7/15/18. Wytheville, Va. Pulled into the KOA here and found a park with a few surprises. They had a wonderful recreation room with a grill, video games and a six lane bowling alley! We both had three scoops of ice cream ($2.50 each) followed by a Skee Ball competition (25 cents per game). We battled to a tie the first game but I managed to beat her soundly in game two. Lots of fun!
7/16/18. Shenandoah Valley Campground, Quicksburg, Va, this was a nice but small campground with level sites. As usual, we sat out in the evening and had a wonderful time! There was a view of mountains from the camp.
7/17/18. Started to experience tension today in the northeast USA. We had to pay tolls of $23 for the truck and trailer (ouch), barely missed clipping the rear of the RV on a narrow bridge and just got set up at our campsite in Coatsville when a major thunderstorm roared by! There was no sitting out tonight because of the weather. So here we are, tired, needing rest then we discover the only open tour of Philadelphia is tomorrow!
So we buy our tickets ($75 each) for this all day tour. We show up at 8am the next day and board a van with 7 other tourists and head for the city. Traffic was bad which caused our guide to rearrange our schedule a bit. The Liberty Bell was the first stop and we had to pass through security checkpoint to even get close to this national treasure. There were lots of exhibits and information about the bell and how it got here before we got to it. A park ranger was there to explain the large crack in the bell. It was inspiring!
Our tour guide then walked us over to Independance Hall where the Declaration of Independence was designed and later signed joining the 13 colonies together into a unified, independent nation. Security was high here also since we had to go through another security checkpoint. After this, we walked where Benjamin Franklin’s house and print shop once stood. Nearby, a print shop was on display where rangers demonstrated how a printing press worked. That was interesting! After this it was time for lunch so we stopped at a small restaurant called Campo’s where we had two Philly Cheesesteaks and drinks for $28 (yikes, and that was with a discount). They were wonderful, but I think I can do better! We then toured Christ Church which is Anglican and was able to hear part of a recital. The original organ had 3600 pipes! This beautiful church served all the founding fathers. Washington even had a special step outside the church to help him exit his buggy. After this we saw Betsy Ross’ place. The interesting thing about her is that there isn’t any historical evidence linking her to our first national flag. There was probably evidence in archives; however, a fire in 1800 wiped them out. I’m reading a book about her (recommended by the tour guide) to learn more. She actually made 100s of flags but we just don’t know about THE flag. After this we left the city and left for Valley Forge. They have a very nice visitor center with many exhibits. We also drove around the battlegrounds a bit and saw where the armies were stationed. Washington had a much nicer place than his generals (with 19 people to serve him). Finally, we headed back to the KOA and arrived about 6:15pm. Our tour guide was great (a bookworm) and made this an incredible tour!
On Friday we toured the Amish countryside. We headed for Intercourse, Pa where there was a small village of shops and eateries. We split a wonderful pretzel and booked a wagon ride to a covered bridge. This was a lot of fun! We also passed through a city called Bird-in-the-Hand (you can’t make this stuff up!). We stopped at a restaurant called Katy’s which serves Amish food and had the best fried chicken ever!
Saturday is rainy so all we did was go to a nice tavern nearby called Four Dogs. We ate there before and had their fried fish (wonderful) but today we had their burgers(also wonderful).
One thing that concerned me was being able to understand people we talked to. So far, we haven’t had any trouble with language; however, we were once told we had an accent. I guess I didn’t need to learn “yankee” after all!
7/22/18 (Sunday) We got some better directions for leaving the campground from some fellow campers who live nearby. We checked out the directions today and they were perfect. If we miss one turn we get stuck with a 12 foot bridge. Our rv is 13’6”.
After that, we went to the King of Prussia mall which is the largest in the country. Of course, we got lost in this monster. They did have interactive maps which tell you how to find a particular store. Also, they have the usual stores like Macy’s and William Sonoma but also Tiffany’s, Cartier, Louis Baton and other places we cannot afford. The salesmen were in suits! We also had lunch there at Legal Sea Foods which is a very nice upscale restaurant.
7/24/18 (Tuesday) – Travel day from Hell! Ok, let’s start at the beginning…Left the KOA this morning on the route they suggested. Just know first it rained heavily the night before and we are on a steep gravel road. We put it in four wheel drive (low) and crept up that hill with our 9 1/2 ton rv. Ok, we made that…but hold on…there’s more. We got special instructions from fellow campers how to exit the campground. One false turn and we would be stuck under a twelve foot bridge. Ok…we made that…mage it to the turnpike after several odd turns ($28) then we see a sign saying there is a tunnel ahead. Ok, Deb starts checking GPS and the truckers atlas but cannot find a warning. Then we see the sign. It says 13’6” clearance! We are about 13’4” or so so we pull over (scraping out rv) while Deb calls the turnpike authority. They offer no useable advice so we go through the tunnel. Deb is praying the whole way, I’m so nervous I could cry. We make into a truck stop and verify we still have an air conditioner and satellite dish. We also inspect the damage which is superficial. We are winding down now…next stop: Boston!
7/25/18 Pulled into Bellingham, Ma today after a long, rainy day on the road. It didn’t rain when we got in so setting up should have been easier. That’s right, I said should have been.
