Colonial Williamsburg

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

“That the future may learn from the past”

Colonial Williamsburg is the restored 18th-century capital of Virginia during the Revolutionary War period.  It is an historical landmark as well as a living history museum. Many of the original buildings have been restored or reconstructed on their original sites. Costumed actors work and dress as the people did in the 18th century and stay in character.

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

When we were here in April we bought tickets that are good until the end of the year, so why not stop in again?

The first reenactment we saw was the Dissolving of the House of Burgesses. British Governor Lord Dunmore dissolved this legislative body of colonial government.

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Dissolving of the House of Burgesses, June 1774

Can’t walk past a bakery without stopping in. This fella was baking ginger cakes (cookies) in a brick oven.

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Brick Oven Baking

We enjoyed a performance of music by composers whose names were known to colonial founders but are mostly unknown today. Harpsichord and violin.

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Harpsichord and Violin

And then Patrick Henry shared his thoughts, memories, and beliefs and answered questions from the audience. This was my favorite and most interesting event of the day.

Patrick Henry

And Audience With Patrick Henry

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Behave Yourself or Else!

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Performers

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Wagon Ride by the Historic Raleigh Tavern

The Declaration of Independence was read aloud to the public on the steps of the Raleigh Tavern.

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Declaration of Independence

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Revolution in the Streets

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Fife-and-Drum

In late September 1781 General Marquis de Lafayette addresses the citizens. The local militia marched in review, with cannon salutes, musket fire, and fife-and-drum fanfare.

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On to Yorktown and Victory!!

Posted in Daily Post, October, Virginia | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Historic Jamestown

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Colonial National Historical Park

In 1607, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America, 13 years before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts.

This is the actual location of the Old Towne and the 1607 James Fort and settlement on the shore of the James River in Virginia. And is where Pocahontas married John Rolfe. Archaeologists are busy digging up history and we wanted to see what has changed since we were here last.

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Remains and reconstruction of 1600’s Church Tower and 1907 Memorial Church

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Archaeologists Hard at Work at Jamestown

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Pocahontas

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Captain John Smith

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1607 Burials

The settlement almost didn’t make it. Disease and malnutrition as well as a severe drought and the terrible winter of 1609-1610 as well as conflicts with the Indians nearly wiped them out. But they did survive and more settlers arrived and tobacco was the industry that saved them.

Outside the fort an interpretive trail takes you through the reconstructed remains of the New Towne. Archaeologists had unearthed evidence of many structures with brick foundations. The original exposed foundations suffered from the elements and had to be reburied.

Interpreting Jamestown

Interpreting Jamestown

Posted in Daily Post, October, Virginia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Washington DC

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We are in a wooded campground in Greenbelt National Park just north of Washington DC. We’ve been here a few times before, it’s pretty old and rustic and hard to fit our 34′ rig into the spaces, but we managed. It’s cheap, only $8/night. That’s the half price with Bernie’s National Senior Pass. But for that we have no electricity or water connections. It’s been in the 60’s during the day and 40’s at night. We paid for two nights, last night and tonight. We frequently see deer.

Deer

Can You See Two Deer?

Although we have been to our nation’s capitol several times before we went there again today. This is one of the places we may never get tired of visiting. I think it’s our 6th time. The Metro Train station is not far from the campground, and we know from past experience that driving ourselves into DC is a really dumb thing for us to do, so we went to the Greenbelt Station and took the train to Union Station. We’re getting pretty familiar with this place.

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Union Station at Washington DC

The Capitol building is just a few block’s walk from the station, and that was our main goal today. We have toured it before so this time we just walked around ourselves. Our main focus this time was to visit the Exhibition Hall, home to E Plurbus Unum – Out of Many One, an exhibition that tells the story of the United States Congress and the Capitol.  The Exhibition Hall is located behind the 19.5′ tall plaster model for the Statue of Freedom that tops the dome on the capitol building. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the Exhibition Hall 😦

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Statue of Freedom

The capitol dome is still undergoing repairs and renovation.

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United States Capitol Building East Front

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United States Capitol Building West Front

Every visit we make here we see something being fixed up. Besides the Capitol dome, the big bronze statue of Ulysses S Grant on the west front yard of the Capitol is also getting a makeover.

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View from the Capital overlooking the National Mall to the Washington Monument.

After the capitol visit we stopped by the Botanical Garden which is just across the street to the south. Free admission.

