New England

17 July –

We went up to the camp restaurant for breakfast with Sue and Peter (Sue and Don’s friends) before a very short drive across the Connecticut/Rhode Island border to a huge family camp (791 sites) at Burlingame State Park. This was another camp with a nice swimming beach on a lake great for family holidays. After a couple of swims we sat in the shade and read.

18 July –

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the USA. After a shop we crossed a toll bridge into Newport, the town which has hosted many America Cups. The town was busy and we drove passed many of the beautiful imposing “summer houses” of the rich & famous New York families. We managed to find a park for “Ernie” and walked the “cliff trail” with the Atlantic Ocean beaches and rocky shore on one side and the opulent homes on the other.

It must have been a shock to the natives when the upstart Kiwis came and sailed in their backyard! We overnighted in a private camp in Newport.

19 July –

It was a slow drive over the Rhode Island/Massachusetts border, along Cape Cod Bay to the Nickerson State Park where we planned to spend 3 nights. We had a huge private site, 3 miles from the gates of the park. We lazed around and collected some firewood with which we had a fire and cooked raisin bread (our new sin!)

20 July – One of the reasons we have come to this park (apart from its proximity to all the good parts of Cape Cod) was a rail trail bike path which goes 11 miles in each direction from the park gate. We packed our lunch and rode a hilly bike path back out to the gate. The rail trail was very flat and smooth with many groups riding it. At one stage we diverted for a mile to the Cape Cod National Sea Shore visitor’s centre. This was the only time we saw the sea in the distance. We watched a video explaining that Cape Cod is a huge sand bar that erodes and is built up thus shifting over time. There was also a quilting exhibition. We continued on to the end of the trail. It was a bit disappointing as where were no views of the sea. The Cape Cod houses were interesting however, either entirely clad in shingles or white or pastel coloured wood. The hardest part was riding from the gate back to “Ernie” up the hilly path. We added up our trip and realized we had cycled 50kms.

After a rest we walked down to one of the kettle ponds near our camp site. These were formed in the ice age and have no inlet or outlet. The beach was sandy and the water was warm and crystal clear for our sore knees.

 

21 July –

There is a public transport bus from the gates of the park to Provincetown at the very tip of Cape Cod. We could not face the ride to the gates again so we took “Ernie” down the 3 miles to a carpark. The bus was late but very cheap ($1 each for the 30 mile trip). It called into all the small towns and harbours on the way taking 1 ¾ hours but it was all very fascinating. Provincetown is very much a tourist town with many boat excursions and the ferries to Boston leaving from there. We wandered the town with its cute buildings and churches now all converted to tourist shops.

We settled on Pepe’s restaurant right on the water and got a table on the deck where Val had Cod and I had Lobster. Very traditional! The house sav blanc was Oyster Bay, NZ wine gets everywhere!  Back in the town we both bought T-shirts before our quicker return trip. On the way back to “Ernie” we bought firewood and cooked cranskies over the fire for dinner. Before this we went back to the beach for a last swim.

22 July –

We chose the scenic drive thru the villages back off the Cape and eventually joined the major “I” roads around the west side of Boston. We have been to Boston before so we planned to bypass it this time. As it is again Friday (boy the time is flying!) we have booked a private camp to the west of Boston for the weekend. Heavy rain set in so we had dinner inside.

23 July –

As we are have power and a laundry, it is haircut and laundry day. This is a family camp and it is pirate weekend with many activities for the kids. The guys next door are having a bachelor camping weekend (stag do) but are very well behaved. More rain in the evening.

24 July –

Filled our propane tank before leaving. We crossed the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border and climbed slowly into the hills. We stopped at another huge State Park camp at a lake. There are many lakes in New Hampshire. This one had the now usual sandy swimming beach so we made use of it after lunch. After dinner we re-planned our trip to Arcadia National Park in Maine as we were trying to cover too greater distance. It has given us 2 extra days in New Hampshire and Maine.

