Bar Harbor Boat Trip

Yesterday we went into Bar Harbor to take a ocean-going catamaran. We went to the area of the town pier and enjoyed walking around town before our 2pm departure. Although it was day time, and the moose was not lit up, I think it is still cool on top the building. There is a large lobster further up the street.

The boat trip was booked as Historic Lighthouses and Mansions. We were supposed to see 5 lighthouses, but it was pretty foggy. To be fair, before we left the dock, they told us about the fog and allowed anyone to get off and reschedule. We decided to go anyway as some of the areas were in bright sunshine. This is the only lighthouse we saw clearly. We did see two others, but they were pretty foggy pictures.

This one is a little foggy but still visible.

The catamaran went at 24 knots in the open sea. I stood in the bow and kind of felt like I was on the Titanic. It was exhilarating.


Not all of the trip was in fog, we saw some beautiful sections with many people enjoying their sailboats.


We also were fortunate to see wild life. This one is an Osprey in a nest atop of sign.


This is an American Bald Eagle. The pyramid he is sitting on top of was build of bricks.


Janice took this picture of seals on the rocks.


There are so many beautiful houses along the coast. The only names I recognized were Martha Stewart and Rockefeller. Don't know the others, but they sure had pretty houses.


More later................

VT to Maine

The best news is that the steps are fixed. While the RV tech was fixing them, he asked if I knew why there was an odd wire attached to the steps. The only thing I could think of was when Camping World had motorized my awning. They were messing around down there. The tech said, yup, that is what it is. It should not have been put there, was the wrong size wire, and should have been attached to the extra fuse provided on the coach. He fixed that too and just under $500. later, I was on my way.
We stopped in Queeche VT. This is the site of VT's "Grand Canyon". The drop from the bridge is 163 feet. This canyon is filled with lush trees. Very pretty.
QUEECHE GORGE


We also went over this charming covered bridge to get to Sugarbush Farms.



The farm is family owned and was established in 1945. They tap their own maple trees and have a sugar house. They also make their own cheese and let you walk through their cutting/packaging rooms. The samples were wonderful.
One of the women cut the 40 lb blocks of cheese into the smaller bars.
CHEESE CUTTING AREA



This lady wraps each by hand in foil making sure it is sealed tight.
FOIL AREA


The next lady dips the foiled cheese in several layers of color coated wax. She said this process allows you to keep the cheese unrefrigerated until you cut into the cheese.
HAND DIPPING


I love animals, so I could not resist petting this little guy who was just 3 weeks old.



We left VT this morning at 8:45 and didn't arrive at our destination outside of Bangor until almost 4pm. A very long day of driving for me. Glad to be here!. It is a super campground with very nice staff. And the best part is that it is level.....Still have not had my jacks fixed but things are looking up. I called an RV service place in St. Clair MI and he says he can fix them when I get there. I can only hope......until next time.................

FMCA North East Rally

More on the STEP SAGA. Before leaving Brattleboro to come to Essex Jct. VT, I called an RV service person. He advised me to bungee the steps for travel so they would not swing out and clobber some unsuspecting hiker or biker. He said he would take a look at them to see if he had the parts needed to fix them and set up an appointment to get the work done. I have been backing out of the rig and putting my toes into the stairs, then stepping down on a step stool. It is kind of like putting your foot in a stirrup, anyway, I am sure I present quite the picture of a dignified exit to my coach.... but it works for now. Maggie does not like to go up the steps as they move slightly. We arrived in Burlington RV Service Center and the nice man said they can be fixed. He admired my bungee strapped expertise......and said "someone finally listened to me". They will be able to fix them, Yea team, but they are closed on Monday.