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US Botanical Garden

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Mmmm…the cacao tree, where chocolate comes from!

My only purchase other than parking and train fare and lunch was the annual US Capitol Christmas ornament. This is my 4th one. I have the ones from 2012, 2013, and 2014.

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2015 US Capitol Historical Society Christmas Ornament

Will we be back to DC again?  Maybe.

  • Parking:  $5.10
  • Train:  $18
  • Admission:  free
  • Lodging: $16
Posted in Daily Post, October, Washington DC | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Goodbye New England

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We have had such a great time in New Hampshire these last several weeks while we visit our son and his wife and their new baby in Keene 🙂  And now Autumn has arrived and the colors are taking over the countryside making for some great views.

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Ashuelot Park, Keene, NH

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Ashuelot Park, Keene, NH

While in New Hampshire we stayed at Ashuelot River Campground in West Swanzey, about 5 miles south of Keene. What a pleasant surprise to find this. Most of the RV parks we have been finding around here are full of seasonal campers, but not this one. It’s a beautiful campground. And now that the trees are changing it’s even better.

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Ashuelot River Campground, Swanzey, NH

During our stay in NH we took a few days to drive down to visit our daughter in New Haven, Connecticut. The only place we could find to park the RV was at Riverdale Farm Campsite, about 25 miles east of New Haven. It is mostly seasonal campers, but they did have one row of sites for transients like us.

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Riverdale Farm Campsite, CT

While our daughter was working we explored Yale University Campus.

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Yale University

And made a little visit out to Lighthouse Point.

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Lighthouse Point, New Haven, CT

It’s getting cold now, and time for us to hit the road. It was had to say goodbye to the kids, but we gotta get to where it is warmer. It froze last night, and it’s going to get down to 20 degrees tonight in Swanzey.  We had the car all hooked up and everything packed last night so as soon as the sun came up this morning (Sunday) we hit the road.

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Leaving New England

The first few miles through the countryside were very colorful, but we can’t drive that all day. You never know up here when you will find a covered bridge or a low clearance so we need to do most of our driving on the Interstate highways.

We wanted to get as far south as we could today in hopes that it would be warm enough that our plumbing would not all freeze up in the motorhome. After driving 340 miles we made it to Wilmington, Delaware. We saw a brief moment of SNOW FLURRIES! Here it is 10 degrees warmer than in New Hampshire. This was our view for most of the day:

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The New Jersey Turnpike

We are near a very large shopping mall. The Lego Americana Roadshow had set up a display there…10 iconic buildings and architectural structures made entirely of Lego bricks!

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The US Capitol Building Made of Lego Bricks

We will be spending the night parked in designated RV parking at Cabela’s..Thank you Cabela’s!  We will be on our way again first thing in the morning.

  • Lodging:  Free
  • Gasoline:  $100 @ $2.52
  • Gasoline:  $ 80  @ $2.00
Posted in Connecticut, Daily Post, Delaware, New Hampshire | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mount Washington Cog Railway

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Three years ago we explored the White Mountains of New Hampshire and took a shuttle van ride up to the top of Mount Washington, the highest summit in northeastern USA at 6,288 feet above sea level. That was a great trip.

This time we wanted to return just to take the Cog Railway to the top. The Mount Washington Cog Railway is the first mountain climbing cog railway in the world and is a National Historic Engineering Landmark. The first locomotives, beginning in 1869, were steam powered. In 2008 they began switching to bio diesel. There is still one steam powered locomotive run every morning.

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway

The train goes about 4 miles per hour and takes about an hour to get to the summit. It’s a three hour tour…one hour up, an hour exploring at the top, and an hour down. We were lucky enough to score the front window seat! lucky us! This gave us some great photo ops.

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway

Half way up we have to stop and wait for one of the returning trains before taking our turn to the top.

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway

Our breakman pointed out things to see along the way. You don’t really notice the incline much until at one point the breakman stood up without holding on to anything, then you could really see it. He encouraged everyone to stand and try it too.

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway

The Appalachian Trail crosses underneath the tracks near the summit. We are above the tree line now and the trail is marked with pyramid piles of rocks known as cairns.

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The Appalachian Trail

At the top is the Tip Top House, an 1853 hikers hostel.  There is also a huge observation deck on top of the visitor center/cafe/museum building. And there are a few other weather observation buildings and towers.

