Rest Day & NYC Tour

Today we decided to take a day off and just rest and relax. The party group next to us had gone to bed about 1AM. Anyway we decided to go up to the office and let them know what was going on as well as move campsites. This group was going to be loud no matter what. Luckily they did have another site so we changed and extended our time to leave on Sunday. This would be our longest stay in any one place. This campsite offers a free pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 every morning so we took advantage of that. We took our own blueberries of course and added them. Delicious! After breakfast we decided to wash clothes and I went out to talk to the KOA office about a tour of NYC they were offering. We are going to NYC on Sunday but will have Jasper and be very limited on what we can do so I thought this tour might just be a good idea. Normally I would really not like a tour like this but after three weeks of having to figure every possibility out I decided that this may just be a relaxing way to spend the day. The tour looked good and he gave a us a few kennel names so we could leave Jasper there while we went to NYC. The bus left at 7:30 in the morning and would be back at around 7 depending on traffic. We found a vet about 15 minutes away. We would have to leave Jasper the night before but could pick him up as late as 7:30 PM the next day. We hated leaving Jasper for the night but this was the best we could do. Anyway we went early to go see the vet and make sure that Jaspers paper work from our vet met their requirements. It also gave us a chance to make sure that we liked the people and the place. It was in the small town of Gardiner, NY. Once we got there we saw that they not only took care of dogs but about every other kind of animal you could possibly have. They said they would love to keep Jasper and we decided to bring him back at about 6PM. We went back to the campsite and just acted like actual campers relaxing around the campsite taking Jasper to the dog run and I even went for a swim in the pool. The water was cold but it felt refreshing for sure. We learned that Orange County Choppers was only 20 minutes away. That is the place from the tv show were the crew build very specialized choppers usually to different themes. Even if you are not into motorcycles this is a very cool place by any standard. So after dropping off Jasper we went and toured their place and had dinner in their restaurant. The place was full of everything from families to hard core bikers. We felt right at home except in the parking lot. The parking lot was full of big trucks, big cars and big motorcycles and there we were with our little red Toyota Prius and our handy dandy Luggage rack on the back! Ha Ha! Anyway no one seemed to care but we did stand out. After dinner we headed back to the campsite and just hung out and went to bed around 10. It felt weird not having Jasper there and we were already thinking about how nice it will be to get him back the next night. 

We woke up early the next morning and got ready to go for our big outing. We met up at the KOA office at 7:15 and we were on the bus and headed to NYC by 7:30. It took about 90 minutes to get to NYC and then another 30 to get down to the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I have been to NYC several times but for some reason always missed this so I was looking forward to it. Lyn had never been to NYC so all of this would be new to here. We had a small  group of about 16 people with mostly retired people but a family thrown in as well. The weather was perfect. We got on the ferry and headed for Miss Liberty and within 5 minutes the views were awesome in just about every direction. Finally we pulled up and got off the boat and we were there standing right in front of the Statue of Liberty! We took a  moment to take it all in. This was a huge accomplishment for us. It made us remember the huge path it took for us to get to this very moment. It started with emails to each other then skype then daily calls, then two trips to Singapore, then all of the paper work to get Lyn her K1 Visa, then finally arriving in America, then getting her green card, then finally getting her citizenship last fall and now standing here in front of one of the most iconic places for an immigrant to stand!!!! Well to say the least it was a little overwhelming! As we looked around you could see people from every nationality taking pictures in front of her speaking multiple languages and smiling mostly just big grins on their faces. Well I would have to say that we had big grins on our faces as well and then we took our share of pictures as well! What a great day! After about an hour there we took the boat back and headed to Grand Central Station taking in all of the sites long the way. Our tour guide was from the area and lots of interesting tidbits along the way. The traffic was crazy as you would expect but we finally made it there. We had lunch there and then walked up a few floors to take in the station and its views. Pretty hard to capture it in photos but we tried. After that we went out and walked through a street market. Very cool! Next it would be the Empire State building! When we arrived we were told that it would take about 45 minutes to get to the top. This building always impresses me and today was no different. The lines were super short but it still took about 45 minutes to get to the top. The views were awesome and made for a lot of great pictures. Lyn even had her picture taken with King Kong himself! After we got back down to the bus we headed to times square for a  quick look around and a piece of cheese cake from Juniors! After that we settled in for the long bus ride home hoping that we would make it in time to get Jasper before they closed. As luck would have it we made it back by 7:15 and got Jasper with 5 minutes to spare. When we got back to the campsite Lyn fixed dinner and we had cheesecake for dessert! Yum yum. By this time it was almost 10 and time for bed. Tomorrow we may give Woodstock another try! We will see how we feel in the morning. 

