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2010
To see our complete Photo Album at our
Webshots Site.
To see a summary map of our route,
click here.
July
31
After coffee on our patio and a walk
around the campground, we headed out to our friends Jim and Diane’s. They
didn’t know we were back in town, so we just showed up at their house. Jim was
working so we corrupted Diane until Jim got home. We had some cocktails and
ordered pizza. When we got back to the campground, we took a golf cart ride
with Rich and Sandy and then grounded ourselves.
30
We were up and out by
615am this morning. We drove down to Arlington Park Race Track to park and
catch the train to Chicago. We met up with Sharon and surprised Jessica and
Kyle, our niece and nephew at the train station. The five of us headed to
Millennium Park and then along the lakefront and to Navy Pier. We moseyed on
down to the end of Navy Pier and then back again. John’s sister Katie was going
to meet us for lunch and was running late. So we all grabbed a cab to a
restaurant near her house. Right before she arrived, John and I hid and then we
surprised her as well. After lunch, we caught a cab back to the train station
and took the train to Arlington Park Race Track. Not to head home, but to meet
Laurie, John, Stacey and Evan at the race track. We bet a few races and
contributed to the economy of the race track. After the races were over, we
headed back home, we were done.
29
We haven’t golf for
almost and year and decided to head over to Hickory Knoll to play 9 holes. We
want to start playing weekly and this was a good start. We played a few games
of cribbage then Rich and Sandy talked us into heading to Blarneys Island for
just a couple drinks. Yea, right! We ended up staying a lot longer than we had
thought, but like always, we had a great time.
28
HAPPY B’DAY JOHN!!!
This morning after coffee outside and a few presents, we headed to surprise our
relatives. They knew we were coming to town, but not sure when. So we walked
up to Laurie and John’s house and rang the bell. Needless to say, we really
surprised them. They already had some other nieces and nephews over and more on
the way. We ended up surprising quite a few people. We had a great day
catching up, after lunch and dinner; we headed back to the cow.
27
Today we are going to
hang around the cow and pick up a few groceries and that’s it.
26
We headed out around
930am this morning. We didn’t want to leave to early and catch the morning rush
hour. It worked out perfect. No traffic. We got to Grass Lake Campground and
all set up by 2pm. We met a lot of our old friends and a party started. We had
some cocktails and chatted. The full moon came out and we took a golf cart ride
to the point.
25
We were up and on the
road by 7am this morning. We drove about 470 miles to just north of South Bend
Indiana. It started out really raining but it was suppose to clear up and it
did. We got checked in and set up at Spaulding Lake Campground. We had a long
day so tonight we just relaxed.
24
Today is our
pre-departure day. We got all ready to leave tomorrow. We got our laundry,
groceries, gassed up red and did some reading and work on uploading photos.
It’s a rainy day so it’s perfect to get this done.
23
It’s good we did all
our sightseeing the last couple days. Some big storms rolled in overnight and
we have wind and rain today. We are hanging around the cow, working on photos,
our journal and getting some reading in. We decided to head out later in the
afternoon to Seneca Casino. We stayed for a while and actually I did ok. Then
we stopped at the VFW for a cocktail and then we were done.
22
This morning we hung
around the cow and relaxed for a while. We are going to have another long day.
Not quite as long, but we have a lot we want to do. Once again we drove to
Niagara Falls State Park and parked on Goat Island. This is less crowded and
easier to get to than the main parking area. Since we have the trolley tickets
it doesn’t matter.
We hopped on the trolley and we
were originally headed to see the 40 minute movie of the falls. When we got
there it had already started so we stayed on the trolley and headed for the
Discovery Center. This is also good to experience. It’s a hands on way to
see how the falls were developed and how they will change in the future. Then
we walked over to the Aquarium. This is not really big, but it was
interesting and we’re glad we went.
Then we hopped the trolley to the Rainbow
Bridge. Today we are heading into Canada. Even though we could have driven, we
didn’t want to deal with the parking, customs and lines for vehicles. So we
brought our passports and walked across the bridge. No problem with customs.
We strolled along the park that Canada has
which runs from the
Rainbow
Bridge all the way to the Horseshoe Falls. For complete views of both the
American and Horseshoe Falls, Canada has the American side beat. From when you
cross the bridge until you get to the top of Horseshoe Falls, the
views are
spectacular. We moseyed along, took lots of pictures and then we headed to
Margaritaville.
