Today we decided not dawdle in the morning to beat the crowds at Watkins Glen. We were out the door by 9AM which I know for you working stiffs does not qualify as early. We again drove down the West side of Lake Seneca, but all the way to the end and beyond this time. The Gorge trail at Watkins Glen was amazing and beautiful and mind blowing and prematurely over as the last half mile was closed. And then to make it one way, you had to take one of the rim trails back to the parking lot. We weren’t sure we had beat the crowds until we got back to the visitor center and parking lot and saw that yep, we beat the crowds. But the most amazing thing was just how exquisite our timing was because as we went through the entrance tunnel to the gorge MBH was able to have part of the ceiling fall off and hit her in the head – fortunately she suffered only surprise and alarm but no injury. Good thing the ceiling wasn’t higher because then it might have hit me in the head.

We managed to squeeze in a couple more wineries (McGregor & Heron Hill) on Lake Keuka (pronounced just how it sounds) afterwards. We called ahead to make reservations, but apparently you only need them if you want a tasting, but not a glass or bottle. We are all adjusting to the constantly changing restrictions and challenges of 2020. Of course you still have to buy a food item to keep coronavirus away. The waitress last night was explaining that some food, like pizza, can cover two people, but most can only cover one and some don’t cover you at all. Fortunately for us, charcuterie boards can cover two, but we both had to buy oyster crackers at the second winery.

Good fortune followed us all day as not only was the weather near perfect but we sat next to a couple at the first winery who had been staying at a VRBO cottage on the lake all week so were as eager to talk to strangers as we were. A good time was had by all, including the men.

We drove on nothing but two lane back roads today: state highways, county roads, a couple of main streets, and some plain old roads that lacked lane markings of any kind (they even lacked shoulders I think, but without an outside line I’m just going by the narrowness of the pavement). We were never on the same road for more than five miles on the way back from Heron Hill which took two women – Siri & MBH – to keep me on track. At one point we turned of State 364 and then about four roads later turned back on to it (for a few miles, anyway).

And finally (I thought he’d never end): Please buy my book, Travels with MBH, once I get it edited down to a reasonable, Tom Clancy ish length.

In the gorge.  

We, and by we I mean MBH, decided she would only ask people not wearing a mask to take our picture, and by golly that worked just fine.

The start of today’s adventure, and the gorge, although technically it’s the streams exit from the gorge. Plus nobody has taken a rock to the cranium yet.

Standing on the suspension bridge high above the gorge on our way back. If I may tootle our own horn with vigor, we aren’t doing too bad for our age. Just don’t ask me about my hip.

On the rim trail building these are a thing. I have no idea if workers demolish them every year or if they’ve been here for decades. Oddly enough, they were trail markers on top of Mt Pemetic in Acadia.

God: Nietzsche is dead.

Yes, I know the spelling isn’t the same, but the best puns are bad puns. And this is the photo and caption equivalent of a bad pun. Sorta.

Tags: RTAWE

I write this from our deck at sunset.

While you might think I include everything that happens (and then some), I don’t even include half of what happens, or even the best parts so that I still have stories to tell when I see you IRL. Whether I still remember or even get to see you IRL is an open question.

Ah, the joy of not traveling while on vacation. Again we were not cooped up in our car for a long time. We drove down the west side of Lake Canandaigua to Conklin Gully where we went for a hike recommended by the Airbnb owner after we complained about the crowds in other locations. If you aren’t the only hikers, then there will be only one other group on the trail he told us. When we arrived at the trailhead, there was only one other car in the lot – so far so good. By the time we swapped out for our hiking shoes (we have a bin with our shoes in the back of the car), someone else pulled onto the lot. By the time we finished the hike and returned to our car, the lot was mostly full – 20ish cars. These are not normal times. We did have a nice chat with a local as he asked us where we were from since the Honda frame covers up the Missouri on our plates (maybe that’s why no police have pulled us over to ask if we are quarantining) and we don’t let any opportunity to talk to someone besides each other go to waste.

