Travelogue

Lazy Daze camping in Flying JWhile this might be the first time that my name appears on the byline of a trip stop, this is not the first time that I have traveled solo in the RV. That dubious milestone was set this last February, when in an effort to cure a sinus infection, I migrated south for a 3-week stay in Florida. The good news was that it worked!! In a few weeks my infection was cured. The bad news was that I was traveling solo, since Lorry couldn’t leave her 90-year-old mother for such an extended duration.

Despite 10 years of motor home travel across the country, I was still a little anxious about solo travel, and the extended absence from Lolo. I couldn’t do anything about the spousal separation, but before the February solo trip, I did make a few modifications to the RV which included:

• RV Cams 56-CHNV video backup camera and 5.6” monitor
• Six new Michelin LTX M/S tires and a TireTraker tire pressure monitoring system
• Viewsonic 24” HDTV and ASUS 1000he netbook PC
• Android phone for Google Maps navigation and internet connection.

Since everything had performed flawlessly on the 3000-mile solo Florida trip, I was a lot less apprehensive about this trip. I would visit some of our favorite stops on the way out west (same as our 2005 trip), and in less than 5 days be reunited with my family in Boulder, Co. It sounded like a great plan, and spirits were high as I left the driveway and pointed the Lazy Daze west once again.

Morning coffee water with HydroplaneThe Toledo Flying J has been a regular stop for us because it’s the perfect distance from our home for a first nights stay. The 560 miles over 11 hours are not too tough on the first day of a trip when trip fatigue has not yet set in, and the excitement of starting a new adventure is high.

Arriving in time for cocktails I took a spot with a sunset view of the trucks leaving the fuel pumps. My only neighbor was another RV that was trailering a hydroplane boat. I think he was traveling solo too, and I felt somewhat inadequate as I have never trailered anything behind the Lazy Daze. Our 20’ Grady White boat weighs 4000# and sits on a 26’ trailer which would be a bit too much to tow. Perhaps a small car or a motorcycle trailer to carry my Honda ST1100 will be on the hitch on the next trip.

Description

Flying J's are Travel Plazas that cater to truckers and RV's. Their numerous services include gas, a dump stations, propane, fast food restaurant, limited groceries, and even showers and a barber shop. However, the best feature of all is the RV section that allows overnight parking.

They are conveniently located on most of the interstates (except for the East Coast)

Travelogue

Too bad the weather had put a damper on our last two days and caused us to cut our vacation a day short, because otherwise it had been a really great trip—not as dramatic and exciting as some our trips in the past, but really fun nonetheless.

Now it was time to get back to reality. Andrew had the GREs in 3 days and Tommy had to head back up to school the following weekend to lead a freshman orientation backpacking trip. After spending so much time together over the last week, I wasn’t sure whether I was looking forward to or dreading how quiet the house would be when they left. In either case, it is what it is and we would adjust once more.

Description

Our home in Upper Saddle River, a suburb of New York City.

Travelogue

We just couldn’t leave Canada without having a donut and coffee at a Tim Hortons, so right before reaching the border, we made this obligatory stop. Also, I figured it would give me a chance to get rid of the Canadian money I had left in my wallet.

The border crossing was a breeze once again, and we soon found ourselves on the familiar Adirondack Highway, pretty much a straight line home for us. However, since it was already dinner time and the rainy driving conditions weren’t great, we decided to find a place to stay for the night and then just finish up the drive in the morning.

I consulted the Woodall’s guide for a campground that wouldn’t take us too far off route. Somewhat subconsciously, I think I was also looking for something that might be fun if the weather cleared the next morning. The Ausable River Campground, just a short distance off Exit 35 seemed about right, and very near to a place I remember visiting when I was a child, Ausable Chasms.

We followed the signs for the campground and eventually pulled down a dark road past a dark deserted campground office. We weren’t sure what to do, but we certainly didn’t want to continue driving any further, so we continued driving along the road past the office into the campground itself. We noticed several empty sites in the woods along the way before coming to a more open area full of happy, partying campers. What a contrast with the deserted and quiet wooded sites we had just passed through. This was the area down by the Ausable River, and I guess it was where all the action was, rather than back in the woods. Eventually, we found the owners’ campsite and asked if we could have a site for the night. She looked in the RV, saw the boys, and suggested that we might want a site down here so the boys could socialize with the other young campers. Herb and I had to laugh, because we knew that was not even remotely on their agenda for the night. We politely declined and took a site back up in the woods towards the entrance.

Unfortunately, the next morning we woke up to more rain, and I knew that my hope of squeezing a little more vacation out of this trip was over. Oh well, it was time to head home.

