2019 -Blog #5 - Bits of Mass., Conn., NY, NJ, NH, PA, and into the wild blue yonder of WV

"In The Pines" campsite

When we left Maine we traveled through New Hampshire and stayed just a couple of miles from the Vermont border at “In The Pines”, another Boondockers Welcome spot, in West Chesterfield.   It just so happened that our Snowbird neighbors from Venice, Dave & Karen Sutherland,  have their “summer home” just a few miles down the road from where we were staying and even know the people who were letting us stay on their property.   We had a great visit with our hosts and Dave & Karen.  Jean especially enjoyed walking through Karen’s beautiful flower gardens that literally surround their house.   While we were here, we also hiked in the Chesterfield Gorge and in the Madam Sherri’s Castle Ruins (what an interesting place). 

Madam Sherri's Castle Ruins

  We even drove into Vermont briefly so Jean could visit a Vermont Country Store and we stopped in a really quaint town, Bellows Falls, to have lunch at the Moon Dog Café.  This is a great place to visit and have lunch if you’re near here.

On the way to our next campsite, we drove through bits of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey to finally reach Kittatiny Canoes – River Beach Campsites, in Milford, Pennsylvania.  This was a nice little campground, but 2 nights here was quite enough because it was tucked in between a river and a highway, with an interstate paralleling the highway, and all the road noise – especially the exhaust brakes on the semi-trucks -filtered right down into the campground.  Seasonal RVs lined the banks of the river and for the life of us, we can’t understand why anyone would choose to be seasonal campers here! 

Pine Grove Furnace State Park campsite

Our next stop was out in the boonies, no cell service here!   We stayed at Pine Grove Furnace State Park, in Gardners, Pennsylvannia, which also happens to be the ½ way mark for the Appalachian Trail through hikers. 

1/2 way marker for the Appalachian Trail

  To celebrate making the halfway point, the campstore offers the through hikers a free ½ gallon of ice cream, flavor of their choice, if they can eat it all.    We watched a tiny little girl finish the whole ½ gallon, but a young fella had eaten a burger and fries first and he was turning green trying hard to finish his.   We didn’t wait around to see how that turned out for him! 

Remnants of the iron furnace

 We also were able to take the IronMaster’s Mansion tour.   It was built in 1928 and today it serves as a hostel and provides dormitory-style lodging for the trail weary hikers who like a bed, a hot bath, a hot meal, a chance to do laundry, and catch up on wifi. 

Jerome walking up to the Ironmaster's Mansion

dormitory-style lodging inside the mansion

We also hiked up the Pole Steeple Trail to a great overlook of the countryside.

Jerome on the Pole Steeple Trail summit

Jean on the Pole Steeple Trail summit - can you find her?

From Pine Grove, we headed west into West Virginia, by far the most mountainous of the states so far.  It seemed like at least half of the roads were one lane roads that were supposed to pass for two lane roads, and every road was curve after curve, sometimes even hairpin turns, and hilly.   It was like driving on a roller coaster and Carly didn’t like it at all (it made her barf)!   All three campgrounds that we stayed in here were in the 100 mile radius of the Green Band Observatory and thus in the designated “National Radio Quiet Zone.”    What an interesting place!  We were able to take the tour and explore the hands-on museum/exhibit.   It has the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope.  We learned that a lot of people who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity have move to this area for relief of their symptoms.

Our campsite in Trout Pond Campground - one of our favorites

We first stayed in the Trout Pond Campground, in the George Washington National Forest, near Lost City, WV.   What a beautiful campground and truly way out in the middle of nowhere!   We found out that we might be able to get enough cell service for texting if we hiked up a “short” trail behind one of the nearby campsites to the overlook at the top of the “hill”, so of course, up we went.   Well, the trail ended up being a mile almost straight up - 700 feet. 

