Well, we survived the night. It stopped raining about 9pm with just some light stuff after that. This morning vehicles were going both ways on the road in front of our site and the sun was shining brightly. It was a good start to the day. We took our time for breakfast and getting ready to travel. We wanted to wait until all the morning updates were posted. We continually monitored New England 511 which is a web site that has the most current information about road openings and closings. Things were bad, really bad, less than an hour north of us. In Montpelier, state capital, there were homes and offices completely flooded – water midway up the doors to state offices. That’s the way we were planning to travel this morning. The tour we planned to take today, Rock of Ages Quarry and Factory Tour would have taken us to the largest operating deep-hole, dimension quarry in the world. We would have been camping at a campground next door to the quarry. Due to the flooding, the tour was cancelled and the campground told us they did not want us to come. They said we needed to stay at least an hour away. We were very thankful that we were on top of a very high mountain. Now the challenge was finding a way down while avoiding the closed areas. Google Maps and 511 were very helpful. We had to take indirect routes, some narrow and curvy, and did have one bridge that closed just before our reaching that point. However, another better bridge, was opened so all was good. We were so very blessed to avoid the storms and aftermath. Thank you, Lord! On our way out of Vermont we stopped to find a couple of geocaches and plan to visit Vermont again at a better time.
Where we spent the night last night
The New England Road Closures map we woke up to
Before we headed out this morning Anne got out RVing map caught up.
We drove east to New Hampshire. We found a little town along our route, Littleton, NH. It’s between the White Mountains and the Connecticut river. Goggle told us Littleton has been named one of the best places to live in America and has been voted as having one of the best Main Streets in the US. What a great little find after the morning’s disappointment. We spent the afternoon visiting main street, the covered bridge and just walking through the quaint areas of town. Tomorrow, we plan to do at least one of the local hikes and maybe try a recommended restaurant for some pancakes. Live is good.
It was hard to believe so much flooding was occurring close by when our drive was so sunny.
One of the flooded rivers we saw today as we were dodging closed roads
The covered bridge on the river walk in Littleton.
Of course we had to walk across it.
A view of the river from the bridge.
One of several picturesque churches we have seen. There may be more churches in the south, but there are some really pretty ones up here.
One of many murals in Littleton
This is one sad lady. One of the places we really wanted to visit in Littleton is Chutters – the home of the world’s longest candy counter. It’s closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
We can think of a few young boys that would love to have a wooden tractor like this.
We awoke to a misty, foggy, cooler morning. We finally needed our lightweight jackets. Before getting on the road, we looked out the window and saw some sled dogs harnessed in front of a 4-wheeler. Our host had forewarned us that we might see a dog sled team during our stay and this morning we did. The 4-wheeler was doing the work but the dogs seemed to really be enjoying the run. They are elderly, retired, sled dogs that are living out their lives in rural NY. (Previously lived in Alaska.)
Retired sled do workout
The rural countryside of New York is beautiful. We began our road trip today driving through another rural area for about 30 minutes until we arrived in Oneonta. Oneonta, NY, the sister city of Oneonta, AL. We stopped at one of the several parks and green spaces and got our steps in for the day because the forecast was for rain most of the day and it wasn’t raining yet. Nice park and good walk. We also visited the Chamber of Commerce and met the director who gave us some suggestions on things to do. It was a quick but fun visit and discussions about the two Oneontas. Then we were on our way to Cooperstown, NY, an interesting and quaint little village and the home of the MLB Hall of Fame and Museum. It is definitely a community of all things baseball.
Our walk in Oneonta this morning was on a city maintained paved trail along this nice creek.
Street corner in town
We got some delicious Oregon blackberry cheesecake ice cream at this little shop in Oneonta.
National Baseball Hall of Fame was a drive by for us because we spent so much time in Oneonta.
Everything baseball – and tourists everywhere
Then we were on to our Harvest Host site for the night. It started raining again and is still raining. Suppose to rain all night. We received a text from a friend this morning asking if it was flooding near where we were. It wasn’t, but now it is. We didn’t realize how bad the flooding had become until we stopped at the Vermont welcome center. They started telling us of all the closed roads. Anyway, we are now completely weather aware, and no roads are closed yet in the area we plan to travel tomorrow but…we will check everything again in the morning and may alter our route a little to get further away from the problem areas.
We remembered this time.
The water was getting close to some of the roads we drove on today.
