Our End-of-Summer Travels

         We got to our campground in New Hampshire on July 30, and the next day we took a trip to the White Mountains in the north-central section of the state.  We drove the famous Kancamangus Highway as well, and though it was pretty, I can imagine how stunning it would be in autumn when the leaves are turning. 

Along the Kancamangus Highway there are several points of interest to pull over at, and this waterfall was my favorite.  A short hike through woods beside a rushing creek led to this beautiful little waterfall. 

The creek beside the trail leading to the waterfall

My dad loves searching for rocks and minerals, which is what he's doing here

Mia likes exploring 

Albany Covered Bridge along the Kancamangus (Kanc) Highway

There are several scenic overlooks along the Kanc Highway as well

Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, another stop along Kancamangus Highway

New Hampshire forests, like Maine forests, are a popular spot for mushrooms of all shapes, sizes, and colors

          Another day, we went to Ascutney State Park in Vermont, and this state park had some beautiful hikes with great views.  Our first trail, which we hiked in the morning, ended at a lovely waterfall with a scenic vista of the blue mountains and green tree tops in the distance.  Our second trail was to the top of Ascutney Peak, and this trail was my favorite.  The afternoon sunlight fell golden through the trees, landing on the mossy rocks and branches along the trail, transforming the forest into a magical and peaceful little world. There were plenty of mushrooms along this trail as well, and paragliders and hangliders soared quietly overhead, taking in the scenery of the land below.  I really recommend this trail, and if you do it in the afternoon or early evening like we did, you won't be sorry! 

The view at the end of our first trail in Ascutney State Park

The waterfall at the end of our first trail

Some little mushrooms along our second trail

The beauty of the sun-dappled forest didn't show up the same in our pictures, it was so much dreamier in real life 

One of the spectacular views on our hike to the peak of Mount Ascutney. The white dash in the center lower half of the photo is a hanglider

          Franconia Notch State Park was definitely one of our favorite day trips that we did in New Hampshire. We started our day out on the steep Lonesome Lake Trail, which my mom declared as one of her new top favorite hikes we have done. After a steep climb up the mountain, we leveled off and took an old boardwalk around the lake, which had very pretty scenery. Then we stopped for lunch on the lake dock, which was a pretty awesome view for lunch. On our way back around the other side of the lake, we stopped at the Appalachian Trail huts that were just off of the trail. These little huts were made up of a few bunkhouses, bathrooms (with composting toilets), and a hut with food and drinks for sale.  All of this is for the people hiking the Appalachian Trail, so that they have somewhere to stop for the night for a meal and shelter.  We just got a quick snack here before continuing on the Lonesome Lake trail, but I thought the huts were so cute, like a remote little village tucked away in the mountains. 

I don't have photos of the first section of Lonesome Lake Trail, the steep forested section, but here's a shot of the boardwalk on the second part of the trail.

We like packing sandwiches on hikes because they're really easy and don't take up a lot of space. 

Mia likes to bring a book on our hikes, and whenever we stop for a break, she takes it out and reads a little. 

Soup at the Appalacian Trail hut 

        We did another trail that afternoon, and this one was called Artists Bluff and Bald Mountain Peak.  This trail had fabulous views of the landscape below and the green mountains surrounding us, as you'll see in the pictures below. This trail was also steep, like the Lonesome Lake trail earlier today, but totally worth it.  If you are anywhere near Franconia Notch State Park, I recommend a day trip out here, because it's a great New Hampshire gem. 

Our first viewpoint

Our second viewpoint, from Bald Mountain peak!

        One day we went to Salem, Massachusetts; which is known, of course, for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  If you don't know what the witch trials were, it was an event where innocent people were accused of witchcraft based on the "testimonies" of individuals in the Salem community. As a result of shoddy and highly erroneous trials in court, mass hysteria, and tensions between neighbors; twenty-five people died. Nineteen were hanged, one man was pressed to death, and five others died in jail.  Finally, upon hearing that his own wife was convicted of witchcraft, the Governor of Massachusetts stepped in and stopped the witch trials that were causing so much suspicion and disaster.  The Salem Witch Trials ended in 1693, and soon Salem residents began to be ashamed of the witch trials that they had started.  Some people even changed their names to avoid being identified as a descendant of someone who had participated in the highly unjust trials.  But today, people in Salem have really embraced their "witchy" past, making it a very strange place to visit. 

The memorial for Sarah Good, one of the first three women accused of being a witch in the Salem Witch Trials

Elizabeth Howe's memorial. 

