Our slow trek through the northeast

We have never traveled much in the northeast part of the United States. So, during the first part of the month of May we will travel from Virginia through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Western Maine. We have never been to most of these states!

OUR TRAVEL GADGETS:
We travel with so many gadgets and we still struggle. We have 5 screens going when we travel!!

Our Garmen is made for RV's so it's supposed to notify us of low bridges, narrow roads, etc.  We have programmed it with our rig size/height/weight etc. Well, it didn't notify us of a very low bridge the other day. Then, on our way to Pennsylvania it kept giving us a warning about an upcoming area (on a major highway) that was restricted to 20 foot length vehicles. We never found out if that was accurate even after stopping at a truck stop and asking around. We altered our route. The Garmen gets cussed at a lot.... it just isn't what it was supposed to be. 

We also use Google Maps on my phone and we use the truck GPS. These two do not filter for low bridges etc. although I do have an app on my phone that I can scan for low bridges. And as a last resort, we have paper maps. 

The best gadget is our camera on the back of the trailer. It sure helps with knowing what is behind us, when we can change lanes, and even with backing the trailer. Another great addition is our Tire Minder for the trailer tires. It tells us the air pressure of each tire so we are alerted if one or more gets overheated or has a leak. Tom says this gives him great peace of mind because it will alert us BEFORE a possible blow out. 

Three of our 5 screens.

WHY ARE THE CAMPGROUNDS SO FULL??
I frequently read that until recently, it was easy to drive into a campground and book a night to stay. Not so today!! There are so many people camping in RV's these days, we have to make reservations.

Here is a list of types of RV'ers we have encountered:

1. Full-timers. Traveling for fun. Doing what we are doing. Going wherever we want to go. Retired with no home-base. No "home" to go home to.
2. Traveling for months at a time. Retired but maintain a home-base and return home every 2 to 6 months. 
3. Snowbirds. Retired. They move only about two times a year. South in the winter and North in the summer, usually to the same places each year.
4. Work campers. Kids are grown and they may or may not be retired. They love travel and work on the road at: campgrounds, national parks, state parks, resorts, seasonal jobs, etc.
5. Workers. Going where the job is and staying for months or years. (ie: pipeline workers, traveling nurses, oil workers, construction workers etc.)
6. Seasonal camping. They rent the campsite year-round and leave their RV's there. They go there for weekends and for vacations.
7. Family campers. Young families working from the road and traveling in order to give their kids a great experience. Kids are home schooled.
8. Vacationing. As always, people love to spend their vacations camping!
9. Affordable living. These folks live in RV's usually because it's what they can afford. They do not move their RV's. Their RV's are in various states of repair. Some are very nice while others are barely standing. 

During the summer months, most independently owned campgrounds in the northern half of the USA are full. During the winter, most campgrounds in the south are full. And we have run into many campgrounds that close during their off-seasons. Many campgrounds only have a small number of sites they keep open for us travelers! The rest are "seasonal" sites or local workers.

We have found that we LOVE camping in State Parks and Corps of Engineer campgrounds. They offer a truer camping experience... trees, space between sites, more rustic camping. But again, we have to reserve them ahead of time.

PENNSYLVANIA COURTHOUSES:
I am enjoying  finding area court houses and taking pictures of them. They are all unique and some are so amazing in their architecture! I began taking photos of courthouses for our friend Joe but now, I really like it! Here is the Morgan County cou

rt house in Berkeley Springs Pennsylvania. We were drive through this little town, pulling Honalee so we couldn't stop but I think I got a couple okay photos.

I have no idea what that sign means.... "Historic Bath". Strange!!

Below is another courthouse. This is the Tioga County Courthouse located in Wellsboro Pennsylvania. There is a beautiful original courthouse that is connected to a beautiful police station and on the other side is the addition to the courthouse.

The original courthouse.

The original courthouse on the left and the police station on the right. They are connected.

The courthouse addition on the left. The original courthouse in the middle. The police station on the right. All are connected.

NORTH PENNSYLVANIA:
After a 5 hour drive, we found ourselves in far north Pennsylvania, just a few miles from New York. We decided we wanted to try a Corps of Engineer campground. We are so impressed!! It is beautiful, pristine and everything we love about camping. The camp sites are far apart and this one also has full hook-ups. We only have water and electric because we wanted a site on the lake which do not have sewer hook-ups. We are fine for 5 or more days and there is a sewer dump on the way out of the campground. So, we flushed our tanks as we left.

