Category: Travel

Posts about my Chapter 5 travel adventures

My Maine Adventure with Joel concluded today. Nice, though, he found a highly rated lobster roll food truck near the airport, so we enjoyed one last lobster meal before parting until I return to SLO. 
Addie and I, sans Joel, drove through Rockland and the Portland Trader Joe’s on our way to our campground. MAJOR thunderstorm just as I arrived at the campground! Fortunately, it subsided when I dumped my black & gray tanks and filled my fresh water tanks.
One last lobster meal before our Maine Adventure concludes.

 

Smiling as I reflect on my Maine Adventure with Joel and contemplating the next phase of my journey.

 

Restaurant parklets dot the cityscape of many towns I’ve visited, including Rockland.

 

Rockland.

 

Lobster buoy sculpture in Rockland.

Today, Joel and I took the ferry to Schoodik Peninsula and biked the loop around the splendid scenery – trees, rocks, water. Green, brown, gray, blue…multicolored delight! I seldom ride a bike and surprised myself by relatively easily completing the ride.
After returning to Bay Harbor, we picked up the popovers we ordered in the morning before ferrying to Schoodik. Yum yum!
Dinner presented a bit of a challenge. With only a few restaurants open, we could neither get seated nor order takeout. Plan B: I made dinner in Addie, Joel made a campfire, and we enjoyed s’mores for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel biked; I hiked. 🙂
We parked at the Visitors Center, so Addie could rest for a bit. Joel hit the carriage roads on his Bike Friday; I took the shuttle south to Jordan Pond. My original plan consisted of hiking the five miles from Jordan Pond to the Visitors Center. However, I miscalculated by three miles and wandered a bit finding the trailhead. Although my five mile hike turned into a nine mile adventure, I met Joel at Addie seven minutes before our agreed upon time! A treat six miles into my hike: Joel and I met near a carriage road bridge, perfect photo op.
Jordan Pond.

 

The trail next to Jordan Pond.

 

A bridge to…?

 

A double carriage road bridge.

 

The leaves they are a changin.

 

Eagle Lake – I think! I hiked by a bunch of lakes and ponds, some named and some anonymous.

 

Biker Joel.

 

Hiker Lisa.

 

After our adventures, we reenergized with clam chowder in Bar Harbor.

Another big driving day from New York to Vermont to New Hampshire to Maine!
New York: Before I left my campground, I had to see Moreau Lake itself, a beautiful Adirondack lake ending its season now that Labor Day is over.
Vermont: Before I began my adventure, Joel requested a postcard from each state I visit, providing me with stamps to facilitate my mailing them. (He’s saving these for me to put into a collage when I get home. 🙂 ) I’ve kept this up in every state – I think I’m now at 23 states + Canada – finding, writing, and sending postcards all along my way. Sometimes acquiring postcards is easy, sometimes it’s a bit more challenging. The search for a Vermont postcard lead me to a gift shop along the highway in the Green Mountains. In the shop, the guy working suggested a waterfall and a gorge – all on my route. He said if I see these, I’ll see the best that Vermont has to offer. So, off to Thundering Brook Falls and the Quechee Gorge I went!
New Hampshire: I thought I’d find a little town with a little gift shop in the White Mountains to get my New Hampshire postcard. Wrong! Ultimately, I found one at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center! I pulled off the road at one trailhead to take a look at the trail and take a few photos.
Maine: While checking into my campground, the proprietress showed me how easily I could walk from my campsite to a suspension bridge onto a little island they own with a one mile trail looping around the island. Since I had been sitting and driving so much, I followed her instructions and, much to my delight, got a kick out of the long and high bridge and the foliage.
Moreau Lake – to the left of this photo, out of the frame, someone is driving some type of equipment to rake the sand.

 

Thundering Brook Falls, Killington.

 

Covered Bridge of Woodstock, Vermont.

 

Quechee Gorge.

 

Quechee Gorge

 

The bridge and road over the Quechee Gorge.

 

Franconia Notch State Park. The leaves are beginning to change!

 

Only one section of the bridge! It went UP, ACROSS, and then DOWN!

 

View from Hastings Island, Bethel, ME.

 

I love how the light plays on this multi-trunked tree.

Travel day through upstate New York and the Adirondacks to Moreau Lake State Park. Although it added time and distance, I adored the scenery of the back roads rather than the monotony of the interstate.

Lunch stop at Verona Beach State Park. Very windy!

 

Verona Beach State Park.

 

Verona Beach State Park.

 

 

On the road. I didn’t catch it in this picture, but some of the leaves are already changing. The switch from summer to fall is happening quickly!

 

Moreau Lake State Park.

 

Moreau Lake State Park.

So friggin’ amazing!!! Five photos/videos from the Canadian side, five from the US side!!!

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls Video (click on the photo to open the 33 second video in another window)

 

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls

 

Canadian Falls

 

US Falls

 

US Falls Video #1 (click on the photo to open the 3 second video in another window)
US Falls

 

US Falls Video #2 (click on the photo to open the 5 second video in another window)

US Falls

Fun morning with Concha and Fred! Concha picked up yummy fresh donuts, Fred showed me his two ways of cutting a pineapple, and then we ventured out to their “party barge,” the SS Concha. While I sat on the barge, sipping my morning coffee, Fred entered the water to launch the vessel. Only issue: the weather had changed to wind and wavy water. We tried floating a bit before deciding to return to dock. Instead, we savored our donuts, coffee, and pineapple on the dock. Sadly, it was time to leave Concha and Fred – until next time!
Addie, who told me she missed me (she was parked at a friend’s house across the lake), and I left Northern Michigan for Canada, planning on seeing Niagara Falls from both the Canadian and US sides tomorrow.
All went well until the border crossing. I thought I had everything in order – vaccination card, passport, entrance app completed, Covid test last Wednesday. The issue: my Covid test was 75.5 hours old rather than 72 hours. First officer sent me to a second officer who allowed me to enter. Phew!
Arrived at my Harvest Host, The Crump Family Farm (https://g.co/kgs/h246jC) for tonight – a lovely sustainable farm! Dinner – tasty salmon caught by Concha and veggies from Concha and Fred’s garden. 🙂
Addendum: What a terrific evening! After dinner, farm proprietor Chris Crump knocked on my door inviting me to a campfire. Chris and his wife Vivian recently joined Harvest Hosts and decided to have a campfire since for the first time there are three guest RVs here – two other Canadian couples and me. The seven of us sat around the fire for three hours chatting and exchanging stories. So nice!
Staying out of the way as Fred launches the SS Concha.

 

Enjoying the dock chairs.

 

All of us, including sweet little Zeke!

 

Addie and me, on the road again.

 

Border crossing before the drama.

 

Alpaca.

 

Addie relaxing on the farm.

 

Grazing cows at sunset.

 

Yum yum!

Busy busy day and I have only some of the pics from our adventures, so I’m posting Part 1 now and Part 2 later! First, paddle boating, shopping in Traverse City, wine tasting at Mari and Bonobo, Old Mission Peninsula lighthouse, cocktails at Ethnology (best cocktail EVER!), dinner at a restaurant on the lake, and a bonfire at Concha and Fred’s friends across the lake – boat as mode of transportation. So much fabulousness deserves TWO posts; Part 2 later. Goodnight for now!

Sunrise

 

Leg day!

 

Sun’s rays shining down on us while paddle boating.

 

Who knew Michigan has such great wines – along with such terrific views?

 

Old Mission Lighthouse

 

Yoga in the lavender field – lavender ice cream for a snack!

 

Love.  Love.

 

Dinner with a view.

 

Bonfire, s’mores, music, and dancing.