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TT Gateway to Cape Cod in Rochester, MA (Aug 29-Sept 19)
We moved to the Gateway to Cape Cod campground and got a beautiful site! It was difficult to get into because it was quite uneven, but boy it was worth the work. It is tucked away in the trees, large area and very peaceful.
The day we pulled into the campground, I was struck by the GPS saying turn on “Stevens Road” and then we passed Porter Road just prior to the turn! I felt like it was a message from my brother just reminding me that he is still a big part of my life! I love and miss him so very much!
The day after arriving, I flew to DFW. I spent a couple days with my dear friend, Kim at a hotel in Sulphur Springs so that we could unwind and catch up. James came and hung out with us for a day also. The rest of the time, I was in my usual hotel and catching up on doctor appointments. I also spent time with my mother and brother, Michael.
When I returned to Massachusetts, we went to Provincetown. It was a great day.
We took another train ride that was a lunch train. It was beautiful! The windows were huge and very clean. The food was great.
The next day, we went to Martha’s Vineyard. We took a great bus tour around the island! The guide, Bart, was raised on the island and he had so much enthusiasm for the island and it’s history. We really enjoyed the day and the island.
Ed and James flew to Las Vegas to have their “James’ 21st Birthday Vegas Trip”. While there, Ed surprised James with a military helicopter ride in the mountains where they got to shoot from the helicopter. James was so excited and shocked! They really had a wonderful time and I am so pleased that they had that time together.
The boys also took a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Vegas.
They saw Hoover Dam
One thing that we had to get from the Vegas trip was a photo of James with the show girls! All his life he has loved the photo of his Uncle Joe on his 21st birthday trip with the show girls and since that was the inspiration of James always wanting to celebrate his 21st in Vegas, we had to have this photo!
While the boys were in Vegas, I just chilled at the campground, enjoyed a few fires and the night sky. We left for Rhode Island the day after Ed got back from Vegas.
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Mystic KOA Holiday in North Stonington, CT (Aug 18-Aug 29)
We arrived at the KOA in North Stonington, CT and got a very nice site. I forgot to take a photo of our campsite.
We went to the Mystic Aquarium, Stonington Lighthouse and hiked to see the Trolls in Charlestown, Rhode Island.
We went to see the USS Nautilus, I didn’t go inside since my claustrophobia tends to really get going inside a submarine! We went on a lighthouse/island boat tour. The next day, we hiked Bluff Point Coastal Reserve and then we went on another island/lighthouse boat tour.
(Steam Train photos)
We took the Essex Steam Train Supper tour. It was lovely and the food was really good! The train was beautiful and very well kept.
When on base one day, we saw this awesome van. It made me think of the van my mom had when we were kids and we used to camp in it! I was tempted to ask the man to see the inside, but figured that seemed a bit creepy…lol!
(Bakery and Mystic photos)
I had heard about this bakery called Sift in Mystic, so we went there prior to visiting Mystic Village for some breakfast. The cases were stunning and it was very difficult to chose one thing to buy! We had a wonderful time at Mystic Village. It really needs multiple days to be able to take it all in. We went swept through the shops across the way too. It was a great day!
There is a really fun place in East Lyme called the Book Barn. I could have wandered around in there for days and days! It is an outdoor/indoor used book shop. I have never seen anything like it. Multiple buildings/sheds with books inside plus the outdoor décor and gardens. That same day we went to Niantic Boardwalk and the Sift bakery there.
My baby turned 21 during this stay. I hated being away from him on this momentous day. I love him so very much and he has become such a wonderful young man who is really making strides in his life. Going through old photos of him was such a fun/heartbreaking project…time is just chugging along!!!
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Timothy Lakes South TT-East Stroudsburg, PA (Aug 4-Aug 18)
We moved to Timothy Lake South. This is a nice campground, lots of walking opportunities and plenty of good sized sites for travelers. There are plenty of annual sites, but they are well maintained and seem to be welcoming for the most part. One neighbor was a busy-body, but isn’t there always at least one.
Stunning 
Ed crossing bridge 
River edge 
We took a few days to get settled in. We went to Bushkill Falls and hiked the red route, which I think Ed regretted agreeing to! The next day he did tackle Dingman’s Falls also, so I am proud of him.
The art scene is cool 
This house with the crazy skeleton antics 
Directing to the art gallery 
wild art 
A daycare for Gramma! 
The train schedule 
on the train 
the river 
tracks 
Old Glory We went to Jim Thorpe. The first thing I experienced was a real nasty man who verbally assaulted me for parking in the disabled parking. However, the rest of the visit was very cool. It is a artsy and ‘witchy’ place. Certainly my kind of vibe. We walked around town and saw such fun, kitschy places. Then we rode the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, which was a really nice trip.