We arrived at the rally site and the parking volunteers seem to be old hands at this and very efficient. We were parked in record time.....no muss, no fuss. Everyone has water and 30 amp electric. You can also sign up for the gray water to be dumped. I have enjoyed meeting all the people. I have a first-timers ribbon on my badge and I think people go out of there way to welcome you. I especially enjoyed the seminar on General RV Maintenance. It was more a preventative class which is wonderful. I don't think it would have prevented all the weird things that have happened to me in the last couple of years, but maybe it will prevent other problems. It was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours and it lasted 2 1/2 hours. Lots of questions. I also went to a seminar on RV restoration. They were giving away a 26 inch flat screen TV but you had to be present to win. Janice had decided not to go because she does not have an RV. You guessed it, her name was the first to be pulled. She was not a happy camper. They have also had some fun entertainment in the evenings.

RALLY PARKING (There were about 485 rigs here)


This 40 year old rig is across from me. The couple is from Canada and she told me they have had it painted. Looks so cool. They have 7 foot ceilings inside, but no outside storage bins.


I was walking Maggie and heard a whooshing sound, looked over and saw this beautiful balloon. Very Cool and for the 4th of July too.
4TH OF JULY BALLOON


This picture is special for my RV Women's Forum TX sisters. This mascot was from a PA group. Meet Penny.


We also sat on the hill and watch the fireworks. Met a really nice couple from Cape Cod. I tried to take pictures of the fireworks, but a photographer...I'm not. Always pushed the button to late and got black sky.

Today we took a ride to Burlington and surrounding areas. We really didn't have a plan so ended up crossing a body of water and found out we were on an island, called Grand Isle. Stopped at a cute tourist shop and got to pose with this guy.

STUFFED MOOSE (now I don't want any of you wise crackers asking which one is the Moose)


We took off again and eventually found the road that was close to Lake Champlain and had lunch there.

LIGHTHOUSE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN


Until next time............

New York to VT

We left Gettysburg yesterday and traveled about 283 miles to Deer Haven Campground in Oneonta NY. It is run by a nice young couple who have twin 4 year olds. It is a great campground, but you almost get a nose bleed going up to the top. It is a very very steep drive up a gravel road. You can't really tell by the picture, but Janice is only about a third of the way down the hill.
I put the RV in first and it still lumbered up the hill. This was the first cool night I have had since last year. We were able to sleep with the windows open.

THE HILL


MY SITE


We left about 9:15 for the shorter ride to VT. It may have been shorter in miles, but with all the construction, not so much. The mountains in VT are beautiful, but we have had a few 9% grades that can scare the daylights out of you. I was coming down one of them and this is what crossed the road in front of me.

MOOSE

We told the KOA worker about the moose. She said she had lived here 4 years and still hadn't seen a moose so I guess we were pretty lucky to see one.

You know me, if there wasn't a problem, it would not be a normal day for me. I told you we had very rough roads, well, I went to put the step out when we stopped and it would not go out all the way. I looked underneath and it looks like the piece of metal that pushes the step out and brings it back is completely sheared off and hanging down. If I ever get these jacks fixed that is another thing I will have to add to the list.

We got settled in and went to Basketville to the store there. They certainly have beautiful home-made baskets. Janice took a picture of these animals made of basket materials. Pretty cool.

LION BASKET


MORE ANIMALS


Until next time.................

Trip to western PA

Yesterday we took a trip to see my Cousin Jim. He lives close to Ligonier PA. We had a very scenic ride there on route 30, but I am very glad I was not driving the motor home. I drove up and down several mountains with steep grades that rival and even better the Rockies. One grade was 9%. Trucks were only allowed to go 20mph with plenty of S-curves. I would not like to be doing this in the winter for sure. The scenery is beautiful. Jim took Janice and I to lunch at a really nice restaurant in Ligonier.
RESTAURANT


The waitress was nice enough to take the picture of us.


LIGONIER TOWN SQUARE

The road comes into town and goes completely around the square. It reminded me a lot of the town I grew up in, only we called our area "The Green" and we had a gazebo too. Jim said they play music in the gazebo and at Christmas time, they light up the square.
On the way there and back, we took some cool pictures.