A new
Margaritaville Niagara Falls Canada just opened a month ago and we were
hungry and parched. So we walked up the hill and got a table inside so we could
watch Margaritavision. Jimmy Buffett complies hours and hours of videos from
his concerts and tailgate parties. While we were eating the pre concert party
from Las Vegas back in 2007 came on. There I was doing the limbo. I made it to
the video being played in every Margaritaville Restaurant. So after lunch, we
decided to sit in the bar and wait for the video to be replayed so I could get a
couple photos of it. Wonderful it worked.
We started our journey back to the Rainbow Bridge and
through US customs, no problem. It worked out great with the movie. We finally
made it just as it was beginning. It was a great way to finish up our Niagara
Falls experience. We were able to view and see all the things we had done and
experienced the last couple days. We did lots and lots of walking the last
couple days and I’m done. We headed home.
21
Today we are heading to
Niagara
Falls State Park. People have always said the Canadian side of the falls is
better than the American side. We will see.
We parked at goat island and walked
to Terrapin Point. From here you are right next to the Horseshoe Falls. There
is always the mist from the falls, and most of the time there is a rainbow in
the mist. We decided to buy the discovery pass for 33.00 per person. This
entitles us to entrance to Cave of the Winds, Maid of the Mist, the Observation
Deck, the Trolley, the Adventure Movie, Aquarium and the Discovery Center. It
doesn’t have to be all on the same day. So we will do some today and some
tomorrow.
We walked along the path
leading from Terrapin Point to the
Cave of
the Winds. We knew we were going to get wet today, so we brought ziploc
bags for our passports, camera and phone. Were glad we did. When you do Cave
of the Winds, first they give you walking sandals and a rain poncho and a bag
for your shoes. It is mandatory that you wear both of these. Once you change
shoes and put on your poncho, then you walk to the elevator that takes you to
the bottom of the gorge between Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Then
you follow a wooden walkway along the bottom side of the American Falls and then
climb the walkway until you are being plummeted by the falls above. Even with
the raincoat, you get soaked. They don’t rush you, so you can spend as much
time as you like just taking in the massiveness of the falls. This attraction
is
EXCELLENT!! A MUST do!
After our expedition, we took our new
sandals back to red and then headed to Luna Island. This is a small island
within the American Falls. From here you can look down and see where we just
were in the Cave of the Winds. We hopped the trolley and headed over to the
main visitors center.
From here we walked to the
Observation Deck. This is a 230 foot overlook and provides the only
view of both the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls from the American side.
This is also
EXCELLENT!
Then we hopped the elevator down to the base of the
falls and got our rain ponchos for the
Maid of
the Mist boat ride. John and I got right up in front of the boat. We
had great views of the American Falls and Cave of the Winds. Even though these
boats have operated for years, when we started getting right up to the bottom of
Horseshoe Falls it was a little scary. You are surrounded by heavy mist and
churning water below the boat. The boat keeps inching closer and closer to the
falls. Once again, you get completely soaked.
This is also a MUST do! EXCELLENT!
Well since we were already soaked, after Maid of the
mist you can walk up a gorge pathway similar to Cave of the Winds and once again
get plummeted by the falls. So up we went. Now we needed to dry out.
We walked to the visitors center to watch the movie,
but it wouldn’t start for another 45 minutes. So after reading the history of
the falls and looking around the visitors center we needed a little break. We
walked over to the Quality Inn and had a relaxing cocktail at Legends Bar. Then
walked over to Seneca Casino for a little slot play.
Today is going to be a long day. We want to stay
at the falls until after sunset. So when dusk was coming we walked back over to
the Observation Deck and found a place to hang out for a while. After dark
around 9pm the Canadian side starts an
illumination show which you can see perfectly from the Observation
Deck. Also
EXCELLENT!
Today is Wednesday and in the summer on Wednesdays the Canadians also have a
fireworks
display over the illuminated falls.
EXCELLENT!
Now we are done. We walked back to goat island crossing the bridge over the
American rapids and headed back home. It was a long day, but we had a
GREAT time!!!
20
Up and out early on
the road again. We are heading to Grand Island New York. This is about 5 miles
from Niagara Falls. We got in and all set up and took a walk around the
campground to check it out. We took a drive around the island and then headed
back to the cow. We are taking a time out tonight.
19
This morning we were
up and on the road by 645am. We had been out twice searching for Moose. We
never did find a Moose, but shortly after we left our campground this morning.