Our host for tonight is a maple syrup enterprise – Mom and Pop’s World’s Best Vermont Maple Syrup. We met “Mom” today and learned they made over 24,000 gallons of maple syrup last year. They tap around 20,000 trees each year. Due to the weather, we couldn’t go outside and look at the trees, but they had a mockup of trees with the taps and lines in their cooking building. Big operation and wonderful maple syrup.
Wonderful Harvest Hosts location – even in the rain
Notice the green tubes in the lower right. Those are the tubes that connect the tree taps to the collection system.
This game board on Mom and Pop’s wall made a lot of sense after Mom explained what all is involved in producing maple syrup.
This is a longer than usual post. We have combined the last three days in this post so we will now be current.
2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 3, History Day
Today began with a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We cracker-docked last night for a good reason. Antietam National Battlefield is just a short distance down the road and that’s where we start our road trip this morning. But first, since Maryland is a new state for us, we stopped to find a couple of geocaches along the way. Then it was on to the national battlefield. Visiting battlefields always leave us with so many mixed emotions. Antietam and Gettysburg (which we visited later in the day) were both very important battles of the Civil War. We visited the visitors center, got our passport stamped, attended a ranger presentation that gave us the details of the day of the Antietam battle, hour by hour and then did a driving tour of the park. We did the same at Gettysburg, minus the ranger presentation. At the battle of Antietam after just twelve hours of intense fighting 23,000 men had been killed, wounded or listed as missing. It was the single bloodiest day in the history of the United States. Wow. 23,000 men lost in 12 hours, on our own soil. Our own people fighting each other. Also remember that before that battle began, there were just ordinary people, living their ordinary lives, raising their families and livestock and crops, leading peaceful lives on that land turned battlefield. After the battle they had to return, rebuild/repair their homes and barns and replant crops. Some of those same families still own and farm the land around the battlefield. At our visit today, the entire area of the battle was so beautiful and peaceful much like it must have been a few days before the battle yet 23,000 men never made it back home. Lord, please help us avoid making the same mistakes again. Please heal our country.
One of many monuments at Antietam
The observation tower at Antietam
A view from the observation tower. Looking at the peaceful farmland, it’s hard to imagine the horror that occurred here.
Stark reminders
A painting in the visitor center
A map of the battle
Some of the property has become peaceful farmland again, hiding the fact that at one time thousands of soldiers were buried in mass grave under this very soil.
After our Antietam visit, we headed a little further north to Gettysburg, PA. (New state #2) After pretty much the same schedule and feelings at Gettysburg National Military Park as at Antietam, we drove on to Charlise, PA. where we stayed in our first RV park of this trip. We got a good night’s rest, dumped and filled and excitedly prepared our plans for the coming day.
We saw a few people sit and have their picture made with this Lincoln statue.
These signs lead you through the town and around the park. There is a National Park Service app that will play an informative video on your phone at each numbered site.
The roads in Gettysburg NMP are all lined with monuments dedicated to various units that fought there.
We were told this monument was erected in 1938 when all Civil War veterans from both sides were invited to the park for the dedication. Approximately 25 veterans of the battle with a further 1,359 Federal and 486 Confederate attendees.
2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 4 – Friends
We had been looking forward to today because we were meeting a dear friend for breakfast. This visit was the primary reason we took the route we did instead of a more direct route up to Maine, and the Canadian Maritimes. Today we met Janet for breakfast at a delightful local eatery, Sunrise Café Sandwich Shop. The owner/chef greeted us as we entered and then started preparing our orders. A delightful lady who really knows how to cook.
We had not seen Janet since before covid and before her wonderful husband, Harry, died of pancreatic cancer. It was a bittersweet visit with Janet. Memories shared and a few tears were shed. After breakfast Janet invited us to her house – a beautiful place out in the country. So many memories there too. Janet shared some pictures of Harry and the family. We especially enjoyed the ones of Harry and the family sailing. Harry and Janet had shared stories of their sailing with us on one of our projects together. She also showed us Harry’s antique Model A and panel truck that he had told us all about while working on NOMADS projects. He was so proud of those vehicles. Soon it was time for us to leave, but it was hard to do. Before we left we gave Janet a banner, featuring Harry’s picture, that was used at last year’s NOMADS annual meeting. Janet we love you and we will see you again.
