New Jersey, New York & Connecticut

6 July –

We were now travelling up the length of New Jersey for three days and will be staying with Don and Sue Dinsmore at their private camp in the Harriman State Park in New York State, arriving on Friday. We met them when we were camping in Illinois last year and have kept in touch. There are some very populace bits on this trip which we will try and avoid! The first part was on country roads between Philadelphia on our left and Atlanta City on our right. We stayed the night at a private camp where we enjoyed a great swimming pool. It was very humid and we have the aircon running. The Internet was great and we were able to publish the last blog.

7 July –

Back on the road again thru some nice little towns and then into some busy suburbs. We now have Trenton (the State Capital) on our left and the City of New York on our right. At one stage we drove right thru the Princeton University Campus with some beautiful stone buildings. It reminded us of Otago Uni. There were no state parks in these areas so again we stayed in a private camp. Val did a huge wash and we passed the time in yet another great pool. It clouded over and thunder and rain were forecast but it never happened.

8 July –

We drove into Newton and shopped. The Wal-Mart was the type that had no meat or veg so we had to find another place which had what we wanted, with a liquor shop next door. This delayed us going into the Harriman State park where Sue and Don were waiting  for us. The road took us over a hilly area where there were some ski fields before dropping into a valley where the camp was. We followed a narrow road thru the camp to Sue and Don’s “tent” and parked on a nice flat area with power and water from their “tent”. These camps are unique to us. They are an area (100 acres for this camp) which are leased from the State Park to a group, who make the rules, maintain the area, and administer the finances. There are 20 of these camps in this State Park.

This camp has 50 residences which are either cabins (solid roofs) or “tents”. The “tents” have solid walls and all the facilities of a cabin (kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms) but have a canvas roof. Most dwellings have no toilet but share a common “John”. Families move in for the summer and either are related or are friends. The tents/cabins are handed down thru the generations and rarely come up for sale. We went to another cabin (Sue’s sister Flo) for drinks and met many of the family. We sat outside and just as we came back to Sue and Don’s camp the rain set in.

9 July –

After enjoying a pancake breakfast fund raiser in the communal dining room we explored the camp which is set on rocky outcrops and has a small lake with a swimming beach.  Sue and Don took us for a drive to the Hudson River where we walked across an old railway bridge, now converted to a foot bridge, which is the longest in the world at 1.3 miles. Back in the car and we drove across the Hudson River on the car bridge for views of the river and West Point military academy. After an ice-cream in one of the many villages we returned to camp where I made chicken burgers for dinner. Sue’s sister’s granddaughter, Katie, was taking her cousin into New York tomorrow and we have been invited to join in on the tour.

10 July –

Katie picked us up at 8:00am and drove us to the railway station where we caught the train into Penn Station, New York. The trip took about 1 hour with one change of trains. Katie works in the city and she gave us a great tour starting in Time Square, then a lift ride to the top of the Rockefeller Centre with great views of the whole of Manhattan Island.

We then caught the subway to Central Park and a food truck lunch before wandering the pathways in this great park. We saw the historic carousel, the boat pond and the Belvedere Castle. We came out of Central Park and caught a cab to an ice-cream shop which specialises in donut and ice-cream sandwiches. Too much for us so we settled for an ice-cream. We walked it off back to Penn Station and the return train/car ride back to the camp. It was hard to imagine that the camp feels so isolated but is only 1 hour from N.Y. More of the family arrived for a pulled pork taco dinner and we all sat around a camp fire on the patio.

11 July –

After some route planning for the next few weeks, Val and I set off for a hike to a nearby lake and then up Tom Jones Mountain. It was a good blow out of about 5 miles. Back at camp we swam in the lake which was very warm. We visited a couple who had been to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canada). They gave us some good tips for this part of our trip. After dinner Val and Sue packed bags for a children’s camp while Don and I relaxed. We could get used to this “camp” life!

12 July –

Don and I went down to the camp garage where we found a bench grinder. “Ernie” has been running with one of his fancy wheel trims off for the last month. I ground 1/8” off two of the wheel nuts and refitted the wheel trim. Great job! Val, Sue and I planted some citronella trees and ferns in the “tent” front garden and along with some rocks and bark chips. The end result looked great. There is a wedding here in 2 weeks’ time so everything is being tidied up. After lunch we retired to the beach for a well-earned swim and a read. The bride, Jessie (Sue’s granddaughter) and the groom, Eugene  arrived from Missouri.

