Tuesday September 4, 2012
We left our campsite on Monday September 3, 2012, Labor Day and said goodbye to our daughter and 3 grandsons who are heading back to the Cape. It was a GREAT way to end our vacation! The weather cooperated for the better part of the week and Grandpa got to hike and bike and swim with his grandsons. It doesn't get better then that.
Our house in Eastham is still rented until Tuesday morning so we head to visit Ed's mom, Anita, in Medfield.
Traffic was really heavy on Rt 16 thru most of New Hampshire on Labor Day so the trip took a little longer then we liked. We arrived in mid afternoon and had the chance to sit and talk for awhile with Mom. Something we don't do often enough.
It's overcast on Tuesday morning as we leave Medfield, but nothing can dampen our enthusiasm for where we are headed.
We have been on the road:
* 73 Days
* 8,000 miles
* Stayed in or drove thru 10 states and 2 Canadian Provinces
And now we are home. The sweetest place to be!
I don't know where we are headed next summer, but our house is already rented for 6 weeks so I guess we better start planning our trip.......maybe next week:)!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Heading out to our last 'set up'--Covered Bridge, Conway, NH
Wednesday August 22, 2012
While Voyageurs was a nice enough Provincial Park, it didn't have any hills for hiking and Ed is really itching to continue hiking.
I'm finding that although we both love the summer of traveling around the country, we are both getting home sick sooner each year. It's hard knowing there is just 2 weeks before we can get back in our own bed!
We decided to take our chances and head out to Covered Bridge campground on the Kankamangus Hwy near Conway, NH today. We have already reserved a spot starting on Friday. Our daughter Pam and her boys, Keleb, Logan and Rylan will join us for a week of vacation starting on Sunday. If we can get the same campsite when we arrive we will not have to take down and set up ever again this summer!
The day is a long one. Travel wasen't bad, though, with only a little construction. The Streets program had us doing smaller roads in Canada and entering the USA in New York at a really REMOTE entrance. We went thru Quebec Province and entered New York while using PR 203. I think the customs was at Covey Hill on Cannon Corners Road. It's open from 8 am till 4 pm! The guys there didn't look like they got a lot of visitors! They even said, "So what made you come thru this entrance?" We apparently were randomly picked for a more through search of our car and camper (probably because we were their only customers today!) but after chatting a few minutes and petting Monty, they did a cursory search of the camper through an outside door. They were particularly interested in my hard cover books....don't know why. But after a short while, they gave Monty some treats and we were off.
Our path took us through New York, then Vermont and then New Hampshire. We traveled on Rt 11 thru Mooers Fork, NY, and then onto familiar Rt 2. We probably could have made better time by ignoring the program and using the bigger Rt 89 or 91, though.
Once we got back into Massachusetts I could almost hear a sigh of relief from Ed. I know he feels like he's almost home!
Ed loves coming back to the White Mountains. It's where he's done his most hiking and he knows the trails by heart! He's happy to be here a few days early to get in some extra hiking time.
We arrive at Covered Bridge about 3 pm and gratefully find the site we have reserved for Friday currently open! Yeah! We set up now for the last time this summer!
The site is nice and flat and plenty big enough. Monty even likes it!
While Voyageurs was a nice enough Provincial Park, it didn't have any hills for hiking and Ed is really itching to continue hiking.
I'm finding that although we both love the summer of traveling around the country, we are both getting home sick sooner each year. It's hard knowing there is just 2 weeks before we can get back in our own bed!
We decided to take our chances and head out to Covered Bridge campground on the Kankamangus Hwy near Conway, NH today. We have already reserved a spot starting on Friday. Our daughter Pam and her boys, Keleb, Logan and Rylan will join us for a week of vacation starting on Sunday. If we can get the same campsite when we arrive we will not have to take down and set up ever again this summer!
The day is a long one. Travel wasen't bad, though, with only a little construction. The Streets program had us doing smaller roads in Canada and entering the USA in New York at a really REMOTE entrance. We went thru Quebec Province and entered New York while using PR 203. I think the customs was at Covey Hill on Cannon Corners Road. It's open from 8 am till 4 pm! The guys there didn't look like they got a lot of visitors! They even said, "So what made you come thru this entrance?" We apparently were randomly picked for a more through search of our car and camper (probably because we were their only customers today!) but after chatting a few minutes and petting Monty, they did a cursory search of the camper through an outside door. They were particularly interested in my hard cover books....don't know why. But after a short while, they gave Monty some treats and we were off.
