Sept 19 Heading Home !

Rained for most of the night .. but .. this morning skies are just cloudy with a few sprinkles .. we’ll be packing up and should be on the road by 9 .. We’ve been checking our local (Pocono & Scranton) news websites .. our area got alot of rain 5-9 inches, so we’re anxious to get home to see if everything is OK on the home front. Guess-timating we should be home around 3:30 this afternoon .. hopefully we won’t encounter any construction or flooding issues along our route home.

We’ll update blog when we get home ……  Have a good day !

Arrived home at 4:30 … nice ride home .. no issues on the road. It was interesting to watch leaves gradually change colors .. change was obvious as we saw alot of reds/yellows/oranges in the trees in Vermont & New Hampshire .. as we rode through NY and Penn there was still alot of green left on trees. Now that we have Casita parked and unloaded .. we have a ton of laundry to do .. 3 weeks worth of mail to sort through and alot of assorted other chores. House is in good shape .. no damage from yesterday’s storm … there must have been alot of rain .. as we drove through New York .. we noticed several rivers over flowing their banks. Checked chemicals in hot tub … we’ll do some soaking tonite .. and sleep in our own bed .. it’s been a long day … It’s good to be home !

Time to start thinking of our next trip !

Sept 18 Weather Delay

Checked weather forcast for today … doesn’t look like a good day for traveling with Casita and kayaks on roof .. heavy rains & gusty winds heading up and down the East Coast.  We’ll stay an extra night and leave tomorrow morning .. at least .. thats the plan as of 9am this morning ….

Quechee, VT Weather Advisories, Watches & Warnings

WIND ADVISORY
in effect until Wednesday, Sep 19, 12:00 AM

…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT.

* LOCATIONS…NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VERMONT…THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY AND THE ADIRONDACKS OF NORTHERN NEW YORK.

* WINDS…SOUTH 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH.

* TIMING…FROM NOON TODAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS…DAMAGE FROM FALLEN TREES AND TREE LIMBS MAY CAUSE DOWN POWER LINES AND RESULT IN POWER OUTAGES.

So ..  we decided even though we have a steady rain .. we’d look for some rainy day adventures ..   found a place called ‘Sugarbush Farms’ …  that was located deep in the woods of Woodstock. They are a family owned business since 1945 .. making maple syrup and selling cheese(s) made from the milk of their own cows,  jellies and other assorted locally made products.

Sugarhouse

 

Boiler – Evaporator (inside Sugarhouse)

Sampled several of their cheeses and several grades of maple syrup. Tasting room of course leads right into their company store .. so we had to make some difficult choices as to any purchases .. everything we tasted was very good ! Farm was open for self tours of their maple syrup making process… from sap collection .. ‘Sugarhouse’ where sap is boiled .. to the evaporation process where syrup gets thicker. They use 25-35 cords of wood that has been dried for a year for the sap boiling process. The sugarmaker feeds wood into boiler every 15 min and constantly checks thickness of syrup and to prevent it from burning.. he doesn’t leave the ‘sugarhouse’ until the entire boiling/evaporating process is complete. Unfortunately the entire process is done Jan-Feb so we did not get to see the actual making of the syrup. As you can tell from pictures .. all building(s) are very old .. amazing some are still standing.. Very interesting and informative trip to Sugarbush Farm .. cheese & maple syrup were good as well !

Tasting & Packaging Room

Store with jelly/preserve samples

Farm buildings

 

After our tour we headed back to ‘downtown’ Woodstock to have lunch at a small restaurant call ‘Mountain Creamery’ ..  owners that own the place also have an organic farm, in nearby Killington VT .. so ..  lot of foods used in restaurant are brought in from the farm… it’s a nice place for breakfast & lunch. After lunch we headed back to the campsite at around 12:30 .. by then rain had been steady falling.

Forecast is calling for alot of rain & wind for the entire day into the night but clearing up tomorrow morning .. Plan is to leave by at least 9am tomorrow … getting home late afternoon on Wed.