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Mount Washington Tip Top House

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At The Summit, 6,288 Feet

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Mount Washington Observatory and Museum

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway

We were lucky enough to be here on one of the nicest best weather days. They said that on a clear day we can see four states, the province of Quebec in Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean.

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View From Top of Mount Washington

The museum had lots of information about the history of the place, including this old sign.

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Mount Washington

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Besides the Cog Railroad, or the shuttle van, you may drive yourself up the Mt.Washington Auto Road if you have the courage. It is an eight-mile narrow two-lane road with no shoulder and no guard rail.  Maybe next time.

You can see my post from 2012 HERE

  • Admission:  $126
Posted in Daily Post, New Hampshire, October | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Vermont Surprise

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It’s fall now. The weather is changing and the trees are turning.

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Farmers Market in Keene, NH

We know that friends of ours from Minnesota are on a bus tour of Vermont. I found their itinerary on the internet and learned that the bus was going to be at the Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont, today, which is just over a 90 minute drive from where we are here in Swanzey, New Hampshire. We hopped in the car and went to surprise them.

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Scenic Drive

The fall coloring is late this year because it’s been so hot and dry. But we did see the beginnings of some spectacular views. Vermont is gorgeous! Trees and hills everywhere. We really enjoyed the road trip.

This is not the same Vermont Country Store we were at a few weeks ago. This is an older one, the original one. And it’s just up a few towns from it.

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Vermont Country Store, Weston, VT

And a block up from the store is an old mill, another popular spot for photos.

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The Mill by the Vermont Country Store

We found our friends and surprised them. It was good to see them and we had a nice visit. And a slefie!

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Going home we took an alternate route. This way was just as pretty. Sure would be nice to have a little more sunshine to make those colors pop!

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Color!

Posted in Daily Post, October, Vermont | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Return to New Hampshire

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

The last week has been a lot of fun. Maine and Massachusetts are beautiful and we got to meet up with other traveling family members. But that is just a memory now and we are returning to New Hampshire.

But before we get there we have a service appointment at an authorized Winnebago service provider in Hatfield, Massachusetts. We have been having a minor issue with our largest slide on the RV and wanted it checked out. Turns one of the brackets that supports the slide mechanism was separating from the floor of the RV causing it to sag and make strange noises. The screws holding it up had all stripped out. We decided replacing the floor was not what we wanted to do so the technician McGuyver-rigged up a fix by screwing in a metal plate to hold things together. One hour and $110 later we were on our way again.

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Boo-Boo Bandaid

That was only about 30 miles south of the campground we had stayed at before so we buzzed on up there and checked in. We paid for one week. Tonight is lovely, but the next two days it’s gonna rain!

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Ashuelot River Campground, Swanzey, NH

  • Repairs:    $110
  • Gasoline:  $75 @ $2.25
  • Lodging:   $220
Posted in Daily Post, New Hampshire, September | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Boston Family and the Moon

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Today was a special day. Some of our family members had just finished a cruise and were in Boston before they flew back to Minnesota. Since they were so close we managed to get ourselves and our kids from New Hampshire and Connecticut to meet up.

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Family!

Since we were all arriving by different means of transportation we chose Boston South Station as the meeting place. And it’s such a beautiful building, I love it.

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Boston South Station

We had a few hours together and after a good meal in a nearby restaurant we went to see the New England Aquarium.

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New England Aquarium

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Jellyfish

Then we returned to South Station and said goodbye. We’ll see the kids soon again, but the others probably not until next summer. What a treat it was to see them today.

And to finish off the day Bernie and I stayed up to watch the Lunar Eclipse. Pretty cool! My iPhone camera just couldn’t do it, but I have a little digital camera that did a fairly good job of capturing it. No tripod!

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Lunar Eclipse 2015

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Salisbury Beach and Rockport MA

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Friday, September 25, 2015

We are now at Salisbury Beach State Reservation in Massachusetts, a large campground with a big sandy beach on the Atlantic Ocean with 484 campsites.  This will be our home for the weekend.

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Salisbury Beach State Reservation, #B-9

The ocean is just a short boardwalk from the campground.

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Salisbury Beach State Reservation

On the beach there are a few old gunnery turrets left over from World War II. The temperature is rather cool so not many people on the beach at all.

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Salisbury Beach State Park

Saturday, September 26, 2015

It was chilly this morning so we grabbed our jackets and went for a scenic drive along the Atlantic coast. There are some big beautiful beaches here.

