Bar Harbor

The sun come up early here on the very edge of the east coast! It was getting light in my RV around 4:30, with full sun by 5:30! Good thing I like to be up early! I tried to go through my morning routine slowly but I was still ready to go before 7! Early to leave Freeport, early to arrive in Bar Harbor! 

I like going to new places and seeing new things, but it's also really nice to come back to a place you know well! This is my 4th time in Bar Harbor and it was nice to pull in and know where everything was, how to take the bus, what the best campground is, etc.  Several years ago we discovered The Bar Harbor Campground and it's pretty much the best. They don't take reservations or credit cards! You come in, pick your site from the available ones, and it's yours till you decide to leave! It's right on the bus route and there's an ice cream place walking distance just outside the campground! When I arrived this morning there weren't many site choices, but I got a water/electric pull through. It's not very shady and not very pleasant to hang out in, but it's a site and I don't need to spend too much time here!

My iPhone has been having a hard time charging. It wasn't charging the other day and then last night it didn't charge at all despite being plugged in, I had it plugged in all day and still nothing.  I've tried different power sources, different cords, turning it off and back on again, several hard re-sets, and I now have a brand new cord, but nothing seems to be working.  Luckily my iPad is charging and I have wifi here that actually works so it's not *that* big of a problem, I am planning to to Ellsworth tomorrow to see what I can do about it. 

The bigger thing that's annoying is that my phone is my only camera! I left my little camera at home because last year it drove me crazy that I had pictures on two devices, this year I decided, one device was all I was taking! 

Knowing that the phone could wait, I got on the bus and headed out to Sand Beach to hike first around Great Head and the down the Ocean Path to Otter Cliffs! Thanks to the bus system you can do this as a 1 way hike, and get on the bus at the end.  The hike was really nice! When I got off the bus at Sand Beach I was hit with a blast of cold air that I thought was the buses AC, turns out it was the breeze off the ocean! The sun was shining as I started and the breeze was keeping it cool! After I finished Great Head the fog/mist/clouds began to roll in and it was cloudy and chilly. It was still nice though. The bus that picked me up was a "Loop Road" bus vs a "Sand Beach" bus and it traveled through a part of the park I'd never been to and brought me back to the Visitor Center which was perfect to catch the bus back to the Bar Harbor Campground! 

When I got back I did some chores, ate dinner, then realized the problem with the phone might be the charger cord I'm using, so I hopped a bus into Bar Harbor and got a new charger cord.  So far it's not working.  While I was in town I also got ice cream! 

The other nice thing about the Far East east coast, it gets dark earlier! 9:00 and it's already good and dark! Time for bed so I can be up when the sun comes up! 

Freeport

First stop this morning, after dumping the tanks and re-fueling, was the Minuteman National Historic Place. This of course involved more navigating! At one point I was pretty sure I'd followed the directions, but hadn't, and ended up in a lovely neighborhood winding around making my way back on route.  

The visitor center didn't open until 9:30 and I got there before 9 so I took a walk on the trail that went through the park.  I found the spot where Paul Revere was captured! I turned around there and headed back to the VC, which by now was open, got my passport stamped and was on my way. 

Luckily for me the park was very close to I95! I don't think I've ever been so happy to get on 95 and just follow the road and not have to think! Almost as soon as I got on 95, the promised rain began! I cruised up 95 through the rest of Massachusetts, the 20 miles of New Hampshire and was soon at the Maine state line! I stopped for lunch at the rest stop just inside Maine, and it was raining pretty hard.  However, by the time I was exiting the highway in Freeport, the rain had stopped! Cloudy, but no rain!  Well timed rain! Enough to wash the bugs off the windshield too! 

My first stop in Freeport was Recompence Shores Campground, one of my favorite campgrounds ever - to see if they had a site for tonight, they did! It was even an ocean view! Score! I've stayed here 3 times and this is the 1st time I had an ocean view! 