I cooked a huge spag bol for dinner and then we lit a camp fire with many others arriving. The camp bear warning was sounded. The bear wandered thru the beach barbeque causing some concern. We did not see the bear in our part of the camp. Shortly after a huge bang and a flash. It turned out than a tree had fallen over the power wires so the whole camp was without power. After all that excitement everyone went off to dark camp sites and we just turned on our 12v lights as usual!

13 July –

The power was restored some time in the night. Jessie and Eugene found a snake skin in their bedroom which Jessie was not too keen on!  After hugs and farewells we left the camp. It had been a great experience! Back on the road and across the Hudson River and the New York/Connecticut border. We stopped for the night at a State Park near Sandy Hook, the scene of a mass shooting at an elementary school last year.  We were overlooking a river where many boats roared up and down.

14 July –

It rained in the night and as we only had a short drive we had a late start and “egg in the hole” for breakfast (more broken Wal-Mart eggs). We drove down to the Connecticut coast to a huge State Park at Hammonasset Beach.  It was only a short walk to the beach which is on Long Island Sound. We could see Long Island in the distance. The water was warmer than at some beaches further south. During a bike ride around the park the thunder roared so we returned back to “Ernie”. The storm bypassed us however.

15 July –

Another Friday so we were booked into a camp a little further east and inland. On the way we stopped at a Submarine Museum on the Thames River. There were examples of all the subs from old to new with their armourments including the titan missiles. The best bit was the Nautilus which we had a tour thru. This was the first nuclear sub famous as it went under the North Pole. All very interesting. We continued on to a small private camp on a grass site (quite unusual).  In the evening we had a brief electrical storm. This camp had good internet so we were able to skype the kids and my sister.

16 July –

 We met Sue and Don’s friends here as they have a permanent caravan on site. They had a pair of kayaks and we paddled for about an hour on the Quinebaug River. It was a beautiful trip with some lovely houses on the river banks. It is a special weekend in this camp and there was a Model T giving hay rides. There is also a Kebab Dinner which we have tickets for and breakfast tomorrow.

Washington DC, Delaware & Maryland

23 June –

We left the forest park camp south of Washington DC and had a surprisingly easy drive on the I-95 thru the urban area between Baltimore and Washington to our pre-booked camp. This camp boasts as being the closest to Washington and having great public transport links to all the sites. With really good internet, we changed library books, booked more camp sites for later in our trip and cleared our emails. We went to a talk on “how to see the sites of Washington” and booked metro tickets and a ‘hop on hop off’ bus tour for the next two days. After dinner we went for a walk around this camp which is huge!

24 June –

We were up early (for us) and caught the bus to the metro station and on into the centre of Washington. Coming out of the metro was quite a sight with the beautiful limestone government buildings all around us. We caught the “hop on hop off” bus which did the inner city loop and sat upstairs with a commentary and did a complete lap of most of the sites. Most of the buildings are either government departments, museums or monuments. There are also many green areas and large manmade lakes setting the monuments off.

The most spectacular monuments are the Washington Monument, which is a huge (over 500ft high) stone tower and the Lincoln Monument which is at the far end of the mall.

The Capitol Building (on the hill) dominates the other end of the mall. We left the bus at Union Station and walked around the Capitol Building (partly covered in scaffolding) and down Constitution Ave, passed all the Smithsonian Museums, to the Washington Monument. There is a lift that goes to the top but we had been told that the tickets all go out by 7:30am! We walked up to the White House. You cannot get very close but there is an area for tourists and photos. Very crowded! Back down Pennsylvanian Ave to the Museum of American History. We went thru security for a quick look and saw Julia Child’s kitchen and Dorothy’s (Wizard of Oz) ruby slippers. Hot and tired we caught the metro back to our stop and then had to wait for over an hour for a bus back to the camp. Lots of grumpy passengers! Managed to skype the kids in the evening.

25 June –

Our bus pass is for 48 hours plus a night tour so we had an early lunch before repeating our trip back into town. We completed our

 walk down the mall passed the great WW11 memorial and along the lake to the Lincoln Monument.

All quite spectacular! We caught the bus and crossed the Potomac River into Virginia and the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery. Back over the river into D.C. again and another bus into the theatre, shopping and restaurant area. Tired and hungry we found a nice bar with beer and very good burgers.

Our night tour started at Union Station so we walked there and joined the huge line boarding the buses. The sunset on the monuments and the Capital Dome were worth the trip. Back on the metro and as the buses back to the camp had stopped we caught a taxi.