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East Glouchester, MA

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East Glouchester, MA

Rockport, Massachusetts, is a small town about 40 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.

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Rockport, MA

The little red fishing shack below, named Motif #1, is a symbol of Rockport and is known by artists as the most-often painted building in America. Originally built in 1840, an exact replica was built after a blizzard took it out in 1978.

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Rockport, MA

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Rockport, MA

Bearskin Neck, a little stretch of land on the shore of Rockport, is an internationally known art colony. The former fishermen and lobstermen houses are now stores, restaurants, and art galleries that hold unique items by local artists. It’s mainly one street, no sidewalks, people walking everywhere. Occasional cars drive very slowly to get to the east end of the street where there is a small parking lot, and a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

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Bearskin Neck, Rockport, MA

Rockport, MA

Rockport, MA

Posted in Daily Post, Massachusetts, September | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trolleys and Beaches

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

IMG_7972 The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennybunkport, Maine, has the largest collection of trolley cars in the world. It began in 1939 when a group of street railway enthusiasts purchased a classic trolley car when the streetcar service was nearing its end. Eventually, more cars were added to the collection.

Fortunately, New Haven, Connecticut, had saved and maintained several of the open trolley cars to service Yale Football games until 1948 and the museum has acquired four of them.

Our tour began when we boarded one of the restored Yale trolleys for a narrated ride of the trolley yard.

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Restored Yale Trolley

A bus tour group had arrived just before us and they were all on the trolley. There was room for us so we tagged along in the back seat. We couldn’t hear half of what the tour guide was explaining because of all the talking to each other some of the seniors were doing. There was a lot of “shushing”  but nobody told them to shut up and listen!

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Aboard the Trolley

Oh well, we enjoyed the ride. At one of the car barns we got off the trolley and went inside to see some of the restored cars. There was quite a variety.

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Trolley Car Barn

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Restored Trolleys.

One of the more interesting trolleys was a double-deck tram from Glasgow, Scotland, UK. It was built in 1939, retired from service in 1963. The double-decker had one floor of plush and leather upholstered seats. It came across the sea to Boston Harbor in 1963 and was welcomed by a gathering of the Order of Scottish Clans; bringing a little bit of Scottish culture to the coast of New England.

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Double-deck tram from Scotland  

Every trolley or tram had a different interior, ranging from wood benches to upholstered easy-chairs.

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Today we went back to the beach. This time we walked out on Pine Point Beach, just up the road from Old Orchard Beach. There were some people there, but not very many. I’m sure it must have been packed this summer. It was such a beautiful sunny day, I could have stayed there all day.

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Pine Point Beach 

  • Admission to Trolley Museum:  $16
Posted in Daily Post, Kennybunkport ME, September | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

To York and Ogunquit, Maine

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Today was another excellent day! Look at that sun shine! And it did not get over 80 degrees, which makes me happy. I am not a hot weather person. Road trip! This time we went to York and to Ogunquit, both very beautiful places with amazing long sandy beaches. But this time the beaches were nearly empty of people.

Long Beach, York, ME

Long Sands Beach, York, ME

The beautiful Cape Neddick Light Station (Nubble Light) is a poplar spot. The small parking lot fills up and cars circle while waiting for someone to leave. And then a bus brings in more people. The lighthouse is not open to visitors, rather we just have to look at it from afar. Some people were fishing, some just hanging out on the rocks enjoying the view.

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Cape Neddick Light Station (Nubble Light)

At Ogunqit we enjoyed a walk on the Marginal Way, a mile long beautiful paved public shoreline walk along the rocky coast.

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Marginal Way, Ogunquit, ME

Oh look! a Monarch butterfly. We just don’t see them as often as we used to.

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Monarch Butterfly

Posted in Daily Post, Maine, September | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Maine Connection

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Moving on up the coast of Maine now we make a trip to Portland to meet a cruise ship to try to connect with family from Minnesota. They are on a cruise from Boston, MA, to Nova Scotia and back. We did find them and were able to spend a little time with them after their shore excursions and before they had to board the ship again.

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Brilliance of the Seas

While we were waiting for them we wandered around Portland on our own and had a nice seafood lunch. We have been here a few times before so we didn’t get into the tours again. There are actually two cruise ships docked here today. The streets are lined with vendors selling their wares.  The boat tours, bus tours, trolley tours, duckboat tours, horse-drawn wagon tours, pedicabs and taxis are very busy.