With a campsite secured I headed back into town.  A friend from school told me about Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick, so of course I'd wanted to give it a try.  Brunswick is only about 10 miles from Freeport so I thought maybe I'd go up there and get ice cream before hitting LLBean but when I got here I decided I just didn't feel like more navigating so had decided against going up there.  Then as I was leaving Recompence I noticed that nothing looked familiar, I pulled out my phone to check my route, sure enough, I'd missed a turn, but all was not lost, I was headed directly into Brunswick!  I guess I was getting gelato after all! 

Brunswick was of course crowded, but I found a parallel parking spot - I even squeezed myself in between 2 cars! I did have about 50 feet to play with, but still! I don't know how to parallel park so this was an achievement! 

The gelato was amazing! Best I've ever eaten! So smooth and creamy! They let you have as many flavors as you want in any size (most places serve by the scoop - more flavors means multiple scoops!) so I got lemon cookie and chocolate brownie! Not a combo I think goes together but both flavors sounded good! 

After gelato I made my way Freeport, where the RV spots were occupied only by RVs and there was room for me! I pulled in behind another RV and headed out.  I didn't take too long in LLBean - walked through all the buildings & the outlet! On my way back to the campground I stopped at The Bow Street Market - a fun local/natural foods store. 

Back at the campground I walked up to the store/farm cafe for their brick oven pizza dinner special - had a yummy garlic scape & pesto pizza.  After dinner I walked around the farm and down to the ocean.  The clouds broke up and the sun came out!  Then I pulled out my chair and read as the sun was setting! I have a view of the ocean and it's getting chillier by the minute! As soon as the sun sank below the trees I broke out the hoodie! 

Books and Bikes

Today was all about navigation! Google and I got real friendly, I never would have made it without him? her? it? 

Almost immediately after I left Shodack Island I missed a turn and was off route.  I accidentally turned on the "turn by turn voice feature", which I typically hate, but I realized that just viewing that page gave me valuable information about when the next turn was, what road it was, etc.  If I turned the radio up I couldn't hear the persistent voice telling me over and over what to do! This would prove to be very helpful as the day went on! 

I navigated from the campground to I90, after that it was easy to get to the Eric Carle Museum of Children's Book Art.  I throughly enjoyed my hour spent there! They have an exhibit about David Wisener and wordless story books. He's one of my favorite artists and I loved learning more about him and discovering some new books! 

I had two other stops in Springfield planned, but they are forecasting rain for tomorrow and I wanted to get in the bike ride I'd planned near Boston. I'd made reservations at the only campground near Boston and decided that took priority, it would be easy to catch the Springfield things next time. So, I left Amherst heading for Boston.  Google maps gave me two options - 90 to 95 or a backroad option through northern MA.  I chose the backroads! 

I'd gotten about 10 miles in when the road I missed a turn, only I didn't realize it until I'd gone a few miles. Then it was several more miles to find a place to turn around.  I saw a sign for "wildlife viewing area" and turned in there to turn around. It happened to be a park next to a reservoir and there was one vacant picnic table with a water view in the shade, so I had lunch! 

The trip across Massachusetts was beautiful! I went up and over mountains, no civilization at all, then I came to MA2 which started as 2 lane & grew to 4 before I got to Bedford! 

My next destination was Bedford, where the start of the Minuteman Commuter Rail Trail was. This is another Rail Trail Hall of Fame trail! I never would have found my way to Bedford without google. The route I needed was constantly changing, and the signs all mention towns I've never heard of, all the roads are tiny 2 lane roads with trees and houses (very  nice!), and then there are roundabouts every few miles! I actually have come to like roundabouts, but it's hard when you aren't sure which way you want to go! Luckily google knew! The only problem with this method of navigation is that I arrived in Bedford with no idea how I'd gotten here, which direction was which or anything! I'd arrived, but I'd missed key factors in the process of getting there. 

