Someone had played a nice joke on us by setting the hotel alarm to go off at 1:00 am. I barely remember hitting snooze twice as Jen ultimately turned it off.
We got around surprisingly early, enjoyed the continental breakfast and loaded up the car. Pressure check on the tire read 35 psi, not too bad. I did pump it up to 50 psi before we left as the other tire's pressure was 48 psi.
The drive home was pretty uneventful. Every dip or pothole in the road reminded me of our wounded trailer tire. I just kept telling it in my mind to hold for a few more miles. Fortunately, it did and we made it back safe and sound.
Its good to be home!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 30 Home or "Bust"
I woke up early, around 7:15 and started packing up. Miraculously, we were all packed up and ready to go at 9:00, despite needing to dry off most everything outside. Our plan was to get breakfast on the road. We decided to stop at Dunkin Doughnuts. We had seen many on our trip out east. I must say, they had a pretty nice breakfast menu and it was not too pricey.
As we were traveling down I-90 in New York state, an SUV pulls up next to me and the guy has his window rolled down. As I look next to me he has his hands cupped to his mouth and is yelling something at me. I roll down my window and I can barley hear with the wind rushing by, he is yelling, "Your trailer tire is flat."
Oh crap!
I immediately get on the walkie talkie with Greg to let him know I am pulling over for a flat tire. Jen just happened to be on the phone with Beth and told her the same thing. As I begin to pull of the road I hear a kapoom! And, I see in my mirror a small cloud of smoke and dust.
Jen and I step outside and assess the situation. It is not good. the tire is shredded and came off the rim.
We jump into action. Jen crawls into the back of the van and gets the car jack and tire iron. This was not an easy task because the bikes were hooked to the back of the van and all of our stuff (coolers and bins) were in the back of the van. I start to put the jack together as Jen goes to the back of the camper to take the spare tire off. As she is doing that, Greg comes to help us too. They had pulled off the road a little ways ahead of us.
Jen had trouble with one of the lug nuts and screws, the screw kept turning as she was turning the tire iron to loosen the lug nut. She called me back to help and I noticed that the spare tire was flat.
Double crap!
I said we should call AAA. While Greg and I were working on getting the old mangled tire off the camper and ground, Jen pulled out a small bike tire pump and tries to pump up the spare with that.
We put on the spare but it did not have enough air pressure to be driven on, so I called AAA. Of course, the girls have to go to the bathroom, so Greg takes them with him up to his vehicle which already has the boys and Beth in it. The girls crowd in and they drive to the next service plaza which is 36 miles down the road. Since the back seats are taken out to accommodate the camping gear, Mikah had to share a seat with Luke while Lilly sat on the floor.
Meanwhile, I am on the phone with AAA and giving them information about what I need. I am trying to be vague about it because I am pretty sure the camper is not covered on our plan. They informed me that they will be contacting New York Roadside Assistance to come help with the problem because their regular drivers are not allowed on the turnpike and that it would be thirty minutes. As we wait, Jen calmly pulls out the iPad, sits in the grass Birmingham and starts taking notes and playing games. I'm trying to meditate to stay calm. I keep wondering how the brand new tires that I bought just weeks ago failed.
Forty-five minutes later, a tow truck with flames decals on the front pulls up. The driver puts out his cigarette to study the situation. I tell him, "All I think I need is some air". He gets a portable air pump and starts filling the tire to 32 psi, per the recommendations on the tire. At my request, he also grabs a portable ratchet and tightens the lug nuts even more. One final inspection and we are back on the road. We meet up with everyone at the service plaza. I checked the tire pressure and it reads 29 psi. In my head I am thinking, hmm, is it losing tire pressure or did he just not fill it up to 32 psi? I figure we'll find out soon enough.
After a short break to use the restroom and grab a few snacks, we get back out on the road. About an hour away from our hotel stop, Luke needs to use the restroom. We pull of at the next service plaza and this time the tire looks noticeably flatter. I check it again and this time it is only 19 psi. Not good!
After using restroom, I go and pump up the tire, this time to 50 psi to give me a little extra to get us there. On the way to the hotel, we detour to Wal-mart and look for fix a flat, an air pump and possibly a new tire. Fix a flat, check. Air pump, check. New tire, no luck. In the wal-mart parking lot, the tire pressure was already down to 35 psi. And when we checked into the hotel, the tire pressure was down to 30 psi.
