Back at Dunromin

No need to wash Harvee Too when we got home. There was lots of rain overnight and it rained as far north as Orilliia. A good power wash! We said our good-byes to Paul and Maureen and we were on our way home by 8 a.m.. Traffic was no problem as we were headed in the opposite direction as everyone else going to work.
We stopped in Barrie for an hour. Jean visited her mom and I did some grocery shopping. We stopped two more times to fill the gas tank for winter storage purposes at a cost  of $303.04. Ouch! Thankfully all but $60 of that was @ $1.15 / litre. Phew!
We ate lunch en route. Jean hasn't lost her touch  balance working in the kitchen as I drive. We pulled into the RV port at 1:10 and spent the next couple of hours unloading. Libby was very happy to be home and out and about exploring the property.
We had a great time down east with several highlights. We all agreed that meeting up with Kathy and Gary in Cape Cod was one of them.We did our best to help out the struggling American economy. It was one of our biggest ($$$$$) shopping adventures.
We travelled 3,777 km and came in under budget thanks to the dropping price of gas and some real bargains at campgrounds. I budgeted $50 a night and only four times did we have to pay that much or more.
It was Paul and Maureen's fourth RV trip with us in Harvee Too. (They took one trip with me in Harvee One.) They have become experienced RVers helping out with the Rving jobs and are  great fun to travel with, game for everything.

And so another RVing season comes to an end. More wonderful memories to take us through the winter.

Back in Canada

What a beautiful day to return to Canada. Not a cloud in the sky when we left the casino RV park after we emptied our holding tanks and drained our fresh water tank. We'll be able to winterize Harvee Too  when we get home. We stopped on the Mohawk reserve to top up the gas tank @ $4.00 / gal. and drove west along  hwy 37 to Ogdensburg. It was a smooth  drive on the newly paved highway and traffic was light.


Traffic was even lighter crossing back into Canada. We were one of only three vehicles. No problem at customs, just the standard questions.

Our first stop back in Canada was in Prescott at a Tim Hortons. Paul and Maureen missed their Tims although there are some franchises in the States and they did manage to go to one while the motor home was being serviced.
We did not see many state police on our trip but the OPP were out in force on the 401. We made one other stop at an OnRoute service centre near Napanee for lunch and motored on. It became cloudy  for part of our drive but cleared and was sunny and warm once again when we arrived at Paul and Maureen's around 3 p.m.  We made very good time crossing Toronto.
It didn't take Paul and Maureen too long to unpack their belongings and all the purchases they made in the States. I took advantage of the 19º weather and cleaned the windshield; we did find some bugs to kill on our 455 km drive today. Paul topped off a great trip when he bbq'ed  delicious steaks for dinner.

Heading North

We woke to clearing skies and a beautiful view of the Twin Mountains. It was a chilly 4.5º, quite a difference from the previous morning. We left the  campground around 8:30 and stopped in Littleton for gas @ $3.80 / gal. The price of gas would climb as we motored north.

We took I 93 and I 89 into Vermont. The scenery was dramatic as the sun broke through the dark, threatening clouds and highlighted the rock outcrops and fall foliage along the interstates.
We made one more shopping stop for me in Williston at a Best Buy where I was able to buy another battery for my JVC camcorder. It was the only battery they had for my model; what luck. We ate lunch in the parking lot before driving north along Lake Champlain. We left the interstate to take a secondary highway across the lake into New York State.
It was a more difficult drive in the afternoon as we were broad-sided by a strong wind; two hands on the steering wheel.
We arrived at the Akwesasne Casino and RV Park near Hogansburg
at 2:30.  With my casino membership, we paid only $10 for a site with water and electricity.  There were several rigs staying at the RV park which opened last spring.
The casino had a weekend special: "Bring a friend." Jean brought Maureen; I brought Paul and we all received a $15 gambling credit. Too bad we didn't go forth and multiple it. For dinner we enjoyed the All you can eat buffet. It was delicious. Maureen and I returned to the motor home while Paul  and Jean tried their luck one more time. Oh well, we had fun trying.
We drove  farther  today, 369 km as we are ♪♪ Homeward Bound...♪♪

New Hampshire and the White Mountains

It poured rain for most of the night and stayed warm @ 14º. We were lucky we didn't wake up in a lake of water. We left the campground in low cloud and a light mist and drove a short distance to the town of Rumford.  We stopped to see the Rumford Falls on the Androscoggin River. Rumford Falls is the highest falls east of Niagara with a total vertical drop of 176 feet. A system of dams and canals was built in the 1890s to generate electricity. Today 40,000 kilowatts of electricity per hour are produced.

We continued our drive west on hwy 2 which follows the Androscoggin River. It was very scenic  in spite of the drizzle and cloud. We entered New Hampshire and stopped in Gorham to do a little more shopping and have lunch. It started to clear up as we took hwy 16 south into the White Mountains. We thought our days in the mountains would be the coolest. Au contraire. The temperature rose to 22.9º; it was sandals and shorts time. The fall colours were at their peak. We stopped a few times to take pictures. We passed Mount Washington, the highest peak @ 6,288 feet.  The top was hidden by clouds.