Our path took us through New York, then Vermont and then New Hampshire. We traveled on Rt 11 thru Mooers Fork, NY, and then onto familiar Rt 2. We probably could have made better time by ignoring the program and using the bigger Rt 89 or 91, though.
Once we got back into Massachusetts I could almost hear a sigh of relief from Ed. I know he feels like he's almost home!
Ed loves coming back to the White Mountains. It's where he's done his most hiking and he knows the trails by heart! He's happy to be here a few days early to get in some extra hiking time.
The site is nice and flat and plenty big enough. Monty even likes it!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Did we stay or did we go????
Tuesday August 21, 2012
Well, Monty wakes us up really early today and we're not going back to sleep so we decided to go! The ride today is scheduled to last about 6 1/2 hours. It's another Provincial Park we've never been to--Voyaguers. I wonder if we'll stay one day or more? We'll see.
We ride on Provincial Hwy 17. Its a 2 lane road that goes on for MILES. Well maintained. It's an easy ride.
Well, the car GPS and the Streets program diverged in directions and I told Ed to follow the Streets directions. Wrong move.
For awhile it looked like it would be ok, but then we got into city driving--we were in Ottawa! Beautiful old brick and stone buildings, but not easy driving. Actually, probably like getting lost in Boston! Tension! Everything is also in French (I should have paid more attention in Frenchy's HS class!).
Then the navigator (me) decided to diverge from the Streets program and got us turned around for awhile. It wasen't a pretty scene! But surprisingly, it looked like we were still going to get to Voyageur PP in the time the program origionally suggested it would. I just wonder how it would have done if we didn't go thru Ottawa! Another adventure!
Voyageur Provincial Park gets its name from the fur traders or Voyageurs who
had to portage their heavy loads as well as thier canoes around the dangerous
rapids (the river has since been damed to light houses in the area). There are a number
of interesting historic sites in the area which relate to the colourful history
of the fur tradeIt is in East Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada .
Well, Monty wakes us up really early today and we're not going back to sleep so we decided to go! The ride today is scheduled to last about 6 1/2 hours. It's another Provincial Park we've never been to--Voyaguers. I wonder if we'll stay one day or more? We'll see.
We ride on Provincial Hwy 17. Its a 2 lane road that goes on for MILES. Well maintained. It's an easy ride.
Well, the car GPS and the Streets program diverged in directions and I told Ed to follow the Streets directions. Wrong move.
Then the navigator (me) decided to diverge from the Streets program and got us turned around for awhile. It wasen't a pretty scene! But surprisingly, it looked like we were still going to get to Voyageur PP in the time the program origionally suggested it would. I just wonder how it would have done if we didn't go thru Ottawa! Another adventure!
Voyageur Provincial Park gets its name from the fur traders or Voyageurs who
had to portage their heavy loads as well as thier canoes around the dangerous
rapids (the river has since been damed to light houses in the area). There are a number
of interesting historic sites in the area which relate to the colourful history
of the fur tradeIt is in East Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada .Sunday, August 26, 2012
Samual DeChamplain Provincial Park, ON, Canada
Sunday August 19, 2012
We got on the road at 9:45. We thought, however, that it was 8:45. We didn't realize we were back on EDT for the last couple of days! I thought the sun was up late today!
We are traveling on Provincial Highway 17 for most of the day and we arrived at Samual De Champlain PP in Arnstein, Ontario, Canada in the late afternoon. Ed thought we stayed there before but when we arrived realized we had not.
This is a very large campground but there is no one here! We pretty much have our loop to ourselves.
PP are really nice....but expensive. $37.25 for the night and this one does not have electricity or water. This park has a river and a couple lakes so there would be lots of Kayak opportunities.
Ed only paid for one night, though, which means he's getting anxious to get back to New England. Later on, he thinks maybe we could stay another day to explore.
Here we go again. Should we stay or should we go? I decided to wait till the morning to find out:)
We got on the road at 9:45. We thought, however, that it was 8:45. We didn't realize we were back on EDT for the last couple of days! I thought the sun was up late today!
