Don’t even look sideways at him when he says.....

Our retirement travel plan was years in the making.  Anyone who knows Bill knows it consisted of intense research, comparisons, checklists, and to do’s...... for the past many years.

When it came down to the final preparations, we went through the house multiple times, trying to determine exactly what would be useful to us on the road, always keeping in mind every pound packed would end up reducing our MPG.  We chose an RV that had lots of weigh capacity, but still couldn’t bring everything.  At the same time, we wanted retirement to be more simple and carefree.

Bill spent tons of time determining just what tools he thought he would need.   And although he has drilled into me that you “need the right tool for the job”, I still humored him when he decided we could not travel without a ladder.  In all our RV’ing, I don’t remember ever using a ladder while on the road.  Besides, we bought a new unit to eliminate the problems that come with older units.  I tried to talk him into a 2 step kitchen ladder, lighter weight, smaller, easier to pack.  He listened to me.

But, prior to leaving, he could not leave without ANOTHER ladder!  This time a 6 foot ladder.  I thought he was nuts, giving him more than a few sideways glances,  But he would want to clean the roof of the RV, multiple times, while traveling and needed the bigger ladder  to get up there.  ok...... what’s a wife to do.

Well, once again, his “need the right tool for the job” came through loud and clear as he saved us time and aggravation alongside the highway when the awning flew open yesterday and as he continued to correct the issue today.

No more sideways glances at his nutty ideas from me again.

Written by Sandy

To Shower or Not?

We love the Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia National Park but there is one surprise that we have never run into before.  That is, the campground has beautiful restrooms, but no showers.  It is not a problem for us since we have our own shower on board, but it would definitely be a problem for Tent Campers and many of the new Class B Motor Homes.

I wonder if this is Maine’s way of controlling the Mosquito population?  No Shower = Mosquito Bate,  Shower = Mosquito Free.

I think I will open up a Cutter Mosquito kiosk in the Tent Camp areas.  Either that or offer a lower priced shower option :-)

Attached is a copy of the letter posted in the Restrooms. 

Final Pictures of our time in Acadia National Park

Have you ever had one of those days??

Today is the day we left Schoodic Woods, Maine and moved to Saint Johns New Brunswick Canada.  As predicted it was raining when we got out of bed and it is still raining when we are about to go to bed.

Here are the calamities that made today one of those days.

1. We decided to ignore the Rand McNally GPS and stick to Route 1 through Maine along the coast.  Big mistake, the road was horrible.  In some parts it was dirt road.  Many parts were down to one lane.  Can you believe it, this is a major highway.
2. Just after the border crossing into Canada I was getting up to speed at 55 MPH and in the background I heard what sounded like a sail on a boat fluttering in the wind.  I asked Sandy to look around, just then she noticed that our Automatic 20’ Awning on the passenger side of the MotorHome decided to automatically roll out.  Are you kidding me???  By the time I got the MotorHome with car in tow to the side of the road, the Awning was slightly bent and would roll in only 1/2 way.  I spent the next hour in pouring rain on a ladder trying to coax it in further.  Just what I wanted to do in cold driving rain along a major interstate.  Finally I was able to tie wrap it shut good enough so that we could continue on to St John’s
3. Upon arrival at the campground, still in driving rain, they gave us our camp site.  As I approach the site my windshield wipers stopped working.  Apparently the mechanical linkage to the wipers broke (or hopefully just slipped) off the drive motor, as the drive motor is still spinning freely.  I am hoping for an easy fix, but am not holding my breath.  Have you ever seen the You Tube Video where the husband and wife each have a string attached to the windshield wipers?  They is coordinated fashion pull on their end of the string to move the wipers back and forth to clean the windshield.  I am hoping not to use this method :-)
4. We begin our site setup.  Level the MotorHome, put out the slides, connect up the water and then, YOU Guessed IT, the sewer attachment at the site is in the next county.  With all the extensions I have I cannot reach this camp provided connection.  Down to the Camp office we go.  Now keep in mind I am on my 2nd winter coat, shoes, shorts and am completely soaked through.  

I just have to laugh.  At least I will at some future date :-). I told Sandy I should have just put my bathing suit on today.

5. The camp office assigns us another site.
6. After unhooking everything, again in the driving rain, I moved the MotorHome to a new site.  Get everything reconnected.  
7. We sat down for a relaxing dinner and I look over at the sink and notice water dripping inside from the kitchen cabinets, out the door, and onto the counter.  It appears that one of the slides is leaking.  Keep in mind that it has been raining for 16 hours straight and will continue until sometime tomorrow.  Well we pull in the slide to hopefully stop the leak.