Sept 17 Billings Farm – Silver Lake

Last day of our trip .. tomorrow we head home.   Sunny day so we decided we’d take kayaks to Silver Lake and spend our last day on the water.  We left the campground in the morning so we wanted to kill some time and let the temperature warm up abit before kayaking so we made a stop in Woodstock and walked around and checked some stores. Then we drove to a place called ‘Billings Farm’  .. a local farm with alot of history dating back to 1800’s.  Place is actually now a National Park with quite a few things to check out .. working farm .. museum of farm equipment .. reconstructed farm buildings as well as a local quilt exhibit. Sat in on a talk about the ‘Underground Railroad’ and the role quilts played in helping slaves make their way up North. Quilts were made and displayed so that they could be used as a ‘signal system’ … quilt patterns depicted helpful bits of info along their journey.

Billings Farm

Sampler quilt of Underground Railroad Blocks

Silver Lake is our kind of lake  .. calm waters and very scenic. Lake is in a State Park that was closed for the season so we launched from a spot in town .. (that would be a general store and a Post Office).  As we drove up we met a very friendly local who was about to launch his canoe .. seems he builds and races canoes .. told us he’s out on the lake every day. He welcomed us to Vermont and told us how beautiful the lake was … he was right. So, after taking his advice as to where to park truck and launch kayaks, we were ready to hit the water.  Guy must have been approx my age but .. he was in excellent shape .. he rowed around the lake 5 times to our 2 .. he’s a paddling machine !  Spent about 2 hours on the lake .. enjoying the great weather. Scenery seemed typical Vermont .. leaves changing .. lake .. and a white church steeple in the background.  Although the general store was closed it seemed like it was a central meeting location for locals to use their WIFI .. people were sitting outside store with their laptops and chatting away. Kayaks loaded back on truck .. we headed back to campsite to get cleaned up and have supper.  We’ll leave for home tomorrow morning … we decided to drive straight home and not make another stop in New York State as we had originally planned. It will be a long day .. over 5 hours and 300 miles .. that’s more than we usually do in one day ..  Forcast is for rain tomorrow .. so that will slow us down a little .. but .. it will be good to get back home !

Silver Lake

Sept 16 King Arthur’s – Woodstock VT

Temps down to mid 30’s last night .. glad we picked up an extra blanket when we were at LL Bean’s.  Ceramic cube heater saw alot of action as well. Temps forcast to be a little colder tonite. Weather during the day was really fall like .. cool temps in the 60’s .. bright sunshine .. leaves just starting to change colors. With lack of rain this year, leaves are turning earlier than usual.

While waiting for temps to warm up this morning we decided to check out King Arthur’s Flour store (Norwich VT)  …  Approx 20 min from our site .. well worth the trip. They’ve recently rebuilt their existing store to include a cafe and rooms for baking classes, as well as their store selling their baking goods as well as other products. They give daily demonstrations as well as have their ‘experts’ roam around store making themselves available for questions. They gave us some good suggestions on how to ‘improve’ our bread making .. there will be some bread making sessions when we get home.  Made a few purchases .. then had some blueberry muffins and hot chocolate at the cafe.  Cafe had alot of breads and pastries that are made right on site. Seriously thinking of signing up for one of their bread making classes .. it’s a hands on .. 4 hour class. We were advised to sign up early because the classes fill up early .. we sat next to a lady and her daughter who signed up for a apple pie/pastry class .. she signed up for the class months in advance !

King Arthur’s Campus

Store and Demonstration area

Next we headed to the town of Woodstock …  Town had a typical small town New England fall vibe to it .. Leaves were starting to fall and change colors .. pumpkins were out .. weather was cool and sunny .. alot of people strolling on main street. Checked out a few stores ..  went to a deli to buy something for lunch then drove to Silver Lake .. a nearby lake in a State Park that was recommended to us for some ‘calm water’ kayaking. Ate our lunch at a picnic table overlooking lake ..  lake looks good for paddling tomorrow  !

Silver Lake

While on the road we received some great news on the home front .. Todd & Chris will be having a baby next April .. Grandparents twice over .. can’t beat that .. Congrats to Todd & Chris !

Sept 15 Scarborough Maine to Quechee Vermont

Left Scarborough campsite at 9am .. headed to Quechee Vermont KOA campsite .. approx 200 miles …  Before we arrived at campsite Terri spent almost 2 hours at a one of her new favorite needlework stores  ‘ABC Stitch Therapy’ .. while she was shopping .. I took a nap in the Casita .. it’s a good thing they had a huge parking lot. It was only 30 min from campsite .. so after shopping, we headed for the KOA. We’ve stayed at a few KOA’s .. but .. this is one of the best we’ve seen. Alot of campsites .. but .. they are pretty well spaced out. Restrooms & showers are the best we’ve seen since our stay at ‘4 Paws’ Campsite in North Carolina. Campsite also has great internet access .. it’s so good that I’m able to start loading our photos to Smugmug. Will not have to use MIFI at all at this site.