Greg and I decided to use the fix a flat and drive around for a few milea as the directions stated. The fix a flat filled it to 40 psi and it seemed to be holding. Good.
Jen and Beth took the kids swimming while we were out. Upon our return, we met them at the pool and it was so crowded that Greg and I decided not to get in. So, Greg and I walked over to the KFC next door to get dinner for everyone. We enjoyed our chicken. Then I researched replacement tires and played words with friends on the iPad and we called it a night.
In all, the flat tire set us back an hour and a half, not including the Walmart stop. Reflecting back later, I could think of a hundred worse places or situations that we could have broken down. It could have been raining, it could have happened in a construction zone, there could have been no civilization around, we could have been in the windy mountains, we could have been alone, or we could have gotten a flat at the beginning of the trip instead of the end. All-in-all, it could have been a lot worse.
Before I went to bed, which was around midnight, I went out and checked the tire which had dropped to about 38 psi. It seemed to be holding. I was just hoping that it was not going to be flat in the morning.
As we were traveling down I-90 in New York state, an SUV pulls up next to me and the guy has his window rolled down. As I look next to me he has his hands cupped to his mouth and is yelling something at me. I roll down my window and I can barley hear with the wind rushing by, he is yelling, "Your trailer tire is flat."
Oh crap!
I immediately get on the walkie talkie with Greg to let him know I am pulling over for a flat tire. Jen just happened to be on the phone with Beth and told her the same thing. As I begin to pull of the road I hear a kapoom! And, I see in my mirror a small cloud of smoke and dust.
Jen and I step outside and assess the situation. It is not good. the tire is shredded and came off the rim.
We jump into action. Jen crawls into the back of the van and gets the car jack and tire iron. This was not an easy task because the bikes were hooked to the back of the van and all of our stuff (coolers and bins) were in the back of the van. I start to put the jack together as Jen goes to the back of the camper to take the spare tire off. As she is doing that, Greg comes to help us too. They had pulled off the road a little ways ahead of us.
Jen had trouble with one of the lug nuts and screws, the screw kept turning as she was turning the tire iron to loosen the lug nut. She called me back to help and I noticed that the spare tire was flat.
Double crap!
I said we should call AAA. While Greg and I were working on getting the old mangled tire off the camper and ground, Jen pulled out a small bike tire pump and tries to pump up the spare with that.
We put on the spare but it did not have enough air pressure to be driven on, so I called AAA. Of course, the girls have to go to the bathroom, so Greg takes them with him up to his vehicle which already has the boys and Beth in it. The girls crowd in and they drive to the next service plaza which is 36 miles down the road. Since the back seats are taken out to accommodate the camping gear, Mikah had to share a seat with Luke while Lilly sat on the floor.
Meanwhile, I am on the phone with AAA and giving them information about what I need. I am trying to be vague about it because I am pretty sure the camper is not covered on our plan. They informed me that they will be contacting New York Roadside Assistance to come help with the problem because their regular drivers are not allowed on the turnpike and that it would be thirty minutes. As we wait, Jen calmly pulls out the iPad, sits in the grass Birmingham and starts taking notes and playing games. I'm trying to meditate to stay calm. I keep wondering how the brand new tires that I bought just weeks ago failed.
Forty-five minutes later, a tow truck with flames decals on the front pulls up. The driver puts out his cigarette to study the situation. I tell him, "All I think I need is some air". He gets a portable air pump and starts filling the tire to 32 psi, per the recommendations on the tire. At my request, he also grabs a portable ratchet and tightens the lug nuts even more. One final inspection and we are back on the road. We meet up with everyone at the service plaza. I checked the tire pressure and it reads 29 psi. In my head I am thinking, hmm, is it losing tire pressure or did he just not fill it up to 32 psi? I figure we'll find out soon enough.
After a short break to use the restroom and grab a few snacks, we get back out on the road. About an hour away from our hotel stop, Luke needs to use the restroom. We pull of at the next service plaza and this time the tire looks noticeably flatter. I check it again and this time it is only 19 psi. Not good!