PAINTED BARN


BUFFALO CROSSING


GAS PUMP


A BIT OF WHIMSEY


On a more somber note, we also spotted a sign for the temporary 9-11 Flight 93 Memorial. It was about 10 miles off route 30. They are going to make a permanent memorial and dedicate it on the 10 year anniversary of 9-11 next year. It will be part of the National Parks System. Those passengers were surely heroes that day when the deliberately sacrificed themselves to prevent yet another catastrophe on that day. I am glad they are going to build a memorial for them.

MEMORIAL


REMEMBERENCE WALL



ALONG LINCOLN HIGHWAY


Tomorrow we head to New York and then on to VT. Until next time...........

Shady Maple

Today we took a short ride (76 miles one way) to go to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl PA. My friend Sharon, from the Women's RV Forum introduced me to this place 2 years ago. Believe me, it is worth the drive. If you are ever in the Lancaster area, it is a must stop!



We got there mid afternoon and decided to shop in the mammoth downstairs gift shop. I bought a new mouse pad with Westies on it, of course! They had a beautiful homemade quilt hanging on one of the walls for $695. I took a picture, but for some reason, it came out all fuzzy. You will just have to take my word for it. The upstairs has a giant dining room as well as separate banquet rooms. The place has chandeliers handing all over the place.



When we were at the NC monument the other day, Janice met a family from High Point NC that were heading for Lancaster. We told them they just had to go to the Shady Maple.

The Smorgasbord boast 200 feet of deliciously authentic Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking and they are so right. They have grilling and carving stations where they make NY strip steaks, salmon, ham, roast beef, veal cutlets, sausages, and chicken to mention just a few. They have loads of vegetables, salad and the best homemade desserts you can find anywhere. I was so stuffed I could hardly move. On top of that, our dinner came with a free full size loaf of apple bread from the Shady Maple Market. Yum.

Guess what?? As we were leaving, who do we see in line but the very family we saw at the monument. I told them I left them a little food.

This area is Amish and Mennonite country. We saw a family picking up bundles of hay by hand and throwing it onto a horse drawn wagon. The wagon was being driven by a little slip of a girl. I did not take their picture as I was not sure if it was disrespectful. They were watching us watch them. I smiled and waved and they waved back. I did take a picture of the hay field and you can see how it is gathered together and bundled. They use long pitchforks to pick up the piles.

I just love that area. It is so beautiful. Hope you all get the chance to go there one day. Until next time........

Trail Ride

It was a beautiful day in PA today. We took a ride out into the country looking for the "big round barn" which is on the historic register. Although we did find it, it was not really what we expected. Fresh produce was really expensive compared to the supermarket.
This evening we finally got to go on our trail ride to the battlefield. There were 16 riders with only one of us that were experienced. I have not been on a horse in at least 35 years. As you can see, we make quite the fashion statement in our riding helmets. Janice is ready to go


They gave us all general instructions before bringing us to our horses. They had a block that we could climb on to get up unto our horses. It is a good thing as I would have never been able to get my foot that high in the stirrup to be able to pull myself up onto her back. They picked out a really nice horse named Misty, for me. I was hoping she was not psychotic like in the movie "Play Misty for Me". She turned out to be a perfect lady.


Janice had a really large horse named Stoney, who had one speed....slow. This was great for her as she had never been on a horse. They had everyone mounted on their horses in the barn area, before putting us in the order they wanted.


They had three "wranglers" take us out. I am glad I did not see one of them thrown from her horse even before I got out of the barn. This is our group. I was last in line and Janice was in front of me. She took this picture.

Our ride took us through the area where some of the heaviest fighting occurred the first few days of July 1863. The forest is still much the same as it was 147 years ago.
One of the wranglers was nice enough to take this picture of the two of us.

At the top right hand side of this picture, you can see the PA Monument.

A cannon ball hit this building. You can still see the hole that it left.