The trail itself basically went steeply up the side of the gully so there was an ever steepening drop off to the stream that remained stubbornly below. It was hard to see the gully for the trees. About a third of the way, there was a huge stone cliff and the gully was only 20 feet below us, and my brain rejoiced. We kept going up however, until we went steeply down to a bridge that crossed the gully. We turned around there as there was a Boy Scout troop on the far side that was apparently combining backpacking with rappelling.

Then it was back the east side of the lake so we could walk around the nice downtown here and have lunch. They have a crepery here so there was much rejoicing. Aferwards we set off to Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens if only because the mansion was open. However the second floor was closed because of the virus according to a sign – I’m not sure why that means any floor above the first was off limits but I was just glad it was open at all. They had a ten person limit and despite the fact they had made a single door the only entrance and exit the docent had to go inside and count the people before letting us in. Apparently keeping a running total is not as easy as I think.

We enjoyed dinner on a rooftop restaurant with our near customary splitting of a meal. The waitress, who was obligingly chatty, told us we would be enjoying sunset soon. An hour later I checked the weather app as the sun seemed no where near setting only to discover we had another hour to go. Soon is a relative term. We left the restaurant which we belatedly discovered catered to the older man younger woman crowd and I got to watch sunset from our own deck.

Tags: RTAWE

For us time time does not exist. Our mission to seek out strange new places has brought us to Canandaigua (pronounced just like it’s spelled) where we spent the day and look forward to two more.

After spending a long day in the car yesterday, we decided to relax and take it easy so we visited a couple of nearby wineries – one recommended by our waiter last night and the other by the Airbnb owners this morning. The owners run a surveying firm out of the front of the old house we are staying in, so we went over and chatted with them this morning with all the clingy intensity that a couple that’s spent two and a half weeks together on the road with only Erin to break up the monotony can muster. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that they were next to each other – not adjacent, but the second was the first winery you came to when leaving the first. Then it was back to the Canandaigua city pier and dinner.

New York is one of the states that mandate that in order to serve alcohol you have to also sell a food item in the same transaction (Pennsylvania is another) because then you aren’t in a bar so you won’t catch the coronavirus. While they include a 0.50$ package of oyster crackers with your tasting, if you want to stay and buy a glass or a bottle then you have to include a food item with it. So now we have a lovely cutting board, knife, and substantial wooden food picks from the charcuterie (pronounced just like it’s spelled) box we ordered for lunch. We, and by we I mean mainly me, ate all the cheese curds from the second winery. As I always say, there are The Quick and The Hungry but then I’m famous for mangling quotes and song lyrics. Well, more like infamous, but in a not widely known sort of way.

And on that bombshell it’s time to end. Goodnight!

Tags: RTAWE

Today was a long day of driving, over seven hours not including stops. We rolled thru 3,000 miles in the morning, but this time we didn’t notice. Back when I spent an hour commuting every day, my right foot, ankle, knee and both cheeks were like iron. I could drive all day and not notice. Now that days go by without me getting behind the wheel, and when I do drive it’s like 2 minutes, I’ve turned to clay, clay that gets tired and sore easily. I know, whaa whaa whaa, would you like some cheese to go with that wine.

We drove through Vermont without stopping (my better half is still miffed we had to cancel our Airbnb there), crossed Lake Champlain, and then took a maze of county roads in the Adirondacks before reaching I-89 for a single exit, and then through Pottersville (no Nick’s) and a series of state highways still in the Adirondacks and beyond before getting to a nice long stretch of I-90. We drove through all kinds of weather: a couple of moments of sunshine, mostly overcast, and some rain. The rain was all in the Adirondacks which were beautiful when it wasn’t raining. The big issue we had with taking side roads was that there were few places to eat, all closed on a Tuesday afternoon, and few gas stations but at least all we needed was the one open one we found. Our emergency almonds came in handy.

Vermont and New York were full of signs warning about Moose, so I said “promises promises” for each one until even I got tired of it, there were so many signs. Plenty of turkeys though. Even dead ones. Vermont was (virtually) empty of cars with out-of-state license plates, but we did see a couple of Massachusetts plates.