After using restroom, I go and pump up the tire, this time to 50 psi to give me a little extra to get us there. On the way to the hotel, we detour to Wal-mart and look for fix a flat, an air pump and possibly a new tire. Fix a flat, check. Air pump, check. New tire, no luck. In the wal-mart parking lot, the tire pressure was already down to 35 psi. And when we checked into the hotel, the tire pressure was down to 30 psi.
Greg and I decided to use the fix a flat and drive around for a few milea as the directions stated. The fix a flat filled it to 40 psi and it seemed to be holding. Good.
Jen and Beth took the kids swimming while we were out. Upon our return, we met them at the pool and it was so crowded that Greg and I decided not to get in. So, Greg and I walked over to the KFC next door to get dinner for everyone. We enjoyed our chicken. Then I researched replacement tires and played words with friends on the iPad and we called it a night.
In all, the flat tire set us back an hour and a half, not including the Walmart stop. Reflecting back later, I could think of a hundred worse places or situations that we could have broken down. It could have been raining, it could have happened in a construction zone, there could have been no civilization around, we could have been in the windy mountains, we could have been alone, or we could have gotten a flat at the beginning of the trip instead of the end. All-in-all, it could have been a lot worse.
Before I went to bed, which was around midnight, I went out and checked the tire which had dropped to about 38 psi. It seemed to be holding. I was just hoping that it was not going to be flat in the morning.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday, July 29 - Day at Emerald Lake
We woke up had breakfast and enjoyed an easy morning.
Since the kids heard us talking about kayaking last night, they were very anxious to start. We told them we could not rent them until 11:00, so I took them and played frisbee. When I stopped playing, they stopped too. We got out suits on and headed to the lake. We got there ten or fifteen minutes before 11, but they were open and we were able to rent them. We got one canoe and one kayak for four hours.
Rogan started in the kayak and Mikah and I took out the canoe. We explored the lake and fished a little.
We were out for about an hour, came back to shore and got some lunch.
We went back out, this time Mikah was in the kayak and Rogan and I were in the canoe.
In traveling along the lake, we had discovered a rope swing. Everyone was tentative to try it at first but after awhile everyone could not get enough of it. The higher you would start from the side of the lake, the further you would launch out over the water.
At one point, we decided to to shout a slogan about the trip. Luke began with New Hampshire's state motto, "Live free, or DIE!" Greg followed with his retort to Lilly's famous quote from the trip by shouting, "You can't do this on the internet!" I finished with a quote from our Puerto Rican roof salesman, "I beleeb... that I can!" It was an awesome way to spend the last day of our camping vacation.
Since the kids heard us talking about kayaking last night, they were very anxious to start. We told them we could not rent them until 11:00, so I took them and played frisbee. When I stopped playing, they stopped too. We got out suits on and headed to the lake. We got there ten or fifteen minutes before 11, but they were open and we were able to rent them. We got one canoe and one kayak for four hours.
Rogan started in the kayak and Mikah and I took out the canoe. We explored the lake and fished a little.
We were out for about an hour, came back to shore and got some lunch.
 |
| Lilly is really enjoying that burger. |
We went back out, this time Mikah was in the kayak and Rogan and I were in the canoe.
In traveling along the lake, we had discovered a rope swing. Everyone was tentative to try it at first but after awhile everyone could not get enough of it. The higher you would start from the side of the lake, the further you would launch out over the water.
 |
| "Live free, or Die!" |
At one point, we decided to to shout a slogan about the trip. Luke began with New Hampshire's state motto, "Live free, or DIE!" Greg followed with his retort to Lilly's famous quote from the trip by shouting, "You can't do this on the internet!" I finished with a quote from our Puerto Rican roof salesman, "I beleeb... that I can!" It was an awesome way to spend the last day of our camping vacation.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 28 Cannon Mountain and Travel to Green Mountains
We got up, ate an early breakfast and packed up as we are moving on to the Green Mountains today. When we were all ready, we went to the Cannon Mountain tram.
It was a car suspended under cables. There was about a 20 degree temperature difference from the bottom to the top. Thankfully, we brought our coats. We walked the half mile rim trail that took us to the top of the observation tower along the way.
You could see Maine and Canada today. If it would have been even clearer, we could have seen all of New England. It was a good decision to wait until today to go up.