We are traveling on Provincial Highway 17 for most of the day and we arrived at Samual De Champlain PP in Arnstein, Ontario, Canada in the late afternoon. Ed thought we stayed there before but when we arrived realized we had not.
This is a very large campground but there is no one here! We pretty much have our loop to ourselves.
PP are really nice....but expensive. $37.25 for the night and this one does not have electricity or water. This park has a river and a couple lakes so there would be lots of Kayak opportunities.
Ed only paid for one night, though, which means he's getting anxious to get back to New England. Later on, he thinks maybe we could stay another day to explore.
Here we go again. Should we stay or should we go? I decided to wait till the morning to find out:)
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Chutes Provincial Park (again this summer), Ontario, Canada
Friday August 16, 2012--thru Sunday August 18, 2012
We had an early morning wake up call from Monty again today. He's keeping us on schedule! The wind has picked up, it's cloudy and looks like rain is coming. Good that we're leaving:) It's a great campsite for sunny days but no sense hanging around if
it's not nice.
We are heading today to Chutes Provincial Park in Ontario Canada. As the only provincial park on Highway 17 between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Chutes is an excellent stopover for travellers and a base to explore the North Channel of Lake Huron. Situated on the Aux Sables River near Massey, Ontario, the park gets its name from a chute that once diverted logs around the waterfall.
It will be about 7 hours today but the road starts on Rt 2 which has been
an easy drive for us (easy for me to say since Ed is the one driving). We're planning to stay thru the weekend so we don't have trouble finding a campsite.
We got a call from Ed's broother, Doug, while driving to let us know their Uncle Paul died--'in his rose garden'. Uncle Paul was a very sweet man who's wife died last summer. Ed started to reminisce about Uncle Paul: Ed says Uncle Paul was his introduction to fishing. He and Ed's dad would take Ed deep sea fishing for flounder. Uncle Paul had a little row boat, too, that Ed says Uncle Paul would scare him by walking around the boat and making it seem tippy.
Ed remembered Uncle Paul's infectious laugh and his great party spirit.
He would dance away at weddings and be dripping with sweat! I remember his laugh as well and how really sweet he and Aunt Ellen were.
They will be missed.
We find a great WalMart in Saute Saint Marie in MI before going over the border and load up on goodies and reading material for me. I have broken my Kindle Fire during this trip. Amazon.com is replacing it for free (love that company)! I broke one last year too while camping.
We get back on the road refreshed with a sandwich from SubWay...yum! Then we had a short wait, but easy entrance to Cananda before it started to rain hard. We have another almost 3 hours to go but Ed says if it's raining he's driving on. We shall see.
The rain is torential in many points on this section of driving on Canada Route 17. Theres a motorcycle couple in front of us that is hard not to feel really bad for. They must be miserable!
When we got there the weather has cleared somewhat. We decided to stay at Chutes for the long weekend. We were afraid the next stop we went to would be full.
This is our second stop here this summer. The girl at the registration desk even remembered Ed. "I always remember the happy ones" she told him. Nice compliment. I guess not everyone is happy camping? What's with that!?
We arrived on Thursday and we're leaving on a Sunday in hopes of getting a good site at Samual DeChamplain. Our intention is to stay 2 or 3 days and then the
remaining couple of days at Voyageur. These are both Provincial Parks in Canada. Provincial Parks are expensive at $37.25 a night. The good news is they have electricity, water, showers, laundramats and bathrooms. I guess you get what you pay for! Also, they seem to have wider more grassy sites which I like.
We had an early morning wake up call from Monty again today. He's keeping us on schedule! The wind has picked up, it's cloudy and looks like rain is coming. Good that we're leaving:) It's a great campsite for sunny days but no sense hanging around if
it's not nice.
We are heading today to Chutes Provincial Park in Ontario Canada. As the only provincial park on Highway 17 between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Chutes is an excellent stopover for travellers and a base to explore the North Channel of Lake Huron. Situated on the Aux Sables River near Massey, Ontario, the park gets its name from a chute that once diverted logs around the waterfall.
It will be about 7 hours today but the road starts on Rt 2 which has been
an easy drive for us (easy for me to say since Ed is the one driving). We're planning to stay thru the weekend so we don't have trouble finding a campsite.