As we were walking around campsite we chatted with folks who owned a Casita from New Hampshire …  Drove in to nearest town to have supper and to check out the area. On our list of things to do will be kayaking at local lake .. go to ‘King Arthur Flour’ bake store and check out the local towns. Weather has turned chilly .. tonite’s forcast is for a low of 39 degrees .. tomorrow nite’s forcast is 36 degrees.  2 blanket night tonite !   Good news is that temps are supposed to be up in the 70’s during the day.

KOA Campsite

Sept 14 Sunrise – Salt Marsh – Lenny

Up early this morning to see 6:20 am sunrise at Pine Point Beach .. approx 10 min from our site.  A little chilly … but .. sunrise was worth getting up early.  This is our last day in Scarborough .. tomorrow we’ll drive to White River Junction in Vermont for a few days. We’ve scoped out a state park near our campsite that might be a good spot for kayaking.

Today was our day to close up some lose ends .. doing things we’ve put off doing. Sunrise .. checking out Lenny the Chocolate Moose , walk Salt Marsh foot paths, back to Freeport for last minute shopping.

Walking paths a Salt Marsh turned out to be a nice way to get our excerise and check out birds in the marsh. Next time we’ll bring our muck boots so we could actually walk out in the marsh to get closer to the birds. Terri was able to capture some pretty good photos with her Nikon zoom.

 

 

We checked out Lenny the chocolate moose in a local chocolate store in town ‘Len & Libby’. Moose is actually made of chocolate as well as 2 bear cubs.. had to stop and see it .. moose is like a local attraction ! Drove  to Freeport for shopping and dinner, then back to campsite.  While getting truck & Casita ready to roll .. we showed a couple from Canada our Casita … they had been wanting to get a close up look at Casita’s .. not too many in Canada. Had our campfire .. watching some TV then an early start tomorrow for Vermont .. we’re thinking about a 3 hour ride.

Sept 13 Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Another morning decision … we head to Pemaquid Point lighthouse .. approx an hour from campsite. Good day for the drive .. sunny skies .. Part of our route took us along the coast .. driving through several small scenic oceanside towns & villages.  Pemaquid Point lighthouse is in another scenic area .. almost a park like setting … flowers .. picnic benches .. very well kept. One of the lighthouses claim to fame is that it is featured on a 2003 quarter(s) .. back when USA historical scenes were imprinted on coins. Rocks around lighthouse are amazing ..  different colored rocks … some with stripes .. very unusual.  This is also one of the few lighthouses you can climb up the tower  .. most of them are closed to public.  Lighthouse wasn’t that tall .. but .. it was a nice view on top looking down at ocean and rock formations.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Reflection in pool of water

Surrounding area

Sept 12 Scarborough Kayaking – Mt Desert

Finally launched kayaks in Scarborough Salt marsh .. 3,100 acres comprised of tidal marsh, salt creeks and freshwater marsh. There are walking, bike, canoe and kayak paths that are sponsored by the Audubon Society.  Because we are here after Labor Day all the buildings and info centers are closed .. so we picked up a trail map and headed out to the water trails.  What makes this area great for kayaking is that water is very calm … there are windy water paths that you can take for hours .. if you follow them all the way .. you will end up in the ocean. We certainly didn’t paddle that far .. but for 2 hours we paddled along .. with no other kayaks or canoes in sight.  Weather was sunny .. blue sky ..  didn’t see as many birds as we had hoped for .. seems for the best birdwatching .. you need to go at dusk when birds are returning to their nests. We were able to take a few photos of some of the birds we encountered.

Birds in salt marsh

These guys look a little like vultures ……

Looks like a time lapse shot … but .. it’s 3 different birds in flight

After heading back to campsite for lunch and showers … we headed back to LL Bean for one last visit .. picked up a blanket for  Casita .. the nights have been pretty chilly. As we were driving around Freeport .. we noticed a sign advertising a place in Freeport called ‘The Desert of Maine’. Since it was only 2 miles from main street Freeport .. how could there be a desert in the area.  Well .. we checked it out (at the cost of $10 admission fee) ..  And yes .. it was a touristy thing to do .. but .. there was a desert like area that we could walk around in …. sand dunes .. blowing soft sand .. looked like a beach without  the water. May not have been worth $10 dollars .. but .. it was interesting to see all the sand just a few minutes from downtown Freeport.