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Portland, Maine

The next day we drive to Old Orchard Beach to enjoy a long walk on the beach. The Pier is a cool place, but it’s Sunday and things are pretty quiet. But what a beautiful day!

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Old Orchard Beach Pier

This fat-tire e-bicycle was catching the attention of several people and we stopped to take a picture too. Don’t remember ever seeing one like that before.

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e-bike

On our way home after another nice seafood dinner we happen across a big car show. Naturally, we stopped. There was also a big stage set up with live bands playing. The event was named “Cars and Guitars”.  Our RV park is only about a half a mile from the car show. From there we could hear the bands playing for the rest of the afternoon.

I swear there is lobster on every corner.

Posted in Daily Post, Maine, September | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Salem, Massachusetts

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Living full time in our RV means we have plenty of down time so TV is a good thing to have around. For the six years we have been RVing (3 winters, 3 fulltime) until now we chose to “suck it up” and have been relying only on the antenna that is on the roof. It doesn’t always get the job done and was especially failing us here in New Hampshire, so we finally broke down and bought a Dish tailgater satellite dish. No more RV satellite envy! It worked great during our time visiting family in Keene. All we need is a clear view of the southern sky and we’re good to go.

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Our New Tailgater

We left the Keene, NH, area to do some exploring of the New England area before we go south for the winter. We decided on Wakeda Campground, on the southeast corner of New Hampshire for two nights. This is a beautiful campground, many seasonal campers here, but they have room for transients like us too. The whole campground is in a forest, thousands of trees everywhere you look, its beautiful.  But guess, what… all those trees mean no clear view of the southern sky so no TV for the two nights we reserved.  I think we forgot that almost all of New England is a beautiful forest, that’s why the “leaf peepers” come here in droves to see the fall colors. Oh well..

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Wakeda Campground, #D12

Salem, Massachusetts, was on our bucket list. So off we go to see it today. Ugh! Driving in New England is so stressful.. narrow streets that make no sense at all, and heavy traffic. After we found the parking ramp and the visitor center the first thing we did was find the red Salem Trolley. This was the best $14 each we have ever spent. The narrated tour brought us by many of the old and historic homes and places of interest. Very interesting. Taking pictures from the trolley was too difficult so no photos for you.

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Salem Trolley

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Downtown Salem, Massachusetts

On a corner near the Visitor Center is a Stickwork sculpture by Patrick Dougherty. constructed entirely from local saplings. Over the past 30 years Dougherty has created more than 260 Stickworks throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty

Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty

A memorial commemorates the 20 men and women who were put to death between June and September during the Salem Witch Trials. It is a small grassy area surrounded by a granite wall inset with an inscribed bench for each person that was killed.

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The Salem Witch Trials Memorial

19 were hanged and one was pressed to death. None were burned at the stake like you might see in movies.

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An Inscribed Bench for Each Accused “Witch”

The threshold to the memorial is inscribed with their protests of innocence.

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The Salem Witch Trials Memorial

After the tour we returned to the Visitor Center and watched a movie about the history of the witch trials, how and why it began and how it ended. Very interesting. If you go, don’t miss the movie.

On the way back to the campground we drove through the Hampton Beach recreation area. It’s a long beautiful sandy beach, and a long row of shops and restaurants for all the beach goers. There were some people out, but it was pretty quiet. It’s a week day and school is in session.

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Hampton Beach

A stop at Applecrest Farm Orchard for some fresh picked apples and peaches. They also grow blueberries, raspberries, and lots of other garden produce..and pumpkins, of course. Yum.

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Applecrest Farm Orchards

  • Lodging:  $48 total for two nights (Passport America 50% rate)
  • Gasoline:  none
  • Admission:  Trolley $28
  • Admission:  Movie $6
Posted in Daily Post, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, September | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Family Time in NH

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We are in New Hampshire now and have been for the last several days while we visit our son and his family for a while. They live in Keene, a small town in the southwestern part of the state.

One of the very first things we saw when we got here was this restaurant with a giant crab on top of it… and the sign indicates lobster dinner for only $12.99. Nice. You KNOW we ate there.

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Nick’s Restaurant

Keene is a nice little town, we have been enjoying our time visiting the kids as well as exploring the area. Farmers Market is every Tuesday and Saturday.

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Farmers Market in Keene, NH

And Art in the Park, as well as a Music Festival last weekend. There’s lots going on here.