Description

The Ausable River Campground is located on Route 9, just off I87 between Exits 34 and 35. It is 12 miles south of Plattsburgh, NY.

The 120-site campground is located on 130 acres along the Ausable River within the Adirondack Park. Activities include fishing, boating, and swimming on the Ausable River as well as bicycling or walking along its wilderness trails.

The most popular nearby attraction is Ausable Chasms, a 2-mile-long sandstone gorge through which the Ausable River flows. It is fed by the Rainbow Falls at its southern extreme, and eventually empties into Lake Champlain. There is a 2-mile “Rim Walk” along the edge of the rim looking down into the chasm, as well as low-key raft rides through the gorge.

The following is the website for Ausable Chasms: http://www.ausablechasm.com/assets/pdf/Welcome_map.pdf

Travelogue

Boys running from Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne CampgroundAfter a very satisfying lunch in Baie St. Paul we continued on to our planned destination for the night: the Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne. We had decided to add this park to our itinerary after a father and son that we met on the Isle-aux-Coudres, who came from Mont-Sainte-Anne, told us that it had miles and miles of trails for mountain biking and running. Plus it wasn’t too far off our route to the Parc National du Mont-Tremblant where we had camping reservations for the weekend.

I had mentioned in the previous stop that there is a different sort of feeling that one gets when the half way, or now heading towards home, point of a trip is reached, but I think none of us felt it as hard as Andrew, who was scheduled to take the GREs a few days after our return home. It was time to really kick into gear on the studying, and I must say he really did. However, being confined together in such close quarters, we had to find a way for him to do this without driving the rest of us crazy. Going through his little box of the 500 most commonly used words on the GRE and using them on us whenever appropriate, and oftentimes when not even remotely appropriate, definitely improved our vocabulary, but began to get on our nerves. Then there were the timed practice tests where we all had to be quiet so he could concentrate. This was not going to work. Tommy was ready to choke him.

Lolo Swinging AroundWhen we got to the campground in Mont-Sainte-Anne, he was banished to a picnic table on a nearby vacant campsite, where he could take his practice tests undisturbed, and we could speak above a whisper. I was quite proud of him; this was vacation after all, and he was working awfully hard. Hopefully his efforts would pay off.

Herb and I decided to take our bikes to explore the campground and try to figure out the mountain biking trails. It was really a very nice campground with spacious, wooded, sites. A short distance from our site there was a small lake for swimming and a bit further on we came across a feature that I had never seen in a campground before—an animal farm, complete with goats and sheep. The mountain biking trails that led from the campground were a little more confusing than we had anticipated, and we weren’t sure exactly where we were going. At one point we came out of the woods onto a big playground that I could not picture being allowed to exist in the U.S. It was actually very cool. Besides trampolines, old fashioned see-saws, and a device you could hang on and swing madly around a pole, there was an entire obstacle course with fences to climb, tunnels to go through, rope bridges to cross, etc. Rather than injuring myself right way, I decided to come back later with the boys—they hate missing an opportunity to see me do something foolish.

Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne Llama?Part of our objective for this bike ride was to find a good trail for the boys to go on a long run, but the ones we went on were confusing and not particularly great for running. Having nothing better to report back to them, I suggested they run along the road back out to Route 360, where the map showed a trail that ran alongside the highway. While they did that, Herb and I went out for a run too and headed in the same direction that they went. However, shortly after leaving the campground, we noticed a sign for the Le circuit Jean-Larose trail that led off to the right into the woods. It traced a lovely stream through a peaceful forest for most of its 7.5 km before ending at the parking lot at the base of Mont-Sainte-Anne. I only wish I had known about this trail before the boys went out on their run. It would have been so much nicer running along this wooded stream than along a boring road. They did, however, get to run this trail early the next morning before we left for Mont-Tremblant.

After the boys got back to the campground, and confirmed that my suggested run was indeed boring, I asked them to come with me to the “extreme” playground that I found. We went through the obstacle course together, swung around on the crazy swing, and generally had a lot of laughs, most of them at my expense.

Description

Extreme Lolo on Obstacle CourseThe Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne is a very popular, year-round wilderness resort centered around the 2,625 foot mountain of the same name.

Winter activities in the park include downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, dog-sledding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. It was named by Ski Canada as the best spring skiing destination in the east.

In summer and fall, the mountain and its surrounding area turns into a mountain biker’s paradise, and even served as the host of the 2010 Mountain Bike and Trail World Championships. Besides the hard core trails down the mountain itself, there are miles and miles of much milder trails for all levels of expertise.

Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne is located just 40 minutes northeast of Quebec City. To get to the park, exit off of Route 138 onto Route 360 east near the town of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré.

