US East Coast RV Trip 6/18-7/2 2012
Day 1; June 18
This morning we left with our packed car. We borrowed a cargo
box to put on the roof that we stuffed with sleeping bags and other camping
supplies and we put the bikes on the back of the car.
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| On our Way! |
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| Yummy s'mores |
The nice owner of the campground came to bring us a fire pit with wood. Usually you need to pay for the firewood but she gave it to us for free. We made some hot-dogs inside the RV kitchen and then later we ate some yummy s'mores from the fire.
Day 2: June 19
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| Lonesome Lake Trail |
We woke up at 7 am after a good night sleep,
the mattress is very comfy. I liked the showers so much here that I
went to take a shower again to wake up. We unhooked, prepared the RV and
started driving at 8:20 am. We left the girls sleeping while we were heading
towards The White Mountains, NH. The drive went very smooth and we got here
around 11am. We stopped at a nice rest area inside
the national forest to have breakfast. Nir made his traditional pancakes
that we enjoyed eating inside the RV. The girls got dressed while Nir and I had
a coffee outside. Next to the rest area was a nice river so of course we
couldn't leave till the girls got into the water. They just get crazy when they
see water; they need to get in no matter how cold the water is. From there we
had a short drive to our campground. We are staying at Country Bumpkin
Campground in Lincoln, NH. It's a small campground, seems to be clean and next
to the Pemigewasset River. It's an OK location but not one that I
would necessarily recommend even though we haven't really seen any
other full hookup campgrounds in this area. After checking in we drove to the
information center to get some info about things to do in the area. We drove to
Lafayette Campground in Franconia Notch State Park where we started our first
hike. We did Lonesome Lake trail, this is a 1.5 mile one way hike. It is a good
climb up the mountain and it was a moderate to difficult hike but oh so worth
it. On the top you get to the lake and there is a nice hut from AMC which is
the Appalachian Mountain Club. You have a beautiful view from there from
Cannon Mtn, Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Lincoln. We enjoyed a
nice sandwich and snack that we brought with us. We continued
around the lake and hiked back towards our RV. Tonight we had a nice dinner
outside, the girls are watching a movie in bed and soon we are going to sleep.
It's amazing when you get to the summit of the mountain and you see a lake, it's hard to believe that there are lakes on the mountains too and not only at the bottom of the mountains.
Day 3; June 20
Today was a slow start. We woke up a little later than our
usual time, we enjoyed our breakfast outside, started looking at some possible
hiking trails, Nir made some phone calls and finally at around 10 am we left
the campground. We drove to Crawford Notch State Park which was a 40 min drive
from the campground. The White Mountains area is made out of many state parks
as well as the White Mountains National Forest. It's a mecca for those who love
to be outdoors, there are so many hiking trails and tent campgrounds, biking
trails, skiing, snowmobiling, fishing and so on. We stopped for a quick look at
Silver Cascade this is on Rte. 302, its beautiful and worth the stop. Just a 5
mile drive north from Silver Cascade we started our 1st hike of the day.
Back at the RV we took
lunch and continued north On Rte. 302 for another hike. We stopped at Arethusa
Falls trail.
Arethusa Falls, nearly 200 feet high, are the highest falls
in the state and certainly worth a visit. The access road to the 1.4-mile
trail leads off Route 302, ½ mile south of Dry River Campground. The first
0.6 mile is fairly rocky and moderately steep, while the latter half of the
trail ascends through open hardwoods. Return via the same route. It's a
moderate difficult hike just like the one we did yesterday, Lonesome Lake.
Arethusa is best viewed from below. We couldn't swim since there weren’t any natural
pools but we did get very close to the falls and we could feel its mist on us.
Both hikes were spectacular. We drove back to the campground where we
enjoyed a nice cold beer and had dinner. The girls are finished and are already
sleeping; tomorrow we are driving up to ME. We could stay much longer in this
area there is so much to see and hike.