25 July –

As we are at a slightly higher altitude so the temperature was cooler in the night. A mixture of country roads and an ‘I” road brought us thru some lovely towns including Tamworth, (not a guitar in site), passed some beautiful mountain lakes and into the ski areas of New Hampshire. We stopped at White Lake State Park, another great holiday destination for the locals with yet another great sandy beach and crystal clear swimming in luke warm water.

26 July –

Before leaving the State Park we walked a trail around the lake. Very much like West Coast scenery without the sand-flies. We continued on up the mountain, thru ski villages and into the White Mountains. We discovered a Camping World shop so renewed our Good Sam’s Discount camping card and bought a replacement water filler. We only needed the cap but had to buy the whole thing, pretty cheap though. We stopped in a forest park in the mountains and spent time fitting the new water filler and relaxing in the cool air.

27 July –

A very significant day as we crossed the New Hampshire/Maine border. We have now visited every state in the USA except two, Iowa (never on our route) and Hawaii (we might fly there one day).  We have spent at least 2 days in every state and a hell of a lot more in most. We climbed higher into the White Mountains then dropped down into the lower areas of Maine. There were very few towns and this area is very sparsely populated. Our overnight stop was at a private camp on a beautiful lake with the usual swimming beach which we made use of. You can even have camp sites with your own pier.

28 July –

We drove into the capital of Maine, Augusta, where we shopped and fueled up before heading to the Atlantic coast at Camden on Penobscot Bay and a state park.  In the afternoon we set off for a hike up Megunticook Mountain with great views of the ocean and Camden Harbour. This mountain is the highest on the east coast mainland but only 1385ft so crampons and ice axes were not needed. We walked a loop track back to the camp taking 2 ½ hours and none of it on the flat. A well needed blowout. Just as we sat down for dinner it started to rain so we raced inside. Later in the evening the ranger ejected the people opposite us out of the camp. They all appeared very drunk. We do not know who potted them or how they drove the huge motorhome. First time we had seen that!!

29 July –

It was an 80 mile drive north and east along the coast, across the bridge and onto Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. We have now visited every National Park on the USA mainland except two. We called into the visitor’s centre and got some helpful information. We drove on thru the very busy tourist town of Bar Harbour and to the National Park camp. Unfortunately we could only book one night there and will shift tomorrow to a private camp. In 1917 John D Rockefeller, who had a summer home here, financed the building of carriage paths all around the island as he did not like the automobile.

These are now cycleways so we set out to explore some of them. We got a little lost so we covered more ground than we intended but it was a great ride. The day was overcast with a sea mist obscuring some of the views. As it was cool when we returned we had dinner inside.

30 July –

There are free buses all around the island so we packed up early(for us) and caught the bus just outside the camp back to Bar Harbour (the main town) and on to the start of a trail up the northern ridge of Cadillac Mountain (1530ft). It was a steady climb of 2 ½miles up to summit with spectacular views in all directions. There is a road to the top so it was very crowded and we were happy to continue on down the south ridge (3 ½ miles) back to “Ernie”. It was a great hike which gave us views of the whole of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island. A very short drive brought us to our private camp at Hadleys Point where we have a nice shaded site with power for the next 3 nights.

31 July –

We caught the 10:30am bus back to Bar Harbour and a second bus down into the south west part of the island. There were many stops and the roads are very rough but it was an interesting ride thru many small villages and harbours.  We stayed on the bus and returned to South West Harbour, probably the next biggest town. We left the bus and wandered the very small town which had a great artists market with some nice local paintings.

At a small café we had lunch before getting back on the bus for our two trips back to the camp. These free buses are great! We picked up some firewood and had a camp fire with toasted raisin bread.

1 August –

Yet another bus trip into Bar Harbour before catching a second bus down the coast to an area we had not seen. We left the bus at Sand Beach and walked along the cliffs to Otter Cliffs. The rocky shore was very pretty with red rocks but I think we have been           spoiled by the spectacular coastline around Kaikoura.

The bus back to Bar Harbour for a wander around the shops and lunch at a restaurant before our last bus trip back to camp. We are now a bit sick of these buses although they provide a great service. We made use of the laundry and the internet to publish this blog.