There was a large shopping center with a Whole Foods about a block from the trailhead so I parked there and headed off!  The trail was very nice - paved, smooth, shady, but it was nothing super special.  It was as the name implied, a commuter trail. It reminded me a bit of the W&OD in Northern Virginia but this trail was nicer! It passed through the towns of Lexington and Arlington both with shops and cafes right off the trail! 

It was only 11 miles from Bedford to the end of the trail in Cambridge. At the end there's a wetland preserve with boardwalks and ponds with Lilly pads, but it's definitely very urban! As I rode back I really saw the contrast between the suburban beginning and the urban end! 

After my ride it was time for more navigation! This time I needed to get back out to Littleton, MA where my campground was. This was easy thanks to google, I did take some extra time to study the map and the directions before I started and that helped me have a general idea of where I was headed. 

The campground is your basic campground - small sites, lots of RVs.  My site is level and backs to the woods! When I walked around this evening I did notice that they made excellent use of all the available space, there's not much rhyme or reason to which sites goe which way, but they can get a maximum number of RVs in! A bit like Tetris! 

Walkway over the Hudson and Hyde Park, NY

It got chilly last night! I broke out the hoodie this morning! I was up early and on the road by 7! I only had 70 miles to drive to get to Poughkeepsie, NY where the Walkway over the Hudson is but I had a lot to do today so getting started early was smart! 

The Walkway over the Hudson is part of the Rail Trail Hall of Fame Hudson Valley Rail Trail, it also connects to the Duchess County Rail Trail.  The Walkway is an old railroad trestle that they turned into a pedestrian and bike bridge. It's the world's longest elevated pedestrian walkway! It's 1.28 miles long and very high! It connects Highland, NY to Poughkeepsie, NY.  

I decided to park in Poughkeepsie and ride back to Highland since my plans after the ride were to explore Hyde Park with is just a few miles North of Poughkeepsie.  Next time however, I'd recommend parking in Highland. There are numerous parking spots along the Hudson Valley Rail Trail that can accommodate all vehicles! 

Once I got over the Mid-Hudson Bridge I had to navigate my way through Poughkeepsie and find parking. This was not easy and was made more difficult by the fact that my phone was on its last battery! Apparently it didn't charge while I was listening to my audio book, despite being plugged in. Ugh.  Luckily the bridge is very high and can be seen from everywhere making it easy to keep a visual on and drive closer to it.  I got detoured once by construction and then I *think* I may have gone down a 1 way street the wrong way, I'm not entirely sure, it wasn't marked well, but I did eventually find a park just about a block from a staircase that went up to the walkway.  

The park didn't look like the safest place ever to park, but it wasn't obviously dangerous so I got my stuff, left the phone plugged in so it would charge and headed up to the bridge! Hauling my bike up the stairs wasn't easy, but it was doable.  The ride across was really cool! The bridge is very high and you can see everything! No pictures, my phone was back in the van! Once I got to the other side I decided to ride the 3.5 miles to the end of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail. It was a nice trail too - paved, shady, a good ride! After I crossed the Walkway again I continued past the staircase hoping to find a map of the Duchess County Trail to see if I wanted to go a bit further.  I didn't find a map, but I did find a way back to the van that didn't involved the stairs! I went through the "main" parking lot which was a sea of big sharp rocks! Made the park look good! Seriously, next time, park in Highland! 

After I got the bike back on and saw that my phone had finally started charging I headed up RT 9 to Hyde Park, which is the location of 3 National Historic Sites! I started at Eleanor Roosevelt's house - Val-Kil which had a lovely 1 mile loop hike. I then went over to FDR's house, Museum and Presidential Library. I found a nice picnic table and had lunch before going to to check out the exhibits and movie. I didn't do the tour, it was expensive and was about an hour long.  Finally I went up to the Vanderbilt Mansion, here I pretty much just got my passport stamped and kept moving. It was really hot and there wasn't much to do besides the tour. 