Day 4; June 21
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| Sabbaday Falls |
This morning we unhooked
and started heading towards Acadia National Park in Maine. From our campground
we drove to route 112, also none as The Kancamagus Highway. This highway is a
scenic route between Lincoln and Conway. It’s a beautiful road with overlooks
to enjoy the fabulous views from the White Mountains national forest. Along
this road there are many nice places to stop to take a small hike to some
falls; we stopped at Sabbaday Falls. It got its name from Shabbat since it’s
believed that the trail workers left on a Shabbat to take a rest but they never
returned to finish the trail. This is an incredible beautiful place and a must
see when you are in the area, it’s only a 0.3 mile walk from the parking to the
falls. We also stopped at Rocky Gorge; this is the upper falls from the Swift
River. It’s a great place to sit on the rocks in the water on a warm day. If
you continue east you get to the Lower Falls and that place is well known and
so packed with people and very crowded. As I had mentioned before this whole
region is full with amazing hiking trails and so also from this route 112 you
can start hikes. We will definitely go back to the White Mountains, just
gorgeous here.
BTW we never saw so many butterflies as here in NH. They are flying
all over and when you stand still they will even come to rest on you. The girls
of course had to try that many times. Before getting to the 95 north we passed
some cute villages. On the I-95 N we stopped at a Maine info center. In the
afternoon we reached Dessert Island where Acadia NP is located. This NP is the
only NP in the nation donated by rich vacationers like the Rockefellers. We
drove straight to Hulls Cove visitor center located just outside of Bar Harbor.
We got info about hike and bike trails, took some maps and paid the entrance
fee for Acadia. We then drove to our campground; Hadley’s Point Campground. We
checked in, drove to our site and I started preparing dinner; taco’s with beef.
While I made dinner the girls took their bikes and drove around the campground
to explore. The weather was nice so we sat outside at the picnic table to eat
our dinner. After dinner we all took the bikes and drove to a park on the
campground to play some Frisbee with each other. Around 8:30pm we took the RV
and drove into Acadia. Our campground is 10 miles outside of the park. We took
the Park Loop Rd and drove to Sandy Beach where a park ranger program about
stars started at 9:30pm on the beach. When we got there it was very cloudy and
we couldn't see any stars. Nir went back to the RV after 15 minutes and the girls and I stayed to listen.
Of course, as soon as Nir left the sky broke open and we could see the stars.
The coolest thing of all was that we saw satellites flying over. We could very
clearly see the ISS, International Space Station; it looks like a soaring star
through the sky. There are 6 astronauts on board and it travels with an average
speed of around 17,000 mph. Very cool to see this!
Day 5; June 22
Nir and I woke up, like every morning, around 7:30 am. Nir made some yummy breakfast, fresh pancakes for the girls and an omelet for us. Nir and I had breakfast outside while the girls were still sleeping. Around 9:30 am Liron woke up and a little bit after Noa too. It started raining so we took our time this morning. We decided that we will do a bike ride today. Later in the morning after the girls had breakfast we drove again to the Hulls Cove visitor center. From there we started our bike ride. The park has a 45 miles carriage road that is closed to motor vehicles. Some parts of this carriage road are used for horses too. We biked from the visitor center all the way till Jordan Pond House. This is not an easy trail; there is a lot of climbing to do, but of course the rewarding part is when you go downhill. The road is made from loose gravel so you can’t make a sudden turn otherwise you’ll fall, that’s what happened to Liron. She’s a tuff girl and after we cleaned her and doc Nir took care of her she was ready to continue.
We went back to the campground, took showers in the RV and drove towards Trenton. Just after you pass the bridge to leave the island on your left is a great little place, can’t even really call it a restaurant, they call it a seasonal eatery, where you can eat fresh lobster, crab and clams. You pick your fresh lobster (still alive), they put it in a net and then it goes in the special boiling ovens located outside. Nir took lobster and he said that it was definitely the best lobster he ever ate in his life. I ate a crab sandwich and it was delicious too. Noa tried for the first time lobster and she really liked it so in a few days we’ll go again to eat lobster but then we will go to check out another place on the island. Back at the campground we played the game Yahtzee and we went to sleep.
Day
6; June 23
OMG, what a rain last night! I felt bad for all those staying in a tent but at the same time was happy that we were dry and warm inside the RV. In the morning when we woke up it was still drizzling. Nir and I had breakfast again without the girls since they were still sleeping. We drove to the visitor center once again, we woke up the girls, gave them their breakfast and we went to see the movie at 10am at the visitor center. Every national park has a short movie about their park and they are always nice to see. After that we drove again to Sand Beach via the Park Loop Road. We parked the RV at Sand Beach and we walked from there all along the shore to Otter Point.
Half way we stopped and had lunch at Thunder Hole. This “hike” is called
Ocean Path, its 2.2 miles one way, its super easy and fun to do; it’s like a
stroll in the park. We could take the
same path back but the girls and I decided to take the Island Explorer shuttle.