We still struggle with backing up the trailer. Honalee responds slowly. With the GMC truck, the trailer was more responsive. With our new Ford truck, it's longer and and it takes quite a bit longer to see the trailer begin it's turn. We were all over the grass as we backed up. Not a pretty sight but again, we provided entertainment for others! Sure glad we have a short 5th wheel and not a 40ft. plus 5th wheel. We'd never be able to navigate it! We just don't have the skills yet!

Yes, we are right on the lake. Perfect for fishing and kayaking! But, we are still learning to relax. So, we spent an entire day sitting outside looking at the lake. Tom went fishing a few times. He also began to whittle a little bit. I crocheted some and went for two bike  rides. I put the hummingbird feeder out but no hummingbirds yet. It was definitely SPRING in Winchester Virginia when we left there, but since we are further north, the trees haven't come out yet. But the grass is green and it's nice and warm! We were only here 3 days and we relaxed the entire time!

Oops! You can see the tire tracks in the grass where we practiced backing in!

No fish for dinner tonight!

Tom took this picture while he was fishing on a small inlet. You can see his fly in the water.

As we were leaving the campground and were on the highway we could look back and see where we had been camping.

Zoomed in to see where we were camping, from across the lake.

ON TO NEW YORK:
And we are now in New York! I've never been in New York! We traveled for 4 hours in light rain the entire way. New York is beautiful. It's full of rolling beautiful hills!

We stayed at a KOA campground near Cooperstown, New York. Once we got there and got unhooked and set up, we drove into town. We went immediately to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

We only had an hour before they closed so we didn't want to pay $23.00 to go through the museum. Instead we went to the Gift Shop and bought a t-shirt for Drew. He'll love it! We then walked around town a little. Most shops were focused on baseball, including two that specialized only in making the perfect baseball bat.

The drive to and from was beautiful. We drove right on the edge of Otsego Lake. It's large and beautiful. There are lots of summer homes (old and new) all along the edge of the lake. I guess people live elsewhere but have their summer home here. I looked on Zillow and most cost around 1 million dollars, with one on the market for 7 million. There are golf courses on both the north and south end of the lake. Guess we won't settle down here!

Here is an aerial view of the lake and part of the town. Obviously I did not take this photo.

Here we are in Upstate New York and we are under a Tornado Watch and Wind Advisory. I feel like we are in Kansas again! For a short bit we pulled in one slide due to the heavy winds. It was pretty brutal for a while. The campground had a shelter if we had needed it. After the storm passed, there was a beautiful sunset!

The next morning we left but not before we talked with one of the owners again. Such nice women! They are definitely a "welcoming" campground. They have owned this KOA campground for 2 years and are working very hard to make lots of improvements. Their excitement was contagious!

Cooperstown KOA, Richfield Springs, New York

VERMONT (tense moments):
It was a 4.5 hour drive from Richfield Springs, New York to East Thetford, Vermont. It took us about 2 hours longer. We had a rough morning. Right before getting to Albany, New York our Garmen alerted us to a low bridge ahead. It routed us around it so we began to go around. We found ourselves on a very rural back road with steep hills and then a sign that said, "Low bridge ahead". We saw a guy on the edge of the road and asked him if it was indeed a low bridge because this time, our GPS did not alert us to a low bridge. He confirmed that we would NOT be able to go under it. There was a barn 1/2 way down the hill that had a little bit of pull-in space. We went there and pulled in as far as we could. Then we tried to back out and get turned around. There was traffic on the road but not a lot. A man came out and began to help us, stopping traffic as needed. He owned the barn and the house on the other side of the road. He said it was okay to drive on the grass. Tom did a great job and only went into his yard about 6 inches. He also stopped two cars and was so patient. We got turned around and further received instructions from him. He said the first bridge (the one the GPS told us was too low) was actually okay. He said a couple years ago the city lowered the street so there is plenty of room now. We thanked him (okay, I might have shed a couple tears thanking him... I was so grateful to run into such a kind person.). We drove back to the original bridge and it looked low. We pulled over. I called the city highway department. He assured me that we had 15 feet of clearance. YES! We made it! Again, our RV Garmen failed us.

Then we began to get into the heavy traffic of Albany and Schenectady, New York. Finally we entered Vermont.

We decided to stop at the Welcome Center in Bennington, Vermont. We only went in the Center to go to the bathroom and stretch our legs a bit. We ended up getting a free cup of coffee and having a long wonderful conversation with the two people working there. Such fun!! By the time we left, we were laughing and relaxed and ready to get on the road again! They had told us a different route to go and we are so happy we did! It was a beautiful drive through the Green Mountains! Oh my.... Vermont is beautiful!!!