Falls 
Us at the falls 
Found this fun painted rock 
left it for another finder 
side fall 
trail 
steps on trail 
Ed at the diner 
mmmm….coffee 
This was a decent little spot! We went to Raymondskill Falls and hiked, it was a nice short hike and the falls were very pretty. After the hike, we stopped for lunch at the Village Diner in Milford. There are some really great hikes and falls in this area! I look forward to coming back to this area.
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Dover AFB FamCamp in Dover, DE (July 21-Aug 4)
7-21- We arrived at Dover AFB FamCamp. We got a great site, very spacious. The campground is RIGHT next to the airstrip, which is very active. There are C-5 and C-130 and 747’s that frequently take off and do touch and go’s. We even saw AirForce One!
This is the view out my desk window.
7-23- We went to the Delaware State Fair. I love seeing all the entries for the fair. It is nice to be reminded that people are still encouraged to use their talents and abilites for things like the fair! I bought this cool journal from one of the vendors.
This is Monster Miles at the Dover Speedway. I was hoping to get there at night to see his eyes glow, but alas, we will have to save it for another visit!
7-26- We drove to New Jersey to tour the USS New Jersey. Ed’s previous coworker, Doug, served on this ship. It was fun to tour while texting back and forth with Doug about things on board. Ed bought a piece of the flooring that they took up during renovations to give to Doug when he visits Dallas next. There is a nice certificate of authenticity that came with it.
After touring the USS New Jersey, we took a bit of an emotional trip for me over to Philadelphia. We rode the ferry and walked around. I saw several places and things that I remember from my time there with Steven. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. We walked past the Sheraton where we stayed during our time there. It was interesting to think about how young I was and that Angela was just a baby! I took a few pictures of things that meant something to me. One being the statue that is on the capital building. Steven loved that stupid thing because at certain angles, it looks as though William Penn is peeing on the city. Steven would crack up everytime he pointed it out. God….I miss him so very much sometimes that it feels like my heart is being squeezed into dust.
7-29- Went to Milton, DE to see the Steampunk Treehouse at DogFish Brewery. It is pretty cool!
We then went to Rohoboth Beach to walk the boardwalk and of course, Ed had fun playing the arcade claw games! He won a crab stuffy for me and a Yoshi for himself, as he always uses the Yoshi character in the games. The beach was crazy full of people!
We drove down the coastline to Ocean City, Maryland and I saw these two eateries across from each other. I had to laugh!
8-1- We went back to Rohoboth Beach again. They pulled everyone out of the ocean due to a pod of dolphins swimming by.
Ed won more stuffies…a seagull stealing a french fry, a moose with a sweatshirt on it, a highland cow and a ‘box’ of Kraft Mac & Cheese with arms and legs! LOL!
Next stop, East Stoudsburg, Pennsylvania…
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KOA’s along the route to Dover, Delaware (July 18-21)
7-18- We stopped at Lake Bomoseen KOA in Vermont for a night.
7-19- We stopped at Unadilla/Oneonta KOA in New York for a night.
7-20- We stopped at Allentown KOA in Pennsylvania for a night.
Nothing special to report, we just drove during the days and slept at night! LOL!
Next stop is Dover AFB for a couple weeks.
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Lincoln/Woodstock KOA in Woodstock, NH (July 10-July 18)
First order of business on our way out of Vermont, was to meet up with Miryam again! I had forgotten to give her Steven’s ashes, so she met up with us on our route. We probably won’t be seeing her for another year or two, so it was fun to get one last ‘see ya later’ in for now! Brie wasn’t feeling too well, so she waited in the car. Scooby got to get a snuggle in, also!
We arrived at the KOA in Lincoln, NH and were not thrilled with the first site we were assigned, but the staff there was great and worked to get us a much better site. The previous one was very narrow and the ‘neighbors’ were encroaching with a bunch of ‘junk’ on their site, along with a large dog that was tied to the tree right at my door, so we were not comfortable staying in that one. Again, the staff was amazing and we ended up really happy with the new site.
The KOA has a little barrel train that runs every night, then a bit later a firetruck rolls around with campers riding along! They also have this fun cabin with a covered wagon to sleep in!
7-11- We drove the Kangamangus Highway and took a trail to a falls. I did this drive many years ago with my Mom and James when he was a little guy. It is such a beautiful place!
That evening, we took the Cafe LaFayette Dinner Train. The food was decent and the train ride was pretty.
7-12- We went to Conway to ride the Cog Railway up Mt. Washington. It was really cool. The top of the mountain was covered in fog and the wind was cold and crazy. We really had a good time on the cog train and at the top!
7-15- We went to Littleton to have the truck oil changed and while walking around the area shopping center, I looked up and saw this chill little bat hanging out. My mom would have had a stroke, as she hates bats…but I think they are cool…and cute! The mountain is on the way to Littleton and I love the way it looks.