This is a fare free shuttle that drives on the whole island and connects hotels
and campgrounds with villages, the park and ferries. The price for the free
shuttle is included in your park fee. We paid $10 park fee for a week. Nir
walked back the same path and decided to challenge the bus; he arrived at the
same time as us back at Sand Beach. From there we continued to drive to our new
campground; Smugglers Den. This campground is located on the west side of the
island between Echo Lake and Southwest Harbor. It’s a wonderful campground and
much better than the previous one that was closer to Bar Harbor. As soon as we
hooked up the RV the girls went to the pool. It was a chilly day, around the
low 60’s but the water in the pool is heated so they stayed there till dinner
was ready. Made some pasta Bolognese! After dinner Nir, Liron and I went for a
walk through the campground, when we came back we played Rummikub and now it’s
raining cats and dogs again.
Day
7; June 24
Another night of
pouring rain! This morning we took it very easy since it was still raining when
we woke up. Slowly, slowly it started to clear up. We decided today to stay at
the west side of the island. We drove south from the campground, through the
cute village of Southwest Harbor along route 102A till Ship Harbor trail
parking. Ship Harbor trail is a very easy and fun 1.2 mile loop. You walk
through the evergreen forest to a rocky ocean shoreline. It was a lot of fun
because the shoreline is from huge granite boulders. The weather became better
and better and it went up to upper 70’s. We stayed there at least an hour
to enjoy the beautiful view, jump on the boulders, looking for crabs and other
things in the water.On our way back to the RV we met with an Israeli family that we had met already on our last day on a parking lot in the White Mountains, NH. We had already spoken back then and we knew they were going to be in Acadia too. We chatted awhile and then decided to meet later for dinner to eat lobster. We continued to Bass Harbor Head lighthouse which is located on the most southern part of the island. It wasn’t really anything special and in our opinion not worth going. From there we decided to do some sightseeing with the RV so we continued driving on route 102A through Bass Harbor towards Tremont, Seal Cove till Pretty Marsh. We stopped at Pretty Marsh to eat lunch in the RV. We had hoped looking at the map that it would be a nice place next to the water but it turned out to be a forest and the water far below us and unreachable. After our lunch we decided to go to Echo Lake which is very close located to our campground, you can actually walk within 30 min to the lake. On our way we passed Long Pond, this is not really a pond but a lake and at the most northern part on Long Pond there’s a place for boat launches but it is a very nice place too to sit on the grass along the water and go for a swim. We couldn’t park our big RV there so we continued driving. We met with Eitan & Nitzan Ben Haim at Echo Lake beach. Echo Lake and Sand Beach are the only two lifeguarded beaches in the park. We had a good time, girls playing in water, we were chatting and enjoying some beer till the park ranger came and told us no drinking. Yes sir! He was a nice guy but he did make Nir poor out his beer since he still had to drive. ;-( Around 6:30pm we packed up, left Echo Lake and we drove again south on route 102 towards Bernard where apparently you can eat the best lobster on the island.
The restaurant is Thurston’s Lobster Pound.
It’s a big place along the water, very picturesque place to sit. Nir said that
the other place over the bridge “Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound” was much better.
Eitan, Nitzan and their 2 girls drove behind us with their RV to our campground
where we made s’mores in the campfire and had some coffee.
Day
8; June 25
It was nice for a
change to get a goodnight sleep without waking up from the pouring rain. When
we woke up it was beautiful weather. Nir sat down outside to do some work and
for me it was off to the laundry room. It was definitely time to do some
laundry. The girls slept in, again! We
stayed at the campground till 11:30 and then we left towards Cadillac Mountain.
This is the highest point in the park, 1528 feet. There are a few hiking trails
that take you to the summit but you can also drive up with the car. The view
from up there is spectacular! You have a 360 degree view of the entire island. After
walking around the summit we drove back down towards Bar Harbor. This village
is the biggest on Dessert Island. It’s a cute village but in our opinion too touristic.
We bought some little presents, ate ice cream, and walked around. In the
afternoon around 5 pm it started raining again so we decided to go back to the
campground. We had dinner and afterwards the girls watched a DVD. This is the
last night in Acadia. During dinner we were talking about our time here in
Acadia, our conclusion was that we are happy that we came and that we saw the
park but we prefer to be in places with mountains.