Jean resting after our "short" hike to the summit

We got spotty texting, enough to let our families know that we were alright, and that we still had no cell reception and would try to find a way to keep in touch.   Needless to say, we didn’t attempt that hike again!"

beautiful butterflies on the Trout Pond Lake Trail

Our next stop here was a “destination stop” for us as it was here that Jerome’s sister, Eileen and cousin, Theresa, joined us for the next four days.   We stayed the first two nights in Seneca State Forest Campground in the Monongahela National Forest, near Dunsmore, WV.   It’s a gorgeous, tiny campground tucked between hillsides, along a creek, without electricity and with only a hand pump for water.   We definitely couldn’t have gotten a larger rig in here as we barely finagled our rig into our spot.  Once again, we had a scary start as we got our truck stuck while maneuvering into our camp spot.  We had to shovel some loose stones under and around our back truck tires to stop them from spinning and save ourselves from needing help to get un-stuck in the soft ground.   Egads! 

Our beautiful campsite in Seneca State Forest Campground - you can see our truck tracks where we got stuck!

We used this campground as our base to see the Green Bank Observatory and to ride our bikes on the Greenbrier Trail from Clover Lick to Marlinton, a 15 mile ride. 

Theresa, Eileen, Jerome, & Jean - starting out on our Greenbrier River Trail ride

Jerome & Jean - the tressle just after the tunnel

gorgeous view of the Greenbriar River from the tressel

mamma and her fawns crossed the trail in front of us and then crossed the river

We then moved to Watoga State Park, near Marlinton, with plans to ride another stretch of the trail the next day, this time a 13 mile ride.   The day we got there, as soon as we set up camp, Jean left to take a tour of the nearby Pearl S. Buck Homestead while Theresa and Eileen went on a “short” hike up to another lookout.    Jean’s 45 minute tour of the homestead turned into a 2 hour tour but she said it was well worth it. Theresa and Eileen’s hike ended up being another of those mile-straight-up hikes, but they too said it was worth it.  

Pearl S. Buck Birthplace & Museum

just incase you aren't familiar with Pearl S. Buck

The next morning it was pouring down rain but we packed up our rain gear and headed out to spot our vehicles and start our ride.  We finally had to admit that it was raining too hard and convince Eileen that we had to give up on our biking plans.   Fortunately for Jean, this gave her a chance to admit that she was miserable and needed to make to drive into Marlinton to seek medical help.    With meds in hand and relief in sight for Jean,  we headed back to the campground just in time to eat some lunch and still get Eileen and Theresa on the trail for a shorter, 5 mile ride, when there was a short break in the clouds.    With all the craziness at the end of the visit, we still all agreed that we had had a fabulous time and are looking forward to the next time we can meet up again…. maybe to ride the Virginia Creeper next time?!?!

After 2 weeks of spotty to no communication with our families, we looked forward to moving on and getting somewhere with cell service and yes, even TV for a change!    Onward towards the heat and the southern states…….

We hope all is well with you and yours and as always, we hope you have enjoyed our blog.   ‘Until next time,       Jerome & Jean  (and Carly, too)

Blog #4 - Vermont to Maine

drone picture of us at "Flutterby Beach" on Lake St. Catherine

As we left New York State and into Vermont we got a surprise.  We headed east on Hwy 149, a two-lane road, just north of Glen Falls, NY and were dumbfounded to be caught up in bumper to bumper traffic stretching for miles in every direction.   We had no idea that we passing through an extremely popular tourist area on the outskirts of the Adirondack Mountains and near Lake George.

"Flutterby Beach"

A little further up the road we stopped for a short stay at another Boondockers Welcome spot, “Flutterby Beach,” on Lake St. Catherine, just outside of Poultney, Vermont.   The owner of the property was out of the state but was gracious enough to let us stay anyway.  What a wonderful, peaceful place for some “down time.”  We especially enjoyed sitting down by the lake in the evenings, reading, and hearing the loons calling out, then watching for them to float by. 

loons on the lake

 Poultney is such a quaint small town, just 2 miles away.   We wish we could find a town like this one to live in, just not so far north though and with some health food stores closer by….. ‘just wishing….

Vermont was a gorgeous state, a lot like New York State but even more mountainous and with more dramatic scenery.  Bright orange day lilies were everywhere, some even growing in clumps in amidst all the wildflowers along the roadsides.  Babbling, stone-filled creeks and brooks seemed to everywhere. 

daylilies everywhere

Driving through New Hampshire was a lot like driving through Vermont.  In New Hampshire we stayed in Ammonoosuc Campground, in Twin Mountain.  It was a private campground with a lot of seasonal residents but it was nice and wooded. 

our Ammonoosuc Campground campsite

tacky seasonal neighbor's campsite who still thinks it's Christmas in July!