Rather than double back to the NY State Thruway I drove North on RT 9, 9G and 9J. This was a beautiful scenic drive! I had a few views of the Hudson and great views of some huge mountains over there - Catskills? Adirondacks? Not sure.  Camping tonigh at Schodack Island, SP - it's a great place right on the Hudson and very close to I90! Lots of wildlife at Shodack Island - a frog hopped across my site, a bird tried to eat my dinner and while I was eating a turtle was crawling around in the grass! 

Delaware Water Gap

Delaware Water Gap is a major landmark on the Appalachian Trail, it is also a NPS site, so has a passport stamp, and it was on my "avoid I95" route! 

I left Cunningham Falls at 7:30 to drive the 200 miles to Delaware Water Gap, this is the biggest mileage day of my trip north! Funny how things are so close together on the east coast! 

I arrived at DWG at 11 and pulled into the Welcome Center, hoping to get some directions on where to go. As I pulled in there was amiddle aged or older  man heading for his jeep, when he saw my van he was instantly enthralled and just stood there gazing at it longingly. When I parked he approached and was checking me out from all angles.  He did not knock, bug it was obvious he was waiting for someone to come out. I couldn't just hide and pretend I wasn't there, it was obvious that I was, I'd just driven in.  It was clear that he was more interested in the vehicle than me, but still, this isn't how you make new friends. At one point he got close enough to the van that I could see that his face and arms were covered with a thick layer of un-rubbed in sunscreen.  He looked a bit ridiculous and then I decided he was harmless enough to open the door and chat with him, he was dreaming of owning a Pleasure Way and it made his day to see one in person.  I chatted with him briefly but made it obvious this was a very short term relationship and he got in his jeep and drove off! 

The Welcome Center wasn't much help so I consulted Google for directions to the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center, which is right on the river and had the AT going right through it. When I got there I discovered that the parking lot was full, and 2 of the 3 "RV" spots had cars in them! I quickly decided to double park withthe smallest of the compact cars and run in to at least get my passport stamped.  I'd seen the owners prepping for a hike when I pulled in so figured they'd be gone at least the 5 minutes that it would take me to run in.  In the VC the Ranger told me about the shuttle that runs from the park and ride by the visitor center, so I went back up there to park, planning to spend more time hiking the AT & exploring.  

At the park and ride I determined that the shuttle was due in 20 minutes, so I quickly packed a lunch, changed my shoes, applied sunscreen and got ready to spend at least a few hours out exploring.  The appointed time for the shuttle to arrive came and went with no shuttle. The other couple waiting called an Uber and invited me to go along, but I declined thinking that I might have a hard time getting back if the shuttle didn't work as promised.   I waited a few more minutes and gave up on the shuttle. I drove back to the Welcome Center where I'd seen some shady picnic tables and had lunch. 

Before lunch I called Dingmans Campground to see if they had availability for tonight, which they did, so after lunch I headed up 209 to the campground.  It's a beautiful campground, big wooded sites, lots of shade, river access and, ironically, almost totally deserted. There are maybe 10 (of the 120 or so) campsites occupied tonight.  For all that fighting for parking and this place is empty! I think DWG is more of a Day Use park for people in NYC-ish area.  I probably should have come out to the campground 1st then driven back the 20 miles to the visitor center and getting there later I would have been able to park. 

 There are lots of trails and waterfalls in the park but I didn't want to fight for parking so I just pulled into my site and enjoyed what was close - The McDade Rec Path and the river. The McDade Rec Path goes about 25 miles through the whole recreation area so it seemed like it would be a good way to get around.  I'd asked the guy in the campground office which way on the path I should go and he said "south". First I rode around the campground to get a feel for the place, then I headed out going south.  First of all the trail is crushed gravel and a bit rougher than I like, it's not as rough as some and my nifty new tires were helpful. 2nd this section of the trail skirted corn fields and was very exposed and hot.  I wasn't into it. So I turned around and went north.  This section was much better! It was all wooded and shady! There were several big, steep hills, even a switchback! Not sure I've ever ridden my bike on a switchback! I did get off and walk in a few places.  It was very hot so I didn't go too far, maybe about 5 miles total.  

