Wright-Patterson AFB - we're here!

We arrived at Wright-Patterson yesterday around noon. The directions to the FamCamp take you the long way through the base! Lots of twists and turns to get here. Not to worry though, I've already found another gate we can use to get on and off the base during the week. Unfortunately it is closed on the weekends, so will have to do the long route then - at 25 mph!

As we were walking to the office to check in, out came a almost familiar face - Paul (AFChap) - another Escapee. I say almost because he has added some facial hair, but it does look good. He said that they are leaving today to help their daughter move but would be back by the 8th or 9th of September. It was great seeing him again. Neat thing about all the moving around, you never know who you might see or meet.

We got a great pull-through site (just two over from Paul and Jean) with full hook-ups. The FamCamp is about half full right now. Paul said it fills up more on the weekend - we will see.

I'm so looking forward to the two weeks down time here. I think that we've been on the road to much without taking time to "stop and smell the flowers". Dean and I are both a little road weary. We are going for haircuts today, then may take a run up to St. Paris and check out where Tab and Deanna are. I talked to him yesterday and another couple were coming for the weekend (classmates from '05). We haven't met them yet so sorry, I don't remember their names. Anyway, we are going out for dinner with them tonight and to the AF Museum on Sat. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we are going to do besides get some well deserved rest. I do know that there are a lot of festivals in the surrounding area so may check some of them out.

Till next time.......

Artillery Ridge Campground

Took a few pictures of the view from our rear window. This is what we see every morning....





Looking back at our home....



Horses and a pond, couldn't get much better!

Where are we???

We are now parked at Artillery Ridge Campground, Gettysburg, PA. Are plans are for five nights here to give us time to hopefully get the ice maker repaired and restock on some of the better foodstuffs that are found in this area.

My last post, I believe we were either still at Keenes in Calais, ME or at Pumpkin Patch RV Park, Bangor, ME. When we left Pumpkin Patch, we stopped back at Rogers Campground in Lancaster, NH for one night and a great view (again) of Mt. Washington. We then drove to Brattleboro, VT where we spent Sat. and Sun. While there we paid a visit to the Yankee Candle Co. Store. In a word - WOW! I recommend if you are ever in this area to plan at least a half day there. It is huge! Be prepared, they sell a lot more than candles. And, yes, my daughter-in-law knows that we stopped there. I got her permission - LOL, by telling her that I wouldn't buy any candles since her and my son make candles.

From Brattleboro, we went to Newburgh, NY for the night and then stopped in Ravine, PA last night. I do NOT recommend this campground in Ravine. It is Echo Valley Campground and has more permanent setups with about 6 pullthroughs for overnighters. Small narrow sites, but long enough that we didn't have to unhitch. The real rub is the owners attitude - very, very unfriendly! I wanted to leave, but Dean was tired so we stayed.

And, that brings me to the present. We won't be doing any touring, just shopping and seeing some family, while we are here. I probably won't update the blog until we get to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Stay safe till then.....

Lighthouses, FDR, Canada and more tides

Dean and I took off this morning looking for lighthouses. As the day went by, I was beginning to think that we weren't going to find any. Then finally as we were going to Lubec, ME., we found a lighthouse, actually two, but one was a harbor light, not really a true lighthouse.

This picture is the Lubec Channel Light that was constructed in 1889 and has stayed lit since then.


The next one we found is the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse. As you can tell by the pictures, we could walk right up to it.



Here we are.... And one without us.....



and one more from a different direction...



This is also the most Eastern spot in the USA....



This lighthouse is in Canada just off Campobello Island. We couldn't get a very good picture of it..


Then there is the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse that we saw on Monday during the ? whale watch. Only this time we were on dry land looking from a different direction.



In this picture you can see the steps that lead out to the lighthouse - only thing is, you can only access them at low tide - today the tide was coming up....



While on Campobello Island we made a stop at Roosevelt Campobello International Park. This was the summer home of FDR and was really beautiful. Here are some pictures of the house, some flowers, the kitchen and the laundry room - sure makes you appreciate what you have now!









The view from their back porch....



Now more pictures of the tidal change. We took the first picture around noon in Lubec, ME. The second picture was taken around 4 p.m. Looking at both, you can really see the tide difference. The high tide was around 5 p.m. so there was still more water to come.





I'll close with pictures of a old church that we passed on our way back home. There are so many old buildings in this part of the country. We've seen them dating back to the 1700's and still in use - amazing!





I'm not sure when I'll be back as we will be spending the next eight or nine days driving to Ohio. We don't plan on doing any sightseeing until we arrive at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton. Until the next time - be safe.....

