Update Archive

Archive 10/9 - 10/29/2005:
10/9/2005 - (280 miles – 6 hours) The drive from Lewiston to Wells, NY was great. Very uneventful. Just the way I like them.
10/10/2005 - We’re getting ready for our trip through New England. The forecast doesn’t look good. The foliage is beautiful, even thought it isn’t as sunny as I would like. Unfortunately, the trees that have changed color have been beat by the rain and wind, so the leaves are already falling. Southwest New Hampshire is flooded, but I hadn’t planned on going that way, so should be okay.
10/11/2005 - (217 miles – 12 hours) We drove from Wells, NY to Lincoln, NH. It’s cloudy and rainy. I hope the weather clears up. As it is this is going to be a whirlwind tour of New England. The weather isn’t all that good and doesn’t look like it’s going to get much if any better.
After arriving at our camp in Lincoln, NH we drove around a bit. I’m in New England!!!!! We went to The Flume, a fantastic waterfall back in the woods – part of the White Mountain National Forest. Next we drove over to the “Old Man of the Mountain”, a New Hampshire landmark. Sadly, the profile fell off the mountain in 2003, so there isn’t much to see now.
Our camp is a few miles from Woodstock, NH so we went over there for dinner. It was nice to get out of the ‘house’ for a while.
10/12/2005 - (188 miles – 10 hours) The weather was on our side today. It’s actually somewhat sunny. We headed over to Mt. Washington (6,288ft), home of the worst weather in the world. The highest land wind speed was recorded here in 1934 – 231 mph. I was so happy that it turned into a sunny day. I was worried I’d get up there and not be able to see anything. As it turned out, the views were spectacular. It was around 35F at the top with winds at 44mph and the 15-minute gust high at 56mph. It was impossible to walk in a straight line. Trying to climb over the rocks was tricky, a gust would come up and knock you off balance. Did I mention it was cold? The drive up was 8-miles of steep roads with some scary portions above the tree line. There it was a dirt road with no guardrails and some serious drop-offs. It was similar to the drive up to Pikes Peak in Colorado, just not as long.
We drove over to the Mt. Washington Motel, a famous motel established in 1909. It’s beautiful out here. You can see the top of Mt. Washington and all the trees changing color. The motel itself was fantastic, I kept expecting to see people in 1900’s dress walking around. It has really retained its charm.
10/13/2005 - (259 miles – 11 hours) We drove from Lincoln, NH to Mt. Desert Island, ME. How freaking cool is that!!! I’m on the coast of Maine! We’re staying on the island, about 6 miles from the town of Bar Harbor. We drove into Bar Harbor for a lobster dinner…after all, you can’t come out here and not have lobster.
10/14/2005 - (86 miles – 10 hours) We drove through the Acadia National Park, following the loop road around the east side of the island and then driving up to Cadillac Mtn. (1,528ft). The view was nonexistent due to the low clouds. I ran into a couple from Santa Cruz, California. It was like meeting long lost friends.
At low tide we drove back into Bar Harbor so we could drive across the exposed sand bar out to Bar Island. That was very cool. The sand bar is only exposed during low tide and if you don’t drive back across before the tide comes back in you’re stuck out there until the next low tide. Bar Island is part of the Acadia National Park, and there isn’t anything out there. You don’t want to get stuck.
Our next stop was at the Bass Harbor Head Light. It is among the most photographed spots in Maine and was built in 1858 to mark the bar across the eastern entrance to Blue Hill Bay. On the trail down you could hear the bell in the buoy clanging with the waves…It was perfect. Climbing out on the rocks to get some pictures I ventured a bit too far out and almost went for a swim. The tide was coming in and a rouge wave almost nailed me. At least I was able to get a picture of it.
We drove around some more, heading out to the small town of Bernard on the southwest portion of Mount Desert Island. There were some lobster boats unloading their catch. I watched, amazed to see a process that I’ve only ever seen on the Discovery Channel, enjoying the sound of the New England accent and thrilled beyond belief to be there.
10/15/2005 - (341 miles – 10 hours) We drove from Bar Harbor, ME through Montpelier, VT to Wilmington, NY…. Very near Lake Placid. We had to take a ferry from Burlington, VT (I really should have stopped at the Ben & Jerrys factory) across Lake Champlain to Port Kent, NY. The only time it didn’t rain was during the ferry ride. We arrived at camp just before dark and set up amid pouring rain and howling wind. Not fun.
10/16/2005 - (125 miles – 11 hours) Another day of constant rain. We tooled around the area, stopping at the Olympic ski jump complex where we rode the elevator up to the top of the jump. Very cool. Next we took the road to Whiteface Mountain. The road to the top was closed, so we just drove around.