There is a 166-site campground within the park, just 7 km east of the alpine ski area. The campground has a large lake for swimming, mountain bike trails, a playground, and even an animal farm.

Travelogue

Fairmont Le Manoir RichelieuWe had a full-day planned—a stop in La Malbaie to do a little gambling—Tommy’s idea, as he is 19 and too young to gamble in the U.S.—and then onto the town of Tadoussac, to hopefully spot some whales in Saguenay Bay.

We didn’t even stop for breakfast or to fully wake up the boys, but just headed out to catch the 7:00 ferry to Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive. I think Herb was in a hurry to just get that 18% grade hill behind us, which by the way he was now referring to as the “Drive of Death,” or more romantically in French, the “Trajet de Mort.” I don’t think it was as bad as we expected. We just threw it in low gear and chugged along slowly up the hill. We stopped at a scenic pullout to have breakfast and rest the transmission. The views of the river and Isle-aux-Coudres in the distance were quite lovely; equally lovely to Herb was the fact that most of the hill was now below us.

French speaking BumblebeeOur route took us along the scenic Route du Fleuve, up and down hills with frequent views of the river to our right. We skipped stopping at the village of St-Irenee and continued on directly to La Malbaie where we found a large, very RV friendly parking lot near the famous hotel, the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu. At the parking lot’s edge, there was an interesting trail that ran along the bluff above the river. To the right the trail went off into the woods, but to the left it led to the hotel and casino. We went left, and in a very short time arrived at a terraced patio outside the very impressive Norman-style chateau, where guests were delightfully dining al fresco. The boys and I went in to the hotel to have a peak, while Herb remained outside to take some photos. We later found him relaxing in one of the Adirondack chairs looking out over the water. What a beautiful place. No wonder the rich and famous Americans of the late 19th and early 20th century came here to vacation.

Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu water viewA little bit further along the path we came to the casino, which wasn’t even open yet. While waiting outside, we discussed our strategy. Herb’s strategy for success was to not even enter the casino—he hates gambling. I think it all goes back to some childhood trauma where he bet and lost the entire contents of his piggy bank to his father, who was teaching him a lesson about the risks of gambling. Apparently, it worked and he hasn’t gambled since. The boys and I saw things differently and thought that everything, or almost everything, should be tried once. As long as we could maintain some control and stick to our plan of only betting up to $20, we thought that we couldn’t lose. After all, we would pay that much for the experience of a movie or bowling, so even if we lost it all, we were still the better for our experience, or some logic like that.

So when the doors of the casino opened, we and our $20 were the first ones in. Tommy was immediately IDed, but proudly displayed his license and was waved through. We spent quite some time wandering around, assessing which machine would offer us the biggest jackpot. We wanted to stay away from the tables, because we really didn’t know what we were doing, and the bets required at the tables would cause us to blow through our $20 far too quickly. I was hoping to find a $1 blackjack machine. I had fond memories of spending hours on one of these machines in Atlantic City when I was the boys’ age. I was convinced at the time that I had an unbeatable system. Every time I lost, I doubled my bet. By the end of the day, I had exactly broken even and left Atlantic City proudly with my $20 in tact. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a blackjack machine, so we dabbled on a few slots instead. After mostly losing with a few sporadic wins, we eventually fought our way back up to $17. We considered ourselves winners and called it quits.

Having accomplished what we had come to do, we decided to move on towards Tadoussac.

Description

Parents at Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu - AJGThe town of Malbaie is located in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, 87 miles northeast of Quebec City. It can be reached via Route 138, which is the major highway through the region, or by the much more scenic Route du Fleuve (“River Route”) or Route 362, which winds its way for 30 miles from the villages of Baie-St-Paul to La Malbaie along the cliffs overlooking the river. The views along the River Route are spectacular.

La Malbaie is situated at the mouth of the Malbaie River, where it flows into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly known as Murray Bay by the wealthy Americans who have been vacationing here since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. President William-Howard Taft was a frequent visitor.

La Malbaie is home to the Charlevoix region’s grandest resort: the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, often referred to as “the castle on the hill.” This Norman-style chateau, complete with towers and turrets, was built in 1899 to accommodate the aristocratic tourists that came to enjoy its luxurious décor and the spectacular views of the St. Lawrence River.
Another major draw to the town is the Charlevoix Casino with its 950 slot machines and 24 tables, including Texas hold-em, blackjack, roulette, and minibaccarat. Visitors must be 18 years or older.

Travelogue

Lolo of the RVWe often like leaving late afternoon or early evening of the day prior to our planned departure. It always gives us the impression of getting a jump on things. That way the first “real” day of vacation is not just driving, but can contain some actual fun.

