HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GAIL! YOU DESERVE THE BEST!
TRAVEL DAY: GRAND ISLE, VERMONT TO WELD, MAINE.
Day 68 – We’d done quite well with internet & phone signals for awhile now, but unexpectedly WE HAD NO SIGNAL here when we arrived at our new campground, therefore a couple of blog posts cannot be sent out on schedule. I guess that means a “Happy BELATED Birthday to you, Gail!”
Knowing we had a long day ahead of us, we were packed up and heading out by a little after 9 a.m. this morning. It was 75 degrees, very humid and overcast. The girls were not as upset as they were the day before yesterday when we departed Long Point State Park, barely uttering a complaint this time. We think they adapt better when we don’t stay too long in one place, because they tend to forget what it’s like to travel. But we prefer to stay longer in one place & not always be on the road. We have to reach a happy medium that works best for all of us.
We drove south on Route 2, leaving the Champlain Islands. There were Osprey on the nests by our kayaking place at Sand Bar. We will come back again to kayak there. We’re calling it “Pete’s Fishing Hole” in remembrance of kayaking with Cathie & her wonderful dog, Pete! We got gas for the RV, then headed southeast on I-89 a fairly short distance before getting off at Montpelier, the Vermont State Capital. We waved at Bernie as we went by, grin. We continued southeast on two-lane Route 2 through beautiful countryside – the Green Mountains, the Winooski River, the rolling hills & farmlands. Vermont really is one of the prettiest States we’ve had the privilege of traveling through. Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We crossed the Connecticut River and entered New Hampshire, still driving on Route 2 heading east. It continued to be a very scenic drive, but unfortunately it was so overcast and soupy out we didn’t get a lot of pictures. There were the outlines of the White Mountains fairly near by with Mount Washington SO huge. Rivers followed alongside the road for much of the trip. A blue sky was not to be seen. We stopped for lunch at a turn-out by the road, visited with the kitties, and ate Wally’s Everything Bagels with Vegetable Cream Cheese. (Do the vegetables in cream cheese count as a vegetable in a healthy diet?) At times Route 2 was windy and hilly, at times it was rough, but the traffic wasn’t bad until we reached some of the more popular NH destinations: the hiking trails around Mount Washington, the touristy town of Gorham, and of course, Santa’s Village in Jefferson. Yep, Santa’s Village was packed with no parking spots available on a Monday afternoon in July.
We crossed into Maine and continued east on Route 2 until turning north in Dixfield on ME-142, a two-lane road with each lane barely wide enough for an RV. The road wound thru a remote and pretty area and in a bit we saw a sign for Mt. Blue State Park. The road we turned off heading into the Park was really a one-lane road; we wondered what we would do if someone drove thru coming from the opposite direction. They didn’t, so no problem. It was still very humid and thick out, the sun has disappeared.
It was 80 degrees when we finally arrived at close to 3 p.m. We’d never been to this Park before; we’d reserved a campsite online. It’s always a little worrisome when you do that since you never know what you’ll end up with. We checked in and set up on site #5L. It was a smallish campsite but we’ll only be here two nights and hadn’t planned on putting up the tent anyway. Otherwise, where would we have put it?! We will drive through the entire campground tomorrow to get a better idea of what’s here, but we are satisfied with our campsite for a short visit, particularly since it is surrounded on three sides by trees. We have electric and water hook-ups, which means air conditioning for the humid days, and we can get fresh water at the site rather than from at a spigot somewhere in the Park. The girls were very happy to be finished traveling for the day’s driving and settled in immediately. When we are surrounded by trees, they are unaware of other people (and dogs) that they don’t know and other campers’ activity doesn’t effect them. By the time we were all set up and relaxing, it was past time for our wine & beer. We had leftover pizza for dinner; nobody wants to cook after driving all day.