Then, we headed to the Green Mountains in Vermont. It was only a three hour drive from where we were. We took the "scenic" highway that consisted of a lot of twists and turns. There were not many gas stations or fast food choices along the way so we didn't end up stopping for lunch.
We got to the Emerald Lake State Park around 3:30-4:00. When we were setting up, I noticed Luke laying on the bench of the picnic table. That is not a good sign as he is prone to migraine headaches. Beth and Greg confirmed my suspicion and Luke did in fact have a migraine. The original plan was to set up and find a nice place to sit down and have a nice dinner. Since, it was not a good idea to have Luke get back in the car again that night, we made pizza pies around the fire.
While Luke was resting and trying to alleviate the symptoms of his headache, Greg and I went and purchased some wood and scoped the place out. It has a very nice lake. We found out the price to rent kayaks and canoes. Then we headed back to the campsite. A group of guys camped across from us and we suspect they are in a band. They had a guitar, tambourine and other musical instruments. It seemed as though they were trying to compose new material. Greg struggled with the fire all night, but it was good enough to cook our dinner. Greg had to cut little kindling pieces out of the logs for it to burn. When he split the wood, you could feel the moisture in it. When it fizzled out, we decided to call it a night.
It was a car suspended under cables. There was about a 20 degree temperature difference from the bottom to the top. Thankfully, we brought our coats. We walked the half mile rim trail that took us to the top of the observation tower along the way.
You could see Maine and Canada today. If it would have been even clearer, we could have seen all of New England. It was a good decision to wait until today to go up.
Then, we headed to the Green Mountains in Vermont. It was only a three hour drive from where we were. We took the "scenic" highway that consisted of a lot of twists and turns. There were not many gas stations or fast food choices along the way so we didn't end up stopping for lunch.
We got to the Emerald Lake State Park around 3:30-4:00. When we were setting up, I noticed Luke laying on the bench of the picnic table. That is not a good sign as he is prone to migraine headaches. Beth and Greg confirmed my suspicion and Luke did in fact have a migraine. The original plan was to set up and find a nice place to sit down and have a nice dinner. Since, it was not a good idea to have Luke get back in the car again that night, we made pizza pies around the fire.
 |
| Nice big sites with plenty of shade. |
While Luke was resting and trying to alleviate the symptoms of his headache, Greg and I went and purchased some wood and scoped the place out. It has a very nice lake. We found out the price to rent kayaks and canoes. Then we headed back to the campsite. A group of guys camped across from us and we suspect they are in a band. They had a guitar, tambourine and other musical instruments. It seemed as though they were trying to compose new material. Greg struggled with the fire all night, but it was good enough to cook our dinner. Greg had to cut little kindling pieces out of the logs for it to burn. When he split the wood, you could feel the moisture in it. When it fizzled out, we decided to call it a night.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 27 The Flume and Basin Trails
We woke again to a wet campsite as it rained most of the night. We had breakfast and planned on going to The Flume Gorge for a hike and then to the Cannon Mountain Tram to go up the top of Cannon Mountain.
Tickets for the Flume and Tram were bought at Visitor's Center at the entrance to the Flume. Inside on display are two moose intertwined in a fight left eventually left them locked together until their death. A hiker discovered the moose in the woods and donations allowed them to be mounted like this. This gives you an idea of the size and power of these animals when you stand next to them. A naturalist told us that he was much more afraid of them then the black bear found in the area.
The entrance of the flume contains many of the "glacial erratics," huge boulder left from the last ice age.
The flume itself was essentially a large gorge that was fitted with a boardwalk and steps to allow you to view the inside. Like so much of what we have viewed on hikes on this trip, it is an excellent example of the power of years of erosion. There's the teacher in me coming out, I guess.
Since it was kind of foggy, we decided to save our tickets for the aerial tram for the next morning. Instead we chose to go on a hike around the basin area. We actually didn't even see the basin the first time we stopped there. It is essentially a large natural whirlpool. It is supposed to be 15 feet deep.
We continued on a neat hike across one of the rivers and eventually to a waterfall area.
At this point, we had a choice to continue on 3 more miles to Lonesome Lake and then to the campground or head back one more mile to the van. Luke and Rogan wanted to turn around while Greg, Lilly, Mikah and Jen wanted to actually see Lonesome Lake. So we split up with Beth and I taking the boys back. The way down was quite slippery - both Rogan and I fell at one point. Nonetheless, everyone made it back to the campground safe and sound.