North Conway is a commercial town with a nice mix of quaint shops and factory outlet malls. They were very crowded this sunny Saturday afternoon. We  managed to do some buying here too.

We took scenic hwy 302  through the Crawford Notch and State Park. (Passes are known as notches in the White Mountains.) Hwy 302 follows the Saco River. We stopped to see the Silver and Flume Cascades on Mount Webster. The water courses down 1,000 feet.
Today was a full and very pleasant day of sightseeing and shopping; we travelled 195 km. We managed to find a campground still open this late in October. We are at Twin Mountains Motor Court and RV Park.  The owners are actually in the process of shutting down for winter but we were able to get full hookups, cable and WiFi for a reduced rate of $40. We are the only rig here. There have been  a couple of brief showers this evening.

Leaving the Coast

We had an earlier start (8:20 a.m.)  today as we left the coast via hwy 1A and motored west. We left a clear sky behind  as it got  cloudier and eventually overcast.
It was a day of bargains. We stopped in Holden for gas @ $3.70 / gal.  We took I 395 around Bangor and then picked up I 95 for a short distance before finally turning west on hwy 2, a very scenic highway through rural Maine.
 We arrived in Skowhegan on the Kennebec River around 10:30, went straight to the Ford dealership and were able to get an appointment for an oil, filter change and lube at 1:00. What luck! There was a Walmart just down the street. We were able to easily pass the time, you guessed it,  shopping. 
Our servicing appointment took only 45 minutes and cost $40.78.



We stopped for pictures at the falls and dam before continuing west on hwy 2 to the town of Dixfield. We are at Mountain View Campground, our third bargain of the day. The campground has had to shut off the water due to the freezing temperatures at night so we have electricity and WiFi for $22.

our view

We drove  212 km today. The temperature rose to a mild 16º; fortunately the rain held off till after we had  set up at the campground around 3:30. Jean and Maureen are having a stitch and bitch time; they have decided to knit scarves. (They bought the  needles and wool at Walmart.) Paul is on his tab listening to Sirius and reading. Maureen is doing supper tonight, beef stroganoff. I'm glad I don't have to bbq in the rain.

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

 We had a more leisurely start to our day as we enjoyed our oceanfront campsite. The sunrise was beautiful. We left the campground around 9 a.m. and continued our drive north along the coast. 

Paul wanted to look for an old geometry textbook so we stopped at a used bookstore that was a tourist attraction in itself. We could have spent all day in the unique store. Success; Paul found one.

View from Cadillac Mountain



Park Loop Road

 We left hwy 1 and crossed onto Mount Desert Island which is the largest rock based island on the Atlantic coast.  Acadia National Park covers 54 square miles of the island. It is an unusual combination of ocean and mountain scenery. The worn down peaks of the Mount Desert Mountains dominate the park. We drove the 27 mile Park Loop Road and the 3.5 mile road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. At 1,530 feet, it is the highest point on the US Atlantic seaboard. We had a spectacular panoramic view of Bar Harbor,  the islands in Frenchman Bay and the whole of the island.

We stopped in Bar Harbor which lies at the entrance to the park.  It is a popular resort town with a population of approximately 2500. The town was very busy; there was a NCL cruise ship in port. We did a little more souvenir shopping and picture taking.



 We left the island and drove back to the town of  Ellsworth on hwy 1.  There we stopped at a Walmart for some groceries and did a little more personal shopping. We are staying at a small but  nice campground, Forest Ridge Campground and RV Park  outside of Ellsworth. We are one of only three rigs here.
Today was  warm  and  mostly sunny, perfect for our third and last day of sightseeing on the coast.                                                                                                                                                                      

 

Pemaquid Beach, Rockport, Camden, Belfast



Pemaquid Beach

It was 2.5º when I woke at 6 a.m. and

discovered we had no running water; our hose had frozen. It didn`t take long to get the water flowing again.

There was a heavy frost. After listening to the sound of the surf from our campsite last night, we went in search of the beach and didn`t have far to drive. Beautiful.
We were able to take a different secondary highway back up the peninsula to hwy 1 and saw some spectacular coast.We made a  brief comfort stop in the town of  Rockland and continued north on hwy 1. We visited three more seaside towns.

Rockport

Rockport was originally part of neighbouring Camden. The towns officially split into two distinct communities in 1891. We walked down to the harbour and took some great pictures.



We stopped in Camden where Paul and Maureen treated us to a nice seafood  lunch at the Village Restaurant overlooking the harbour. We spent an hour taking pictures and browsing through the shops in the warm afternoon sun. It reached 14º.





Camden





Our last sightseeing stop was the town of Belfast, formerly a prosperous shipbuilding centre, now a cultural centre for artists, writers and craftspeople. The town is situated on Penobscot Bay.

More great photography and browsing through shops and galleries.


Belfast



We travelled 109 km today and are at Moorings Oceanfront RV Resort outside of Belfast. It is our nicest campground this trip, worth the $58 and change. The Atlantic Ocean is off the front of our site. We learned that there was a magnitude 4.0 earthquake centered  near Portland today. We didn't feel a thing... too busy enjoying the beautiful Maine scenery.