Day 90 Beckley, WV-Babcock State Park, WV

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Day 90 Beckley, WV-Babcock State Park, WV 10.29.16
Three people, a beagle, 90 sq ft, and 90 days. Can it be done?  Of course it can.  We just did it!  We set off today to see the New River Gorge and Bridge.  Beautiful sunny fall day provided great views of the gorge and the bridge.  The Fayette Station loop road took us to the bottom of the gorge and under the bridge.  As we cruised to the bottom, we listened to the audio cd telling about the history and other facts such as the rich coal mining tradition here. At one point West Virginia was the coal producing leader of the US.  We watched a kayaker run Fayette Station Rapids.  At 2,226 cfs, we were thinking it was about a class 3.  We checked out a couple of the free campgrounds in the park, but none were close to the river and lots of underbrush so probably full of ticks. Thus, we opted to stay at Babcock State Park with showers and laundry.  Ate a great dinner of Amish noodles, ham and salad prepared by Jo. Topped off with Amish cookies.

Day 89 Shenandoah Big Meadows, VA -Beckley, WV

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Day 89 Shenandoah Big Meadows, VA -Beckley, WV 10.28.16
Continued our tour through the park with better views of the valleys as we had sunshine today.  Between the two days, we stopped at 65 or so of the 75 pull outs.  That's a lot of ins and outs. The best stop of course was Beagle Gap.  We also walked a short bit on the Appalachian Trail.  We continued onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and then onto Hwy 11 at Steeles Tavern. Never saw the tavern so not sure if there ever was one or just the name of the town. Passed briefly through Lexington.  Stopped at the Natural Bridge but the state park charges a lot just to go see a natural feature that takes about 20 mins to see so we opted out. The road goes over the natural bridge but you still can't see it because there is a fence that blocks your view.  We just took our picture with the painted mural of it in the gift shop.  Lol.  In the town of Buchanan, we stopped to walk across the suspension bridge which said maximum of three people on the bridge at one time. Sure glad the beagle doesn't weigh very much. The bridge creaked as we walked across but we made it across and then back safely.  Then it was onward to Beckley, West Virginia for the evening.

Day 88 Martinsberg, WV-Shenandoah Big Meadows, VA

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Day 88 Martinsberg, WV-Shenandoah Big Meadows, VA 10.27.16
On our way to Shenandoah National Park and the state of Virginia.  In Winchester, we stopped by the home of Patsy Cline and sung a little tune with her.  At the Shenandoah NP, we started on the 100 mile Skyline drive along the ridge. The road was built by the CCC and has over 75 pull outs to view the valleys on either side of the ridge. It was raining so our views were hazy at times. We camped midway on the drive at Big Meadows. We had a great site all by ourselves with a view. Later, we learned that was were the bear had been visiting the last couple of days.  Maybe that's why no one was camping there!  Oh well, we never saw or heard the bear.  We did see lots of deer in the campground and a beautiful sunset

Day 87 Sprinter Elverson, PA-Martinsberg, WV

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Day 87 Sprinter Elverson, PA-Martinsberg, WV

Toured the Pennsylvania Dutch area.  Our first stop was Kitchen Kettle Village in the town of Intercourse. What a tourist trap just a bunch of stores selling stuff and not necessarily Amish items.  Not really the Amish experience we were looking for.  We finally found a bakery off the beaten path that was less touristy and loaded up on bake goods and other items.  The remainder of the day was spent visiting chocolate factories. In Lititz, PA visited Wilbur chocolate factory. The company developed a technique for depositing specially blended chocolates into a mould that resembled a flower bud, and thus, Wilbur Buds® were born in 1894!  We sampled a few of the buds and of course made a purchase.  Then onto Hershey, PA. Driving through the town is quite an experience in itself. Everything is Hershey this or that even the street lights look like Hershey kisses. The Hershey store was huge and packed with lots of candy in all shapes and sizes along with other Hershey memorabilia.  We took what we thought was going to be factory tour (watching the candy being made) but to our surprise it was actually more like Disneyland's Adventure thru Innerspace ride.  We jumped on the people mover car and begin our tour of the animated chocolate factory with lots of singing in the background.  We passed thru the processing of the cocoa beans which including sending us thru a simulated roasting machine where it became a little warmer in our car.  The ride continued on with the making and final packaging of the candy.  As we exited the ride, they handed us a photo album which included our photo on the ride and other Hershey info-all for the bargain price of $35.  We opted not to purchase it.  The funny thing about our photo is that it was taken in front of a green screen.  Kevin was wearing his green Seahawks sweatshirt so his middle section became invisible in the photo except for Seahawks' logo.  Back on the road, we needed to get some miles behind us so we crossed the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland and then in under 15 miles we were in West Virginia.  So as Hershey would say "Have a sweet day!"