Desert Dunes

Sept 11 Maine Lighthouses & Portland

Not much going on yesterday (Monday) … windy .. cloudy day. Drove around several lakes looking for possible kayak opportunities ..  none found …. Got back to campsite early afternoon .. fired up grill and had some steak and grilled potatoes … Settled in Casita with Kindle and books for the night.

This morning over breakfast we decided to go to Portland .. it’s only 30 min from us, and has been on our things to do list. Nice sunny day to cruise around and take in the sights.  Our first stop was at ‘Cape Elizabeth’ lighthouse .. one of the smaller lighthouses we’ve seen on this trip but as all the lighthouses seem to be .. located in a very scenic location.

Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse

Area surrounding lighthouse

Next stop was ‘Portland Headlight’ lighthouse .. said to be the most photographed lighthouse.  Lighthouse is located next to an old Army base .. Fort Williams. Base was operational from 1872 – 1964. Base was used heavily during WWI and WWII protecting coastline.  A Germany Uboat sank a USS Eagle Navy patrol boat in 1946 just a few miles away from lighthouse .. at the time .. Navy classified the incident as a boiler explosion on board ship … wasn’t until 2001 that they admitted that Uboat sank the patrol boat .. amazing … !  Toured lighthouse museum and structures left from Army base .. very interesting visit .. would recommend anyone in the area to check it out.

Portland Headlight Lighthouse

Surrounding area

Fort Williams Structure(s)

Same structure .. during WW II

WW II big guns ..

On to Portland.. which is only a few miles away..  drove to Commercial Street in Southern Portland.  Alot of old brick buildings that have been restored .. many shops and restaurants in the area. Numerous cobblestone streets in downtown ..  very scenic and crowded … had to drive around for awhile to find a parking spot. Had lunch overlooking the water in a converted old boat. Seagulls in the area were so aggressive .. they would actually come on to tables while folks were still eating.

Downtown Portland

Still haven’t launched on salt marshes near our campsite … seems as though we need to be very aware of the tides .. we need to catch high tide .. or our kayaks may bottom out. So .. tomorrow morning  .. 07:57 .. we have high tide .. we’ll try and launch around that timeframe … we’ll see how that works out. Only concern I have about salt marshes is the skeeters !   We should be able to view alot of birds in the marshes .. we’ll take cameras as always and hope to get some good photos. Terri actually took some good bird photos as we drove around today.

Bird Photos

 

Sept 9 LL Bean – DeLorme

Caught up on some sleep last night .. quiet night .. light rain falling .. good recipe for some zzzzzz’s.  Spent most of day in Freeport doing some shopping at LL Bean .. (approx 15 min from campsite). Chatted with folks in their kayak dept getting some ideas on where some good kayaking locations might be .. guy was very helpful showing us places on a few maps and also suggested we check out DeLorme map company that was close by.

LL Bean

LL Bean Boot Truck  

Truck can actually be driven .. built on Ford F250 chassis

After we did our shopping we headed to a quilt store in the area .. It was getting late in the afternoon .. so .. we may be coming back later in the week so TG has more time to check the place out. Went across the street for late lunch .. BBQ place ..  as good as BBQ was .. I think I’ve reached my BBQ limit on this trip !

BBQ Joint      Buck’s Naked BBQ

Next we headed to map company, DeLorme that was also in the area. Interesting place .. they had a company store with alot of maps .. GPS units .. books .. earth globes and lots of other stuff .. The main attraction was a display called ‘Eartha’ .. huge 3D  globe of earth .. revolving .. and rotating. It’s in Guinness Record book as worlds largest globe .. pretty impressive display.

Some Eartha facts ..

• Printed data on globe is equivalant to 214 CVD ROMS
• Made of 792 panels
• weighs approx 5,600 pounds
• Circumference of 130 feet .. diameter is 41 feet
• Internal structure composed of 6,120 pieces of aluminum tubing, laid end to end would be nearly 3 miles

Eartha

Internal Structure

DeLorme Store