We saw a huge Black Bear right by the road. A few minutes later we saw a baby
coyote by the road. We had planned to go about 245 miles but since we got
started so early we ended up going about 350 miles to Verona New York. Since
were only staying one night and heading out early tomorrow we just raised the
cow off of red and set up like that. The campground were at is part of a
casino, so we took the shuttle over to check it out. We played a little video
poker and then decided to head back. We were down a little and decided to play
one hand of 10.00 blackjack because we got a match play at check in. Blackjack
worked out well and we ended up leaving a little bit up. After dinner, we just
relaxed at the cow. We have another travel day tomorrow.
18
This morning after
coffee outside overlooking the White Mountains, we started getting organized for
our move tomorrow. We are still disconnected from the world. We haven’t had
TV, our internet works about 10 minutes a day and we get very bad cell service.
That’s ok it’s beautiful here and it is kind of nice being disconnected. After
gassing up and picking up some groceries, we got packed up and just in time. We
have another rainstorm blowing in. We did some reading and relaxed around the
cow.
17
This morning we got
organized and headed back to Pinkham Notch Visitors Center along RT 16 near Mt.
Washington. We are hiking the
Lost Pond Trail today. It’s only a 2 mile hike,
but there is some up and down and lots of rocks and tree limbs so it takes
longer. We start out along a river where a beaver has been busy building a
dam. Then through the woods to a beautiful pond created by a couple beaver
dams. After our hike we headed home and to the pool for a couple hours of sun
and reading.
We had a quick dinner, then guess what were doing tonight. Yep!
Were heading out again in search of Moose. We are doing things a little
different tonight. We are only going to travel 50 miles, 25 each way. This
doesn’t sound far, but we are only going 25 to 30 miles and hour so it’s a 2
hour journey. By 9pm, it’s really dark.
We are leaving when the tours leave
around 630pm and are heading up RT 16 from
Gorham to Errol. We are hopping
tonight’s the night. We stopped at a couple canoe launches and scenic areas.
Almost all this drive is along the river with some ponds loaded with
vegetation. This is where the moose like to hang out this time of year. Well
they must all be on a group vacation. We went 35 miles each way instead of our
25 miles, so 70 miles round trip. No Moose. We did see loons, ducks, fly
fisherman, rabbit and another fox. We failed as Moose hunters. When we got
back, no TV, no internet and a storm moving in, so we headed to bed.
16
This
morning we had coffee on the verandah and then did some campground research.
Our internet has not been working so when it does, we have to take advantage of
it. We took a walk around our campground and got back just as the rain was
coming. We played some cribbage under our overhang and watched the rain. After
dinner we watched the sky turn different colors as the sun was setting. We
still don’t have any TV and our internet is still not working. We are
disconnected. We were going to watch another movie, but the whole park lost
power, so not tonight.
15 John
was in need of a big hike. So I dropped him off at the railroad trestle on RT 2
and Rt 16 where we hiked the other day. He headed in and down to
Hogan Road.
Even though this is called a road. It’s barely drivable. Most people hike it.
So off John went. It should be a 6-10 mile hike. I headed to Walmart to do
some shopping. I was relaxing at the cow when John got me on the walkie talkie
and I headed over to North Road to pick him up. Along his journey, he found a
couple cabins in the woods and also some fresh
Moose dung. This time of year
Moose dung is like a big cow pattie. So far, this is as close as we have gotten
to a Moose. We went for a dip in the pool had dinner and was going to use the
internet. Internet not working. So we watched the movie, Slum dog
Millionaire.
14 This
morning was damp with a chance of rain. We headed south on RT 16 to
Glen Ellis
Falls. We are doing some short scenic hikes today. We hiked down to the bottom
of the 64ft falls. The tops of the mountains are clouded in today, but it
actually gives the falls and surrounding area a very nice setting. Then we
headed up to Pinkham Notch Visitors Center and
Crystal Cascade Falls trail.
Here we have to start up the trail to Mt. Washington. We don’t go too far and
we cross a river with the water cascading down.
We headed back to the cow for
lunch. Later this afternoon we are heading east on Rt 2 into Maine and up RT 26
back into New Hampshire and to Errol and then back to Gorham via RT 16. We
understand this is the route to take to search for Moose. We started off around
4pm so we would have time to stop along the way and do some sightseeing and
short hikes. We stopped at
Grafton Notch State Park and some of the cutoffs
along the way. We were already in Moose country, but when we got near Umbagog
State Park, we new Moose should be all around us. They have moose tours in town
and Sally, the visitor’s center ranger told us where the tours go searching.
