New York - October 7-9/14 - Travel Days - Homeward Bound

Tuesday, October 7

Woke to a drenching rain which was intermittent until we reached the Vermont boarder. The objective today was to find an overnight spot  just on the other side of Lake Champlain in New York. We decided to take the ferry from Charlotte, Vermont to Essex, New York. Our timing was perfect, arrived and purchased a ticket ($18 for the crossing), drove on and were on our way for the 25 minute ride, ending the day at the Magic Pines Campground. A lovely, rustic camp, with a thick carpet of pine needles. Chatted with the very friendly owner after supper.
We would have enjoyed the drive through the Adirondack Mountains much more if it wasn't for the rain and very high winds. One more camp night before crossing the boarder and then home.
(I will do one more post with a couple of stats from the trip. As you can see by the posting dates for the blog, it's taken much longer than I had wished. Not sure if I'll do another one on a somewhat daily basis. We'll see)

And the rains came down. Good traveling day.

Low clouds

A little stop to see this covered bridge in Swiftwater. It is #29 and was built in 1849.

One lane

As soon as we arrived and were onboard, the ferry was on it's way across Lake Champlain.

Passing boats on moorings

A windy but smooth trip. 

Passing another ferry

About to dock in Essex, New York. The ferry ride saved us many travel hours and miles, had we driven around the bottom of the lake. 

Intermittent sun

Checked in at the office and they honoured the 50% discount since we were Passport America members. Cost was $14.

A very soft carpet of pine needles

Looks are deceiving, everything was very clean.

There seemed to be a whole Canadian contingent there. Most were seasonal campers.

Enjoyed our little stay there.

Wednesday, October 8

Another rainy morning as we made our way toward Lake Placid to check out a spot for the night.

How quaint!

The sun pushed it's way from behind clouds, but not for long. What a terrific drive through the Adirondack Mountains, winding, steep and scenic.

In full colour

Had seen better days.

Checked out this country store in Keene

We had been here once before when an ice fall covered the cliff and challenged climbers.

Olympic ski jumps in Lake Placid. We checked at a RV park in town but they were way too expensive so decided to move on.

This campground is just before crossing the boarder into Canada in the 1000 Islands. 

One last night on the road.

After settling in, I noticed that the TV antenna was bent. For most of the day we had extremely high winds and it was a white knuckle drive. A truck had his tarp in shreds and trucks pulling trailers were weaving. Not a fun day.

Thursday, October 9

After a blowing night in camp, we were crossing the Ivy Lea Bridge back into Canada.
It was a long driving day and we arrived safely home.

New Hampshire - October 6/14 - Lost River Campground, Woodstock

Monday, October 6

Up early and after a restaurant breakfast it was time to re-provision in Conway. Ouch. Our route took us through the White Mountains on the Kancamagus Highway, a beautiful winding, scenic drive. Ended our day at the Lost River Campground in Woodstock.

We had a choice of many sites, but it will be different story as the park is fully booked for their Columbus holiday in the upcoming weekend.

Reflection

There is a lovely little pond across the road from the camp.

They might see action once more this coming weekend.

Maine - October 4-5/14 - Fort Knox - L.L. Bean, Freeport

Saturday, October 5

We made one more stop in Bar Harbor before touring Fort Knox, on the Penobscott River at Bucksport and ending the day in Freeport, where the L.L. Bean flagship store is the big attraction.

A foggy morning as we left Bar Harbor

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory at Bucksport. The top of the tower
had an observation deck, but it was too hazy to take advantage of it.

Fort Knox was the first and largest granite fort built in Maine and is named after Major General Henry Knox, America's first Secretary of War. The other Fort Knox in Kentucky was also named after him. 

Construction of this massive fort was started in 1844.

Gun powder magazine

Cannons were situated completely around the fort.

No ships ever appeared on the Penobscot River to threaten the towns during the Civil War or the
Spanish-American War.

A 10-inch Rodman cannon.

The outer wall

The fort had 135 cannon mounts, but only 74 were brought to the site.

This 15-inch Rodman cannon could fire a solid 450-pound canon ball over 3 miles.

Cannon ball were to be fed into the furnace, heated red hot and then fired, but it was never used.

A brick outer wall to the fort.

Another seaport along Route 1.

An arts and books market was underway at Camden.

The Camden harbour 

A very popular seaport.

This small river ran out from under shops in town.

Would have loved to spend a bit more time here, but the pouring rain made us move on to Freeport.

 Freeport

Store founder

Freeport had almost every kind of high end store. 

Decorated for the season

We were lucky to find a spot right in town that was very RV friendly and were able to park there for the night.
After a short walk in town we called it a day, and a full one it was, once again.

Sunday, October 5

How's that for colour?

The sun was out today and so were the many tourists, especially since there was a Fall Festival underway, featuring art, food and music, being held at the L.L. Bean centre.

Who could fill this shoe?

Great entertainment

Some tasty tomatoes

A flowing stream outside the store

Two full size moose are on display inside the store. The racks of two moose that were locked together when found, in 2005 and died of starvation, were used to show how they might have fought. The bodies were recreated around the locked racks that were never separated. 

This boot was made for driving

After walking, shopping and just plain checking everything out in town, we were ready for another quiet night in the parking lot. Getting two free nights right in a busy tourist town was such a treat.