RV There Yet?

This morning Barbara and I got up early and headed to Acadia National Park. California has a beautiful coastline, but based on what we saw today, Maine’s coastline is every bit as impressive. That could be why Acadia National Park is known as the Crown Jewel of the North Atlantic Coast. Due to all of its bays, inlets and fjord, Maine has more shoreline than California. The granitic rocks that make up most of the park were formed the same way as those in Yosemite. However, the rocks here are twice as old as those in Yosemite and due to the amount of time, exposed to the elements, the highest points in the park are only around 1,000 feet in elevation.

Bar Harbor

The largest town on Mt. Desert Island, where most of Acadia National Park resides is Bar Harbor, pronounced Ba Haba by the locals. Bar Harbor is a cross between Tahoe City and Monterey, California. Definitely a tourist destination.

Yesterday Barbara and I landed in Maine. For the next week we are going to spend most of our time, weather permitting, exploring Acadia National Park. In addition, I want some Maine Lobster. I told Barbara I don’t care what it costs we’re going to have a lobster dinner at least one night while we’re here. Hopefully we can buy a second one a keep it in the freezer for later. It’s interesting when I think that this is as far north and east that we will ever be in the lower 48. When I think that we began our journey in California, it feels so very far away. It feels like we are on the other side of the world. Below are some photos I took of our campsite and the adjacent lake.

Yesterday Barbara and I battled the traffic and later the elements and travelled over the Delaware River to, you guessed it, Delaware to take a ride on the Wilmington & Western Railroad. Our train was pulled by ole #58 a 0-6-0 steam locomotive built in Philadelphia in October 1907. This locomotive has changed its number and owners over the years but was returned to her original number and donated to the Wilmington & Western Railroad in 1997 where she now proudly steams through the Delaware countryside. We enjoyed a 1.5 hour ride through the countryside. Delaware, in this area, is very wooded and green. Along the way we follow and cross Red Clay Creek for a quick stop at the Mount Cuba Picnic Area and on to the town of Ashland and back.

Last Saturday Barbara and I visited the nearby Cape May Zoo. This is quite the zoo considering everything is paid for by donations and the proceeds from the food and gifts they sell. There is no fee to visit but a bottled water costs $3.25. I don’t mind because the money goes for the animals. I would have posted this earlier, but I have been feeling under the weather for the past six days. I’m feeling much better now. Must have been the Covid-19 Delta variant. LOL!

Last evening Barbara and I drove down to the beach in hopes of seeing the full moon rising over the ocean. Unfortunately, there were too many clouds to see the moon reflecting off the water. So while we were waiting, I took some photos of the birds, the pier, the sunset and eventually the moon playing hide and seek.

This past Monday we landed in New Jersey. Today, Barbara and I walked the boardwalk along the Jersey Shore in the town of Avalon. This is a nice, small town with a very nice, clean beach. We also stumbled upon a bird sanctuary, but unfortunately there weren’t a lot of birds present for viewing or photographing. So I took a couple of bird photos and some photos of the flowers. Tomorrow is forecast to be clear and mild with a full moon, so we are going to travel back to the beach so that I can attempt to capture a moonrise over the Atlantic Ocean. Wish me luck.

On Friday, Barbara and I took a drive to visit Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  Everywhere we went we encountered road construction and toll roads.  Needless to say we didn’t go very fast during our travels.  Which made me think back to 500 years ago when the first settlers, on the Mayflower, arrived in Massachusetts.  They had to clear paths and roads so that they could gather what they needed for their survival.  500 years later and the roads still aren’t complete? I have to believe that the settlers were able to travel a lot faster than we did on Friday.  During our travels I did get a chance to take some photos of the Catskill Mountains here in southeast New York. 

On Monday, after 33 days in Pennsylvania, Barbara and I headed north to upstate New York. The town of Accord is one of those places where if you are travelling at 55 mph on the highway and blink, you’ll miss the whole damn town. There are a few houses and a post office and that’s about it. The Thousand Trails RV Park that we are staying in is likely the highlight of the town. Yesterday under the threat of thunder showers, we just stayed close to home. This morning we went in search of a waterfall. There’s a sign a few miles back that there’s a waterfall 8 miles down a side road. We took the side road this morning, 12 miles, and never saw a waterfall or another sign for a waterfall. So we headed back home and I took a hike. This RV park has Millbrook Stream along the north side and Rochester Creek along the south side. Below are some photos I took of each.

Today Barbara and I took a nine mile ride on a train being pulled by the Great Western #90, 2-10-0 steam locomotive built in 1924. This train ride travels through the heart of Amish country in Pennsylvania. All of the railcars have been restored to their original condition. Back in 1863 President Lincoln traveled by train on these same tracks to the town of Gettysburg for his infamous Gettysburg address.

After the train ride we toured a nearby model rail road museum. This museum had all of the different brands of toy trains, Marx, Lionel, American Flyer and Marklin, that my brothers and I owned as kids. Some we still own today. This was a fun museum as all of the train layouts on display were interactive, meaning we could make the trains and some of their accessories work.

Barbara and I landed in Hershey, Pennsylvania last Monday. The Thousand Trails (TT) Park where we are staying is one of the nicest we have had the pleasure of visiting. It has been raining a lot since we arrived, but yesterday I had a chance to get out and take a hike around the park, and of course, take some photos. There is a lake in the center of this park and a lot of ducks and geese that also seem to enjoy it here.

This past Thursday we visited the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We took what they call a tour of the factory. It isn’t really a tour. It is an amusement ride that explains how the chocolate is made. We did really enjoy their store. It contains almost any kind of candy you can imagine.