It is time to go to bed before something else happens.   Tomorrow has to be a better day

The problem with Averages

You cannot pack for a long trip based on average hi - low Temperatures.  Mathematically averages are a snapshot of the highest and lowest temp in a day for a given month.

The problem, the average temperature indicated that we would be in warmer temperatures.  We packed at least 50%+ of our clothes for these warmer temperatures.  

We should have packed more warmer clothes.

 When the sun is out in Acadia National Park, it is in the 70’s, but when it is cloudy or after 5:00 PM it drops quickly into the 50’s.  As I write, it is 56 degrees and everyone is inside their campers staying warm.

 Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about the weather,  the days are in the 70’s, nights are cool for sleeping, very low humidity, and the only rain we have had since leaving home (during the day) was within 15 miles of our house in Medina, Ohio.  All the rain have experienced has been at night when it does not effect our plans.  

Team Haircut. She said OOPs

First I will say the final product looks good, getting there was a little concerning.

This is how it came down :-)

______________________

Imagine a guy in the next campsite over sitting in a lawn chair with his wife hovering around with a set of Norelco electric hair clippers saying “I’m not sure how to do this but here goes”.

Of Course, the next thing you do is pull up a chair and watch the fireworks.

After a little bit of instructions from the husband the wife starts cutting away.  At first, bearly touching the scalp with the clippers, then as her confidence builds she starts hacking away as if a pro, then she says “OOPs”.  

The Husband says WHAT!! What does that mean!!  

The campers in the next site perk up and edge closer.

She explains to the husband “I didn’t mean to cut so high around the ears.  Don’t worry I like the left side better than the right”. WHAT???

Just then, a gust of wind comes in from the Ocean and the cheap plastic haircut cape with hair shavings went up in the air and the shavings dumped all over the haircut couple.

Finally the wife says, go take a look and see what you think.

  Round 1:  Let’s just say I had lines cut into the right side of my head, but the left side showed potential.

Note:  For future reference, all pictures from this day on will be taken from my left side until further notice :-)

Round 2:  Well with a little finesse and a smaller #2 razor attachment we were able to clean it up.

The final result looks good and the campers in the next site were entertained.

I am convinced that Sandy and I are slow to change

Sandy and I took a tandem bike ride through the lower part of the Schoodic Peninsula today.  It was a 12 mile ride.  Typically we can do 12 miles in 1 hour or less.  

Since it was a little ride we did not pack water, food, etc...

Well the 12 mile ride was so gorgeous it took us close to 4 hours.  We could have used the water and food.  In addition to the pictures of scenery attached, we came across an old Navy Station that was decommissioned in 2002.  Now the Park Service manages the property.  The property includes barracks, amphitheater’s, dining hall, baseball field.  The navy used the property to send and decipher radio signals coming from other countries ships on the seas.  It was a secret base.  The base is approximately 6 miles from the campground.

The tide was out so as Sandy describes it we actually got to walk on the Ocean’s floor.

Bar Harbor isn’t the same

Bar Harbor isn’t the same

Sandy and I brought our kids to Bar Harbor in 2003.  After touring Bar Harbor yesterday I can honestly say that Bar Harbor has been commercialized “Big Time”!!  What was once a small town with quaint shops and restaurants around the square has been replaced with tons of T-shirt shops, ice cream stands, bars, and many restaurants.  Every street all the way to the harbor is now covered with shops.  

My recommendation is that you skip Bar Harbor and stay on the Schoodic Peninsula.  ESPECIALLY IF CAMPING.  The National Park Campground is a 10 out of 10 in my book.  It’s a best kept secret.  It an extension of the famous Acadia National Park, yet it does not have the traffic, noise, people etc... .  You can take a ferry to Bar Harbor for $25/person or make the drive which is 1 hour.  Either way you will be happy you stay on the Schoodic Peninsula.

I like this place so much it is now on Sandy and my list to come back in the future as a National Park Volunteer.  If/when we do, you are welcome to come visit and stay with us.

A day at Acadia National Park

We spent the day hopping on and off the numerous free Island Hopper buses hitting many of the highlights in Acadia National Park.  Lands End sponsors these buses in the park to cut down on the Auto traffic and the affect it has on the park.  The buses pickup and drop off every 30 minutes or less.