We got a call from Ed's broother, Doug, while driving to let us know their Uncle Paul died--'in his rose garden'. Uncle Paul was a very sweet man who's wife died last summer. Ed started to reminisce about Uncle Paul: Ed says Uncle Paul was his introduction to fishing. He and Ed's dad would take Ed deep sea fishing for flounder. Uncle Paul had a little row boat, too, that Ed says Uncle Paul would scare him by walking around the boat and making it seem tippy.
Ed remembered Uncle Paul's infectious laugh and his great party spirit.
He would dance away at weddings and be dripping with sweat! I remember his laugh as well and how really sweet he and Aunt Ellen were.
They will be missed.
We find a great WalMart in Saute Saint Marie in MI before going over the border and load up on goodies and reading material for me. I have broken my Kindle Fire during this trip. Amazon.com is replacing it for free (love that company)! I broke one last year too while camping.
We get back on the road refreshed with a sandwich from SubWay...yum! Then we had a short wait, but easy entrance to Cananda before it started to rain hard. We have another almost 3 hours to go but Ed says if it's raining he's driving on. We shall see.
The rain is torential in many points on this section of driving on Canada Route 17. Theres a motorcycle couple in front of us that is hard not to feel really bad for. They must be miserable!
When we got there the weather has cleared somewhat. We decided to stay at Chutes for the long weekend. We were afraid the next stop we went to would be full.
This is our second stop here this summer. The girl at the registration desk even remembered Ed. "I always remember the happy ones" she told him. Nice compliment. I guess not everyone is happy camping? What's with that!?
We arrived on Thursday and we're leaving on a Sunday in hopes of getting a good site at Samual DeChamplain. Our intention is to stay 2 or 3 days and then the
remaining couple of days at Voyageur. These are both Provincial Parks in Canada. Provincial Parks are expensive at $37.25 a night. The good news is they have electricity, water, showers, laundramats and bathrooms. I guess you get what you pay for! Also, they seem to have wider more grassy sites which I like.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Heading East!
Wednesday August 15, 2012
We leave early this morning. Monty's body clock has recentered itself and he's back to waking at 6 am pretty consistantly.
The weather has been really beautiful. Warm but not hot with cool nights. We'll drive for a pretty long day today and find a one night stay.
It's later in the day as I write this. We ended up driving a little too long today. We skipped where we planned to go and ended up at Indian Lake State Park in the Up of Michigan in the town of Manistique. Indian Lake State Park is located on Indian Lake, the fourth largest inland lake in the Upper Peninsula with an area of 8,400 acres. It is six miles long and three miles wide. The lake was once called M'O'Nistique Lake. According to 1850 surveyor records, Native Americans lived in log cabins near the outlet of the lake. The park is composed of two units which are three miles apart and separated by the waters of Indian Lake. Amenities include camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, beach and beach house, picnic area, boat access site/launch and metal detecting area.
It was expensive: $22.00 a night (plus $8.00 entrance fee to the park) but each site was really nice: grassy and flat, each had electricity (which we don't use much of) and beautiful views of Indian Lake! Bathroom fascilities and showers were really nice. Another camper told us about another state park in Michigan that was even nicer, so it seems that it's just Massachusetts that has crappy state parks!
We leave early this morning. Monty's body clock has recentered itself and he's back to waking at 6 am pretty consistantly.
The weather has been really beautiful. Warm but not hot with cool nights. We'll drive for a pretty long day today and find a one night stay.
It's later in the day as I write this. We ended up driving a little too long today. We skipped where we planned to go and ended up at Indian Lake State Park in the Up of Michigan in the town of Manistique. Indian Lake State Park is located on Indian Lake, the fourth largest inland lake in the Upper Peninsula with an area of 8,400 acres. It is six miles long and three miles wide. The lake was once called M'O'Nistique Lake. According to 1850 surveyor records, Native Americans lived in log cabins near the outlet of the lake. The park is composed of two units which are three miles apart and separated by the waters of Indian Lake. Amenities include camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, beach and beach house, picnic area, boat access site/launch and metal detecting area.It was expensive: $22.00 a night (plus $8.00 entrance fee to the park) but each site was really nice: grassy and flat, each had electricity (which we don't use much of) and beautiful views of Indian Lake! Bathroom fascilities and showers were really nice. Another camper told us about another state park in Michigan that was even nicer, so it seems that it's just Massachusetts that has crappy state parks!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Moose Lake State Park, MN
Monday Aug 13, 2012 & Tuesday Aug 14, 2012
We are driving along on Monday morning now and will probably do the same thing as yesterday--find lunner (combo of lunch and dinner), drive about 7 hours and find a
city park to stay overnight in. Hopefully these City Parks will continue! They're great....and free!
