New York, Maine, Nova Scotia, and ARKANSAS?

[andy29847]

After working through some challenges the first half of 2016, My wife and I launched a trip to Yankee Land. We planned to visit the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome near Rhinebeck, NY, Acadia National Park in Maine, Nova Scotia, Vermont, and Arkansas. Which one of these is different?

This will be a multi-post report - we have a lot of pictures.

We took 3 days to travel from South Carolina to NY, driving mostly on the interstate highways. We had a fun stop near Natural Bridge, Va area were we found the Pink Cadillac.







We crossed the Hudson River at the Kingston Bridge headed for Interlake RV Park. It was good to be off the super slab and we found the New York countryside to be very scenic.





The Interlake RV Park was full. We got there on the last weekend before the start of school. There were a lot of kids and a lot for them to do. We had a good camping spot and enjoyed the family friendly environment. The reason for being in the area was to see the weekend airshow at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.













Visiting the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome had been on my bucket lsit for nearly 30 years. It was worth the wait.

We also spent some time looking at the surrounding countryside. Rhinebeck, NY is a beautiful little town.





Hyde Park is just a few miles south of Rhinebeck.





Thsi is a very nice picnic set.


And a view across the Hudson River.


More to come....

[JMonroe]

Thanks for the trip report. I look forward to more posts. Old Rhinebeck has been on my list for a long time too.

[andy29847]

From Rhinebeck, we headed towards Acadia National Park. Most of our drive was on I-90, the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was an easy drive but I hated paying the tolls. We took 2 days for the trip, stopping overnight at the Salisbury Beach State Park. The park was cheap an within walking distance of the water. The campground was a place to stay, not a destination.




The beech was beautiful.








The next day we drove through Maine to Acadia National Park. We stayed near the park in Trenton, ME, at the narrows Too RV Resort. The resort was expensive (like everything around the park) but we had a waterfront lot with a terrific view of the Mount Desert Narrows.





https://photos.smugmug.com/Vacation/...8240013-XL.jpg


We visited our first Lobster Pound - yummy!








The next morning we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise.





And we walked along the edge of the water as the tide went out.

[andy29847]

Our first trip to Acadia National Park was a motorcycle ride on the "quiet side of the island."

The tide was way out.







That afternoon we went to Thunderhole. It was a little bit of a flop for us. No thunder and too many people there.







From Thunderhole, we rode to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Looking down on Bar Harbor, or, as they say in Maine, "Ba Haba".



Speaking of Bar Harbor...

[andy29847]

The Staff at the Narrows Too RV Resort hosted a "Lobster Experience" one of the nights we were staying there. We bought some Lobsters from the Down East Lobster Pound and took them back to the campground were we were shown how to cook, peel and eat Lobster. The campground provided all the trimmings and it was ummmmm good.

[andy29847]

Next up - Nova Scotia



Lunenberg







My friends from the Duck family at Rayport Campground.







Peggy's Cove







Oak Island



Mahone Bay



The Oven Natural Preserve











Blue Rock







More Nova Scotia to come...

[andy29847]

Nova Scotia is BIG! After a week near Mahone Bay, we moved north to get closer to Cape Breton Island. On the way over we stopped at our first Tim Horton's.



We stayed a Linwood Harbor Campground, just a few miles from the causeway to Cape Breton. Linwood Harbor CG is a great place to stay. The owners are friendly, the campground is immaculate, and the location is very good.







The next pictures are from our drive around the island, mostly on the Cabot Trail.

[IC2]

Just subscribing for a step back a couple years as you have covered some of the same places we have and may again next spring.

Great photos

[andy29847]

IC2 - thanks for the encouragement.

A lot of the people we talked to about Nova Scotia said we had to visit Meat Cove. Meat Cove is the Northern most settlement in Nova Scotia. It is a long way from Linwood Harbor. My wife and I decided to leave our camper at the campground, drive to Meat Cove, spend the night in the Meat Cove Campground, the drive back to the RV the next day. It was our best decision of the trip - Meat Cove rocks!

Meat Cove Campground from road to Meat Cove.


The beach at Meat Cove.


More beach





Our cabin



Meat Cove Chowder House



Sundown



Sunrise



Morning campfire



Morning hike.



View of campground from the top of the trail.



I guess you can tell - we really liked Meat Cove

[andy29847]

One of the things I like the best about my tip to Nova Scotia was how polite and friendly the people of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were. I had to be on my best behavior to fit in. When we left Nova Scotia, we went Northwest to Quebec, and then South to Vermont. One afternoon in Montmangy was enough to make me revert to my old ways. The people in Quebec are different.

However, Vermont was wondeful! We stayed at the 10 Acre Campground, on the shores of Lake Champlain. This campground is in a great location, the owners were very friendly, and the campground was well kept. Most of the campground it occupied by seasonal campers. I got a spot out front with a view of the lake.







I loved Lake Champlain!









I had some fun taking pcitures in the pond near our camper too.

[plasma800]

Fantastic!!!

[IC2]

About Lake Champlain - Shhhhhhh!!! Keep it a secret. Most of it is still unspoiled by commercialism. We have a summer seasonal on the lake where we park and spend most weekends when not traveling but in Westport, NY instead of Vermont. As a matter of fact, we just pulled our 5er out today about noon for its long winters nap in the driveway

Again, great photos -

[andy29847]

We went to Vermont to meet some friends and do some motorcycle riding. We had breakfast every morning at the Bridge Restaurant. Good food!



Mmmmm!! French toast and Bacon.



The guy in the middle of the pic, the one with the melon head, is giving the morning briefing. Mike is a Vermont native and a great tour guide. The briefing lasted too long, and the guy on the right has zoned out. He later said he was channeling the Moody Blues.









It rained a little in mid-day



One of the highlights was a visit with Mike's 98 year old aunt. She had never ridden a motorcycle and inisted that Mike take her around the block.



One of the things we saw on our motorcycle ride was the Billings Farm National Historic Park in Woodstock. My wife and I went back for the full tour and made some new friends.







My wife and I also crossed the bridge into New York to see the ruins at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.









We also picked out a small cabin for our summer home.

[andy29847]

We only had a week to spend in Vermont because I had a motorcycle ride scheduled with my Motorcycle Tourer's Forum (The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum ) buddies in Arkansas. We took 3 days to drive home (South Carolina), then a few days at home to wash clothes and change bikes, then three days to drive to Shady Oaks CG near Harrison, AR. The motorcycle ride started from "The Hub" near Harrison, and we rode around Arkansas on dirt roads for 3 days. A fine time was had by all.

One of the riders, Ken, has a really expensive camera and knows how to use it. He took several great portrait shots.











My pictures were taken using an Olympus TG-3 (tough camera - point and shoot).













After a week in Arkansas, we headed for home. We had a fabulous trouble free 8 weeks on the road, and can't wait to go out again.