The “pull thru” site was was accessed by driving a short way over grass and then making a hard right turn. We had asked for an escort by what we got was T (shortened to protect his identity), Deb didn’t think she could direct me properly into the site so T did it. He had the truck and RV at 90 degree angles at one point (which tore up my side rails), I ran over their sewer line (following his directions) and almost took out their electrical box (again, I was watching him) not the r). He was abrupt and rude but we thanked him anyway. We were so tired we didn’t sit out! Not a great way to end our journey. See more under campgrounds.
7/26/18 We had showers today but too time to go to a wonderful little tavern called Depot Street. Not much parking but the fish and chips were excellent (not beer battered). We will be going back!
Next, we discovered where the train station was for our trip into the city (Boston) and then came back to the rv. Sill having showers but we are snug in our traveling home.
7/27/18 (Friday) – we wanted to tour Concord and Lexington today because that’s where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired. Well, we plowed into Concord, found the visitor center, and discovered the only tours available were walking only in high 80 degree weather. We said no thanks and went on to Lexington. It seems the entire world was there to see the sights and when we did find parking it was metered every two hours. That doesn’t work well with a 1 1/2 hour tour. I’m sore the meter maids probably haul in $100K a year so we left and went to the Minuteman National Historic Park. We saw a really nice 25 minute multimedia presentation of the war’s beginnings. After this we left to find a good place for lunch. There is a nice place called The Red Heat Tavern in Bedford. Wonderful! I had beef tips and fries, Deb had a pulled pork sandwich with chips. Excellent! Our tummies are full and we head toward home before we fall asleep!
We didn’t know what to expect from the people when we got to the northeast. The people have been generally wonderful and friendly. Plus, we haven’t had any trouble understanding them either. We do detect accents; however, it hasn’t been a problem for us.
Another unexpected pleasure is seeing the beautiful homes along the way. Lots of houses have two stories and are painted white with black shutters. They often do not have much porch space (if any). We describe these homes as “stately”.
7/28/18 Visited Plimouth Village wich is a reconstructed town resembling the ones the Pilgrims created when they reached the new world.
We later dined at The East Bay grill. Deb had a seafood casserole which was good. I ordered a waygu burger which was good but just didn’t have the wow factor I expected.
We thought about seeing Plymouth Rock but the congestion there plus how little it actually is changed our minds. In case you don’t know about it, here it is.
Told you it wasn’t much!
7/29/18. 7/30/18
We did a whirlwind tour of the Boston area including our first sample of commuter rail! At the end of the day we were exhausted.
8/2/18. Arrived safe and sound at our campground in Hermon, Maine (Bangor)
8/6/18 We toured Acadia National Park – pics are from inside a bus…more later
8/10/18 (Friday) – Took a road trip to Lily Bay State Park located on Moosehead Lake. It was a rally nice trip winding through little towns in the northwest portion of Maine. Lately, the weather has been terribly hot (hotter than Florida). On this day; however, it was cold and windy (mid 60s). we set up our chairs on the “beach” which was basically gravel and sand. As we sat several people started showing up – one man and a few kids even got into the water. We lasted about an hour and went into town (Greenville) for lunch. Our tour book said Flatlanders was good with broasted chicken. it looked good; however, there was no seasoning on it at all! blah…blah…blah Enjoy our pictures below!
8/16/18 drove thru Camden and Belfast. Had lunch at the Nautilus Restaurant which was on the bay. We enjoyed the best English style fish and chips ever! There was a park nearby on the bank where people were laying on the grass. One couple even brought a bottle of wine. We will be going back!
8/17/18 Went to downtown Bangor and had burgers at SeaDog Restaurant. Had some wonderful burgers but the side items weren’t that great. After this, we went to the Hollywood casino where Deb did well, me…..don’t ask!
8/21/18 Took a trip to Lubec, Maine – The most eastern point in the USA
8/24/18 Took a trip up the Old Canada Scenic Byway (US 201) from Solon to Jackman, Maine. This was once an Indian trade route to Canada and later a logging road to Canada. It follows the Kennebec and Moose River valleys at first and then goes deep into the “North Woods”. Just before Jackman we hiked to Moxie Falls. Beautiful trail ending in three cascading waterfalls!, At Jackman there is a beautiful lake where ice fishing is very popular. In fact, “ice drinking” is a popular pastime there as they fish. The restaurant is open all year except when the snow begins to melt – the mudding season. Apparently, everything turns to mush!
9/3/18 *Tuesday) We visited Acadia National Park again. This time we went to the visitor center, parked the truck, and took the shuttle to three locations: Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and Otter Cliff. Here are our memories!
9/7/18 Went to Moose Point State Park and spent a couple of quality hours there. After that, since we were close to Belfast we got some lunch there at Dockside Family Restaurant (see our review)
9/13/118 Returned to Sand Beach at Acadia National Park and spent some quality time there. The waves were higher because hurricane Florance was hitting the Carolinas.
9/20/18 We won the 2018 Chili Contest at Pumpkin Patch RV Resort!
Love all your pictures and stories… I certainly miss the woods in the northeast! I always felt better leaving the woods than going in.
It’s almost as if your mind gets a good cleaning out!!
That’s exactly how we feel