Giles Corey was the only accused witch pressed to death, and he was accused of witchcraft after testifying against his own wife and then recanting his accusation against her. 

Salem has a ton of historic homes, though there's only one house still standing that actually relates to the Salem Witch Trials. Keep scrolling for my picture of that house. 

More beautiful old houses; this time by the harbor. 

Derby Wharf Light Station was built in 1871, and I thought it looked like a giant-sized salt shaker. Do you agree?

The gibraltars (a type of hard candy) in this jar are roughly 200 years old! We found this jar of ancient candy in Ye Olde Pepper Companie (see the photo below), which is America's oldest candy company. 

This is a scale model of The House of Seven Gables--yes, this is the same house Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about in his famous book The House of the Seven Gables.  Nathanel Hawthorne was born in Salem and was actually descended from one of the judges in the witch trials, John Hathorne. If you noticed the missing "w" in John Hathorne's name, that's because Nathaniel Hawthorne changed his last name by adding a "w" to avoid association with this infamous member of the witch trials. Nathaniel Hawthorne has another tie to Salem, and this was probably my favorite one. The customs house across from the Salem harbor (which I saw with my own eyes when we were here) is the very same customs house where Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote one of his most well-known novels; The Scarlet Letter. I have read this book before, so it was really cool to see the actual place where the book was thought up and written. 

If you can't tell, I've taken an interest in dance poses with Mia lately 

The Witch House is the only structure still standing in Salem that directly relates to the witch trials. This house was purchased by Jonathan Corwin in 1675, who later took part in the witch trials as a judge. 

Chestnut Street is the oldest street in Salem, and it has plenty of super-historic homes. We took a stroll here before dinner, and I took the opportunity to do a couple more photos with Mia. 

        On our last day in New Hampshire, my mom and Mia and I did a day out to Boston!  If you can't tell, Mia and I are big fans of this city. 😆  Are you now convinced that you should make time for a trip here?

Mia and I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum (my mom isn't much of a museum/art person, so she sat in the lobby and waited for us) and it was so beautiful. In the picture above, Mia is looking out on the courtyard. 

The English Tapestry room felt like a place where great medieval kings and knights would have grand feasts 

The lovely French room

Waiting for our train to the North End (a trip to Boston wouldn't be complete without some food from the North End!)

             We spent two weeks in New Hampshire, and then we moved to another campground on the southern coast of Maine. From here, we were a short distance away from many of Maine's most well-known towns, including Kennebunkport, Portland, and Ogunquit. 

On Commercial Street in Portland, there's a section of the Berlin Wall on the harbor that we stopped to see

Lovely view of one of the harbors off of Commercial Street

 

This plaque was at the Portland Head Light. It says this: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow often walked from Portland to visit this lighthouse.  The lighthouse Keepers were his friends, and it is believed he sat here for inspiration for his poem "The Lighthouse." 

We got some vegan dark chocolate gelato at the Portland Head Light, and let me tell you--this gelato was the richest, densest, smoothest,  creamiest ice cream-y treat I have ever put in my mouth. I am officially hooked on gelato. 

Portland Head Light is Maine's oldest and most popular lighthouse; not to mention the most photographed one in the United States. 

Bug Light in Portland 

Nubble Lighthouse in York

When we visited Portsmouth, NH, the city was celebrating its 400th anniversary, which was really cool. 

A big dinner was being held in the street in Portsmouth to celebrate the city's 400th anniversary 

Prescott Park in Portsmouth was actually started by two sisters who bought the land in the 1930s and took down the old dilapidated docks and structures; replacing it with a public park. Gardens were added several years later. 

If you've read many of my recent blogs, you know I have a love for flower garden photoshoots. Here's another one to add to the list--Portsmouth edition!

Kennebunkport was a pretty and charming village.  It's known as a classic New England town, as well as a home/vacation spot for celebrities. 

Mia loved this old truck that we passed while we were strolling around Kennebunkport

St. Ann's Chapel in Kennebunkport has a lovely outdoor chapel (seen above) and an indoor one (seen below)

The church from the outside

The Bush family owns a house in Kennebunkport and has vacationed here in the past

One of my favorite days at this campground in Maine was the day we rode our bikes from our campground into Ogunquit. We visited the beach, walked the popular Marginal Way, biked around downtown, and visited the quaint and charming Perkins Cove. Ogunquit felt like a very family-friendly beach vacation town, and I really enjoyed it. 

The view of the beach from Marginal Way, a paved walkway right on the seaside with many benches along the way to relax and soak up the views. 