It was a pleasure to have someone else drive so that Sandy and I both could enjoy the many sites.

Picture of me in Bar Harbor on the docks with Lobster traps called a “Pot”

Picture of me at Seal Beach

We stopped at Jordan Pond so that Sandy could have the famous Tea with Popovers

Sandy with a famous Popover

Thunder hole

Sandy Beach

Sandy Beach with clouds rolling in

Typical Bus stop in the park.  This one is located at Bubble Pond

Hike along Bubble Pond

Entrance into the Park

I am hearing voices :-)

Since our initial outing, inside our Motor Home, intermittently, a foreign voice makes a statement.  I think the Chinese or Japanese are watching us :).  Possibly we are the next real life TV show in China.  At first, I thought the voice was coming from (my head) some of the Electronics provided with the MH.  The voice makes statements at all times of day. I wish I knew what it is saying.  I finally have pinned it down to the dash cam I installed.  The dash cam is a forward looking camera only so theoretically it is not poking fun at me while I dress in the morning.  I have reprogrammed it twice to speak English.  It has not worked.  I did a factory reset.  It did not work.  I think it is possessed or-r-r I really am a Chinese superstar :-)

The short hike before Breakfast that never ended in Schoodic National Park

Sandy had a great idea this morning to do a short 1.1 mile hike before breakfast.  We dressed in long pants, long sleeve jackets, and baseball caps to keep the mosquitoes and ticks at bay.  I also took my day pack with sunscreen, tick spray, mosquito spray, snacks, and two bottles of water.  

At 9:00 A.M. one of the local Rangers walked us to the 1.1 mile White Harbor trail head, and explained that it will take us along the waters edge, then once off the trail we can take an easy walk via the bike trail back to the campground.

We didn’t think anything of a 1.1 mile hike as we typically complete a 2 mile hike in our neighborhood at home in 40 minutes with an easy stride.

Well you can already guess where this is going.  We started down to the water.  The trail took a lot of twist,turns, up, and down hills.  It was pretty along the water (see pictures attached).  One mile in we realized that this hike was harder than expected.  When we finally popped out of the woods, and found the bike trail we learned a couple of new lessons.

1. We should have had the Ranger highlight the map of the trails we were suppose to take because unexpectedly the trails were not marked well and the map we had was very sketchy.
2. Yes, we found the bike trail but we did not know whether we should go right or left on the trail.  Of course we went the wrong way!!
3. Although Sandy did drink the water I packed in, she in no way was going to eat the chocolate chip cliff bar no matter how hungry she was.  She hates cliff bars :)
4. The compass on the cell phone actually does work, even in airplane mode.

Well we made it back to the campground and finally sat down for a big breakfast at 1:30 PM.  Then had a big laugh at how tired we were after this 1.1 mile walk before breakfast. 

He didn’t have a chance

One more story about Camden Maine.  The Camden Police Department has this 2 hour parking scam going on where all the common parking in downtown is a maximum of 2 hours.  This includes everywhere but the police department parking lot and a few other hidden locations where the locals park.  Then they look for license plates from out of state and Wha-Lah they have money for their Christmas party.  

 Well guess who had a $10 parking ticket (with complimentary envelope,

pre-addressed for my convenience) on my windshield??  

To be customer friendly they gave us an option to pay in person at the  police department.

Well not wanting to be bothered mailing the $10 and wasting a stamp.  

Remember I am married to an accountant.  Every 47 cents is 47 cents :-)

Down to the police station we go.  

The clerk on the other side of the window advised it will be $10.  I pulled out my credit card and he said we only take cash.  I smiled and thought I wonder  if someone is accounting for all this cash.  THEN, Sandy started in on this guy.  “How is it that there are no signs in the town advising of the free parking?”  The mid-western Accountant was starting to get wound up.  I wanted to go to the clerks defense and back her off, but-t-t they only wanted cash (& I had already spent money in their town supporting their economy) so I strategically bit my tongue.  It took about 10 seconds of the Rath of Sandy and I saw him start to write V-O-I-D as sheepishly and quickly as he could.  HE DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE :-)

So no ill will to the Camden Maine Police Dept, but be aware, they want a big Christmas Party this year.

