East Coast Trip 2015, Part 1: WI to ME

Seems like I didn't have much to blog about in late summer and then we hit the road and I couldn't find time to blog! Now with just a week left of this East Coast trip I will try to catch up.

We left Monroe, WI, September 22 and hauled our little house to South Bend, IN, where my sister Barbara lives. We had a good visit that evening and then we were off again the next morning for Erie, PA.

In that far NW corner of NY we found vineyards, wineries and lots of pumpkins. It seems like there was a bumper crop of pumpkins wherever we went.

Next stop was Watkins Glen, NY, where we met up with friends we made in Fairbanks, Susan and Les, and a friend from Ketchikan, Alan. Turns out they have friends in common. Lab tech small world story! We were presented with Finger Lakes wines and fresh vegetables from Alan's garden.

We made it to Springfield, MA, the next day to visit Alex and Laura. We set up camp for 10 days at Sunset Farms Campground in nearby Monson, MA. I was excited to find 2 apple trees in the campground! No one else was interested in picking up the nice apples covering the ground so I made apple sauce, apple butter and apple crisp while we were there.

We drove to Worchester, MA, and rode the train in to Boston for a day and had our first of many seafood meals. It was raining so we didn't do much sightseeing, although the Barking Crab, where we ate, is right on Boston Harbor.

We drove up to southern Vermont looking for fall color but it was still early. I just wanted to make sure to knock that state off my list as #48!

We attended The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) in Springfield with Alex and Laura where they decided they needed foot massages after hours of walking around. Each of the New England states has a building that showcases the highlights from their state and was a great opportunity for me to pick up tourist literature and maps. There was also a horse show which I enjoyed.

October 4th we headed to New Hampshire, my 49th state and we did see some progress in the turning of the leaves in the northern part of the state. We had frost the 2 nights we spent in the White Mountains.

Mt. Washington

We intended to drive up Mt. Washington the next day but missed the turn so circled it instead!

Ah, Maine! State #50 for me and home of Rollie's favorite food. First thing after arriving at Bar Harbor Campground we went to the closest lobster "pound", picked out our victims and ate the local specialty.

The campground had a view of the water and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We were just outside Acadia Narional Park and the town of Bar Harbor. The weather was cool and sunny, just the way we like it!

Acadia was beautiful and rugged. We hiked on a tame looking trail which turned out to be a rocky climb to get back to where we parked. We would like to suggest that the trails be graded on the signs!

Bar Harbor is almost surrounded by Acadia and is smaller than I had imagined. It is very "touristy" and a cruise ship port. Reminded us of Ketchikan, AK. The ships did not dock; the passengers were ferried from the ship to land in smaller boats, which was interesting to watch.

To be continued...