Tickets for the Flume and Tram were bought at Visitor's Center at the entrance to the Flume. Inside on display are two moose intertwined in a fight left eventually left them locked together until their death. A hiker discovered the moose in the woods and donations allowed them to be mounted like this. This gives you an idea of the size and power of these animals when you stand next to them. A naturalist told us that he was much more afraid of them then the black bear found in the area.
The entrance of the flume contains many of the "glacial erratics," huge boulder left from the last ice age.
The flume itself was essentially a large gorge that was fitted with a boardwalk and steps to allow you to view the inside. Like so much of what we have viewed on hikes on this trip, it is an excellent example of the power of years of erosion. There's the teacher in me coming out, I guess.
Since it was kind of foggy, we decided to save our tickets for the aerial tram for the next morning. Instead we chose to go on a hike around the basin area. We actually didn't even see the basin the first time we stopped there. It is essentially a large natural whirlpool. It is supposed to be 15 feet deep.
We continued on a neat hike across one of the rivers and eventually to a waterfall area.
At this point, we had a choice to continue on 3 more miles to Lonesome Lake and then to the campground or head back one more mile to the van. Luke and Rogan wanted to turn around while Greg, Lilly, Mikah and Jen wanted to actually see Lonesome Lake. So we split up with Beth and I taking the boys back. The way down was quite slippery - both Rogan and I fell at one point. Nonetheless, everyone made it back to the campground safe and sound.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 26 Lonesome Lake
After I'd finished writing last night we all settled in to sleep to the sound of rain on top of the camper. When I woke up in the morning, I still heard the sounds of steady rain so I just stayed in bed a little longer. By about 8 am the rain had stopped and we went about drying out the picnic table for breakfast.
Our plan was to hike a moderate difficulty 3.2 mile up and back hike on Lonesome Lake trail. Lonesome Lake is a somewhat isolated mountain lake on the path of the Appalachian Trail.
One cool feature was that it left from the campground so that meant no driving needed. We got started up this rocky, rooted, and muddy trail and noticed right away how foggy everything was.
It looked as if the clouds stretched right down to the mountains. Everything was very wet - a small shake of a tree would give you a tree shower and the rocks were pretty slippery.
The hike up was fairly challenging and with the humidity, it didn't take long to be covered in sweat.
Our mid hike reward was supposed to be a beautiful view of the mountains across Lonesome Lake. Kind of like this:
Instead what we saw was this:
We saw moose tracks and you had the sense that a moose could come walking through this dense and foggy area at any moment. We came upon Lonesome Lake and could on only see about 10 feet as it was covered with fog. Rogan yelled "Echo!" across the lake and we were surprised to hear a loud and clear echo come back.
We were amazed at how nice the shelter was. It had solar panels on the roof, electricity, bathrooms, and even hot showers. These were more amenities than we had enjoyed for the past couple weeks!
As a small aside, I saw on CNN after we returned that a woman had broken the record for fastest ever to complete the approximately 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail. She did it in just 6 weeks traveling an average of 45 miles a day! Considering how tough and vertical many of these trails are, that is really impressive.
Later that day we took a drive to an area called "the basin" just a mile down the road. (Greg and Jen actually rode their bikes.) This hike was really beautiful with many smoothed rock formations created by various flowing mountain streams. The cool, clear water tempted the kids, but we cautioned them to stay out as signs warned that they were not allowed to swim there.
At one particular spot, we spread out to explore a little. I suddenly heard Beth shout, "Rogan fell in!" I turned to see Rogan struggling to stand in a waist deep stream by the bridge. I hustled over to give him a hand out of the water when I stepped on the same slippery spot that he fell on and I, too slid into the water. When we both get out, we are both soaking wet up to our waists.
Rogan is crying because he was scared and doesn't want to continue the hike. I suggest that the others go on and we will stay there and dry out in the sun. It takes Rogan awhile but he eventually gets over the event and sees the humor in it all. We decide to catch up to the others on the trail. We find them and we hike on the a neat area where water flows into many small pools over smooth rock. The kids are begging to get in to the water now and the adults relent. They have a blast sliding on the rocks into a small pool.