So
we decided to do our own tour. We stopped at the
Umbagog SP and it would be a
great place to stay for tenting or to rent a cottage. So far, no Moose. We
headed North on RT 16 to Mt Dustin where New Hampshire and Maine meet. Up here
we are only a short distance to Canada. We turned around and started to head
home down RT 16. There are a couple small towns, but this is wilderness with
the ponds, bogs and river right by the road. Prime Moose habitat. The clouds
are hanging low, the fog is moving in and it’s starting to get dark. We got
home at almost 10pm. We were gone almost 6 hours. We drove 125 miles and we
didn’t see any Moose. Oh well. We did see a Red Tailed Hawk, Ground Hog, Bald
Eagle, Fox, Loon, Ducks, and a Deer.
13
This morning after
coffee on our patio overlooking the White Mountains, we headed out to the Gorham
Visitors Center. Sally was very helpful. There is a lot more here than we
originally thought. We are right along the Appalachian Trail. This trail runs
from Nova Scotia Canada down to Georgia. Actually at our campground they have a
hostel for hikers on the trail. To do the whole 2000 mile trail takes about 7
months.
After talking to Sally and getting all our info, we headed to the old
railroad trestle just past RT 2 on RT 16. We hiked in and along the
Androscoggin River to the dam. This is deer, bear and moose country so you
never know what you might see. We wanted to find the Hogan Road trail. Finally
we came to the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) trail. This took us to the trail
that leads to Hogan Road. One day John wants to hike this from here and I’ll
meet up with him down by North Road.
After this hike, we headed into the White
Mountains Natl Forest. We stopped at the visitor’s center for info on hiking in
the park and sites to see. Mt. Washington is here in the park. Its 6,288 feet
high. The highest mountain in the Northeast. We got a list of various hikes to
take and things to do. We started down Rt 16 and ended up at Wildcat Mountain
Ski Area.
Thompsons Falls hiking trail starts from here. We headed to the
falls. It’s a 3 tier falls and the water was really running and cold. It was
nice to take a break and watch and listen to the falls. Now it’s time to pick
up a few groceries, have a quick dinner and change and then head to the city
park in Gorham.
Tonight is a country concert in the park. We brought our
chairs and some wine. We enjoyed the band in a beautiful setting surrounded by
mountains. I did a couple line dances with some ladies behind us. Just as the
band was finishing we got a few sprinkles. The downpour started just as we were
walking into the cow. We had borrowed some movies from the office since we
don’t have any TV, so we relaxed and watched “The Pursuit of Happiness”.
12
This morning is sunny
but a lot of our stuff is still wet from yesterday’s rain. We got all packed up
and on the road by 9am. We are heading about 200 miles today to Gorham New
Hampshire. It’s mostly 2 lane country roads so it took us about 5 ½ hours. We
got all set up at White Birches Campground. We are surrounded by the White
Mountains. We got set up, had some dinner and a couple cocktails and enjoyed
the scenery. I will have time to catch up on all my internet stuff here. We
have wifi but no TV reception.
11
After
a little while outside, the rain came. It’s a downpour today. That’s ok. It’s
our day before departure and even though we need to get a few things done, it
doesn’t take long. I finished up loading pictures and did laundry. John did
some reading. We really enjoyed our time here. We really like this
campground. The location is great, it’s on the free bus route, the sites are
large and it’s on the water.
10
Jim and Diane are
heading to Boston today. We met them for breakfast at the Trenton Lighthouse.
Blueberries are in bloom, so Diane and I had the Maine Wild Blueberry pancakes.
John a lobster omelet and Jim a crab omelet. After breakfast, they were off and
we stopped for a few supplies. We took a time out day and I worked on photos,
bills, internet, and my journal. John did some reading and some outside
projects.
9
After lounging at the
cow a while, John and Jim went on a hike around the campground to explore the
seashore. Diane and I hung around the cow. Later, we all headed off to
Pirate
Miniature Golf. We got our 18 holes in. Tonight we had dinner at the Log
Cabin. I still need my lobster fix, so I had the lobster roll and Diane had
lobster fettuccini. I’ll tell you, Maine is the place to eat lobster!!