10/17/2005 - (161 miles – 8 hours) We drove from Wilmington, NY to Wells, NY. On the way out of camp the truck was making horrible noises. I initially thought the noises had something to do with the trailer hookup. Nope. One of the links that connects the truck lift-kit to the stabilizer had come loose. The bolt and bushings had fallen out at some point… I have no idea when. I called the company that installed the lift-kit and asked them to send out the parts. I can still drive (we tied the link up out of the way) but I have to hang out here until the parts arrive. I hope it doesn’t start snowing anytime soon – not to mention I’m running out of time… a lot of RV parks start closing at the end of the month. I’m a little nervous...
10/18/2005 - (129 miles – 7 hours) We drove out to the Howe Caverns near Cobleskill, NY. We took the tour. I was shocked at how much work had been done to the cave. In all of the other caves I’ve visited there is a major effort made to maintain original, natural cave formations. Not so here. They’ve blasted and built and rearranged and even put in a dam to hold back the underground stream so they could put in a boat ride. It was a great tour, just not what I was expecting.
10/19/2005 - (324 miles – 10 hours) We went down to the Catskill Mountains today. We drove through the town of Woodstock and then stopped at West Point. To tour West Point you have to board a bus. From the way it sounded, you can’t even get off of the bus inside the complex. I’m not big on buses, so I passed. We headed into the Harriman State Park, driving up to the top of Bear Mtn. From here we could see the New York City skyline. Very cool. Our next stop was Bethel, NY, the town where the Woodstock festival was held in 1969. It took a while, but we found the plaque that was built to commemorate the festival. A guy with Virginia plates drove up, parked and then sat on one of the rocks near the plaque. He was at Woodstock in ‘69. We talked a bit about all of the construction going on around the site. Apparently a Performing Arts center is being built to honor the festival – you could see and hear all of the construction equipment – kind of a mood kill. He made the comment that “I can understand progress, but some things you just don’t mess with.” It made me kind of sad.
We drove on, heading briefly into PA and then back through the Catskills, along the Pepacton Reservoir and back to Wells.
10/20/2005 - Cold and rainy. I don’t have cell or internet access here. Agh.
10/21/2005 - After the fog burned off the sun was bright and beautiful. I hung out at camp all day waiting for the parts to arrive, thinking, for some reason, that they would arrive today. When I was finally able to get a hold of the folks that are shipping the part I need, they told me that it’s scheduled to arrive on the 25th. @&*!#.
10/22/2005 - Cold with off and on rain.
10/23/2005 - Cold with off and on rain.
10/24/2005 - Cold with off and on rain.
10/25/2005 - The remnants of Wilma are affecting our weather. It rained nonstop today… pouring rain. Around 3:30PM it started to snow. It was beautiful. Big, fat, wet flakes blanketing the countryside, turning it into a winter wonderland. As nervous as it makes me, I still love it. Oh, and the part I needed for my truck did arrive today.
10/26/2005 - Overcast and freezing cold today. Went for a walk in the snow. It was full on white in the morning but had mostly disappeared by mid afternoon.
10/27/2005 - We’re leaving tomorrow so we spent the day getting ready, packing up, double checking the map.
10/28/2005 - (362 miles – 8 hours) We drove from Wells, NY to Gettysburg, PA and only lost our way once. Other than that and the horrible traffic around Harrisburg, PA it was an uneventful trip. There wasn’t any snow on the road, but in places it was still piled up along side the road. I’m glad we didn’t leave yesterday. It’s cold out, but mostly clear…finally. The park here is unexpectedly packed. Apparently this is their last big weekend and then it quiets down. I didn’t call till around 4:30PM (when I got lost) and luckily they not only had a space available but were helpful with needed directions. When I arrived the only space I could get was one I would have to back into. Ohhh-kay. You do what ya gotta do. I was in the slow and painful process of backing into my space when one of my neighbors took pity on me and came over to help. It’s a lot easier to back into a space when someone is back there letting you know where you’re at.
10/29/2005 - (89 miles – 5.5 hours) It’s cold but mostly clear again today and there are people everywhere. I drove into Maryland, doing some general sightseeing, aka aimless driving, and then over to the Gettysburg National Park to pick up maps and Park guides. I’m going to go back Monday to drive the self-guided auto tour. There are just way too many people out here right now.
You wouldn’t believe how people have decorated their RV’s and camp sites for Halloween. It’s almost freaky. I’ve rarely seen houses decorated this elaborately. And most of the decorations light up at night.


New Pictures: NY, VT, NH, ME, PA