7-16- We took the Conway Scenic Railway. We had the bagged lunch and rode in the first class car. It was really a beautiful car. We had a very nice time. There was a guy we nicknamed the “Jersey Jerk” on our car, as he was EXTREMELY loud and annoying (with a thick Jersy accent). He drove everyone out of the car eventually. He never did seem to realize (or maybe care) that people moved away from him and eventually left the car for other spaces on the train. Fortunately, he sat at the other end of the car from us when he was in the car and he wandered the train with his companion most of the ride. It was so nice to have the car almost to ourselves for a good portion of the ride.
7-17- We went to the old Hobo Junction Railway area. When James was about 2 years old, we rode this railway with Mom. I bought James a lunch that came in a hobo sack. There even was a Hobo that visited everybody on the train. It was so fun and I have always treasured this memory as we had such a good time. The Hobo Railway has been sold to new owners, the name is changed and the reviews of the new operation are not favorable. Supposedly the train cars are in disrepair and the train doesn’t go very far. We opted not to ride, but I did enjoy visiting the area to recall my happy memories.
The rest of the day we went letterboxing and enjoyed the sites.
Tomorrow we start a few days of travel to with an endpoint of Dover, Delaware.
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Smugglers Notch RV Village in Jeffersonville, VT (June 26-July 10)
6-26- We moved to Smuggler’s Notch RV Village in Jeffersonville, Vermont. This is a very new park that just opened and there were not very many campers here. It is well laid out and the owners are very eager to make the campground a great place. After we got settled, we visited Cupboard Deil in Jeffersonville, Ed got a pizza and I got a calzone….it was very good!
6-27- We went to Burlington to do some errands and see the area.
6-28- We drove through Smuggler’s Notch and visited the village of Stowe. In order to go into Smuggler’s Notch, you have to go through this weave to ensure you can make it. I have a video of our drive through, but it is too long to upload here. We ended up going back to Jeffersonville to eat, as Stowe was super crowded. We ate at the Burger Barn and Oh My!!!! It was delicious!!! We will be back for sure!
This is the Bleu Royal Burger and it was so good. I got it 3 times while we were here!
6-30- We spent the day visiting with Miryam and her partner, Brie. We had brunch together and then visited at a park until evening. It was so wonderful to catch up with them and spend the day with them!! I’m trying to get Ed to work a bit on his photography skills, but you know….
7-1- We went to the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury Village. It was a fun little tour and the cemetery of discontinued flavors is funny! We got to taste a sample of Churray for Churros. It was pretty good! I thought the handicap spot label was too cute!
6-2 & 6-3- We went to the Shelburne Museum. It is like an entire village and it took us two days to see it. There is a huge ship on the property which is interesting to see. It really is a cool spot. I took a ton of photos, but believe it or not, I do try to keep my photos limited on here!
7-6- We spent the day with Miryam & Brie. We had lunch and then went to their apartment to visit. Another great day with them. Ed and I were able to get a bunch of photos and videos together for Miryam of Steven and from her childhood, as she doesn’t have much from the time spent with us.
7-9- Went to Montpelier and did some letterboxing. Found a really cute park in Winooski that had all these cool buildings and a riverwalk that lead down to some ‘falls’.
Tomorrow we are on to New Hampshire!
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Clinton County Fairgrounds in Plattsburg, NY (June 23-June 26)
June 23- We moved to the Clinton County Fairgrounds campground in Plattsburg, PA. We were the only camper here aside from the camp hosts! We had the place to ourselves. There was one tent camper…he didn’t have a vehicle, just a bicycle and his tent. I somehow managed to forget to take a photo of the site/area. It is basically a huge open field with hook ups for each site. We did have sewer hookup, which is always a blessing!
Scooby had an opinion of their sign. No worries though, as that only applies to when the fair is actively running.
We spent the few days here just exploring the area of Plattsburg. We found a great bakery called Rambach’s Bakery and did some letterboxing. We will keep this place on our list, as we really would like to spend more time in the area and the campground is great for us!
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Ft Drum FamCamp in Ft Drum, NY (May 23-June 23)
We arrived at Ft Drum on May 23. We got a great site that is very long and our door is facing a large field. I am very happy with the site and since we will be here a month, it is even more appealing.
May 30- We took a boat tour around the 1000 Island area of NY into Canada. It was a beautiful cruise and we got to tour the Boldt Castle. The castle is so stunning and it was cool to see the supplies that were still packed for transit. Mr. Boldt was building this beautiful castle on the island as a gift to his wife, but when she passed away from illness, he just abandoned the entire thing because he could no longer bear to continue the project without her.