As we're driving east on Route 200 we come to Cooperstown, ND--a rather large community. There's even a country club. What's different is that there were grain silos and wind mills scattered on this golf course. It reminded Ed of a putt-putt ! Surprisingly, though, about 10 miles later there's another golf course....it's good to be a farmer!
As we were driving thru North Dakota, we ended up in Fargo--although it's a city, it has a small town feel. Lots of the side streets are tree lined with neat little houses all along. Then we come to a bridge and a toll!!! Believe it or not, this bridge takes you from ND to MN and there was a $ .75 toll!~ Very quaint! It was just a 2 lane bridge with a toll both and a toll taker in the middle. He even had his own Bouse House next to it!
It's certainly apparent that we've left the mountains, however. The scenery is pretty flat as far as you can see. Can you say Iowa??
Monty has assumed his sleeping position. He's amazing. Now, I've only had experience with traveling with three dogs: Our son Ed's dog, Jack, would gladly climb in the back seat, sit on the bench and put his paw on the arm rest and happily watch the world go by. Our dog Buddy would stress the minute he got in the car: He either wanted to be consoled by you (basically sitting under your arm) or whining. Monty, however, gets in the back of the truck with no trouble now and 'assumes the position'. He goes right to sleep on his side and he sleeps for however long you travel--whether it's 20 minutes or 4 hours!
Not a peep out of him. Amazing!
We stayed tonight at Moose Lake State Park in Willow River, MN. The free City Park in Moose Lake (with free WIFI no less!) was closed! We decided to stay for 2 nights. That will give me time to do some long overdue laundry. The campsite is nice enough, they have a nice picnic and beach area, a nice library and grocery store. We played Scrabble near the beach while Monty slept. The weather was beautiful.
We are driving along on Monday morning now and will probably do the same thing as yesterday--find lunner (combo of lunch and dinner), drive about 7 hours and find a
city park to stay overnight in. Hopefully these City Parks will continue! They're great....and free!
As we're driving east on Route 200 we come to Cooperstown, ND--a rather large community. There's even a country club. What's different is that there were grain silos and wind mills scattered on this golf course. It reminded Ed of a putt-putt ! Surprisingly, though, about 10 miles later there's another golf course....it's good to be a farmer!
As we were driving thru North Dakota, we ended up in Fargo--although it's a city, it has a small town feel. Lots of the side streets are tree lined with neat little houses all along. Then we come to a bridge and a toll!!! Believe it or not, this bridge takes you from ND to MN and there was a $ .75 toll!~ Very quaint! It was just a 2 lane bridge with a toll both and a toll taker in the middle. He even had his own Bouse House next to it!
It's certainly apparent that we've left the mountains, however. The scenery is pretty flat as far as you can see. Can you say Iowa??
Monty has assumed his sleeping position. He's amazing. Now, I've only had experience with traveling with three dogs: Our son Ed's dog, Jack, would gladly climb in the back seat, sit on the bench and put his paw on the arm rest and happily watch the world go by. Our dog Buddy would stress the minute he got in the car: He either wanted to be consoled by you (basically sitting under your arm) or whining. Monty, however, gets in the back of the truck with no trouble now and 'assumes the position'. He goes right to sleep on his side and he sleeps for however long you travel--whether it's 20 minutes or 4 hours!
Not a peep out of him. Amazing!
We stayed tonight at Moose Lake State Park in Willow River, MN. The free City Park in Moose Lake (with free WIFI no less!) was closed! We decided to stay for 2 nights. That will give me time to do some long overdue laundry. The campsite is nice enough, they have a nice picnic and beach area, a nice library and grocery store. We played Scrabble near the beach while Monty slept. The weather was beautiful.
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