   We had planned on taking the Cog Railway up to the top of Mt. Washington and good friends of ours had recommended that we see the Franconia Notch area as well.  The remnants of Hurricane Barry were crossing over this area while we were there bringing with it overcast skies and rain.  The dark, rain-laden clouds hung low over the mountain tops like a nightcap, rendering our plans to take the Cog Railway to the summit pointless.  We saved a lot of money by not going up there, but still, it was sad to miss it. 

historical Mount Washington Hotel - the Cog Railway is back in the clouds

 Luckily, the rain held off long enough for us to hike the Flume Gorge, drive the Kancamagus Highway, and see Diana’s Bath Falls.  The Flume Gorge was as nice as Watkins Glen but comparing them would be like trying to compare apples to oranges.

wooden walkway suspended from the side of the gorge

one of the waterfalls - you can see the wooden walkway in the top right part of the picture

another waterfall and one of the wooden bridges

Jean enjoying the hike in Flume Gorge

Diana's Bath, a favorite waterfall for the locals

a view while driving on the Kancagamus Highway

typical road sign in the White Mountains

great lunch place in Lincoln, on the Kancagamus Highway

Onward to one of the main destinations of our trip…. Acadia National Park in Maine.   We decided to stay in Schoodic Woods Campground (the newest campground), on the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, just north of the main, Mount Desert Island, part of the park and Bar Harbor. 

our campsite in Schoodic Woods Campground

  It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, very peaceful and quiet, with extra-large, open campsites, tall pines and firs.  It is about 8 miles away, as the crow flies, from Bar Harbor but about an hour away by car.  There is a seasonal ferry across the bay but we choose to drive the distance to get thoroughly immersed in the experience of being in this area. 

Jerome enjoying Schoodic Point

 We spent one day seeing Bar Harbor and driving the park loop drive on Mount Desert Island.  The rest of the time we just relaxed and enjoyed.  Now we understand why everyone that has been to Acadia National Park has fallen in love with it!  

in front of Two Cats Cafe in Bar Harbor

 The beauty of the rocky shoreline with pungent, pink Rugosa roses growing everywhere, and the vast blue Atlantic Ocean in the background will stay in our memories each time we think of Maine now.

Jean on the rocky shoreline of Mount Desert Island

view from the top of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island

Jerome standing on the rocky shoreline of Mount Desert Island looking out over the Atlantic towards the Schoodic Peninsula

 ‘And yes, just in case you’re wondering…. of course, we ate “lobstah” while we were out and about, sightseeing.

We couldn’t leave Maine without stopping in Freeport, where the LL Bean Flagship Store is. 

   Our good friends, Brian and Maryanne live near here and we were able to spend a wonderful day with them.  They took us to see the area, to have lunch at their favorite lunch place, JR Maxwell & Co, in Bath, then to Popham Beach State Park (the busiest park in Maine) where Brian was the park manager ranger for over 20 years.

Popham Beach State Park with Rugosa roses in the foreground

Jerome, Brian, and Maryanne walking into the civil war fort at Popham Beach State Park

 We camped in the Winslow Park Campground, a city park on the shoreline.    The woman who left this beautiful chunk of land to the city stipulated that it had to stay a park and left “natural” or it has to be returned to her heirs, thus no electricity here.    Most people here rely on their solar panels (as we do) for electricity and the cool ocean breezes for “natural A/C.”   Unfortunately our campsite was between two campers that ran their generators a lot and one of them was an old, noisy one.  It was a bit annoying but it was worth it just to be here and we decided that we would still camp here again in a heartbeat.

our campsite at Winslow Park Campground with Jean at the table, in the shadows

Now we are on our way more inland and south.    We think of all of our friends and family as we travel and wish all of you well and a great rest of the summer.   Thank you for spending some time with us.

Jerome & Jean (and of course, Carly, too!)