We left Carlise enroute to Perkasie, PA to visit with some other friends. We had planned to spend the night at a Harvest Host alpaca farm. However, our friends Phil and Mary invited us to dinner and driveway surf at their home in Perkasie. We stopped by the farm for a tour and a few purchases, informed the hosts what had happened and moved on. Phil and Mary are such wonderful hosts and great friends. We picked up like we had just seen them yesterday rather than several months ago on a project in Florida. They just arrived back, Tuesday, from a trip to Nova Scotia, so they shared lots of valuable information with us. We went on a walking tour of their lovely community and later they served us a wonderful dinner and most importantly we just continued to enjoy our time together. Too soon, it was time to say good night.
One of the curious alpacas we met at Crimson Skye Farm
Anne and the owner comparing alpaca fleece
Some of the alpaca goods for sale in the little store
Part of the herd with BB in the background
2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 5 (Sunday 7/9/2023)– Travel
This gray Sunday morning, we awoke to some heavy clouds and predictions of rain for most of the day and night. It was time to say goodbye to our dear friends Phil and Mary so they could go to mass and we could get on the road. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity of a quick visit. Thank you so much, Phil and Mary. Hopefully it will not be very long before we meet again.
We left Perkasie enroute to a Boondockers Welcome site in Bainbridge, NY. New York is our third new state to RV in (and geocache in) on this trip. We made a quick stop for gas and goodies at a WaWa station and were on our way. Thankfully, even though we did not entirely escape the rain, our drive was uneventful. We arrived at our host’s site about 1:30, pulled into the parking area and were set up in about 5 minutes. Love our little BB. Then the rain started and hasn’t stopped. It’s mostly light rain with spurts of heavier. It’s all good though. The crops need the rain and we planned a short day so we would get caught up on some of our work. It’s very quiet here and with the light rain we should get a good night of sleep and tomorrow will be another travel day.
We spent a lot of time driving country roads …
… through many villages and burgs …
… and even this interesting stone trestle.
What we were trying to outrun
One thing we really like about RVing is that if the weather gets bad you can pull into a rest stop, prop your feet up and watch Youtube videos about Rving.
We found this antique communications device in a Pennsylvania rest stop.
The sign at NY welcome center
There is a geocache near this display
This NY welcome center is the fanciest rest stop we have ever seen.
Our Boondockers Welcome site for the night and our first night in an RV in NewYork
We have crossed into three new states on this trip and have remembered to get a picture of one crossing.
After a great night of sleep at the farm, we headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We spent very little time on the BRP that day because of the areas of road closures. So, at one of the closures, rather than turning back onto the parkway, we decided to head over the mountains to visit Mount Airy, NC. (We really love the freedom to be spontaneous that the little RV give us.) Another gorgeous drive! We had wonderful sunshine but again while in the mountains the temperature was delightful. In addition to some similar scenery to day 1, we also saw acres upon acres of Christmas tree farms. Don’t know where they ship those NC trees but would love to have one. There was also a lot of nice looking corn fields up on those mountain sides.
One of many Christmas tree farms
There were trees of all sizes
Maybe someday we will come back and drive the rest of it.
Soon, we were driving into the little town of Mt Airy, or to us Andy Griffith fans, Mayberry, NC. And yes, we still watch the old shows even though we know most of the lines. As usual, our first stop was the visitor center where we were given all the options of seeing the town in a police car, trolly or on foot. You all know we chose to walk. Got to get our steps. Equipped with maps, pamphlets and lots of suggestions from the docent, we set out walking the little town. You can get all things Andy Griffith in Mt Airy. There are all the usual gift shops, or you can visit the diner, the courthouse, the barber shop, the gas station, Andy’s home place, etc. We thought the large mural of Andy was quite good. There were other murals all over town. We spent a couple of hours walking around town and then decided it was time to head on north. Mt Airy is not up in the mountains and it was HOT. We want to find some lower temperatures.
Downtown Mt Airy looks a little different than downtown Mayberry.
The squad car tour in front of the Mt Airy Friends Church
Visiting the Mayberry Courthouse is one of the free things you can do in town.
Inside is Andy’s office …
… and Otis’s room.
Nearby is Wally’s filling station which is a souvenir shop but outside is …
… along with Wally’s tow truck …
… and the Darlin’s truck.
You can still get a haircut and catch up on what’s happening around town in Floyd’s Barber Shop.
Andy Griffith mural
Shortly after pulling out of Mt Airy, we crossed the state line into Virginia. It’s a little more north but not much. We have spent some time in Virginia on other trips so this time we decided to just keep driving. Before we stopped for the night at a Cracker Barrel, we had cross into Maryland – our first new state on the 2023 Road Trip. We are hoping to get many more this summer.
RVing With a Purpose 