8
Today we drove into
the park and to the
Wild Gardens of Acadia. It’s a botanical garden and paths.
We stopped at the Precipe Trail to check out the
peregrine falcon watch. The
trail is closed due to the falcons nesting. The rangers had some telescopes set
up and we were able to see the baby falcon. He’s already 45 days old and
learning to fly.
We continued on to sand beach. Diane and I
made some beach chairs in the sand and John and Jim headed to the
Great Head
Trail. The harbor fog was starting to come in and it is really strange to see
the clouds just covering the small islands and cliffs. We saw John and Jim from
the beach and they saw us.
After the hike, we headed to
Jordon pond
for popovers. After our popovers out on the lawn, we headed for the nature
trail. It’s blueberries season and their all over. We picked a few and ate
them right away. We walked the nature trail on the south end of Jordon Pond.
We headed back to the cow, had a few cocktails at the campground, then went to
dinner at Mainly Meat.
7
Today is warm and
yesterday we did our hikes, so we are heading to the pool. We soaked up some
rays and then back at the cow we started dinner. We are having a
clam dinner.
We got 5 pounds of fresh clams right down the road and steamed and grilled
them. Some homemade coleslaw and it was a good dinner. We saw
Elvis driving
around in a golf cart and found out there was an
Elvis show at the campground
tonight.
6
We checked the tide
reports and they were right for the
Bar Island Hike. We headed into Bar Harbor
and started our crossing about an hour before low tide. No problem, it was
already dry and easy to cross. John and Jim hiked up to the summit and Diane
and I did some tide pooling.
That was a lot of work, so we headed for
some ice cream. Now were ready for another hike. We moseyed on over to the
Shore Path. There are some beautiful homes along the path that overlooks the
harbor. Another rough hike. So off to the Irish Pub for a couple pints. We
wanted something to eat, so we headed to the
Dog and Pony
for dinner and
drinks. It’s a nice evening so we got a
campfire going at the cow.
5
Jim and Diane came over and we had snacks then headed out to Acadia National
Park. We took Red and drove today. We stopped at
Duck Pond Road Carriage roads
and the stone bridge.
Then we headed up to Cadillac Mountain
Summit. We stopped at a few pull offs to take in the beautiful scenery and get
a couple photos. After a short hike at the
summit. Diane and I started the
drive down the mountain and John and Jim was hiking down the
Cadillac North
Ridge Trail. Diane and I met them along the way and then at the bottom of the
trail.
We headed back to the cow, enjoyed the
afternoon at the campsite listening to music and having a couple cocktails.
Tonight is Lobster night. We headed over to Downeast Lobster Pound for
Lobsters. After dinner we were all pretty much done. We watched a great sunset
and that was it.
4
This morning John and Jim went out since it was
low tide and harvested some mussels for breakfast. We grilled them up and then
headed to catch the bus to the visitors center. We watched the short film about
Acadia National Park. Then we hopped the bus to thunder hole. Even though the
tide was coming in, the seas were calm so thunder hole was not to impressive.
We continued on the
Ocean Path
towards Otter Point. The views are just so beautiful, words and pictures just
doesn’t do it justice. We hopped the bus to Jordon Pond and transferred to
village green in downtown Bar Harbor.
We were ready for some cocktails so we stopped at
Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant for happy hour, drinks and appetizers. We walked
over to the brewery store where they do tastings. It’s not the brewery just the
tasting store. We moseyed on next door to the
Irish Pub. We were going to head
home, but busses are stopped until after the fireworks.
So we walked toward the town pier and found a
slanted grassy spot overlooking the bay and the pier. They were
GREAT
fireworks. Afterwards as you can imagine, there were big crowds heading out.
We made our way back to the bus and after waiting a bit, we were on the bus and
back home. We had a really nice day.
3
Our friends, Jim and Diane are coming in today.
They will be with us for a week. Today John and I did domestic stuff, cleaning,
laundry and stuff. Jim and Diane got in around 6pm. We headed over to their
hotel and had some drinks and relaxed. Then we went to the Log Cabin Restaurant
for dinner. We were all done for the night.
2
Our internet was up for a little while, so I was
able to upload photos and check emails. Then we headed to the pool to soak up
some rays. After a couple cocktails, we headed to Trenton to the Trenton
Lighthouse. John had the Friday night fish fry and
I had lobster.
1
Today we had a cow day. We worked on projects
and did some shopping.
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