12 mile bike ride in Scoodic Woods Maine

Today we arrived, set up camp, and went on a 12 mile tandem bike ride in Schoodic Woods Maine.  We are a 1 hour passenger ferry ride or 1 hour Drive from Bar Harbor Maine.  Temperature tonight will be 47 degrees.  During the days in the 70s.  Schoodic Woods National Campground is less than 5 years old. This camp site with water and 50 Amp service is costing $20/night as Sandy previously obtained the National Park Pass which gives us a 50% discount.  This is a great deal.

To give you an idea of campsite prices in New England, our previous site in Camden Maine (see previous post) cost $49/night.

Perfect Day and Sunset in Camden Maine

The sky’s were blue, light cool breeze coming off the ocean, high temperature was 76 degrees with full sun.  It was a perfect day.  Also Sandy and I went to the top of Mt Battie to take the attached picture of the sunset in Camden Maine

Please add a comment in the blog

Sandy and I are curious who is checking in on our blog.  We know that we have up to 26 followers to date, but would like to know who is watching.  Please do us a favor and insert a comment when you get a chance as this will give us an idea of who is checking in.

Let me know if there is anything else you would like to see or hear about in the blog and we will try to accommodate.

So far we are having a blast :-)

36th Wedding Anniversary

Can you believe we have been married 36 years and dated 5 years before the wedding.  Sandy has been putting up with me and my crazy (McHenry) sense of humor (we get it from our Dad) for 41 years.  Wow, I’m impressed if you aren’t :-).  We took a 2 hour Sailing ride on a 56’ Schooner Appledore with 3 sails up and lots of wind.  We had this 56’ sailboat laying on its side with water coming over the side furthest out of the water.  It was cool!!!  Then we had the obligatory Anniversary dinner.  Of course we had it at 3:00 PM to get the luncheon prices SINCE WE ARE NOW RETIRED :-).  Last we hiked up Mt Battie (1 1/2 miles) to get the 1st picture in the series attached.  Notice Sandy is still smiling, exhausted from the day, but still smiling.  We are in Camden Maine and it is gorgeous.  We actually extended are stay by another day just to take it all in.  Oh the weather:  Skys are blue, 76 degrees, cool wind coming off the Ocean.  PERFECT!!   On to Acadia National Park tomorrow.

I’ve been horn swoggled, hood-winked by my wife of 36 years :)

6/18/2018

Today we drove 6 hours to a remote town on the coast of Maine called Camden.  Mind you it is the day before Sandy and my 36th Anniversary.  After arriving at Camden Hills State park and setting up our site, we jumped in the car to go check out the town.  On the way into town, Sandy informed me that this is one of the top 10 most Romantic destinations in Maine.  Really!!!  And I thought that the two of us traveling across the country in a 40’ rectangle for 4 months was Romantic enough :). GIRLs!!!!

PS.  She is right (don’t tell her I said this), it is a very beautiful place.  Looking forward to a Ro-Ro-Ro__________tic dinner on the water tomorrow :)

The Big Squeeze

6/16-6/18. We spent Fathers Day 2018 in Sandy Beach Campground which is a Thousand Trails Resort.  When we arrived the Guard at the Gate said I’m not sure you are going to get your unit into the site that the office allocated for you.  That was the 1st  “oh boy here we go”.  Then he pointed out the site on the map.  Sandy and I decided to walk to the site before making an attempt to drive it.  Well after 6 hours of tedious driving we decided to shoe horn it in.  With Sandy’s expert guidance I was able to drive it between trees, 90 degree turn down a hill with everyone in the campground taking bets that we would damage the MH before getting it into the site.  Again, only with Sandy’s expert help did we prove everyone wrong and successfully shoe horn it into our site.  I would describe it as squeezing a tube of tooth paste through a pin hole.

Well, that was only problem #1,  once in the site I realized that it was going to be twice as hard to get out of this campground without damage.  

This morning (Monday I think as since retiring everyday seems to be a Saturday :-),  at least this is what my watch says) we packed up and successfully exited this campground with inches (and I mean inches between trees, fence posts, etc....  Again only with Sandy’s expert help did we make it through.

Another lesson learned.  Do not assume that the front desk people know what they are talking about when they assure you they can fit in your MH!!

This will probably be the last “Thousand Trail Resort” that we ever stay in and for sure will be the last of this type of campground with tight spots, tight trees, and the looks of a 1960 resort.

Which way do we go? Which way do we go?