Here we are at Rest N' Nest Campground in East Thetford, Vermont.

Rustic campground with no neighbors!

We drove to Woodstock Vermont two different days. It's a very picturesque town nestled in the hills of Vermont surrounded by trees.... lots of sugar maple trees! Historic old buildings and covered bridges make up the downtown area.

Downtown Woodstock, Vermont

This bridge was set on fire by teenagers in 1968 so it was rebuilt in 1969.

Windsor County Courthouse in Woodstock, Vermont

We drove into the country and went to Sugarbush Farm where the Ayre's family have been collecting Maple Sugar since 1945. They also make cheeses. Both are packaged and shipped all over the world.

MAPLE SUGAR FACT:
Did you know that it takes 4 trees to produce one gallon of maple syrup. The trees have to be at least 35 years old and they produce about 10 gallons each of the sap. The sap is mostly water so the water has be evaporated to produce the Maple Syrup. That's a lot of trees!! And a lot of work.

Then we drove to King Arthur Flour company! When we baked bread (back in the day) we used King Arthur Flour because it's such high quality.

King Arthur Flour - cafe, store and even space to take baking classes.

We hiked the Quechee Gorge near Quichee, Vermont. It wasn't a hard hike and a little disappointing but it was pretty.

Lots of ferns just sprouting out, along the trail.

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE:

Hanover, New Hampshire is where Dartmouth College is located and it's only a few minutes from our campground so we stopped by. It's a beautiful campus! The day was perfect and there were hundreds of student laying on blankets in all the green spaces.

Beautiful campus!

And finally, on May 8th we drove through New Hampshire.

This is Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It still has snow.
In fact, we saw a lot of snow on the drive.

And finally we arrived in Maine!! We have never been in Maine and were so excited!

Our excitement was soon dampened.
We arrived at the campground that we had reserved several months ago. No one was there. But, there was a note on the door with our name on it. It said what site we were to go to and a little map showing how to get there. We proceeded up the hill.... and we couldn't make it! The entire hill was loose sand and lots of it. We backed down and walked up to get a better look. It was a beautiful campground in the trees! We got a running start and tried again... and still we sank into the sand. Our rig is very heavy (16,000 pounds) and it just sank into the sand. We called the number on the note and the lady said she was worried we might not be able to make it. Apparently they had some sewer work completed and the entire thing was filled in with only sand. It was at least a foot deep. She apologized and said they were having gravel delivered later that day. We said we would find another campground. We found one just 15 miles down the road near Bethel, Maine.

So, at this new campground is not as nice as the first one. The office is also a little roadside grocery/bait shop. It's a bit rundown. We paid and she gave us a map and off we went... up another sandy hill! There were maybe two other RV's but also 6 "tiny houses"!! Cute things!! The map was not clear and we pulled into a site going the wrong direction. We drove out and around and the turn was very sharp and on a hill. The back of Honalee's tires went over a hill and Honalee and the bed of the truck "kissed". No damage but it was frightening! Finally we arrived at a site going the correct direction. We got settled and relaxed! There are ant hills about every 6 inches, EVERYWHERE. So I sprayed around the rig and tires etc. with Peppermint water. Hopefully they stay away!

Tom used to work with a guy who was a consultant for the college. He lives in New Hampshire and we are only a few miles from him in Maine. So, we decided to meet for dinner. We had a wonderful time! Great conversation and really fun evening!! Shawn and Mari have lived in New Hampshire only 1.5 years and they love it! We drove through the beautiful White Mountain National Forest on the eastern edge of New Hampshire. We met them in Conway New Hampshire at the Sea Dog Brewery.

We didn't do a lot of sightseeing here. I washed Honalee one day. We had driven through rain several times and Honalee had a lot of road dirt on her! We also ate at Sunday River Brewing Company just down the road.

The morning we were getting ready to leave and I looked out the window of Honalee and there were 5 Blue Jays (males) in the tree and on the ground! I couldn't get them all in one photo. Vibrant beautiful birds!!

Just a reminder, although we travel a lot. We NEED days that we don't travel. Just like living in a stationary location, there are days you might just sit and read or do minor fixes around the house or take a walk and then a nap. It's the same with us. We need days that we don't do the tourist things. Days that we stay inside and relax or sit outside and read. We need days to run errands, go grocery shopping, pick up a part for something or go to the post office. We need days that we aren't rushing out to see new things. Days that we just do nothing. This is all part of learning how to relax while also traveling.

And now we are on our way to the Atlantic coast of Maine which will include Acadia National Park. We are so excited to explore new territory!! We plan to be on the coast of Maine for two weeks. Yippy!!