Day
9; June 26
Rain, rain go away! Again the whole night pouring rain and when
we woke up it was still raining cats & dogs. Can’t remember the last time we saw this much rain. Even though it had rained so much the last days on Desert Island we were still able to do everything we wanted to do. We hiked, spent time at Echo Lake on the beach, walked around in Bar Harbor etc. This morning we left heading towards the south. We had a good time here at Acadia National Park but 4 days was enough for us to spend here. We decided to drive all along the seashore, route 1S. We stopped at Camden Hills State Park. This park is located on route 1 north of the town Camden on the shores of Penobscot Bay. At the time that we arrived to the park the rain had stopped. We had our lunch in the RV and then got ready to take our bikes for a mountain bike ride.
We did a 5 mile bike ride
on the lower slopes of the mountains. The first 2 miles were so steep that we
had to walk up with our bikes. Of course it starts raining again and not just a little, pouring rain. The
fun started! We went downhill and through the rain. Sometimes we went so fast; 25 miles mph that it was hard to see something in front of us because the rain was splashing in our faces and we were covered in mud. We had a blast! The girls were excited to have done their 1st real mountain bike ride. One of the advantages of traveling with an RV is that when you need to warm up and clean yourself you have the shower always with you. That is exactly what we did. We had a very satisfying feeling afterwards and we were all psyched.
We then drove up Mount Battie. At the summit you have an amazing panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean and the harbor of Camden. It was absolutely worth the drive up, even though the park rangers said that most probably we won’t be able to see anything because of the fog. It is a very short drive and so just like with us it was very foggy down at the park but at the summit we had a great dramatic view with the fog and it cleared up very fast.
At the summit you can climb up a
stone tower to even get a better panoramic view. From Camden we kept on driving
along route 1 south. We passed through Camden and it seems to be a very nice
place to walk around. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to do so. We
drove all the way till Saco which is located south of Portland. We will stay
here for 1 night. It’s a terrible campground that I do not recommend to anyone;
Silver Springs Campground. Good that it’s only for an overnight.
Day 10; June 27
The headlight was the first built by the United States government. Portland Head and its light seem to symbolize the state of Maine—rocky coast, breaking waves, sparkling water and clear, pure salt air. This is one of the most strikingly beautiful lighthouse locations in New England.
After walking around the park and around the property of the
lighthouse we started our long drive to Cape Cod, MA. It took us about 5 hours
to get to our campground.
We are staying at Adventure Bound Camping Resort in
North Truro, this is approximately 7 miles from Provincetown. It is a very nice
wooded area campground. We are in the middle of many pine trees but the pines
here are completely different from the once we have back home, since we are
here close to the ocean. The people here are very friendly and everyone is
greeting you and the neighbors introduced themselves. We were chatting with our
back neighbors and they told us that their kids are in college and they bought
a bus to travel around while he’s working from the bus which became his home office.
We told them that that its exactly what we would like to do and so they invited
us to see their bus. Very friendly people! After dinner our next door neighbor
came by for a drink. We sat outside at the picnic table and the girls were
playing with their kids outside till 10 pm. Both neighbors will unfortunately leave
tomorrow and so we will have to wait and see who will be there tomorrow…
Day
11; June 28
It was nice to wake up for a change without hearing the rain falling down on the RV. We took it really easy this morning. Both girls woke up pretty early and watched some Disney on Liron’s iPod touch and of course Noa had to fall back asleep. She slept from 8-9:30am. Nir made again pancakes and Liron got dressed after eating her breakfast and went to play with the neighbors’ girls. The neighbors went back home today so we stayed at the campground till they left so that Liron had time to play with the girls. Around 11:30am we unhooked and drove to North Truro where we stopped at the information center. An old lady who has lived here her whole life gave us some maps and info. We continued driving along route 6 towards Provincetown. Apparently that is where you can find the only grocery store on Cape Cod. We went to Stop & Shop which is the same as Giant in our area. Afterwards we drove to Province Lands visitor center. We had lunch there on the parking lot which has a nice view over the dunes and sea. Later we went inside the visitor center to take a look from their observation deck. Inside you can also learn things about whales and they have a touch tank where you can touch and read about things you can find here in the sea. We then drove to Provincetown. Since we arrived here we had heard so many things about it so we were very curious. We had heard that there are many gays here and that it is an “alternative place” and very artistic as well. Well… all of the above is true! Wow so many gays! It is pretty weird that they are checking out my husband, creepy! J It is a cute village with many galleries, coffee shops, restaurants and nice stores. Commercial Street is the main street, it’s located along the beach.
