Sunday, Oct 21, Home!

By 9:30, we were packed up & on the way, after a bacon & eggs breakfast.

Made one stop in Huntsville for fuel - back to inflated Canadian prices!

Arrived home at 12:10, emptied the fridge & freezer, and neccessary items. Prepared to winterize. now just have to wait until January for another adventure.......

Saturday, Oct 20, Continuing homeward

After getting an early night last night (no TV, no Wi Fi in Wal-Mart parking lot), we were up at 6:15. Had a coffee, and then went to Wal-Mart for some last-minute shopping. Had breakfast at Subway then it was off to get fuel, which was $4.39/gallon.

Next, we headed north on I-81 towards CANADA! 

At 9:26 we crossed the 1000 Islands toll bridge  over the St. Lawrence River. Then it was on to customs, which was very straightforward and we were back in Ontario!

 

 

 

 

The drive up was gorgeous, with many beautiful displays of fall colours – especially the Tamarack, which are blazing yellow. Hard to get a good picture when going 90km/hr!

They are the only conifer trees that lose their needles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decided to stop in Algonquin Park tonight, and parked on site 58.  It started raining, but only briefly. 

We decided we needed more water onboard (there is only electric hookup), so found a potable water tap and made 8 trips with 2 two litre pop bottles, thus putting 8 gallons into the tank! Good exercise, especially after sitting in the truck for 2 days.

 

Quiet evening, ready for the final leg home tomorrow.

Friday, Oct 19, An adventurous day heading home!

By 8:50am we were packed up and on the road, I-295 S, for the first leg of the drive home. Little did we know what adventures lay ahead!

At the end of I-295, we merged onto I-95, which is a toll road. The temp was 14C. After leaving Maine over the Piscataqua Bridge, we entered New Hampshire. After a few more toll booths, we stopped for lunch at a rest area. The plan had been to stop in Brattleboro, Vermont for the night but it started raining as we got to Brattleboro and we were not sure if there was any space available at the KOA Kampground, so continued on. We made it over Hogback Mountain without incident, this time! On arrival at Bennington, Vermont, it was still raining heavily.

We entered New York State and got on to the I-90 toll road.

Along the way there a little excitement as the traffic slowed for fire crews on the side. As we went by, it was a van that caught fire and was totally gutted.

Shortly after, the skies cleared. It stopped raining and was sunny!

 

 

 

 

 

There is a KOA Kampground in Herkimer that is open until Nov. 1, but when I called, they are full, due to a Boy Scout Jamboree. Just our luck! Apparently, our only option is Wal-Mart.

At 6:30, we stopped at a Wal-Mart just east of Syracuse, but due to construction while converting to a Super Centre, no overnight parking is allowed. 

 On to the next Wal-Mart……there was lots of room, but when I went in to ask I was told that due to zoning RV’s are not allowed overnight.  

OK, on to the third Wal-Mart at Circle Square, just north of Syracuse. There, we were welcomed with open arms. Got parked in the designated area, which was level, and oops, where are the keys? It was one of those “I thought he did….he thought I did” situations. Turned out the keys were left on the picnic table at the campground 755km away! The second set is securely locked inside……or are they?

Marcel remembered that the back window doesn’t lock properly, so backed the trailer up to the guardrail and was able to fit thru the window and retrieve the keys! Crisis averted! Called the campground and they will send the other set of keys to us. 

We were able to sleep well after all, considering our passports were in the trailer & we would be crossing the border tomorrow! Something always seems to happen the day before we are to return home!

Thursday, Oct 18, Augusta, Maine

We woke up to a sunny day. Terry & Sharon pulled out at 9:25, heading for home, leaving us alone...

We went to Augusta, via the Visitor Centre and arrived at the Maine State House, which is a very impressive building, at 10:30.

After clearing security, we toured the building, starting at the 4th floor, The Rotunda, in the centre of the building, rises three stories above the fourth floor, culminating in an impressive domed ceiling. Narrow balconies with delicate iron railings encircle the rotunda at two levels.

On the third floor was the Senate Chamber. There are 35 members of the Senate.

The House Chamber is also on the third floor, but is closed for construction.

There is a patio complete with wicker rocking chairs on the third floor. This is the view from that patio.

The second floor contains the Hall of Flags, which is an imposing chamber under the dome of the Capitol and here are displayed Marine battle flags and portraits of some of the state's most noted political figures.

These are some of the Civil War flags of Maine.