So we headed out of the driveway around 8:00 pm – we didn’t want to get to our less than exciting destination too early, as there is not too much to entertain yourself with at a Rest Area or a Walmart parking lot. You want to be nice and sleepy by the time you arrive, so that you can just pull down the shades and pretend you are somewhere else.

I had thoroughly researched our possibilities of a free overnight camping spot along the Northway. Although several travel blogs indicated that it was fine to spend the night in a Rest Area, just to be safe I wrote an email to the Adirondack Northway authorities to ask—probably not the best idea, as I think the policy is an unstated and unofficial one. I was told that the state frowns on camping in rest areas, but that a few hours would be okay, as long as we didn’t idle the motor. However, he did give me two other good ideas: a truckstop at Exit 36 and a Walmart at Plattsburgh Exit 37.

Despite the official advice, we did spend the night at the Schroon Lake Rest Area. It was just so much more convenient to stay on the highway than trying to find the Walmart. We figured we couldn’t get in too much trouble, as, after all, we were officially told we could sleep a few hours. How were they to know that we weren’t just there for just a few hours, and few is a rather subjective term. I even brought along the email, just in case.

We slept fine and rose early to head towards the border. The boys always look forward to a good border search. For some reason, me acting all nervous like I am trying to hide something seems to entertain them. We actually experienced a quite thorough one when we went to Campobello Island in 2004. I told them that it was not our goal to repeat this experience.

Description

Interstate I87 runs 334 miles along the eastern edge of New York State from the Bronx all the way to the Canadian border, where it continues towards Montreal as Autoroute 15. The portion of I87 south of Albany is called the New York State Thruway, and it has several full-service rest areas. Once you get north of Albany, the name of I87 changes to the Adirondack Northway. While there are still several rest stops on the Adirondack Northway, they do not have restaurants or gas stations. However, they do have picnic areas, vending machines, and restrooms.

There are nine rest stops along the Adirondack Northway between Albany and the Canadian border. The following is a link describing their locations and facilities: http://www.adirondacknorthway.net/exits/nbreststops.php

Although the state does not sanction camping overnight in these rest stops, you are officially allowed to spend a few hours resting there, as long as you are not idling your motor.

Travelogue

Drying Clothes Woke up at 6:00 feeling very well-rested. I stepped out onto our porch into bright sunlight, which had nicely dried our socks, which had been carefully draped over the wooden railing. This would be our last day on the trail - a mere 3.8 miles on the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, leading to Route 16 where we could conveniently catch a shuttle bus that would bring us back to the Liberty Springs Trailhead at Franconia State Park - our starting destination from a week earlier. I had mixed feelings about our trip coming to an end. While my body was incredibly fatigued and I craved a shower to cleanse the 7 days of sweat and dirt from by body, I wasn't sure that I was ready to remove myself from the extremely simple and enjoyable lifestyle that I had now grown so accustomed to. We had covered a huge variety of beautiful landscape over the past week, but in essence every day was essentially the same - wake-up, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, sleep. I had gotten pretty used to this lifestyle and I wasn't sure that I was ready to give it up for the more civilized existence I would be forced to adapt to when I arrived home.

Nineteen Mile Brook TrailAnyway, we said farewell to our new friends at Carter Notch Hut and hit the trail. The hike back was a relatively easy trail - wide and well-maintained - that ran along a nice little brook. We were pretty much all business on the way back - no snack or photo breaks as we wanted to ensure that we wouldn't miss the shuttle bus picking us up at the parking lot at Route 16. It turned out that this wouldn't be an issue, as the guy driving the AMC Shuttle was a good 25 minutes late, which gave us plenty of time to goof around in the parking lot taking pictures at the trailhead, eating nutella, doing abs, and even eating nutella while doing abs.

Sit-ups while eating NutellaThe shuttle finally showed up and we each gave the nice old man $19 for a ride back. We were the only two on the bus and the driver was very keen on talking to us. Unfortunately we couldn't really understand what this guy was saying, so the conversation involved a lot of "Oh, yeah's" and "uhhum's" on our end. This shuttle ride also involved a layover at the Highland Visitors Center in Crawford Notch, where our driver informed us that he would be taking an hour lunch break. Fortunately it was a beautiful day, so Nik and I didn't mind the opportunity to lounge around and check things out. I couldn't help but buy myself an overpriced turkey sub at the food place in the Visitors Center. Nik, however, had more will-power than I and refrained from paying for a sandwich, opting for leftover peanut butter, powerbars, and cheese instead.