When you walk around you need to pay
attention to the Cape Cod style houses that are transformed into stores. We really enjoyed walking around there. We were afraid it would be as
touristic as Bar Harbor, and even though it is of course touristic, it doesn’t
give that feeling. Many artists from NY are spending their summers here in Cape
Cod and mainly in Provincetown. We drank a cold coffee at Joe’s, walked around
and looked at many stores. I could keep on walking there as well as Noa but it
was getting late. We drove back to our campground where we had dinner outside.
After dinner Nir and Noa rode their bikes to the beach to see the sunset. Liron
and I biked in the campground. Many people bike here on Cape Cod even though it
is too dangerous to ride on route 6 which is the main road.
After the girls
took a shower we watched a DVD, Mr. Poppers penguins that we took from the
Redbox at the Giant.
Day 12; June 29
Today we decided to do a bike ride. We woke up at a reasonable time, unhooked and drove towards Province Lands visitor center. From there we started our bike trip. We did the Province Lands Trail; this is a 5.45 mile loop. It’s a paved trail and it had some steep hills but nothing compared to what we have done this past week. As the girls said, “this is easy and fun!” Of course it started raining but also not serious and mainly at the end of our trip.
We had lunch at the parking lot of the visitor center and the weather started clearing up. After lunch we drove to the beach. We had heard about one specific place on the beach where you can find seals. We drove into High Head Road, parked the car at the end of the road and then we needed to continue walking over a sand path, through the dunes and then also over the beach. When you look from far it almost looks like rocks lying on a sand bar, till you get closer and then you see the big gray seals. They rest on the sand bar north of Head of the Meadow Beach during low tide. The best time to see the seals is within 2 hours of low tide. It was an amazing side; we saw about 400 seals, this is at least the number that the park ranger gave us. There are a few park rangers on the beach to check on the seals and to make sure people are not disturbing them or getting too close. As soon as it becomes high tide the seals all go back into the water again. It was very cool to see, they are so cute and such an amazing animal to look at, you can’t get enough of them.
In the afternoon we went back to the campground. We took a
shower, got dressed and took the bus into P-town. We had dinner at “Patio”. It
was a really nice place, a nice atmosphere and good food. It’s located on
Commercial Street. It’s Friday night and the weekend before 4th of
July so it starting the get really busy here. As I had mentioned before it’s a
very special place and so we saw many drag queens in the street. The girls were
in a shock but they enjoyed it at the same time. Provincetown is a great place
to hang out.
Day
13; June 30
We decided that on our last day here at Cape Cod we are going to the beach, nothing else, just a fun and easy day to end our trip. Truro is well known for its beaches. We drove just 5 min from the campground to Longnook Beach. Truro town beach parking is limited and restricted to vehicles with a valid Truro Beach Parking Sticker. We got our parking sticker on the 1st night at the campground from our nice neighbor. Your sticker does not guarantee a parking space. We were lucky because the pasrking lot isn’t big and when we got there it was almost full. A couple was nice enough to move their car to another spot so that we could park our RV. The parking lots are very small on Cape Cod and when you travel here it would be better to have a car. The beach was very nice. The dunes are huge. The water was freezing since it’s the Atlantic Ocean. Nir and I did take a few dives in the big waves. The weather was perfect for a day on the beach, around the 80’s. Liron was collecting these big rocks out of the sea and she made a huge rock pile castle on the sand from it. Noa really wanted to fly her kite but unfortunately there wasn’t a steady wind so that didn’t really work out. In the late afternoon we left the beach.
Day
14; July 1
Today we left Cape Cod
and drove to Connecticut. The RV rental location, Campingworld, is closed on
Sundays otherwise we would have returned already today the RV. We took Riverdale
campground in Clinton, CT since it’s the closest campground to Tappan, NY where
we need to return the RV tomorrow. It’s not a great campground but we didn’t
need to do anything special here. Nir took a nap and the girls and I did some
card games, after that I also took a short nap. We had dinner and walked around
the campground. In the evening the girls watched a DVD while Nir and I packed
all the stuff. It was another successful RV trip. We do prefer to travel with an
RV in Canada or the west coast. The campgrounds there are nicer than here at
the east coast.
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