There is a tunnel that connects the State House and the Cross office building which contains beautiful dioramas of animals in each of the seasons. One of the fascinating displays there was this creation comprised of discarded electronic bric-a-brac. It is fascinating to see the various items used in the creation of this piece. It is hard to see in this pic, but there are computer keys, and various other parts.











This may show things better. It was quite an impressive use of discarded items,




We enjoyed a great lunch at Applebee's, did some shopping then back to the campground to plan our route home, which will start tomorrow. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and 23C.

Wednesday, Oct 17, Coastal Maine Scenic Train Ride

It was a frosty morning! Had to scrape the windshield before we left for the train station at 8:00!

Arrived at the Wicscasset train station and the tide is out. Looks like it will be a beautiful, sunny day.

                                         Here comes our train

We first went west to Brunswick and there we had a 45 minute layover. Brunswick is the home of the well-respected Bowdoin College. We met the College mascot at the station. Here he was making a little girl very happy!

We travelled back east to Wiscasset to pick up Terry & Sharon then continue west to Rockland.

The train arrived on time, at Rockland, the end of the line. Any further & you would be in the Atlantic Ocean!












We have a 3 1/2 hour layover here and have been advised to have lunch at the Golden Compass Cafe. It won the Bobby Flay Throwdown (on the Food Channel) for the King Club sandwich. It is the most popular thing on the menu. We had to try it!.















The sandwich was huge and FULL of lobster! We split one for lunch.

We had a sunny trip back east to Wiscasset and arrived at 5:25. The tide was out again.

It was a gorgeous day!

Tuesday, Oct 16, Bath, Maine

It was raining and 12.6C as we departed the campground for Bath, "Maine's Cool Little City".

On the way down to the coast, we saw some brilliant colours.











We arrived at the Bath Visitor Centre in the rain, walked into town to check out some of the little shops.

After meeting up with Steve & Kathy, we were off to the Maine Maritime Museum. www.mainemaritimemuseum.org  There is so much to see & do here that we didn't cover it all by lunch time. There are several original buildings containing artifacts and displays of how the old clipper ships were built, as well as an Historic boat collection.
Fortunately, the weather was clearing up.

One building had wonderful displays & videos depicting lobstering, processing, and the Maine Coast.
You don't want to get too close to a lobster!

We drove to Georgetown for lunch, on the advice of Ed, from the Visitor Centre. He suggested the Georgetown Country Store for a great Lobster Roll. He was right - there was a lot of lobster in the roll!
It is a very non-descript old place that you could easily pass right by, but the service was good & the food was great.





After lunch, we returned to the Museum to finish viewing the exhibits. There is so much to see!

Our day ended when the Museum closed at 4:30 and we headed back to the campground. It ended up being a beautiful, sunny day!

Monday, Oct 15, Moving on to Maine

It was cloudy, but a lovely 16C when we got on the road for a long drive (compared to some of our past drives!)
Today's drive took us back into New Hampshire, where the trees on the hillsides are looking quite bare.

By 11:30, we crossed the Piscataqua River and entered Maine. Stopped for lunch and a stretch break at the Welcome Centre.




We encountered 4 Toll booths along the way, but the tolls only totaled $7.50. Went through Portland and on up Interstate 96, then 295 to the KOA in Richmond.

After getting settled, we took off for Booth Bay Harbour to meet up with Steve & Kathy, friends of Terry & Sharon.

We walked in this quaint seaside town,  however, most of the shops were closed for the season.

Then went to McSeagull's for dinner. Great food & something for everyone!

Watched the tide slowly come in for a bit, then it was back to the campground.

Sunday, Oct 14, Bennington & Arlington, Vermont

It rained most of the night, after such a beautiful sunny day yesterday!
Weather notwithstanding, we set off for Bennington, which holds memories for us. That is where we were stranded 3 years ago with  seized bearings. We stopped in to Greenwood Lodge & Campground to say "Hi" to Ed & Ann, who were our gracious hosts at that time. They remembered us & we had a nice but brief visit.

Then it was off to Arlington to see the Normal Rockwell Exhibit and Sugar Shack.

Norman Rockwell lived in Arlington from 1939 - 1953 and about 200 local residents modeled for his illustrations.  The small country srore has a room dedicated to many of Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers, illustrations, advertisements and prints.

The rain has let up as we return to Bennington, We stopped at Hemmings Motor News, which is a free vehicle display of vintage, restored vehicles. Love their washroom signs.......