Jasper's home away from home.

Orange County Choppers

Orange County Choppers

Orange County Choppers (Jets Bike)

Orange County Choppers (FBI bike)

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Grand Central Station

NYC

World Trade Center

Empire State Building

Lyn and King Kong

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

Times Square

Juniors (Yum Yum)

Not so groovy trip to Woodstock.......

We we woke up to another cool crisp morning! We had packed the night before because we had read that it was supposed to rain early morning. Luckily it did not and we were able to pack the tent dry. Since we had packed the car already we went out for breakfast. Lyn and I split a pulled pork omelette and it was delicious. Today we would be driving 8 hours to the town of Bethel, NY home to the Museum of the Woodstock event. After reading about it online I really wanted to see it. Anyway with the help of my sister Siri uh I mean Julie we found a campsite about 30 minutes away and headed for that. According to the GPS we should be there about 5:30. Ok not a fun day ahead but at least we had a good cause. Compared to driving out west or across Canada lets just say this driving was not relaxing at all. While there was some beautiful country side there was a lot more traffic and every time we went by a city the traffic increased and sometimes came to a stand still. It was not fun to say the least. We actual did make good time and found ourselves at the campsite around 5:30. We went down a long road and there at the end was a campground that was pretty but a little erie. We had called ahead and the owners said they would not be there and to just find a site and they would catch up with us in the morning. As we drove in we noticed that there were no tents, no kids on the playground and very few people at all. The ones that were there looked like they lived there full time and just stared at us as we drove by. We did not have a good feel so we decided to head to the museum and find better accommodations along the way. You know the blue signs that are along the highway that tell you what hotels and what restaurants you can get to at that exit? Well we noticed that all of the blue signs at almost every exit had the names of the places removed. You could see the faint out line of what use to be there. After 20 minutes we saw a KOA sign and very excitedly took that exit. As we went down the exit we saw a sign that told us that we were also heading to a correctional facility. We went for about 4 miles down the road and never saw a KOA so we decided to go back to the highway and head to the museum again. We called Julie and she told us about another campground that was only 10 minutes from the museum so we put that in our GPS and headed that way. We went down all kind of crazy back roads and came across a big community of what looked like Orthodox Jews. Anyway the community felt very safe so we kept going down road after road and finally ended up at the campsite. This campground was beautiful when we turned in it had freshly cut grass and playgrounds and just looked great over all but again it had zero people. Not a single camper not a single tent. It even had a flag flying but no one was there. By this time we are getting tired but we headed out to go to the museum area and see if we could find a place to stay. We finally found it and it is a huge complex with big fields and even has a huge peace sign carved out on a hill in the field. Anyway we looked around and still no places to stay so we headed back to the highway and trying to find a hotel. After checking out a dumpy best western we decided to head for a KOA outside of NYC that was about an hour away. This was the one that we had planned to go to in a few days anyway. We got there about 8 and luckily they had a place. It was a huge site with trees and oh by the way it came complete with noisy neighbors. I do not mean kids loud baby crying neighbors I mean full on partying till 1 am neighbors. We finally got to sleep about 1 and actually slept pretty well probably from complete exhaustion. Anyway this day is done and we are glad to lay our heads down even if it is to the sound of the party two doors down.

Breakfast!

Found out blueberries grow in the wild all around here.

Ha!

Travel time!

Rest stop.

Along the way.

Cool pretend tow truck dragster!

Home sweet home! Party on Garth!