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Art in the Park

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Ashuelot River Park, Keene, NH

We are staying at Ashuelot River Campground. What a nice place, for sure this will be our home whenever we come to visit the kids. It was plumb full over the Labor Day weekend, but once the holiday was over everyone went home and here we are all alone. School has begun and the camping season is winding down. Since I took this picture a few more have arrived for the weekend.

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Ashuelot River Campground

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Ozzy Selfie

We did venture out to see the countryside. One of the more interesting things we found was this Stairway to Nowhere in the middle of a forest. It had been part of a castle built in 1931 by an eccentric widow, Madame Sherri. The house burned down in 1962. This nice stone stairway and a fireplace and a few other ruins remain.

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Madame Sherri Forest

And the covered bridges! There are several around here and we went looking for them.

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Sawyer’s Crossing, built in 1859 to replace one built prior to 1771.

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Slate Bridge, 1862

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Coombs Bridge, 1837. Rehabilitated in 1971

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Ashuelot Bridge, 1864.

This last one is very near our campground and we cross it every time we go anywhere.

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West Swanzey Bridge, 1832

  • Gasoline:  $124 @ $2.30 and $2.21
  • Lodging:  $432 for two weeks.
Posted in August, Daily Post, New Hampshire, September | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Vermont Country Store

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Our explorations took us around Brattleboro, Vermont, today. It’s a pretty little town, about 12,000 people. Chartered in 1753.

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Brattleboro, Vermont

We spotted a sea serpent in the water! I don’t think it saw us.

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Sea Serpent at Brattleboro, VT

Years ago I would occasionally receive a catalog in the mail from the Vermont Country Store — Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find.  And here it is, just up the road from Brattleboro in the little town of Rockingham. I love it. Stepping inside is like a step into the past. Old-time candy and goods, time-tested health and beauty items, tried & true housewares, their own canned goods, jams, jellies, etc. and clothing and classic toys. It brought back memories.

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The Vermont Country Store, Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find

Next up the road is the unique community of Chester, population just over 3,000. What a pretty town! Lining one side of the main street is a row of big houses. These are shops and restaurants. So different than the usual main street shops we’re used to seeing in small towns.

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Chester, Vermont

Just outside of Chester we found an old covered bridge.

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Worral Covered Bridge

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Worral Covered Bridge

Posted in August, Daily Post, Vermont | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vermont!

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

For some reason our travels never took us through Vermont….until now. As we were traveling north on Interstate 91 I was watching intently for the welcome sign so I could be sure to get a picture of it. I looked away for a minute and almost missed it! It’s so small!! It is a small state, but come on Vermont, you can do better than that.

Welcome to Vermont

Welcome to Vermont

Fort Dummer State Park is our home for the next three nights. It’s just outside the town of Brattleboro, Vermont, and very close to our destination of Keene, New Hampshire. It is named for a British fort that was built here in 1724. The fort was named for William Dummer, Lieutenant Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony at the time.

This is by far the nicest place we have “camped” since we left Minnesota 9 days ago. There are no hookups so we are dry camping. Water and a dump station are available. But we are without electricity… good thing we got those new batteries yesterday! After we got set up we went for a walk around the campground. We were surprised to see so many vacancies for a Friday night. The temperature was perfect and there were no bugs!

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Fort Dummer State Park, #11. Vermont

Now I get to finally fill that hole in my travel map where Vermont is.

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Vermont Gets Added

Only seven states needed to complete all 50 United States! Not likely the RV will make it to Hawaii, so will settle for 49.

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States Visited With the RV

  • Gasoline:  $36 @ $2.45
  • Lodging:  $67 for the next three nights
Posted in August, Daily Post, Vermont | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Moving Eastward

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

It’s been so cloudy and rainy. We really want to come back to Niagara Falls when it’s bright and sunny. That, and that our two house batteries gave up over night, led us to decide to leave this morning. The batteries run the TV, the interior lights, and the water pump when we’re not plugged in to shore power so off we go in search of new ones. The third battery is for the engine, but that seems to be working fine. We found the nearest Walmart Supercenter east of us that had an automotive service center and $190 later we’re back in business.

New House Batteries!

New House Batteries!

Then we just kept on going east until we got tired of driving. We have been freeloading it across the country all week and decided we would splurge and go for a real campground tonight with electricity and water hookups. Riverforest Park Campground  & Marina at Weedsport, New York, was the nearest park that had an available spot for us for tonight, but only for one night. They are booked up for the weekend so we will be on our way again in the morning.