June 1- I was supposed to fly out of Syracuse to Dallas, but the night before, the flight was cancelled. They moved my flight to June 2. I had several doctor visits and got to spend lots of time with my boy! Seeing family is always such a wonderful blessing. I extended my stay in Dallas by a day so that I could accompany James to a tattoo convention where our tattoo artist worked all day on James’ sleeve to freshen it up and enter it into the competition. James sat like a champ and his sleeve looks fantastic! I flew back to Syracuse on June 10.
June 12- We went to a small zoo in Watertown. It is a really different and neat zoo. It is like a large city park with animals…it made me think of stories my mom told me about when she was in school and she used to go to the city zoo and eat lunch in front of the lions area. I imagine this zoo to be similar. We enjoyed it. They had a butterfly house and the attendant pointed out the teeny little eggs on the underside of a leaf and also a newly hatched caterpillar!
June 13- We returned to the 1000 Island area to take a boat cruise to Singer Castle. This is from the family of the Singer Sewing machine fame. It is more like a real castle in the design and decor. I enjoyed exploring this one also! As we were leaving the island, we saw a beautiful sailboat (schooner?)…I don’t know for sure which it is.
June 17- We went to Tupper Lake Wild Center. It is a beautiful place in the Adirondacks that has 115 acres of trails, a nature center, a wild walk that has a thousand feet of bridges and platforms, many outdoor exhibits areas and live animals. We had a wonderful time and on the way home, there was a little farm that had a honor system flower stand with PEONIES! They were beautiful and SO reasonably priced, so I had to stop and buy some!
June 18- We went to Oswego to visit the beach there. It has a nice park and beach area. There was a couple of boats that were floating tiki bars that you could hire. We traveled the coastline east and saw the lighthouses along the way. It was a nice way to spend a day.
June 20- There was an event on base called MountainFest. The festival was set up in a field right at the end of our campground area, so we walked over and looked around a bit. It was super hot, so we didn’t stay long, as there was NO shade at all. We did sit outside the camper at 3pm when the paratroopers were scheduled to arrive. It was nice to be able to watch that from the just outside the camper.
One place we found in Watertown is the Little Trees Car-Freshner factory. I had to take photos to send to James, as he has tons of them hanging on his rearview mirror. LOL!
Next stop…Plattsburg, NY
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Niagara Falls KOA in Grand Island, NY (May 16-23)
We moved to Grand Island, NY just outside of Niagara Falls. We opted for the KOA and it is really nice…we got a good spot. We are in the back where it is nice and quiet. There are a group of RV’s in the front section of the park that are traveling together in a tour group. We had never seen that before.
I absolutely hate to own up to this, but as I was pulling out of a gas station, I turned too early and scraped along one of the poles protecting the gas pump! I am so mad at myself!! It didn’t do much damage and Ed was able to buff out the glaring yellow that really called attention to my goof-up. I guess I should be glad that I’ve been driving this huge setup full-time for going on 3 years and this is the first time I have hit anything with it.
May 17-We went to the falls on the American side. The city of Niagara Falls is surprisingly rundown and mostly abandoned. We read on several sources that it is not advised to be in the city area after sundown. Not encouraging. The park where the falls is located is nice. I was pretty underwhelmed with the entire experience. I know that is probably not a popular opinion, but something just felt ‘off’. The American side is at least a nice park with walking trails that are well kept. I can’t really put into words why it seemed ‘off’.
May 20- We decided to try the Canadian side of the falls. We didn’t spend very long there as we didn’t really enjoy the ‘Vegas’ cheezy touristy vibe of that side. We went under and behind the falls, which for my claustrophobic self was challenging, but also interesting. We unfortunately were there on Victoria Day, which we weren’t aware of…and boy were there a TON of people everywhere. We tried to get lunch, but when we saw the prices we just decided to bail and maybe come back. We did figure out by riding the bus to the flower clock, that there were areas a bit away from the falls that were more to our liking, so decided that maybe we will return another time to explore further.
May 21- Ed really wanted to do the boat tour Maid of the Mist that goes up to the falls, so we went back to the American side of the falls. We explored the gorge at the old power plant, saw some fun graffiti, did the Cave of the Winds Walk to the base of the falls and then road the Made of the Mist boat tour. It was fun and it did make for an enjoyable day, even if we did end up getting soaked! LOL
One interesting experience we had was the restrooms in the visitor center at the falls. Ed went in one way (left) and I went in the other way (right)…as we rounded the corner, we were face to face! We both were a bit surprised! We have never experienced a restroom for both sexes that was a multistall restroom! We have seen plenty of them that are individual restrooms with just a single toilet and sink with a locking door, but never one like this! We both had a good laugh at our shock and then realized this was a first for us, so I decided I had to document our first experience using a shared public restroom. LOL
We will be heading off to Ft Drum next…