When I got back to the van it was still early so I rode my bike to the river in the campground, thinking I'd yo for a swim.  The river isn't deep enough for swimming, only about calf deep! So I wadded a bit, being so shallow the water was very warm, but it was very nice down there!  

Back at the campsite I spent the rest of the evening reading, blogging and taking a walk in the campground.  

Cunningham Falls State Park

I have a shorter summer this year because we started after Labor Day but we are going back before.  So, I didn't want to travel too far. I also wanted the trip to be easy to plan, not involving a whole lot of plotting and thinking.  The number one spot that fit, Bar Harbor! Having been there before I know exactly what I want to do, there's stuff I haven't done yet, and the Bar Harbor Campground is the easiest place ever to stay! 

I planned a scenic route to get there and back that avoids I-95 and allows for some stops to see stuff along the way! My plan is to take 4 days to ge there and 4-5 to get back.  I'm thinking I'll spend 1-2 weeks in Bar Harbor, giving me about 4 weeks of travel. 

Mom and Dad are planning to join me in Bar Harbor at some point, but they have several things they are trying to take care of.  

I was going to wait to leave until July 4 to escape the crowds, but I decided to check and see if Cunningham Falls had any sites open and they did! I'm guessing that July 4 being a Tuesday has thrown off the "weekend" and many people only get Tuesday off!  

I left home at 10 and my first stop was Wegmans near Dulles, for last minute stuff I didn't buy on Friday.  Then I continued on to the park, arriving here at 2:00. Getting out of Northern Virginia is challenging, even mid-day! 

Since it was so early when I got here I went over to the lake to swim and people watch! There were a lot of people, but it wasn't crowded! The lake wasn't that inviting.  The swimming area was shallow and warm with a mucky bottom. You had to stay in the swimming area too, so no going out deep! I swam a few laps in the deepest part and got out.  I sat on my towel in the grass for a little while waiting my suit to dry and then walked back to the van. 

My site is in the uppermost loop and it is very quiet and shady! The shade made it very pleasant to sit outside and read this afternoon.  I got a new chair (after my old chair was stolen Memorial Day weekend when I used it to mark my site!), it's one of the anti-gravity recliner chairs and it's very comfortable! I enjoyed the afternoon just sitting and reading. 

After dinner I got out and walked the campground - it's a big place with a huge hill between the four loops.  My loop is the quietest loop! There are lots of open sites in all the loops though! 

New River Trail

Over Memorial Day weekend I met up with Mom and Dad in Southwest VA to ride The New River Trail. 

We had a 2 hour early release from school so I was able to leave Northern VA by 1:30! There was no traffic on 66 and soon I was heading down 81. I stopped at the Ft. Valley Garden Center and Cafe in Woodstock and got a salad for dinner.  Then continued down 81, thinking I'd stop at a rest area and eat later. 

I was almost to Roanoke when I saw a traffic sign that said "Roanoke, 30 miles, 81 minutes".  What?!?? Almost immediately traffic stopped. I made a quick decision to bail out onto US11 and continued south with no traffic.  Only catch, there are no rest stops for dinner on US11! But I got really lucky, as I passed through Troutville I saw a city park and pulled right in.  The park was really nice with plenty of picnic tables, swings that looked like chairs, and a short paved walking trail! It was a lovely spot to eat, stretch my legs and swing! It was a lovely evening but I knew I had to get back on the road or I'd never get to the campground. 

I encountered more traffic around Radford, but soon I'd made it to the Ft. Chiswell RV Resort  only about 30 minutes later than I'd planned! 

The weather forecast for the weekend wasn't very good - storms Saturday afternoon and an 80% chance of rain on Sunday.  This could mess up our plan to ride 30 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday to finish the trail! 

We headed out early Saturday to get the ride in before the storms.  After some confusion we ended up parking the van at the Foster Falls trailhead and then drove to Galax which is the end of the trail. Mom was going to drive the jeep back to the campground so we didn't have to go back to Galax.

The trail started out really nice. Shaded, by a rushing creek. It was cool and lovely! About two miles in another biker came up and was chatting with Dad as they rode. I was enough ahead that I couldn't really hear them, but they were chatting away.  Soon we crossed the New River and reached the Fries Junction.  Our new friend Don had been planning to turn around and go back to Galax at Fries Junction, but I guess he liked us because he kept riding with us.  He rode with us all the way to Foster Falls and then had to ride back! (Total ride 44 miles! He'd only been planning to ride about 12!)

 

Bridge over the New River 

After we crossed the river the trail was less interesting, but still nice! The trail surface was wide and smooth. We stopped twice for snacks and bathroom and soon we were pulling into Foster Falls.  I was very glad to be there because I'd filled my hydration pack from the RV and it had a distinct RV Antifreeze aftertaste.  RV Antifreeze isn't toxic, it won't hurt you to drink the water, but it didn't taste very good so I was glad to get some cold fizzy water in my van! 

Both Dad and I calculated the mileage from Galax to Foster Falls and we both came up with close to 30 miles, so we were surprised when we arrived to find that it was only 22 miles.  What? How'd we both do the math wrong? Turns out we accidentally put the distance to Fries down a spur trail in our mileage, we didn't go to Fries! So, he we were, done with the days ride at 1:00, the sun was shinning, no sign of rain, yet.  So, we decided to keep riding! We texted Mom to come pick us up in Pulaski - the other end of the trail, we'd ride all 50 miles today.   

The thing with biking is that I can go a long ways before I get done, but once I'm done, I'm done.  Usually that happens around mile 30-32. Before that however, I'll agree to ride a significant distance! So, it didn't surprise me much when 11 miles from Foster Falls I started rethinking our plan to go all the way to Pulaski.  We texted Mom and asked her to meet us in Draper. That would only cut off 7 miles, but it was the only road crossing.  

I made it till about mile 40 before I had to take a walk break for about a mile! 

 

 

Fun fact about the New River, it one of the only rivers in the country that flows south to north! It starts in the mountains of North Carolina, then travels through Virginia, and West Virginia before joining up with the Gauley and the Kanawha and dumping into the Ohio. 

Once we made it to Draper, Mom was there waiting and we went back to the campground, got cleaned up and headed into Wytheville for a yummy and interesting dinner at The Log House.  As we were finishing up dinner a small storm rolled through and it rained a bit when we got back to the campground. 

Sunday, the day we were expecting an 80% chance of rain, dawned sunny and warm! Not a cloud in the sky.  So, what were we're going to do? We'd already ridden as much of the trail as we felt we needed to.  

After a lazy ceampground morning we headed over to The Mansion at Ft. Chiswell for lunch and a tour.  It was interesting and the ice cream after lunch was really yummy! 

In the afternoon we drove up to Claytor Lake State Park to check it out. Dad and I went on a short hike while Mom took advantage of the good cell signal a sat in a gazebo by the lake and made phone calls. Fun fact, Claytor Lake was formed by damming up the New River! 

After we were done at the lake we drove back via Pulaski to check the town out. Not much there. We did take 11 rather than getting on the interstate and went over a big mountain with a pullout at the top.  Then we headed back to Wytheville for pizza at The Italian Garden.  It never did rain a single drop! 

Monday I had to make the long drive home. I'd considered going up the Blue Ridge Parkway but decided it would take almost twice as long as 81 because it was further mileage and the speed limit was significantly slower, so back up 81 it was.  I did stop for a quick visit at Natural Bridge State Park   It was a nice walk and cool to see the bridge.  After that it was directly home with a stop at Wegmans!