The good news is we are staying at this Airbnb for four nights. Hallelujah! MBH mentioned a couple of days ago next trip we are going somewhere and staying there. Not that long ago I would have said “how boring”, but now I say “how relaxing”.

One thing I’ve learned from this trip is that not only can you not see the forest for the trees, you can’t see lakes and mountains for the trees too. Let me just say we will never run out of wood and pulp in this country given how absolutely covered in trees the Eastern half of the country is.

What is the dividing line between New Hampshire and Vermont? The Connecticut River.

And on that bombshell we end today’s episode.

Tags: RTAWE

Today we enjoyed Franconia Notch State Park. We drove through it in the rain on our way here but today we got to see it in sunlit splendor. Basically I-93 goes through a narrow pass/gap/notch in the White Mountains, with single lanes and a 45 MPH speed limit which took a special act of Congress to authorize, and the park covers the notch and the surrounding mountains. Simply beautiful, just look at the pictures. We also considered visiting Mt Washington but the 90 minutes to go 50 miles deterred us.

COVID has made some wacky changes. I get the general closing of buildings, but I don’t get the general closing of bathrooms but then a porta potty is provided instead. Is the thought people will linger if they have flush toilets and porcelain but will be as fast as possible with a stinky pit of you know what and plastic? Or you have to book a time and pay online but there is still an attendant who can’t book or take money, just verify your booking. I’m able to do all kinds of shopping and pay with cash, but touching money will strike state employees dead.

We have been on the lookout for Moose in Maine and New Hampshire, we’ve seen plenty of signs saying Moose Crossing next x miles, but we haven’t seen one yet to the great disappointment of my better half. We have seen plenty of turkeys: Lone tukeys, a clump of turkeys, a rafter of turkeys (yes, that is what a “flock” of turkeys is called).

Since we first entered New York there have been plenty of Massachusetts plates in the Northeast. They seem to be the Michigan of the Northeast. When we drive around the Midwest, there are always Michigan plates, so when I see one I always say “is there anyone left in Michigan?” Boy, am I a lot of fun to be in a car with. I’d say the same about Massachusetts, only it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

I admit I like New Hampshire’s motto: Live free or die. I say it several times a day up here, and I’ll be sad when we leave and I won’t get much opportunity to say it.

And on that bombshell I’ll end the post.

Tags: RTAWE

Day of rest: Run, Relax, Church (YouTube ), Sunday School (Zoom), Lunch, a walk around downtown Littleton, bought 1&1/2 pounds of fudge, visited St. Johnsbury Vermont (47 states for me, 48 for MBH), then back to Bethlehem for a quiet night of fudge eating.

Tags: RTAWE

Today we have been under the remnants of Hurricane Laura all day long – the drive to Logan so that Erin could fly back to Charlotte, and our return to New Hampshire where we had lunch at Jerry’s Deli in Manchester, drove around Lake Winnipesaukee, drove through the Franconia Notch and ended up in Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. Oh how I love driving in the rain.

Sadly, the pictures are very thin today. I wanted to get a picture of how empty Logan was, but I was busy saying goodbye to Erin. The lake and its environs were very picturesque, but we had few chances to pull over where you could see the lake and by the time I figured out we could I had missed the chance. There were a couple of pretty little towns but it was too cold today to spend much time outside.

We have seen some intriguing road names on this trip, most of which I have forgotten, and today we came across Ta Da Dump which apparently has a (trash) transfer station. In Pennsylvania we came across Church Alley Rd, which near as I can tell was the entrance to a church parking lot. And somewhere along the way we passed under a bridge marked “Mountain Road” which could be a name or a description.

Tomorrow is another day!

Tags: RTAWE

Today began like every other day – I opened my eyes and looked at my watch to see if I should get up or try to back to sleep. And then I got up and went for a run (I cut out all the boring stuff in between, which normally I try to do but am not always successful at).

And then it was like no other day. We loaded up and headed to Portland where we got on a boat – we’ve had many great boat rides on vacation – and headed to Peaks island.