26 June –

Back out of the outer suburbs of Washington and a short drive to a Maryland State Park where we checked in at the ranger station only to be told that our site would not be ready until 3:00pm. We sat in the shade and had lunch and then followed a trail along the river finding a track up to the camp. The hosts fortunately said we could go onto our site at any time. It was nice and shady and we relaxed for the first time in a couple of days.

27 June –

We bypassed Baltimore on a ring road and then took a scenic route east and north near the Pennsylvania border and eventually across the Maryland/Delaware border. It was nice to be off the busy roads of the last few days and onto a narrow winding road thru farming land (wheat and corn) and small rural towns. We went thru the university town of Newark and to a Delaware State Park at Lums Pond. After a late lunch we rode our bikes on a 6 ½ mile mountain bike track around the pond. It was a great ride, probably one of the best loop tracks we have ridden. Quite tricky in some parts. Half way round we found a boat rental place that sold ice-creams and had moose tracks flavour. Chocolate covered peanut-butter balls. Yum! Around dinner time it started to rain and rained off and on all night.

28 June –

Misty rain in the morning and we cleaned out the black tank before heading south and over the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal, part of the Intracoastal waterway. We drove thru the small state capital of Dover and on to a State Park at Killen’s Pond. It was overcast all day and threatening rain. Our site overlooked the lake. Our neighbours were very noisy. The country music was OK, but then we got a lot of head-banging stuff (not OK).This is quite unusual as most people are very quiet.

29 June –

A short drive to a Wal-Mart to stock up for the long weekend. We had to buy our beer and wine at a separate liquor store. We are never sure what the rule will be in a new state. We are spending the 4th July weekend with Paul’s brother’s family at a coastal state park in Maryland. We will meet them on Friday so we have a couple of days before then. We went into the Delaware Beach area and had two nights at Delaware Seashore State Park. This camp is either side of the Indian River with a huge suspension bridge crossing it. Our camp is only a short walk to the beach. In the afternoon we walked to the beach which was quite crowded and with a dumping surf. The water temperature is considerably cooler than our last Atlantic swim back in South Carolina but we a long way further north. Still very pleasant however. This camp is very barren with no shade but there is a cool breeze.

30 June –

A typical beach day. Swimming in the morning, lunch in the heat of the day, and back to the beach for an afternoon swim. In the evening we walked back across the bridge to listen to a couple of old guys sing sea shanties.

1 July –

A cloudy morning and we left it as late as possible leaving our site. Pulled out to the beach carpark and went to the beach. We only lasted a few minutes as the rain came and we hotfooted it back to “Ernie”. It cleared after lunch so we walked along the beach and watched the fishermen. Around 3:00pm we got a text from Kathy and Craig to say they were set up at Assateague State Park in Maryland. We were only 30 miles up the coast and we were joining them and their family for a few days. Craig is Paul Seddon’s brother and Kathy’s side of the family drive down from the Toronto area for their holidays. We have met them all before when we were in Canada.

2 July –

A beautiful sunny day. Most went into town for breakfast but Val and I stayed behind and went for a bike ride around the camp. This is an island accessed by a bridge. It is unique as there are wild horses here left behind after a shipwreck in the 1600’s. We went down to the beach which is right behind our camp site. The water was quite chilly but very refreshing. The breakfast mob joined us on the beach for the afternoon. There were now 15 of us spread over 3 sites and we all joined together for dinner. One of the wild horses broke its way into the site next door. They can be quite destructive.

3 July –

We woke to rain and it drizzled on and off most of the day. The temperature has also dropped. Everyone split up and went in various directions, some to the movies and some shopping. Craig, Val and I went to a small historic town and wandered thru the antique shops. One shop specialised in toys and had lots of electric train bits. Nothing for me however. We managed to keep out of the rain for another family dinner outside.

                                                 4 July –

The weather had not improved, still cold and raining. We went for a bike ride over the bridge and off the island to the visitor’s centre where we listened to a ranger presentation on the island and the inlet. The others went shopping and various other activities.
We made hamburgers for everyone which we cooked on David’s barbeque. The weather did not improve all day.

5 July –

At last the weather cleared and we had some sunshine. We were leaving Assateague State Park and the Burstow/Seddon clan and after lots of hugs we headed north out of Maryland and into Delaware and a ferry trip across the Delaware Bay and into New Jersey. It was an 85 minute trip but we never lost the sight of land. It was just a short drive into a forest park for the night.