Day 86 Sprinter Carmel, NY-Elverson, PA

Day 86 Sprinter Carmel, NY-Elverson, PA

Stopped by the camp office to pay for our site and the guy told Kevin not to worry about it.  Thanks New York State!  Crossed over the Hudson River on the Hamilton Fish (Newburgh-Beacon Bridge). The river is much bigger than the last time we saw it just north of here. We were in the tri state area when Kevin pulled off to get fuel.  We thought we were in New York, but when Jo and I went into the store to find New York trinkets we noticed New Jersey maps in the store. Hadn't realized that we had crossed the state line. Back on the hwy, crossing over the Delaware River took us to Pennsylvania.  We followed the River south thru the Delaware Water Gap Natl Park.  I ran up to check out the waterfalls then back on the road.  We are staying at Pennsylvania French River State Park tonight with electrical hookups, flush toilets and showers. We are living it up now!

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Day 85 Sprinter Kittery, ME- Carmel, NY

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Day 85 Kittery, ME- Carmel, NY 10.24.16

It was a five state day: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, & New York ~ only 285 miles!  In the west, we would still be in the same state with that kind of mileage.  From our Maine rest area campsite, we drove about 6 miles and we were in New Hampshire.  New Hampshire's little

sliver of the coast is only about 16 miles across so we were in Massachusetts in no time.  We opted to take the Mohawk Trail scenic byway which goes along US2.  We crossed over and followed the Connecticut river along the way.  The fall colors are still beautiful even though we are past the peak.  We stopped at the birthplace of John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed  (Leominster, MA 1774).  He was a pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of the states. He became an American legend while still alive, due to his kind, generous ways, his leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance he attributed to apples. And you thought he was just a made up character.  In Springfield, MA, we passed by the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Still waiting for Herbie Meyer to tell me all about it.  Then onto Hartford, CT the insurance capital of the States or so it seems to be from all the commercials.  And our final landing spot for the day is at Fahnestock State Park, NY.  A campground that is still open with several campers, although, there is no one in the office to take our money or any pay stations.  And Jo discovered that there are showers so maybe we will clean up too!

Day 84 Sprinter Houlton, ME-Kittery, ME

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Day 84 Houlton, ME-Kittery, ME 10.23.16

Last night, we had two choices to park: Walmart parking lot or rest stop.  I know these are not the prime spots everyone would choose but when it's late and you just need a place to sleep for a few hours it works.  We finally decided that the rest stop would be quieter and darker, this was after making Kevin drive back and forth.  Next day, breakfast was at Dunkin Donuts across the street from the rest stop. We really need to stop eating at these places, but they are fast and easy.  We stopped for fuel, Kevin filled up the tank then climbed back in and started to drive away.  I said, "Did you know that Jo and Bob are not in the van?"  He responded "no" and quickly turned around. Good thing because it was trying to snow and it would have been mighty cold out there. We decided to take a side trip down route 11 to view Grindstone Falls which features small protruding rocks (grindstones) that rise only a foot or two above the level of the water.  I'm not sure I would call this a waterfall but I guess you've got to attract tourist somehow.  Back on I95, we came across our first toll.  Quickly, we started digging for dollars and change.  In Portland, ME we toured the town, shoreline and lighthouses.  We even spotted a surfer at Pond Cove.  At our last stop, there was lobster restaurant and the sign said "open" instead "thanks for a great season ... closed" so we made it our dinner stop as well as our last lobster roll in Maine.  We enjoyed our last sunset in Maine watching the waves crash on the rocks that looked like petrified wood.