The Hike's EndpointEventually our driver was done with his lunch and was ready to bring Nik and I back to Liberty Springs. As we pulled into the parking lot, I was very pleased to see that the ol' Civic was still there in one piece. Rather than depart right away on the 6-hour trek back to New Jersey, we killed a good hour in the parking lot goofing around more - listening to music, taking pictures, etc. Morale was through the roof.

The drive back went smoothly. I drove the first half while Nik chilled, and then Nik drove the second half. The parents were certainly pleased to see us back home in one piece, but were less than thrilled with our grimy and greasy appearance that we had developed over the past 8 days. I took a shower almost immediately, while Nik may have waited another week or so to do so.

The CivicAnd so our trip came to close. While there were certainly times on our 65 mile trek where we were both miserable, the hike was an overwhelming success. We had created enough memories that we could talk for hours hysterically recounting various anecdotes and encounters from our trip. While the contrast of our week of hiking and living in the wilderness with our normal everyday life was huge - each of them really makes you appreciate the other more. I could only wish there was more time spent hiking and less time spent in the "real-world", but I suppose there is always next summer. I can only wait and hope that my hiking partner feels the same.

Travelogue

Well, I have to admit it, that despite all my pre-trip concerns about the Southeast in August, this trip had actually been a lot of fun. It was much different from our other summer adventures – a little less adventure but a bit more play and relaxation -- but still very much worthwhile.

Also, we all had some pretty good tans to show off.

Description

Our home in Upper Saddle River, a suburb of New York City.

Travelogue

Dona & Scott with their Beach BuggyFortunately Donna and Scott are the type of friends upon whose doorstep you can arrive at dinner time, because that's exactly what we did.

Our friendship went way back to a time before either of us had children. Then we both got pregnant—Donna and I that is, not Herb and Scott—at the same time (both times) and each of us produced two wonderful sons who got along as well as their parents did. It was perfect. There was someone for everyone. Now the boys were all fully grown and going off to college. Our lives always seemed to parallel each other. Their boys were even going to the same college together (William & Mary) as ours had chosen to do as well (Williams College). Our visit felt like we had never been apart.

We had been to Virginia Beach several times in the past, even before the Bleakleys moved here. There is a truly wonderful state park located right on the Chesapeake Bay near the bridge called First Landing State Park that we have stayed at several times in the past. Besides a lovely beach on the Bay it has miles of hiking and biking trails along lagoons, forested dunes, and bald cypress swamps. It’s one of the few places north of the Carolinas where the trees are draped with Spanish moss. This time, however, we were camping in the Bleakley’s driveway, a full-service campground with home-cooked meals and an open bar. They had a wonderful setup—a beautiful piece of property right on an inlet leading out to Chesapeake Bay, with their own dock to keep their boat at. And, it was also in easy biking distance to both First Landing State Park as well as the Atlantic Ocean beaches of Virginia Beach.

The "Scott Land"We certainly made the most of our one full-day together. In the morning, the adults bike rode along the Cape Henry Trail in First Landing State Park while the boys ran it. This really is one of my favorite trails. The soft surface is perfect for running and the scenery as it meanders alongside a cypress swamp through a Spanish moss draped forest makes you forget that you are actually exercising.

We decided to spend the afternoon at the beach, which was just a short bike ride away. Donna and Scott, however, were going to ride their new toy to the beach: a golf cart. We loaded it up with beach chairs, towels, and a giant cooler and set off. I couldn’t stop laughing the entire ride. Every time I looked at them, all I could think of was Fred and Wilma Flintstone. The beach was great fun, and had a perfect surf to play in.

Andrew and Lolo on Jet SkiThe day wasn’t over yet. Scott still had some more fun toys to play with. He showed Andrew and Tommy how to drive his pair of jet skis and set them loose. They had a great time whizzing around the bay. We skipped the kayaks and went directly to Scott’s newest and largest toy, the Scottland, his 45 foot Carver. We grabbed some wine and hors d’oeuvres and headed out to sea – or at least to the bay. The boys met us on the jet skis and Andrew took me on a wild ride, which was very invigorating.

After dinner that night, we played another rowdy game of Catch Phrase, an old Bleakley/Gaidus classic. The previous night had resulted in a squeaker of a victory for the Gaiduses, or at least that’s the way I remember it. For this evening’s play, we broke up families and played the kids against the parents. Quicker reflexes and less wine consumption won the day, and the adults suffered a humiliating defeat.

The next morning we said goodbye to the Bleakleys and headed on home. Visiting with them had been a perfect way to wind down our trip.

Description

Camping in the DrivewayFriend's house along a lagoon in Virginia Beach