Mount Dessert Island

Well another chilly night! Not crazy cold but still chilly. Today’s high was going to be about 68 degrees and cloudy. Brrr chilly brrr! But at least no rain was in the forecast. We decided to go see a few of the smaller towns in the area and end up back in Bar Harbor for lunch. I had seen a Cuban restaurant that I wanted to try so that was the plan for the first half of the day. Before breakfast we went to pick blueberries. Lyn picked a bunch of them while I wrote the blog. They are everywhere. If you see us starting to turn blue in the next few days it will surely be from trying to consume these delicious berries every chance we get. We went back and I fixed pancakes and bacon for breakfast of course topped with maple syrup and you guessed it blueberries. What a great way to start the day. Our first stop was Southeast Harbor. It had a quaint little town that we stopped and walked around in.  After that we headed to Bass harbor. This also happened to be where Seawall campground was that is part of Acadia National Park. We toured it for a future visit and found it to be beautiful and well laid out. The campsites were large and well wooded. They even had a loop right on the beach. This part of the island is known for great views out over the water but today was not one of those days. The fog was so thick that you could barely see past the waterline. For those of you that are old enough to remember the movie “The Fog” well that is exactly what it looks like. You can actually see it roll in just like in the movie. Anyway there was plenty to see just not the great views that they are known for. That just leaves us a reason to come back. We kept driving and ended up at Bass Harbor Lighthouse. It has been in operation since the 1800’s. It was smaller then what I am use to but was pretty and great area to stretch our legs. After that we headed to Northeast Harbor, it is supposedly where all of the rich people live. It had a small town area that had a bakery that we decided to stop at. I got a donut and Lyn got an apple pastry and a couple of coffees to try to warm us up. We sat on a bench in the park and just took it all in. After driving around a bit more we headed back to Bar Harbor for lunch. (Yes I know we just had pastries and now going for lunch but that is how we roll! J ) Anyway we made it to the Cuban place only to see that they opened up at 3 so we decided to go back to camp and eat some leftovers. They were actually pretty good and made us sleepy so we took a nap. Later we walked Jasper got some ice-cream at a place called Udder Ice-cream that is sort of connected to the campground. We decided to go back to Bar Harbor and just walk around a bit before dinner. Since this was our last night here we wanted to get one more look. We left Jasper in the car and went into a few of the shops. Finally it was time for dinner. Tonight was lobster night! We went back to the place where we got the clam chowder the night before. Lyn and I split a lobster with a side order of mussels. It was delicious and we were very full even though we split it. On the way back to the campsite Lyn spotted a bunch of dead twigs that would help us start the fire since we did not have any kindling and did not have a hatchet to make any. By the time she collected all of the wood she wanted she had a huge pile of brush hanging out the car window. We were quit the site as we went through the campground at 5mph. Anyway it worked and we burned the last three logs we had and called it a night. Tomorrow we are leaving this beautiful place and heading to Bethel, New York home of the Woodstock Museum and very close to the actual site where Woodstock played out all those years ago.

Fresh picked blueberries!

Breakfast!

Out and about.

Out and about.

Out and about.

Out and about.

The fog!

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Out and about in Bar Harbor!

We got up around 7 and it had been raining most of the night. The good news is today was supposed to be sunny and about 79 degrees. It was a bit chilly but we made some coffee to get us warmed up and then we made breakfast. I love cooking breakfast on the Coleman stove! The rain had stopped and today was laundry day. We went to the camp office and got some change and then headed up to the camp laundry. The machines were very cheap but they were also very old and it was already crowded at 8:30 in the morning. We found two machines and got started. The good thing was that we had good wifi. This allowed us to catch up on a few things online and it also gave Lyn a chance to call her sister Dominga in the Philippines. At one point soap started coming out of one of the machines and we had to run get a bowl to start emptying it. We figured that somehow we must of put two cups of detergent in one of the machines. Anyway problem diverted. Our plan for the day was to go into town and walk around Bar Harbor have lunch and then go on one of the loops of Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor has a really cool feel to it. Kind of like Key West with a dose of the northeast added in. I could definitely see spending a couple of weeks here. When we got down to Main Street we found a parking place and got Jasper out and headed out. There was a big fog that was surrounding us and you could only see a few hundred feet out into the harbor. The shops were great and there were lots of restaurants and bakeries. Lots of the businesses had water out for dogs. It was funny but Jasper seemed compelled to try each and every one. Kind of a way of marking his territory before he officially marked his territory later. Anyway in my book a town that has water out for dogs is my kind of town. While we were walking around there was a bakery that sold Whoopie Pies and we split one. Very good but not as good as the one we had in Lancaster, PA. Anyway we walked back down to the water and now we could easily see some huge islands just across the water. It is crazy how thick he fog is and how easily it comes and goes. We decided to get a lobster roll and have a little picnic in the park overlooking the water. What can I say…….. beautiful! After lunch we went to Acadia National Park to tour one of the loops. By the time we got to the first overlook the fog was back and all we could see was gray but as we climbed higher and we got above the fog the views became clearer. Finally our loop took us down to the beaches. The problem was that there was no parking anywhere. This place was super crowded. I always say more people should visit our national parks. I guess since this one is very accessible I should have expected more crowds. I would love to visit this park in September and when the summer crowds were no longer here. The park does a great job accommodating people and even offers free shuttle busses but of course Jasper is not allowed on that one. Anyway we finally found parking much further down the beach and Lyn and I went out and climbed on the rocky coast. It was very pretty and we would like to go back for sure. On the way back we noticed a Lobster shack right across from our campground. I looked it up on line and it had great reviews. We are planning on going there tomorrow night for dinner. One of the reviews made a special mention of their clam chowder. We decided to get a bowl and have it as an appetizer to Lyn’s meal. It was very good. Before dinner we took Jasper for a walk and noticed people picking berries out in a field. After checking it out we saw that they had blueberries as far as you could see. We picked a bunch and ate them right there. They were perfect and we plan on picking some more in the morning. We headed back to the campsite and Lyn fixed dinner while I built a fire. The dinner was pork, Sweet potatoes and stir-fried vegetables. Yum Yum! After that we sat around the fire and headed to bed around 9:45. We were worn out. Tomorrow we plan to repeat today and see more of Bar Harbor and another loop of Acadia.