Whale watching, tides and CHOCOLATE - yummy!

Yesterday (Monday) we traveled from Pumpkin Patch RV Resort in Bangor to Keene's Lake Campground just outside Calais, Maine. I was astonished how desolate Maine is. We traveled 70 +/- and saw very little sign of civilization. Just woods, woods and more woods. Every now and then there was a lake and usually a house or two near it. I could not live in this part of the USA. At least there is a WalMart here in Calais - not a Super WalMart though.

After we got set up I call Kirk and Pam (they are Escapee's also). We had talked the day before and he was setting us up with a whale watch cruise for the evening. The cruise was a go for 5:30 p.m. on a three masted schooner and I was really excited. Well, the later it got in the day, the heavy the cloud cover became and the cooler it got. By the time we got to Eastport the temperature was probably in the mid-60's and it was pretty overcast. But - the cruise was still on. I've never been on a sail boat before and was looking forward to the experience - it was neat!
Here is a picture of the boat, the "Sylvina W. Beal " and one of Kirk helping to hoist the sail - he is in the blue jacket with his back to the camera - it's the photographers fault, sorry.



As far as the whale watch portion, that was all we got to do - watch for whales - we saw none!

We did sail past Campobello Island and had a chance to get some really nice pictures of the lighthouse - East Quoddy Lighthouse - at the point. Here are a couple of them.





You can drive to the lighthouse area, park and then hike the rest of the way out. If you do this you need to know the tide times as the path out to the lighthouse is submerged under 10 - 15 ft. of water at high tide and it comes in fast. I heard some stories about people getting caught and having to wait for the next low tide!

The picture below shows the water line when it's high tide. We were in the Bay of Fundi where the tides range from 10 feet to 40+ feet, depending on where you are. The tide was going out while we were at sea.



This is a picture of Eastport as we were coming back to port.



Personally, I was very disappointed in this cruise. I feel like they should have cancelled the cruise and rescheduled. The weather just was not good for whale watching and it was so cold out on the water. The four of us spent most of the time wrapped in blankets provided by the crew! There was a shark sighting, but I didn't get up to go look - I've seen sharks. We saw a lot of gulls and porpoise, but that was all.

We did have a good time with Kirk and Pam and the evening was worth it being able to spend time with them. Good folks!

Today (Tuesday) Dean and I drove to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada - just across the boarder from Calais. Going through the boarder crossing was a experience. I guess they have really tightened up since this latest terrorist threat. At least we didn't have to go through a search. Just a lot of questions. The reason we went there was to go to the Ganong Chocolate Factory Museum. It was really neat and there is candy everywhere for you to sample. Of course I did - Yummy!

I was in chocolate heaven..see the smile?



I mentioned the tides that occur here. I took a couple of pictures today of the same area to show how much the tide changes. I'm posting the low tide and then high tide picture below. Unfortunately, when I took the high tide picture, little did I realize that I would be facing west and the sun. Tomorrow I'm going to try again in another area. Hopefully I won't have to take a picture into the sun!





This afternoon, Kirk and Pam took us for a ride through the Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge that they are volunteering at. Although we didn't see any wildlife today, it was a interesting ride and Kirk is very knowledgeable in the subject of the wildlife. We had a very enjoyable afternoon. I took this picture of them at a very pretty lake on the Refuge.



We met this evening for dinner at a local restaurant and again enjoyed good conversation and good food. We bid them farewell tonight but certainly hope to see them down the road again.

I need to add here that Dean and I did see a Bald Eagle when crossing the bridge into Canada and an osprey today. No pictures - sorry.

Tomorrow Dean and I are going in search of more lighthouses. Come back and see if we found any.....

A Little More of Maine

A little about the park that we are currently at. It's name is Pumpkin Patch RV Resort. I've had so many campers tell me "you must stay at Pumpkin Patch in Bangor". It's really in Hermon, ME., just west of Bangor. Anyway, our first night here was spent in overflow as all sites were full. Their overflow has 20 amp electric only. but is relatively level. The next day we were moved to a "real" site. Our's is a large back in site on a corner, # 64. Really a nice site. But, I have to admit, I was wondering why so many campers recommended this campground. It's what I would call bare necessities. They have full hookup sites w/50 amp, some elec/water only sites and of course the overflow. There are two laundry area, each with two washers and two dryers. There is a club house that is fairly large. They have limited activities in the club house. So, I'm wondering, what makes this place so special that it is so highly recommended? Well, I must tell you, it's the owners and workcampers! What really special people they are. I've not seen a frown or heard a bad word from any of them. Just the opposite - faced with a problem, they smile and say "we can handle it". To bad that they can't teach other campground owner's a class on how to run a campground and deal with campers! We have been here since Monday night and there has not been a single space available since then - I've seen as many as four in overflow. Of course, they are Passport America and offer their rate during the week. On weekends they don't offer PA, but will give you the Good Sam discount. So I'll add my comment - If you end up in the Bangor, ME area, plan a stay here, but take a word of advice and call ahead.