The hike back went quickly as we barely stopped to rest. The kids and adults had a great time today. Hopefully, my shoes will dry out by tomorrow!
Our plan was to hike a moderate difficulty 3.2 mile up and back hike on Lonesome Lake trail. Lonesome Lake is a somewhat isolated mountain lake on the path of the Appalachian Trail.
One cool feature was that it left from the campground so that meant no driving needed. We got started up this rocky, rooted, and muddy trail and noticed right away how foggy everything was.
It looked as if the clouds stretched right down to the mountains. Everything was very wet - a small shake of a tree would give you a tree shower and the rocks were pretty slippery.
The hike up was fairly challenging and with the humidity, it didn't take long to be covered in sweat.
Our mid hike reward was supposed to be a beautiful view of the mountains across Lonesome Lake. Kind of like this:
Instead what we saw was this:
 |
| You'll have to trust us. There's a lake behind us. |
 |
| We're just glad we aren't being photobombed by a moose. |
The top of the hike offered several different choices of side hikes but we choose to walk around Lonesome Lake. This path was largely made of large wood planks resembling railroad ties.
We saw moose tracks and you had the sense that a moose could come walking through this dense and foggy area at any moment. We came upon Lonesome Lake and could on only see about 10 feet as it was covered with fog. Rogan yelled "Echo!" across the lake and we were surprised to hear a loud and clear echo come back.
We eventually came to a station for the Appalachian Trail. This is an area where hikers can stop for a night's rest and even order some food to be delivered.
We were amazed at how nice the shelter was. It had solar panels on the roof, electricity, bathrooms, and even hot showers. These were more amenities than we had enjoyed for the past couple weeks!
As a small aside, I saw on CNN after we returned that a woman had broken the record for fastest ever to complete the approximately 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail. She did it in just 6 weeks traveling an average of 45 miles a day! Considering how tough and vertical many of these trails are, that is really impressive.
Later that day we took a drive to an area called "the basin" just a mile down the road. (Greg and Jen actually rode their bikes.) This hike was really beautiful with many smoothed rock formations created by various flowing mountain streams. The cool, clear water tempted the kids, but we cautioned them to stay out as signs warned that they were not allowed to swim there.
At one particular spot, we spread out to explore a little. I suddenly heard Beth shout, "Rogan fell in!" I turned to see Rogan struggling to stand in a waist deep stream by the bridge. I hustled over to give him a hand out of the water when I stepped on the same slippery spot that he fell on and I, too slid into the water. When we both get out, we are both soaking wet up to our waists.
 |
| The scene of the accident. |
Rogan is crying because he was scared and doesn't want to continue the hike. I suggest that the others go on and we will stay there and dry out in the sun. It takes Rogan awhile but he eventually gets over the event and sees the humor in it all. We decide to catch up to the others on the trail. We find them and we hike on the a neat area where water flows into many small pools over smooth rock. The kids are begging to get in to the water now and the adults relent. They have a blast sliding on the rocks into a small pool.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, July 25 -Head to White Mountains
This morning we woke up early to pack up the camper to head to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Things went smoothly as everyone pitched in to get packed up. There's always a bit of sadness as your leave a place you've been staying for a while. We looked out at the window one last time as we passed by the harbor around the campground and said goodbye to the Atlantic ocean. It was a five hour drive through many very scenic areas of both Maine and New Hampshire. We stopped once for gas in Mexico, NH and once for lunch. On the walkie talkie while driving, Greg commented on how motorcycle riders frequently give a low wave as kind of a sign of biker solidarity.
He suggested that we minivan drivers should do something similar. I thought a peace sign like "v" for van would do the trick.
We arrived at the campground around 4 o'clock and drove up to our site. I had a difficult time backing our camper in the site as the entrance was on a corner space. I gave up after a few attempts and pulled it in forward. I still haven't mastered the fine art of maneuvering the camper but at least I haven't jack knifed it (yet). The setup for the camper went terribly. First we had to roll the camper into a better position because of my inability to back it into a good spot. Then, nowhere on the site was level so we had to jack it up on two sides. Jen and I both yanked and pulled on the jacks until we were both exhausted and it still wasn't,t quite level. Then when we tried to open the door it wouldn't move. As it turned out, we had jacked the tire side up so high that it caused the camper to sag in the middle. So, I had to jack up the middle of the camper and finally it opened easily. Then the door handle that I had replaced before the trip began to stick badly, so I had to tinker with it for about 30 minutes and replace a spring to get it working. I see why Greg always pulls out a beer while he sets up camp.
The rest of the night we spent eating soup, planning some hikes, and biking around the campground. The temperature is much cooler here and the mosquitos are much less active. We tried having a camp fire but as we got it started, it began raining. Everyone scampered around getting chairs and wood out of the rain and we went back to the campers to read and do some puzzles before bed. We are looking forward to a memorable time here in New Hampshire.
He suggested that we minivan drivers should do something similar. I thought a peace sign like "v" for van would do the trick.
We arrived at the campground around 4 o'clock and drove up to our site. I had a difficult time backing our camper in the site as the entrance was on a corner space. I gave up after a few attempts and pulled it in forward. I still haven't mastered the fine art of maneuvering the camper but at least I haven't jack knifed it (yet). The setup for the camper went terribly. First we had to roll the camper into a better position because of my inability to back it into a good spot. Then, nowhere on the site was level so we had to jack it up on two sides. Jen and I both yanked and pulled on the jacks until we were both exhausted and it still wasn't,t quite level. Then when we tried to open the door it wouldn't move. As it turned out, we had jacked the tire side up so high that it caused the camper to sag in the middle. So, I had to jack up the middle of the camper and finally it opened easily. Then the door handle that I had replaced before the trip began to stick badly, so I had to tinker with it for about 30 minutes and replace a spring to get it working. I see why Greg always pulls out a beer while he sets up camp.
 |
| After we finally got things set-up properly. |
The rest of the night we spent eating soup, planning some hikes, and biking around the campground. The temperature is much cooler here and the mosquitos are much less active. We tried having a camp fire but as we got it started, it began raining. Everyone scampered around getting chairs and wood out of the rain and we went back to the campers to read and do some puzzles before bed. We are looking forward to a memorable time here in New Hampshire.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday, July 24 - Maine Day 5
One of the stops of the journey included the colorfully named Thunder Hole, a narrow channel that ocean waves would flow into and send mist into the air and create a massive booming sound.
Even though it was low tide, we were able to get a taste of it's power.
We continued the hike and stopped at a few scenic spots and a few tide pools.
We saw a few crabs hiding in the salty pools and had fun watching the waves crash near us on the shore. We were careful not to get too close as we knew that many people accidentally drown by being swept away by the waves.
We finally reached Otter cliffs which offered a terrific view of the entire bay. We posed for a few pictures, had some snacks, and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze.
We decided to continue on a bit further. We found a shoreline area with thousands of giant smoothed out egg shaped rocks. From here we retraced our path back to sand beach.
Many places on the way we would strike up conversations with different people from across the country. We ran into people from nearby Findlay, Ohio on this particular hike.
When we arrived at Sand Beach, the kids wanted to collect some sand as a memento. Mikah had the idea to keep her sand in her Old Soaker root beer bottle she had drank from the day before.
By the time we got back to the van it was probably around 4 o'clock and we were getting hungry. We decided to have a late lunch/early dinner out at Southwest Harbor near our campground. This was the first day we had not eaten in Bar Harbor. We walked around Main Street for a bit but couldn't find a restaurant that was both open and in our price range. Greg did buy a homemade blueberry pie to enjoy later. He experienced a bit of shell shock as the price for the pie was $15.00. We decided to try a little further toward our campground a place that's sign promised lobster and a beer for just $16.95. Sounded like our kind of place.
As I pulled in there was not much of a parking area in the front so I followed a stone drive way to the back. As we passed, someone in a chair on the side patio waved and we soon realized there was no parking area in back. All we could see was a grill, some dumpsters, and a trailer home. As Greg's van followed us in, he laughed over the cb that we had better eat here just to see what this place was all about.
The place turned out to be less of a resturaunt and more of a bar. The only place with room enough for us to sit was outside. The menu was only listed on a giant chalkboard.