We then found Carmody's, an Irish Pub, where we had lunch (lobster rolls all round)





Next we stopped at the Bennington Battle Monument. The fog has cleared, so we purchased tickets to go up the monument.
The Bennington Battle Monument is a 306 ft (93 m) stone obelisk located at 15 Monument Circle, in Bennington, Vermont. The monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War.
In that battle, on August 17, 1777, Brigadier General John Stark and 1,400 New Hampshire men, aided by Colonels Warner and Herrick of Vermont, Simmonds of Massachusetts, and Moses Nichols ofNew Hampshire, defeated two detachments of General Burgoyne's British army, who were apparently seeking to capture a store of weapons and food maintained where the monument now stands. While the battle is termed the Battle of Bennington, it actually occurred about 10 miles (16 km) away, in New York; the Bennington Battlefied, a U.S. National Historic Landmark, is entirely within New York State.
In 1877 a local historical society began to plan a monument for the battle's centenary, and considered many designs. The committee eventually accepted J. Phillip Rinn's design with some changes. The monument's cornerstone was laid in 1887, and it was completed in November 1889 at a total cost of $112,000 (including the site). It is constructed of Sandy Hill Dolomite from present day Hudson Falls, New York, a blue-gray magnesian limestone containing numerous fossils.
From its observatory level at 200 feet (61 m), which can be reached by elevator (but not the stairs, which are closed), one can see Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. A kettle captured from General Burgoyne's camp at Saratoga is visible in the monument along with a diorama of the second engagement, and information on how the monument was built.

We returned to the campground across Hwy 9, back over Hogback Mountain. Ended up being a beautiful day!

Tomorrow we are off to Maine - Look out, LOBSTERS!

Saturday, Oct 13, On to Dummerston, Vermont

WOW! It was cold last night! The campground advised us to disconnect our water due to a cold front coming down from CANADA!

It was frosty this morning, but sunny and the thermometer showed a low of -2C last night.
We enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, courtesy of the KOA before hitting the road.

En route, we crossed back over the Hudson River (no toll this time), but we did travel on toll highways.

There were lots of yellows and oranges on the trees, but very little red.
The temperature has warmed up to 12C with clear, sunny skies all the way.

After a lunch break at a Travel Plaza, we entered Vermont again, this time at the south end. We arrived at the KOA Brattleboro North at 2:00 & decided to relax for the afternoon.
Going to Bennington and Arlington tomorrow.

After supper, the Kampground had its last ice cream social. Several of us huddled around a campfire, eating ice cream!

Friday, Oct 12, West Point, New York

Drove to West Point this morning under dreary skies.  The United States Military Academy at West Point (also known as USMA, West Point, Army, The Academy or simply The Point) is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York. It is a very prestigous academy, with 15,000 applications a year which are whittled down to 1300 admissions.The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's neogothic buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.
We took a 1 hour guided bus tour of the facility.

West Point is a federal military reservation established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. Originally picked due to the abnormal S-curve in the Hudson at this point, it was founded by one of the best military engineers of the time, Polish General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. It was manned by a small garrison of Continental soldiers through the entirety of the Revolutionary war. A great iron chain was laid across the Hudson at this point, which is the narrowest point in the river in order to impede British Navy vessels, but it was never tested by the British. This is all that remains of the huge chain.

On the tour, we saw the barracks which house the officers-in-training, or Cadets.

The Cadet Chapel at the USMA is a place of Protestant denomination worship for many members of the United States Corps of Cadets. The chapel is a classic example of gothic revival architecture, with its cross-shaped floor plan, soaring arches, and ornate stone carvings. It hosts the largest chapel pipe organ in the world, which boasts some 23,000 individual pipes. The Cadet Chapel dominates the skyline and sets the architectural mood of the academy. Designed by architect Bertram Goodhue and completed in 1910, the neogothic Cadet Chapel replaced the Old Cadet Chapel which had been built in 1836.

Trophy Point is a scenic overlook of the Hudson River Valley. It has been the subject of numerous works of art since the early 19th century. Trophy Point is the location of Battle Monument, one of the largest columns of granite in the world. Designed by architect Stanford White and dedicated in 1897, Trophy Point was formerly the site of West Point graduation ceremonies before the class sizes became larger in the mid-twentieth century.
Trophy Point gets its name from the numerous displayed pieces of captured artillery spanning from the Revolutionary War to the Spanish-American War.

Following the tour, we looked around the Visitor Centre, which had many displays showing aspects of the Cadet's daily life.
Then it was back to the campground in sunshine.