Riverforest Park Campground & Marina, Weedsport, New York. #H

Riverforest Park Campground & Marina, Weedsport, New York. #H

  • Lodging:  $38
  • Batteries:  $190
Posted in August, Daily Post, New York | Tagged | Leave a comment

Erie Canal

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

About 20 miles from here is the town of Lockport, New York. The Erie Canal runs right through the middle of the town. There’s a really good museum here with everything you ever wanted to know about the origin and construction of the canal about 200 years ago. We walked along part of the canal and took some pictures.

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Erie Canal at Lockport, NY

There are boat tours here too.

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Erie Canal

We got tickets for the 12:30 tour and boarded the Lockview V for a 90 minute cruise up and down a section of the Eric Canal..

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Lockview V

Our cruise brought us through the historic and rebuilt locks. The “Flight of Five”, the original series of 5 locks going upstream alongside 5 locks going down stream. The locks have been rebuilt a few times over the years but part of the original 5 on one side remains. Our boat entered the left side, two larger locks, bringing us up 45 feet.

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Flight of Five

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Going Up!

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Entering 2nd Lock to go up Again

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Erie Canal

The inverted Howe Truss bridge, built in 1902, spans the Erie Canal. Legend says that the rail company built it this way to block large loads of goods being carried by boat on the canal so they would be forced to use the train. Who knows if it’s true, but it’s a good story.

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Upside-Down Bridge

It was an enjoyable, informative, tour. After that we returned to the RV just as it started to rain.

  • Museum Admission:  $10
  • Canal Tour Tickets:    $35
  • Lodging:  free
Posted in August, Daily Post, New York | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Niagara Falls

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We’ve been to Niagara Falls before, but here we go again. Seneca Niagara Falls Casino kindly allowed us to park free in their parking lot while we are here. It’s not far from the Falls.

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Seneca Niagara Falls Casino

It’s a cool wet day, very cloudy, and it may rain. But we went to see anyway. There are two main falls, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Across the Niagara River is Canada. On the American side is the oldest STATE park in the nation, Niagara Falls State Park, established in 1885.

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American Falls

It’s hard to see the huge Horseshoe Falls from the American side, it looks so small in the distance.

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American Falls on the Niagara River

To get to the Canadian side of the river you have to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Canada has a much better view of the falls and we planned to walk across the bridge and see it again, but, oops, we left our passports in the RV. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to see that tomorrow.

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Rainbow Bridge to Canada

We had dinner at a restaurant called Top of the Falls and waited for the sun to set.  Once it gets dark the falls are lit with color changing lights. It is pretty impressive to see.

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American Falls on the Niagara River

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Niagara Falls, Canada

  • Lodging:  free
  • Gasoline:  $75 @ $2.39
  • Parking at the Falls:  $10
Posted in August, Daily Post, New York | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

RV Capital of the World

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Elkhart County, Indiana, is the RV Capital of the World. 80% of this country’s recreational vehicles (RVs) are manufactured here. There are about 16 different factory tours in the area, enough to make your head spin. We did not take any of the tours, we just ran out of time. But we’ll be by here again.

We were at the RV/MH Museum and Hall of Fame here a few years back and enjoyed it so much we stopped in again today. There is a lot of history here, from the first RV from 1913 to brand new ones of today. Many of them were open for us to enter and see inside, some were roped off. It was a journey through time.

RV/MH Museum
1967 Winnebago
1967 Winnebago
1974 GMC Motor Home
1969 Stites Chassis Mount Truck Camper
1954 Spartan
1954 Spartan
1954 Spartan Imperial Mansion 8×42 Foot Mobile Home
1929 Covered Wagon Travel Trailer
1937 Hunt Housecar
1928 Pierce Arrow Fleet Housecar
1928 Pierce Arrow Fleet Housecar
Star Streak II
Oh the Memories!
Extensive RV Library

After the museum visit we sat in the parking lot and waited out a passing rain storm. Once that was over we moved east, crossing into Ohio. Tonight we are staying in a special RV only lot at a Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike. For $20 we have electricity and access to a dump station and fresh water. I’m needing the air conditioning, it’s been warm and very humid.

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Alone 🙂

And, now we are in the Eastern Time Zone.

  • Gasoline:  $152 @ $2.65 and $3.19
  • Lodging:  $20
  • Admission to Museum: $16
Posted in August, Daily Post, Ohio | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment