Day 12: Maine

We woke up in our free camping spot to discover it had gotten even colder overnight!  So we bundled up and set off looking for something to warm us up.  Donuts and hot chocolate!  Yes!  Frosty's Donuts in Freeport had some of the biggest donuts we have ever eaten and they were fantastic!!  Put Krispy Kreme to shame... We took a few more pictures in the scenic downtown area of Freeport and then were loading up the RV again so we could  be sure to make it to our next destination on time.

 

 

Abbie said this is called 'yarn bombing'- where people put knitted items in unusual places. Who knew?!

 

Fancy McDonald's in Freeport-- had to take a picture for PawPaw!

When we were planning our trip, Grandma wanted to take a train ride to see the leaves and so our next stop had been chosen with her especially in mind.  To make it even better, we had found BOGO free tickets on Deal Chicken-- so train ride + discount makes everyone happy!!  When we had to take Grandma and PawPaw home, she told us that was one part of the trip she was really sad to miss.  So we made sure to take them along on the train ride with us.

 

 

The Belfast-Moosehead Railway in Belfast, Maine gives weekend rides in the fall on an old diesel train with an indoor and outdoor rail car.  Even though it was a little chilly, we bundled up and chose the outdoor car, thinking the view would be better. At the turnaround point, Abbie and I decided we might move inside the train because we were cold.  Turns out, it was already full in there.  Oh well.  We snuggled close together and enjoyed the trip back.  It was a fun ride with some nice color and scenery.

 

 

 

 

On our way from Belfast to campground in Camden, we made a stop at the Camden Snowbowl.  This is a local ski mountain and on Sundays in October, they run the chairlift so you can take in the view from the top.  The girls had never been on a chairlift before so that was a new experience for them.  Going down the mountain, they could only fill every 4th chair, so we had to wait quite a while to get back down. 

 

 

 

We found Camden State Park without any trouble and found a campsite that would work for the RV.  This campground does not take reservations after the end of September so I was sort of thinking that meant it might be empty... yeah, not really.  This place is loaded with people!  We enjoyed just hanging out in the RV and relaxing (as opposed to many of our later-arriving nights when we just fall into bed exhausted!).  We made soup for dinner and watched a movie... and were still in bed by 9pm (again, I know-- #partyanimals).

Day 11: Cranberries, Pilgrims and a Lighthouse

Since we had arrived at dusk last night, I had promised the girls we would make another trip out to see the beach this morning.  Originally, my plan was to go out to see the sunrise—however, a rain shower moving through in the early morning hours thwarted that plan.  The rain moved through quickly, though, and the girls were still able to get another walk in on the beach while Michael took an 8 mile run along a nearby canal.

The beach is very different here than what we are used to.  The sand is very coarse and as I mentioned in the previous blog post, it is full of rocks.  We did spy about 5 seashells during our walk but they are few and far between.  The tide was high and there were several fishermen.  We made some interesting discoveries on our walk.  If anyone can identify what kind of animal these bones came from, we would love to know!  For reference, it ‘looks’ sort of like a hand, but the entire thing was about  18 inches long—WAY bigger than a human hand.  We couldn’t figure out what sort of sea creature would have finger like bones.

The seagulls were out in force this morning…and they come in different color varieties and are much larger than southern seagulls.  We enjoyed watching them. 

 

After checking out from Scusset Beach (which I found out was pronounced “sCUSSet” not “sCOOOset”—oops!), we drove over to Flax Pond Farms in the nearby town of Carver.  This is a family owned cranberry bog that produces cranberries for Ocean Spray.  They have vines that are over 100 years old.  Did you know that cranberries are one of only 3 native fruits to North America (according to the lady who gave our tour)?  Can you name the other two?

 

This was super interesting.  She explained the entire growing and harvesting process to us.  They are a dry harvest operation—which means that their berries are the ones that you would buy bagged up at Thanksgiving.  The wet harvested crops (like in the Ocean Spray commercials) are used for juice.  We made a few cranberry purchases at their gift shop and were on the road once again.

 

 

Flat Grandma and PawPaw at Plymouth Rock"

The next stop was also a short drive away—the town of Plymouth.  Home of the landing site of the Pilgrims.  And a famous rock.  Which may or may not be the actual rock (I’m going with probably not since it was identified over 100 years after their landing!).  Actual or not, it’s a symbolic area and we were close by, so a stop was in order.  We found free RV parking on the waterfront (woohoo!!) and walked down to the Pilgrim Memorial park—where we got a look not only at the rock but at the Mayflower II—a replica of the original Mayflower that actually recreated the Pilgrim’s voyage back in 1957.  A quick stop for some local cupcakes (we have run out of TV bakeries but are perfectly willing to try local ones!) and we were off again for points north.

 

 

Our plan had originally called for a stop at Minute Man National Park in Concord—but unfortunately that was not to be—so we decided to take the direct route through Boston in order to save time.  I had not researched this route because we had planned to take a western bypass around Boston to get to Concord.  Well.  Apparently this route utilizes several tunnels.  Which may or may not be permissible for RV’s to use.  The jury is still out on this.  Regardless, we drove through the Big Dig tunnel as we really had no other option once we realized our predicament.  It’s not like you can just turn around on a dime when you are in an RV on a major interstate!!  We avoided blue lights chasing us down so we are counting that as a blessing J  We made a quick stop for gas on the north side of Boston because prices seem as though they are going up from here. 

I had one more stop that I really wanted to make today—the Portland Head Lighthouse.  We realized we weren’t going to make it in time to go up the light (again—silly Internet—you told me they closed at 6, not 4!!) but that we might be able to make it into the park to see the light before the park closed at sunset.  Thanks to some stellar driving by Michael, we breezed into the park (along with dozens of other people) in time to see it and take some pictures.  They had an automated announcement that the park would close in 15 minutes… and 10 minutes later, people were still arriving!  Apparently, sunset is a very nebulous closing time!  Oh, I forgot to mention that the minute we stepped out of the RV, we realized we were finally in the North.  It is COLD!!!  Pull out the jackets and jeans!!!

 

Mom- is this the one we visited when I was 2?

Our final destination of the evening was the parking lot of LL Bean’s Flagship Store in Freeport, Maine.  I had read online that since this store is open 24-7, they allow overnight parking in their lots.  Well. We arrived and drove into parking lot after parking lot (this place is HUGE!) and not only did they say “No Overnight Parking” but also “No RV Parking”!!  Umm… okay… I can understand revoking overnight parking but now you don’t even want us to shop???!!  Seemed strange.  So we pulled into a “No RV Parking” lot anyway (we are rebels!)—because where else were we supposed to go?!  And researched a little more.  Apparently there IS a designated RV lot where you CAN park overnight—it just wasn’t the ones by the store.  Whew!!

The town of Freeport is DARLING.  It is like a factory outlet mall but all the stores are in quaint little buildings.  We had a quick dinner, did a little window shopping and browsed through the main LL Bean store (it’s a little bit like a 3 story Bass Pro Shops)… and then headed back to the RV… where we bundled up in long pj’s and blankets and tried to stay warm!

Day 10: Back on the road again...

After our long day of walking yesterday, I think we were all looking forward to spending a good part of the day SITTING in the RV today!  We did some laundry, packed up the RV and were navigating the streets of NJ by 9 am.  A time which the nice manager at the campground assured me would be after morning rush hour.  Yeah.  Not so much.  Couple the traffic with a few missed turns and some panic about thinking we were going to end up in a tunnel to Manhattan in a 35 foot RV.... and we'll just say getting out of New Jersey was a teeny tiny bit stressful!!  GPS redeemed herself somewhat today and found us an alternate route that kept us out of too difficult of a situation.  I won't say she is fully forgiven for the disasters of night 7, but she is somewhat back in our good graces!
 

View of the Statue of Liberty from the 'campground'

 

Told you it was a parking lot!

One stop that Michael had requested when we were planning the trip, was to visit Orange County Choppers in Newburgh, NY-- home of the "American Chopper"show.  He was excited to see the incredible motorcycles they've produced over the years as well as get a look into their shop to watch them working. 

 

 

The FDNY bike

After a quick lunch at Five Guys (and shout out to the sweet girl working there who blessed us with free drinks!), we were back on the road again.  The theme of today was "toll roads".  None of them were outrageous but they definitely add up when you go from toll road to toll road.  Michael said the $5 toll on a NY bridge was totally worth it because it was SO much easier to drive than the bridges in NJ!!!

 

As we were driving, we noticed that the leaves were getting progressively more colorful. 

 

 

We arrived in Scusset Beach State Park in Massachusetts around 6:30 (it is near the beginning of 'hook' of Cape Cod) and had just enough time to walk out to the beach (which has rocks instead of sea shells!) and dip our toes in the (cold!!) water before the sun was completely set.  We have plans to visit it again in the morning.

 

From what we've been able to gather, it seems unlikely that the National Parks are going to be open any time soon... so we've been discussing changing some of our plans to reflect that unfortunate reality.  Any of you who know me well, know that this just about gives me hives.  I've spent MONTHS researching and planning this trip (campgrounds, activities, roadside attractions, routes-- okay, well, not so much routes as evidenced by the Squirrel Spur Road incident!!).  But a lot of time has been put into making sure that most, if not all, of my bases are covered.  With each progressive road trip that our family has taken, I've been learning just a little bit more to hold my plans more loosely and to try to let go of them when time or situation requires it.  This is SO very hard for me.  I am not very successful at it, but I think God is teaching me flexibility and more reliance on Him through all of this.

 

So, while we are in the process of adjusting our plans, I am in the process of adjusting my attitude and learning some grace and flexibility.  Where we will end up during the last 10 days of our trip remains to be seen.  I am trusting that God will show us where we are to go!

Day 9: The City that Never Sleeps... because it is too busy walking everywhere

We had a lot of ground to cover today.  Literally. So we were out the door shortly after 8 am.  We took a detour through the Jersey City waterfront to see the Manhattan skyline on the way to the PATH train, and we walked through some scenic little neighborhoods.  Jersey City is an neat mixture of quaint, rundown, and brand new... but it felt overall very safe.  We saw a boarding school and a 4 story public elementary school-- both of which were objects of curiosity to my homeschoolers!

The PATH train was much busier on a work morning than at midday!  It was standing room only for the trip to Herald Square. Our plan for the day was to walk from 33rd Street up to (and into) Central Park, stopping at places of interest along the way.  Here is where I had another trip planning fail.  I fully had navigated WHERE we were going... but I neglected to calculate how FAR we would actually be walking! Let me just say that it was FAR.  Probably too far.  Definitely too far.  But since we only had one full day in the city, I wanted us to see as much as possible and it was hard to know what to leave out!  Our total mileage for the day was well over 8 miles. 

 

 

We started our morning out with a trip into Macy's.  I was thrilled they still have some of the old wooden escalators that I remember riding as a child.  The girls were thrilled to be in a 9 story department store!! Michael was thrilled... well, let's be honest here-- Michael was not thrilled!!  He was a pretty good sport while the girls browsed through the Junior's floor (yes, floor-- they have a whole floor devoted to Junior girls!!)  We managed to leave without a purchase, however.

 

 

Our next stop of the day was finding a some real New York bagels for breakfast.  Mission accomplished! 

 

Next stop: Mood Fabrics.  Abbie has wanted to visit this store ever since she watched the show "Project Runway" so this was a fun stop for her.  Both girls bought some fabric that they are excited to use in a project.

 

 

 

After Mood, we made our way to Time's Square.  So. Many. People. I wonder if it is ever quiet and empty there??  I'm guessing probably not!  We visited Forever 21, the Disney Store, Toys R Us, the Hershey store and multiple little NY souvenir shops looking for t-shirts and charms for the girls' charm bracelets.

 

Flat Grandma and PawPaw at the 24 hr. McDonald's in Times Square

 

We continued our walk toward Central Park via Rockefeller Center and saw them installing the ice rink. Emma wanted to visit the American Girl store so we obliged that request.  I'm glad my girl is not yet 'too grownup' to want to take a peak inside there :)

 

 

We passed Tiffany's, Trump Tower, St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Plaza... and finally reached Central Park.  It was lunchtime so we purchased some hot dogs and drinks from a street vendor.  Another classic NYC food purchase-- check!  After this, we split up-- girls and boy.  Michael wanted to have a run in Central Park... Abbie and I wanted to see the Metropolitan Museum... Emma would rather have done neither... but she couldn't be left alone so she was stuck with the girls!  We took a scenic route through Central Park and found the Balto sled dog and the Alice in Wonderland statues.  And we also got to watch some of the seal show at the Central Park Zoo from an overlook area. 

 

 

If this picture is not indicative of part of their personalities, I don't know what is!

 

We finally arrived at the Met and gave our donation (not the full 'suggested amount' as I knew we would only be there for about an hour.) This is an interesting system they have there.  The Met is not allowed to charge admission but they tell you where to get in line for tickets and what the "charge" is for them-- when really you can pay whatever you want.  Clearly they are trying to get everyone to pay the full suggested donation.  And I guess if you had a whole day to spend there, it would be worth it.  It is crazy big.  The galleries go on for days.  It was slam full of people and felt crowded-- so based on the size of the building alone, I'd guess it was a really busy day for them??  Abbie really wanted to see the Ancient Egyptian exhibit and I wanted to see if there were any European painters works that I was familiar with (lest that sound too impressive, I'm talking the bigwigs-- Monet, Renoir, etc.! ). Emma was counting the minutes until we could leave.  Which totally made me giggle inside because I was exactly the same when I was her age!!

 

 

 

By the time our hour was up, Michael was finished with his run and we met up with him outside the museum.  The topic of discussion then became where we were going to go for dinner.  We knew New York style pizza was a must... and we had a recommendation from a friend (shout out to Bryan!)-- but it was a tiny bit (you know, a mile or so!) out of the way!  After some debate, we decided to go the extra mile (ha!) and were rewarded with an awesome pizza at Ultimate Pizza! 

 

I almost forgot to include this and had to go back and add it in-- it was at this point in our day that we had ANOTHER brief brush with the law!!  I think the count is now up to 4?!!  We were crossing a side street that had an NYPD cop in the middle of the intersection directing the flow of traffic in main street (and giving rather ambiguous hand signals, IMHO). He got really snippy with us when we didn't cross as quickly as he was apparently indicating and was all, "I'm TELLING you to cross the street".  Chill out dude.  We are doing our best here!!  But seriously, other than that, we have found the bulk of New Yorkers to be very pleasant when engaged.  Yes, they appear to be always on a mission in when they're on the streets-- but the shop workers were nice and there was a really nice man who offered us his seat on the train.  Overall, a much better experience with the people than I think we were expecting.

 

By this time, the sun was beginning to set and we still had many, many, many city blocks to walk before we would be back to the train station.  We debated calling a cab, but it was after work rush hour and we really never saw any that were free.  So more walking it was.  Us and the crazy, crazy crowds of people.  Even off the main drags, there were plenty of people. Walking.  In a hurry.  Walking. Walking. Walking.  I don't think there exists an overweight New Yorker-- or if there are I didn't see any today.  And I am totally on to their secret.  It is all the walking!!  You could eat a million calories a day and not gain weight!!  Okay, that is probably a slight exaggeration.  But I can tell you I felt absolutely no guilt about my leftover bakery items, bagel, hot dog and pizza that I ate today!!

 

By this point in the day, the girls were just about all done with all the walking and were becoming rather vocal about how tired they were and how much their feet hurt.  And I was totally laughing again because it reminded me of when I made my first trips to NYC with my great aunt at the age of 10 and 11... and I was exactly the same way and wanted to take a cab!!  I think the term you are looking for here, Mom, is "payback"!!

 

Do not let the smiles fool you-- there were some hurtin' feet on these people!

One more walk through Times Square-- it is even more impressive at night.  A quick peak inside the Disney store we had missed on the way in... and we were continuing the 10 more blocks to the train. Another walk from the train station back to the RV,  This last picture was snapped a minute after we stepped inside and I think it illustrates how we all felt!

 

 

It was a great day in NYC.  I think we really got a good taste of the city during our time here. Yes, there were still so many things we didn't have time for--Broadway show being one :(  But we are thankful for what we were able to see and experience today. 

 

 

 

Day 8: The Big Apple

After our late arrival at Ringing Rocks Campground last night, we decided to let everyone sleep in today-- it was only a 70 mile drive to our next location and we couldn't check in until after 12. So there was no need to rush.  Which was nice.  You can only do so many 5:30 mornings in a row!  Michael took care of some basic RV maintenance and the girls and I participated in a few rousing games of tetherball (and not to brag too much... but the mama was the big winner!!).

 

 

It was interesting to see what this part of Pennsylvania looked like in the daylight-- it was lovely.  Still very small, curvy roads but it is easier to appreciate them when you can see where you are going!  We drove along the Delaware River for a bit and it was beautiful.  The leaves are starting to turn here-- mostly yellows but some reds.  It is making us anxious to see what Vermont will be like in a week or so!

 

The Delaware River

I have to brag on my husband for a minute.  He is driving this behemoth RV like a pro.  The GPS and I have put him in some pretty dicey situations and he is getting us through them so well.  Case in point: the New Jersey Turnpike.  Construction on one side and absolutely no shoulder on the other. I would be nervous to drive this in a car!!

 

 

We arrived at Liberty Harbor RV Park in Jersey City around 1:00.  This RV park is all about location-location-location.  It is basically a parking lot.  BUT it has amazing views of Manhattan and it is within easy walking distance of several forms of public transportation into the city...and so we chose it for those reasons.  We got settled in quickly and headed down the street to the PATH station.  Now this is the confusing thing for non-New York/New Jersey-ers: there are like 55 different kinds of trains-- NJ Transit, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, PATH trains, MTA trains, etc, etc..  Some trains use the same stations.  Some don't.  It really takes some skill to negotiate all of these options!!  And that doesn't even count all the different ferries and buses!  Holy cow.  One thing that I thought was interesting was how quiet it was on the trains.  Hardly any talking at all.

 

The Survivor Tree

We took the PATH from NJ to the World Trade Center station and found the ticket booth for the 911 Memorial and walked to the entrance.  The memorial pools are so beautiful in such a simple way. It brought tears to my eyes to consider again the enormity of the loss of that day.  What I found sort of sad was that a bulk of the people visiting didn't seem to be very reflective or reverent.  Is that my judging opinion?  Yes. Totally.  It almost seemed like they were treating it as 'tourist attraction' rather than 'memorial to a tragedy'.  No one was acting crazy or anything like that... it just seemed to be less respectful that I would expect... perhaps it has something to do with all the surrounding construction?  Perhaps I am just being overly critical?  Just my opinions... I am glad we came. 

 

 

The new tower.

 

Paul Jr. Designs 911 Memorial Bike

 

Next on our agenda was a walk to the Staten Island Ferry terminal to take our 'free cruise' to see the Statue of Liberty.  This was already on my list ahead of the government shut-down because, well, FREE!  Not to mention, even if it was open, it's fairly pricey to climb up the Statue and would take time from our day that we just didn't have to give.  So we settled with the water view of Lady Liberty.  For a free hour round trip, the Staten Island Ferry also gives some nice views of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge!  Plus it is FREE!  Did I mention that??!  So-- add one more public transportation mode to the Timms Family's list of accomplishments this trip-- ferry!

 

 

Flat Grandma and PawPaw visit the Statue

 

Our walk back to the WTC PATH train station was interesting because everyone was starting to get off work-- the crowds of business people were considerably larger and everyone is in a HURRY!  I haven't found them to be unkind-- just focused on where they are going.

 

We found our way back to the train and boarded the Hoboken train back to NJ.  We had one more stop today: Carlos Bakery (home of the "Cake Boss").  Continuing our tour of t.v. show bakeries!  We wanted to make it there before they closed at 7 so we were hoping the line would be fairly short.  When we turned the corner of Washington Street and could see the burgundy awning, we were surprised to see no line on the sidewalk.  Shoot.  Was this going to be a repeat of last night's Amish store/Internet lying fiasco??!  The answer... was NO!  HOORAY!  They are open AND there is NO LINE AT ALL!!! Seriously.  Like 3 people ahead of us inside.  We chose a sampling of items (lobster tails, cannolis, crumb cake, a pecan tart thing, and a cupcake) to take back to the RV for desert.

 

 

After navigating one more train (light rail-- which is an above ground only train... I think?!), we arrived back at our campsite.  I made the dinner I had planned for last night and then we dug into our treats from Carlos.  Lobster tails and cannolis were the favorites.

 

Another early-ish bedtime (yes, we are just the life of the party!!) after a busy day.  We have more of Manhattan to explore tomorrow.