Jen and I picked the lobster special. The kids played pinball and air hockey as we waited for our food. Our drinks were delivered by a teenage boy with a large ductaped bandage on his forearm. When the food came, it was pretty good overall. Underneath my lobster I did discover a large unidentifiable bit of meat that Greg felt resembled a female body part. I decided not to chance eating it. The lady that owned the placed told me that it was a mussel that had gotten cooked with the lobster.
On the way home we stopped for more groceries including some Maine whoopee pies and old soaker blueberry soda.
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| Whoopee pies |
We were all (even the kids for once) looking forward to getting a shower today. We paid one dollar for three minutes of hot water, and it was glorious. Greg and Lucas were in the shower right next to us and Rogan and I laughed as we heard Greg tell Luke to "get his thing wet." By "thing," Greg of course meant his wash cloth.
Back at the campground we did some pre packing while the kids practiced the tango. Yes, that's right, the tango. One of the kids' downtime activities was to hula hoop, and Lilly had developed a song to go along with a dance. (Sample lines: "I like to eat, eat, eat, mangos, mangos!" and "I'll put the hula in your hoop!") She had been planning for a camping talent show, and I think the tango had something to do with it.
Once we finished organizing we enjoyed some amazing blueberry pie and some underwhelming whoopee pies. All in all it was a great day.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Saturday, July 23 Maine Day 4
Morning hike was a great short trail called Beech Mountain trail. Lots of wild blueberries on the path. We ate some and collected some for later. The trail over- looked a long lake, titled appropriately, Long Lake.
Near the midpoint of the loop we reached a fire tower. This had and awesome view.
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| Lewis and Clark scout ahead |
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| Family Picture time! |
Early in the hike we could look back over toward Sand Beach for a nice ocean view.
Further into the trail it became more wooded and you could see for miles.
Many places along the trail had very pretty wild flowers in bloom like these.
We eventually make it to Great Head. Greg and I really liked this spot.
When we fininished the hike, we changed into our swim suits and went out to brave the Atlantic Ocean. The beach itself was really nice sand. We were told that this was the only fine sand like this in Maine . The water, however, never gets above 50 degrees. The sign warned that swimming was only for the hardy. Well, that was us.
You could hear people screeching and sqealing as they dared just to dip their toes in the ocean. Luke had guaranteed during our hike that the would jump in the water and he was good to his word. Rogan acted like it was nothing at all. The water was so extremely cold that it actually hurt your feet.
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Jen barrels into an oncoming wave. |
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Beth reacts to an icy wave splashing her back. |
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| I was the last one to go in. |
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| Add caption |
For dinner we ate at Chowdah's Restaurant where several of us tried a whole Maine lobster. Our waitress was interesting and friendly and loved to respond with the word "absolutely."
The kids loved to have a bottle of "beer" everywhere they could. Rogan tried some Maine blueberry soda.
When in Maine, you must eat lobster, right?
We were short on time so we rushed right over to the whale watching place to get our tickets. While we waited to board, we changed into jeans as we were told that the temperature off the coast on the boat drops dramatically into the 40's. The boat was large, big enough to hold about 200 people and was super fast.
The wind on the boat could easily blow off a baseball cap if you didn't turn it backwards. We had all taken some Dramamine just to be sure no one got sick. As the boat dipped and rose through several swells I looked at everyone's faces in the group to see how they were handling the waves. The adults all looked pretty good but Lilly and Rogan did not. Rogan said he was very tried and laid his head down on our backpack.
Lilly started to lose her color and then began looking a little green. They had recommended that anyone not feeling well go to the back of the ship. On the way, Lilly apparently puked her Chowdah's dinner on the steps. All the moving about the ship and seeing Lilly hurl then made Beth sick and she ended up throwing up her lobster dinner twice. While this was going on, the rest of us were having our first encounters with live fin back whales, the second largest whales on earth behind blue whales.
Our guide told us that when you see this fin the whale is going down for what they call a "terminal dive", that is, a dive that the whale will stay down for 5-10 minutes while they are feeding.
As the whale reemerges, they spout like this and it can be seen from a mile or more away.
Despite the fact we had just been hiking in 90 degree temperatures, we are were quite cold on the boat.
Beth is able to smile even though she missed a good part of the whale sightseeing which she had wanted to do all week. Always finding humor in every situation, Greg joked that she had arched and done a "terminal puke" and they were simply "chumming" for sea animals at the back of the boat.
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