very important note! Pennsylvania does not allow alcohol in any of the state parks! AND dogs are not welcomed in every park AND if they are, then only on specific dog sites AND you pay extra for them!!! Hmmm – maybe we will rethink our plans and go disperse camping instead. It certainly will not be any different from the park we stayed in last night. Btw – we drank some beers anyway! Come on – we’re from Wisconsin and on vacation!

Our driving goal for today is somewhere around Portland, Maine. The problem with car traveling and not having a specific designation in mind until Monday…is where to go? There are just so many places and so many things to do and see, it’s really hard to stay focused on a single destination. It’s our first time exploring this side of the country so everything is new and exciting.

We were thinking of driving north via Vermont to avoid the metropolis of Connecticut, but after some deliberation we decided to travel straight to Maine and enjoy our travels one state at a time.
Maybe we can hit the White Mountains of New York or the Green Mountains of Vermont on our drive home.

We are definitely coming back to Pennsylvania. I’m starting out list now:

Worlds End State Park

Ricketts Glen State Park

Jim Thorpe

Gettysburg

Lancaster County

Yippee – in New York State!

We’re Off!

Do we or don’t we? This was our dilemma on whether or not we wanted to get an early (or late) start depending on your viewpoint. My vote was to go after work on Thursday. Sean’s was to leave Friday morning. I was already in Chicago earlier in the day, so this did mean I had to turn around and go right back through the city. On the other hand, we would be going through Chicago at night so traffic would be minimal. We decided to go for it!

On the road…eazy smezy … Even though the ‘Da Bears’ were playing traffic wasn’t too bad. Our goal was to get to South Bend Indiana … Yep home of the Fighting Irish.

It was cool to see the Notre Dame tower, which I’ve been seeing on tv for years. I’ve always been a Notre Dame fan so this was exciting for me. We drove right through the campus area, so i was able to get a feel for the area. very pretty campus. We drove through downtown South Bend (small city) and stayed at a Motel 6 ( because pets stay for free) in Mishawaka.

Warning! Worse motel 6 ever! We got there about midnight because of the time change. I swear people were renting rooms by the hour. Sort of a seedy place, although the area was nice. Anyway I tore of the blankets, laid down the sleeping bag, grabbed my own pillows … And we crashed. Got up early to hit the road. We didn’t even take the time to grab coffee or eat. Even Shiloh had to wait for her kibbles…couldn’t get out of there fast enough! I guess this is what happens when we leave at the last moment. We thought it as funny though…all part of the travel experience. Lol!

Final destination today is Worlds End State Park in Pennsylvania. I hope we can find a place to camp tonight. We don’t have any reservations – again. Wish us luck – oh wait I think we picked some up in South Bend.