Saturday 6/16/18. Today we drove from Lake George NY to Concord New Hampshire.  There is literally not a good way (at least for us non-New Yorkers) to cut across Vermont to Concord NH.  After consulting numerous Apps, Maps, and two GPS’s we decided Rt 103 was the best shot.  Well it literally turned into a dirt road going through some no-name center of town.  They apparently didn’t have money to fix the road so it is dirt.  Not only was this an issue but they couldn’t pay for Route signs so needless to say we missed our turn.  Try turning around 75’ of MotorHome and tow vehicle.  It was a huge U-Turn that I don’t want to ever try again.  Lesson learned.  Always consult at least one more source.  Possibly we should have googled the route for latest updates :-)

17 Mile Bike trip along the Champlain Canal Trail in Glen Falls N

We carry the tandem bike and rack unassembled in the basement of the Motor Home.  It takes me about 30 minutes to reassemble everything so that we can go for a ride.  We loaded the bike on the back of the Equinox and set out to find the trail.  The trail is not marked very well, but after a couple of mis-starts we were able to find it.  The canals are of the same era as those along the Erie Canal in Cleveland, but these in NY are in much better shape.  The ride was fun but tiring as the last 8 1/2 miles were up hill.

New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire - a summary

We spent time in 3 areas in New York.

Finger Lakes (Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake and Hammondsport on Keuka Lake) — The highlight was hiking the gorge in Watkins Glen along with checking out both towns and lakes.  This area is predominately wine country and the towns’ focus was mainly on wine and food.  It was still early in the season (1st week of June) for any water activities, which were plentiful.  Scenery was rolling hills and towns were quaint.  We had previously visited Cayuga Lake a couple years ago with Ithaca and Cornell University on it’s southern shore.  The gorge at Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca were just as nice as the Watkins Glen gorge, without the cost of admission.

Cooperstown — The highlight was the beautiful stately buildings and residences in this town.  It is a lovely town to just walk the neighborhoods and stroll past the beautiful lake the town sits on.  This town also has beautiful stone churches.  The landscaping was gorgeous in the area around the Baseball Hall of Fame.  All the shops and restaurants around Main Street were of course baseball themed.

Adirondacks (or Dacks as called by the locals) — We based ourselves in the Lake George area, where along with Glen Falls to the south, has a lot to do, especially if with younger families.  We checked out out Bolton Landing and Diamond Point further north.  Both very small quaint main streets.  The highlight was Lake Placid and the Olympic facilities.  The mountains are more beautiful around Lake Placid and the town shops were more Olympic sports oriented.  We enjoyed checking out all the lakeside real estate in these areas.  The schools were still in session, so the season was not yet in full swing.  June is also mosquito season, that was definitely in full swing here.

Vermont — Today, we passed through Vermont en route to a stop in New Hampshire for Father’s Day. Traveller’s always say:  “stay off the highways, take the back roads, you’ll see more”.  Well, we had our share of back roads, since Vermont’s highways seem to run north and south, not east and west like we needed, so we saw our fair share of back roads.  We managed this route east west with a trucker’s atlas (necessary for our size rig) and two GPS units.  We saw our share of farmer’s markets, honey and maple stands, and the small town living.  Amazingly, once we finally got to a highway, the scenery improved and we had much better views of the mountains along the way.  So for us, we preferred the highways for a view.  Once you’ve seen one town, you’ve pretty much seen them all.

New Hampshire — We managed to get ourselves on some pretty dicey roads by trying to follow the truckers’ atlas preferred truckers’ routes in NH.  I’m not impressed with that travel planning tool nor with the route markings in NH.  This was also the first time Bill layed on the horn as cars tried cutting us off when their lane was ending.  That is not normal for him at all. Amazing how people think a vehicle this size can be stopped on a dime.  At a weight of about 18-19 tons, we need a little more stopping distance.  Reminder, in NH, be sure to have at least 2 GPS units working, have your trucker’s atlas, a detailed state map, and then also be sure your iPhone google maps is active!

Written by Sandy

Miracle on Ice, Olympics 1932 & 1980

We traveled to Lake Placid NY today.  What a beautiful setting.  We hiked a couple miles around Mirror Lake and then hiked 1.3 miles up White Mountain to an overlook (pictures attached).  We watched some future Olympic hopefuls practice their ski jumping skills into a pool (I will try to attach some of the videos) and walked into the Ice Arena where the Miracle on Ice happened in 1980.  We took a ride over to White Mountain Ski resort and the hills look treacherous.  I am attaching pictures for you to see.  If you ever get in the vicinity of Lake Placid I would recommend you plan on spending at least a day.