Here is a picture of us on our site...



Today we drove to Skowhegan, ME to the New Balance shoe factory. They were having a tent sale and I just love the New Balance shoes. Wow-not one tent, but about four tents were set up. There was one for mens and womens shoes, one for kids shoes, one for seconds, and one with clothing. Another one had the registers. Anyway, I found a pair of walking shoes that felt really great on and Dean found himself a pair as well. Both pair of New Balance $70/$80 shoes cost us $80.00! Now I have to figure out what pair of shoes I get rid of - you know - something in/something out!

During our drives in this area we noticed that a lot of the farms here were built with the house attached to the barn. We found this very unusual. With me being from PA and Dean from MO we are used to the barns being away from the house. I took a picture of one that we passed today. It's not one of the prettier ones that I saw, but it was the only one that we could get off the road for me to get a picture of.





We are moving on Monday to a campground near Calais which is closer to the coast. I'm hoping to be able to see more lighthouses along the coast next week. Check back.....

Acadia Natl Park, Baa Haba and More

Yesterday morning we took the truck to the local Ford Truck dealer to be checked out and got a loaner car. What a pleasant surprise as we thought we were going to have to rent a car! We should get the truck back today. (Update - we now have our truck back. No wheel bearing problems - what a relief! Appearantly the noise was coming from the tires.)

We decided, since the day dawned cloudless, it would be a great day to drive to Acadia National Park and the surrounding area including Baa Haba (that's Bar Harbor for those that aren't from this neck of the woods - LOL). Our decision was a good one.

Acadia National Park is really a treat. If you are into hiking or biking, it is a perfect place for you to visit. There are so many hiking trails to choose from and the roads through the park have plenty of room for bikers. The views are breathtaking, but then I love the ocean. I really felt at home again, being by the sea.

I've decided that I'll just post some of the many pictures that I took, with captions, instead of writing about each place. It's just a place that you need to visit to really appreciate.

This was our first view out to sea from Acadia Natl. Park.

Big seagull.

Egg Island Lighthouse - sorry, I zoomed in as far as I could.

Postcard picture - that I took!

Want to take a climb up this?

Otter Point...

Bar Harbor (Baa Haba)

Dean and his lobster - NOT - it's Mine!

Pretty flowers - do you know what the purple ones are?

Do you know these people?

More Bar Harbor, ME

You can walk to this island - during low tide.

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Bass Harbor..... tide was very low while we were there.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of Mount Desert Island where Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park and Bass Harbor are located.

Maine = Trouble

We arrived at Pumpkin Patch Campground just outside Bangor, ME today around 2PM. First problem, no space, but the good news is that they did have overflow - 20amp elec only - so there we sit. Thank goodness it's cool and we don't need A/C.

Today, Dean decided that the noise we've been hearing for the past couple of weeks, needs to be checked out. He suspects the real wheel bearings. Well, we sat in NH a whole week longer than we were supposed to and I have to wonder why he didn't get it checked out there??? There was even a Ford dealer in Lancaster. Oh well, life goes on. So right now, we are parked, will move tomorrow to a "real" site for two nights, then, if we are still here, I don't know, maybe back to overflow.

Needless to say, my first taste of Maine isn't the best. Even the scenery changed and I didn't see one thing worth taking a picture of during our drive over ROUGH US Rt 2.

OK, I'm going, no need to bore everyone with my woes. I'll post more when I perk up.

Goodbye New Hampshire

Today dawned a very chilly 47 degrees. Mind you now, I'm not complaining - I have blankets! For our last day in New Hampshire it couldn't have been nicer. An almost cloudless sky and the high in the low 70's. I'm sitting on the couch looking out the window at Mt. Washington and a nearly full moon over it. Wish my camera did better with those kind of pictures, but you'll just have to use your imagination. OK, I went out and took a picture, guess it didn't turn out to bad.



I will really miss the view from this campsite! One of the nicest we have had in a long time. Maybe I'll find one in Maine that will top it - we'll see.

Here are a couple of pictures taken just outside the campground on route 2. The scenery here is so pretty that you just can't get enough of it, at least I can't.





We are heading for Maine tomorrow morning. Not sure how far we will get, but are aiming for Bangor, ME. Will update the next time I have internet. Till then.....