Family is a great welcome home -- Tuesday July 9 till Monday July 22, 2013

Family is a great group to spend time with after you've been away from home!

We started back on Cape Cod at Nickerson State Park.  It's not my favorite campground, but we were in area 7 this time and it was a good site.  It's at the end of the campground about 3 miles into the park. There are no services as such at Nickerson but it has a very remote feel to it.  It is very wooded and surrounded by lakes.

We stopped at our house in Eastham first to retrieve our truck and camper.  Unfortunately, the truck battery was dead so our neighbor came over to help Ed jump start it. After having the renters move their vehicles, we were able to attach the camper and we are off!  We planned on going to pick up Monty at Jane's house after we set everything up at the site.

After an hour or so of setting up, we heard a little voice say 'Hi, Grandpa'!  Our daughter Pam and our three grandchildren surprised us by picking up Monty so we could just settle in!  Great treat!  We were certainly tired and were thrilled to see the boys and catch up on their end of school and camp days at the same time! They had already started camp so we were able to see them each night after that until we left on Sunday to go to our daughter Carrie's house.  Since they live so close to us we are able to visit with the boys and Pam often.  Not seeing them for six weeks seemed really sad.  We missed them!

It rained the night before we were heading to Carrie's which was a little bit messy, but we were expecting it so not much of a problem.  We didn't get to see our friends that week or spend time at our Thumpertown beach but we'll have plenty of time for that in September.

We spent Sunday till Thursday at Carrie's house in Topsfield.  Carrie is back working full time at Mass General Hospital and her husband Mike was at National Guard duty for 2 weeks so we had the kids to ourselves for a couple of days.  They are great kids:  John Alden, Quinn and Camille all dote on their newest brother, Kelan who was born in March.  The weather was brutally hot, so we were happy to be in a house with central air conditioning.

On Thursday afternoon we headed to Tom & Shelly's lake house in Wakefield, NH, on Pine River Pond.  If you are looking for a great lake vacation, check out their house!  It's a perfect spot for a relaxing vacation.

We popped up our camper in their driveway, since there is a big family picnic over the weekend and the houses (they have 2 right next door to each other) will be filled. We have electricity, water and Internet!  This place is great!

We spent the rest of the weekend catching up with family.  The weather was beautiful during the day so we spent this time eating, drinking and catching up.  Perfect!

Sunset on Pine River Pond, NH

Summer Camping begins at Nickerson State Park -- Tuesday July 9, 2013

We are back from England today and will start the next stage of our Summer 2013 adventures by camping at Nickerson State Park in Brewster MA....just a town over from home.

Before we can do that, though, we have to go back to our house, disturb our renters, move our truck and bring along our camper.

I'm tired and the area has been experiencing record breaking heat, so I won't be writing for a week or so.  We will spend 5 nights at Nickerson, then visit our daughter Carrie and her family in Topsfield for 4 nights, then on to brother Tom and his family at Pine River Pond in Wakefield NH before REALLY starting our camping at Acadia National Park on Monday July 22, 2013.

That's when I will begin this journal.  Hope you will join me again!

End of the line

 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:)!

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!

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 .

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:)

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.