View from Acadia!

Bar Harbor!

Blueberries at our campground.

View at our campsite.

Dinner time!

Home sweet home!

Acadia National Park!

On the side of the road.

Bar Harbor!

Night time ritual.

Acadia National Park!

Out and about.

Bar Harbor Bound!

Well it rained all night last night. We had read the weather forecast and had packed up all of our stuff the night before so all we had left was our tent. I had never packed up our tent in the flat out rain so this was a first. Lyn got everything packed up inside and then I took everything to the car and then took down the tent. When I rolled it up it was soaking wet. I shoved it in the bag and threw it in the car. One way or another we were off to Bar Harbor Maine. The plan was to stop along the way as it was about 8.5 hours away. After about 45 minutes we made it to Confederation Bridge and decided to stop for breakfast at Tim Hortons. It is a super popular chain up here and is actually pretty good. It is somewhat of a cross between Starbucks and McDonalds if that is possible. As we drove the rain kept coming down but it was really easy driving and for the most part there was very little traffic. Sometimes we would see a railroad track that would come right through the middle of the highway. Not sure how this worked when you were flying along but we never saw an actual train cross the highway. We drove and drove and could not seem to get out of the rain so we kept on driving and finally we hit the US border. We waited in line for about 10 minutes and then it was our turn. The guy that talked to us was a cross between serious and funny. He asked all the usual questions and then asked how I knew Lyn and then asked how long we have been married and when her birthday was. Luckily I passed! We had one thing in the car that concerned me. Lyn’s friend had given us a big bag of dried Taro leaves so that she could use them to make my new favorite dish La-ing. There was nothing illegal about bringing them across the border but they did look suspicious. But luckily all of us in the car all passed inspection even with a big batch of dried leaves in an unmarked plastic bag. There is something to say for the feeling of coming back into your home country. It is kind of that same feeling you get on the 4^th of July. We felt proud to be back. However Canada was full of friends and family and I can honestly say that it is one of the friendliest places we have ever been. We are so thankful to all of our friends, families and even complete strangers that made our trip the special trip that it was. We will be back for sure. If you have ever thought about going you should be making your plans right now!

Once we passed the border we had less than three hours to make it to Bar Harbor so we decided to go for it. Besides it was still raining and I did not want to set up camp in the rain. Bar Harbor is also the home of Acadia National Park. We are hoping to camp there but without reservations you have to get there early in the morning just to have a chance at a site. We went to the visitor center and bought our park pass for $25. It is good for 7 days. They told us the campgrounds were full so we headed out of the park to find a commercial campground. We had seen three on the way in.  One thing I love about camping in a National Park is that you usually have more room on your site and between sites. You also are usually more surrounded by trees. KOA’s are convenient but usually you are on a small piece of grass with no trees between you and your neighbor. Anyway we stopped at a place called Bar Harbor Campground. I went in the office and as soon as I walked in my phone started to beep with messages. Ahhhh good wifi that is surely a plus as we do not have data on our phones even here in the states. The owner told us to take the map and go pick our own campsite and then comeback and tell him which one. Lyn and I drove around and loved everything we saw about this campground. The lots were big and heavily wooded. It reminded me of camping when I was little. We picked a site and left a cooler there to claim it. When I went back to register he told me that they did not do credit cards or debit cards so I wrote him a check and we were on our way. The rain had stopped and the sun came out so we set up camp and let the tent dry out a bit. It was still only 4 in the afternoon so we went into town to get some groceries and headed back to camp for dinner. As Lyn cooked dinner lots of kids were out playing and several introduced themselves and asked to pet Jasper. After dinner I built a fire and we enjoyed sitting around and just relaxing. The temperature was going to get down to 59 tonight. In other words about perfect! Tomorrow we will explore the town of Bar Harbor and see what it has to offer.

Breakfast!

Back in moose country!

Welcome home!

Bar Harbor Campground

Drying the tent.

Dinner time!

Best showers yet but they are not free!