Thursday, Oct 11, On to New York

Left the casino under sunny slies, 9C. The hotel looks beautiful in the sunshine!

There are over 13,000 parking spots, including four covered and secure garages that are just a few steps from the action. The garage in this photo is for employees (of which there are over 10,000).

Nice drive. We entered New York State , stopped for a lunch break, then crossed the Hudson River.
The KOA Kampground is just 50 miles from New York City and they have a sight-seeing bus tour that goes right from the campground. Unfortunately, the next and final tour goes on Saturday and we leave Saturday. So close to NTC, but not able to tour it!

Played 19 holes of Mini-golf in the afternoon. It was a 10-hole course but we didn't realize it until we finished the first 9 and discovered that we missed a hole!

Oct 10, Mohegan Sun Casino

Today, we move on to Conneticut, to camp in the casino parking lot.

We arrived at the Mohegan Sun Casino www.mohegansun.com in pouring rain, but didn't have to set anything up (water, electric) as we are 'dry camping' in the RV parking lot.

After a quick lunch, we took the shuttle to the Casino, which is one of the largest casino complexes in the world. It is owned and run by the Mohegan Tribe of Native Americans and opened in 1996.

We walked around in awe at the immensity of the place - the 33 story hotel contains 1175 units. There are 3 of the world.s most amazing casinos - Casino of the Earth, Casino of the Sky and Casino of the Wind. There are over 6,400 slot machines, more than 350 table games plus a 42-table Poker Room, and a state-of-the-art Race Book for Horse & Dog racing. The race book offers live horse or greyhound racing from around the U.S. as well as from Australia and England. It also offers wagering on jai-alai from Florida. 

 The Casino of the Sky has a planetarium-like domed ceiling utilizing fiber optics to display the sun, moon, and stars (though not in actual star patterns), accompanying the lighting effects of the Wombi Rock, which is a three-story high crystal mountain crafted of alabaster and more than 12,000 individual plates of hand-selected onyx from quarries in Iran. Pakistan, and Mexico; which were transported to Carrara, Italy and fused into glass.

A 55 ft (17 m) high indoor waterfall called "Taughannick Falls", representing a treacherous crossing point during the tribe's migration.

The decor is Native American in style in many aspects. The artwork throughout the casino and the structural design has Native American feel. In addition, several mechanical wolves stand high atop rock structures inside the gaming areas that occasionally sit back and howl lightly.







We played the 1 cent and 1/2 cent slots - win some, lose some then enjoyed a great dinner at Big Bubba's BBQ. After playing some more slots, caught the shuttle back to the campground - I mean parking lot! Turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day.
Time to run the generator for aome power.

Tuesday, Oct 9, Newport, Rhode Island

This morning we were off to see the "Gilded Age" mansions of Newport. Along the way, we drove past the University of Rhode Island, then across the Verrazzano Jamestown Bridge, followed by the Pell Toll Bridge to reach Middletown and on to Newport.

Our first stop was at Marble House, which was built in 1892 for William K. Vanderbuilt and is one of the most sumptuous of Newport's mansions. The house cost $11 million to build and furnish and was called a "summer cottage" The most elaborate room of this gold-and-marble edifice is the salon, with its carved and gilded woodwork, chandeliers and large ceiling painting. The house was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported in contemporary press accounts to be $11 million, of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a 39th birthday present.
Unfortunately, there is no interior photography allowed.  We took a self-guided audio tour of the house, which was excellent.

After touring the house, we enjoyed lunch at the restored 1914 Chinese Teahouse.











Next, we visited "The Breakers", built in 1895 and is probably the most opulent of Newport's mansions. Though designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt, this 70-room summer cottage of Cornelius Vanderbilt II appears more the product of  the European High Renaissance.
The mansion has approximately 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m²) of living space. The home was constructed between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of more than $12 million (approximately $335 million in today's dollars adjusted for inflation).
The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by sculpted iron gates and the 30-foot (9.1 m) high walkway gates are part of a 12-foot-high limestone and iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The 250 ft × 120 ft (76 m × 37 m) dimensions of the five-story mansion are aligned symmetrically around a central Great Hall.
Part of a 13-acre (53,000 m²) estate on the seagirt cliffs of Newport, it faces east overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Rear elevation of "The Breakers".

The "cottage" is unbelievably ostentatious, to say the least!

After a short walk along the "Cliff Walk", which goes between the mansions and Rhode Island Sound, we returned to the campground.