Vermont

Winding It Up

Since the last post we have wandered through four states and one provence. We are in Ontario headed home. We twisted and turned our way through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York stopping in the Adirondacks. The fall colors were vibrant!

While in the Adirondack Mountains we stopped at Fort Ticonderoga near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was built by the French during the French and Indian Wars. At one time Benedict Arnold was in command.

And, wait for it……American Revolutionary General Philip Schuyler ( father of Angelica, Eliza and Peggy!) also used this fort as a staging area for the invasion of Quebec. (Shameless Hamilton the Musical reference)

Another Ticonderoga reference is to the pencil (Alan’s Jacobus’s favorite pencil the black Ticonderoga) has history here as well. The pencil’s name originates in the graphite ore mined on Lead Mountain and processed in Ticonderoga, New York, since 1815.

We passed a sign that indicated the location of John Brown’s grave. We couldn’t turn due to the narrow roads and the quick notice…..the only reason I am bringing it up is that “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, His soul’s marching on.” has become an ear worm for me since seeing the sign. Ugh!

We are driving from Ottawa, Canada up through North Bay, and Sudbury to the U.P. Another new area to explore.

We have seen so much as we traveled east this year. We drove primarily secondary roads and saw some wonderful and iconic scenery. Here are a few reflections.

Many roads do not have shoulders -leading to narrow roads

Signage is poor (for directions)

When pulling a trailer it is difficult/impossible to stop along the side of the road for a better look at things or to find parking

Vermont is GORGEOUS

Going through customs (multiple times) has been no problem, even with a dog in the car

Parking spaces( when you can find them, seem smaller (hard to park a truck)

Very few roadside signs (both good and bad, I sometimes it is nice to know what is coming up before we miss it)

Cell phone reception has been pretty good (except in New York)

Google maps doesn’t always direct you on the most direct route.(even though it may be the fastest…according to them)

So nice having your “home” with you instead of motels

Gas prices were low….with our average mpg at 10 so we are happy with the lower costs

Thanks to some phone apps we have been able to find RV parks quite easily along the way

Project Fi (and Android phone) work great in Canada and where AT&T doesn’t have coverage)

and finally

East, west, home is best!

October 8, 2016 by Kate Ter Haar Categories: Eastward Ho, Rv'ing, Seymour, travelTags: "Phillip Schuyler", Adirondacks, pencil, reflections, Ticongeroga, Vermont Leave a comment

It Is Debate Day!

Finally after all the hoopla, debate day is finally here. I have been interested in this debate for quite a while.

** Election notice……..we have driven through 4 states and have seen only a handful of yard signs for the presidential election. I think we have seen more Gary Johnson (Libertarian) than Trump or Clinton signs.

Our debate today is what flavor of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream to try. Each one has it’s merits.

The winner – STEPHEN COLBERT’S AMERICONE DREAM! (It also happened to be the free sample passed out at he factory today.

We also paid our respects to the past flavors at the flavor graveyard.

AND THEN………

In a blink of an eye we were in New Hampshire! We headed for the White Mountains, dropped off Seymour with the good folks at KOA in Littleton and headed out to Mt. Washington.

At 6,288 ft above sea level, Mt. Washington is not the highest mountain we have been on this year however it does have the wickedest weather! It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. Today was a beautiful day to climb the mountain as only about 60 days a year have good visibility and clear skies at the top, and this was one of them. We took the 140 year old Cog Railway ( a straight up the mountain trip) to the summit which has the worst weather in America!

Mount Washington once held the world record and still holds the Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere record for directly measured surface wind speed, at 231 mph (372 km/h), recorded on the afternoon of April 12, 1934.

Beautiful view on a beautiful day.

September 26, 2016 by Kate Ter Haar Categories: Eastward Ho, Rv'ing, Seymour, travelTags: "Ben and Jerry's", "ice cream", "Mt. Washington", "New Hampshire", "White Mountains", Vermont Leave a comment

I’ll Take “Lakes” for $1,000, Alex

This lake is located in both the United States and Canada and is considered the sixth largest lake in the US.

What is LAKE CHAMPLAIN

We drove 5 hours east from Alexandria Bay, New York to the Burlington Vermont area. Nice drive across the northern part of New York along the St. Lawrence River. It seemed like every 5 miles we passed another small town….lots of towns, not a lot in them. In addition to the 1000 islands, it has 1000 small towns.

By the way, we did start seeing some fall color as we drove further inland.

The middle of Lake Champlain is the state line between New York and Vermont. There is also a highway running through the islands dotting the lake as well as a highway on the west and east of the lake. We chose the middle road….is was a lovely drive past lakefront homes, resorts and farms.

We found a campground just outside of Burlington (Vermont’s largest city) and after we set up camp we drove into town to walk through the Church Street Mall. The street is closed to vehicles for several blocks with many restaurants and stores available to pedestrians along with many opportunities for outdoor dining, street venders, and buskers of all styles.

It was also very dog friendly. Copper was photographed by an artist for inspiration,and petted by many.