They modified boarding for COVID according to another rider. The passengers used to line up and they took your ticket; but now they just have a bucket to drop your ticket in so no one has to touch it. Instead of waiting and walking onboard in a well spaced line there is just a tight mass all wanting a good seat, but their staff doesn’t have to touch your unclean ticket.

After a brief consultation with a convenient map on the island, remember the whole point was the boat ride itself so we didn’t know a thing about Peaks Island (we literally sailed into the unknown), we walked by the nature preserve across to the ocean side to clamber around on the rocks and admire the view. Then we took the longer way back, around the coast admiring the view even more. Lunch even had an ocean view – we were just lucky the island was as pretty as it was, although Erin thought the garbage transfer station conveniently located in the nature preserve lacked charm.

After the boat ride back to Portland we drove to Fort Williams and the Portland Head Light AKA an old lighthouse. And then it was back to Yarmouth where we crossed over to Cousins Island and Sandy Point Beach where the tide was coming in and the beach was visibly shrinking. The Airbnb owner has a page with the tide schedule and a hand written note at the bottom that the Sandy Point Bridge is awesome at low tide, but really it’s the beach when the tide is coming in.

That was the end of novelty and normalcy returned in the form of laundry. I don’t have to turn my underwear inside out anymore – ok that’s a joke. We’re good for another week, which means we will have to launder again or go commando.

And on that bombshell we’ll end today’s ramble.

Tags: RTAWE

Today was mainly a travel day, as we took a different route to lower Maine by way of Belfast, Palermo, and China on our way to Yarmouth. We also crossed a couple of rivers whose names had over twelve letters and were unpronounceable. Or maybe the highway sign guy was having a little fun. Or drunk. Or both.

We had a great lunch at Cushnoc Brewey (I don’t name them, I just eat & drink at them) – a pizza with butternut squash sauce, shaved brussel sprouts, and bacon. Yummy standalone, even better on a pizza. The weather was cool today, so a coffee stout put a little needed fire in the belly. And I mean that more literally than figuratively, but not completely literally.

We stopped off at the Maine Cabin Masters store where we saw Ashley. I failed MBH by not taking a single picture – not the store, not Ashley, not of Ashley & MBH together. We did buy one of those wool dryer balls, so it wasn’t a total failure. Close though, too close.

Another trip to a Hannaford, Maine’s grocery store, to restock our nearly empty breakfast supplies, but this time no line to get in. And then we did the Royal River walk, which was pretty much like it sounds, and the source of today’s pictures. A nice, easy, relaxing day.

Tags: RTAWE

Another full day at Acadia. We wanted to hike The Bubbles (don’t ask). We drove to the parking lot – there may have been a pause or two at scenic overlooks. It was full. The overflow lot was also full. We turn around with ease at the entrance to the Jordan Pond parking lot. We go to and enjoy Cadillac mountain which even the NPS warns you is the most crowded spot in the park (with good reason IMHO) and there are plenty of parking spots and it doesn’t feel too crowded. We go back to The Bubbles with the intent to turn around at the overflow lot if full and head to Eagle Lake. Main lot is full, and the overflow lot is so full somebody parked blocking the drive thru lane, so no way to turn around. So down to the Jordan Pond lot which is now jammed packed making turning around slow, but faster than the line of cars waiting to get out would make you think. We never did get a chance to hike The Bubbles, but we got in Eagle Lake and Pemetic Mountain plus we walked through the Bubbles parking lot on the way back from Pemetic, just like we got to cross the park loop road in a spot on a carriage road trail we’d slowed down for four times that morning. It was that kind of day.

Some people tell us they’ve never seen the park this crowded, others say it’s always this crowded in August. A lady who works at the cabins claimed it’s not crowded this year so finding parking isn’t a problem – not sure what park she’s visiting, or maybe it’s a matter of when. Still it’s a friendly crowd and we’ve nodded to people headed in the other direction and chatted with a few along the way.

And so we said goodbye to Acadia as tomorrow we pull up stakes again and head somewhere new.

Tags: RTAWE