See Mia in the center of the photo? She loves to climb over big boulders and explore. 

Some cool wildflowers along the Marginal Way

The little harbor in Perkins' Cove

        On August 21 we moved to our next campground, which was just outside of Cape Cod.  There's a lot of history and fascinating geography in this region, and some of the places we visited include Plymouth and Cape Cod National Seashore (which boasts great biking trails and lovely sandy beaches). 

        We spent our first day at the Cape Cod campground, in Newport, Rhode Island. This day was so amazing, I had such a fabulous time.  Newport is a very nice town with opulent and historic mansions and seaside views. Definitely go to Newport if you ever visit Rhode Island. We spent the first part of our day along the Cliff Walk, which is one of the most popular things to do in Newport.  This walk offers views of the famous Newport mansions on one side and the ocean on the other. But what had to be my favorite part of the day was our evening drive along Ocean Drive. This was even better than the Cliff Walk, and if you get the chance to do it around sunset, I 100% recommend it. The golden light of the setting sun makes everything even more gorgeous. 

 One part of the Cliff Walk. You can see me in the picture above, snapping away with my camera. 

Along the Cliff Walk...

The ocean-facing side of The Breakers, the Vanderbilts' famous "summer cottage." 

Another mansion along the Cliff Walk

Walking around downtown Newport, we stumbled across this beautiful street hung with colorful umbrellas

The picture above is of Mia and I at Castle Hill Lighthouse along Ocean Drive. 

We stopped in a waterfront park and this bird was just standing on the grass. At first I thought he was injured, but once I got closer I realized that he had caught something (a squirrel, most likely) and that his catch was too heavy to fly with. It was very neat to see this magnificent bird of prey up close (though I did keep a good distance, my camera lens was zoomed in to get the above shot).

Paddleboarding group out in the harbor

Doing the Ocean Drive

Another shot of Castle Hill Ligthouse

Sunset photos with Mia! 

        When we went to Plymouth, our first stop was Pilgrim's Hall Museum. This museum was great, and gave us a good background history of Plymouth and the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians who called it home.  After the museum, we walked around town, visited the waterfront, and walked down the actual first road in Plymouth that the Pilgrims made.  The road had originally been lined with the Pilgrims' houses, including William Bradford's (the first governor of Plymouth Colony).  It was a super neat road to walk down and I imagined the Pilgrims walking that same route centuries ago.  

 The above picture is of a scale model of the Mayflower that we saw in the museum. 

William Bradford's family Bible

This diagram shows how many Pilgrims died before the first Thanksgiving in 1621, a year after the Mayflower landed in America. Nearly half of the Pilgrims perished from sickness and exposure during the first winter in America. 

The baby cradle of the first child born to the Pilgrims in America; Peregrine White. 

The earliest surviving sampler in America, which was stitched by Miles Standish's daughter, Loara. 

The museum's art gallery had large paintings depicting famous scenes of the Pilgrims in America. 

On the waterfront we visited the statue of Massasoit, a leader of the Wampanoag tribe. Massasoit helped the Pilgrims survive in America. 

This huge monument on a hill overlooking the ocean depicts five values: Justice, Education, Faith, Liberty, and Morality.  You can't see all the figures in the picture above, since two of the statues are in the back, but the ones you can see depict Faith (the top statue), Liberty (the man on the left) and Morality (the woman on the right). 

This is the house of Jabez Howland, the only remaining structure that the Pilgrims spent time in. 

        One day we took our bikes and biked the Provincelands Bike Trail. We also biked to Nauset Light and Three Sisters Lighthouses. Nauset Light is the lighthouse on the Cape Cod chip bags, as you can see in the picture below. So we bought ourselves some Cape Cod chips and enjoyed them at Nauset Light. This was a really nostalgic experience for me, because before we started RV-ing, the same Easter at my nana's house when the idea to RV fulltime as a family was born; I watched a YouTube video of another RV family coming to Nauset Light and eating Cape Cod chips there. So the fact that I have now had that Cape Cod experience myself, over two years later, is really special. 

Nauset Light

Three Sisters lighthouses were so cute! They looked very prim and proper, like little ladies. In the picture above, I'm posing with the first lighthouse. In the photo below, Mia is with the second "sister."

The forest along the Provincelands Bike Trail was very unique. 

The lovely seashore

        We also biked the Cape Cod Rail Trail which was a fun day trip. I love riding our bikes and exploring a new area of the country!

 

        After our stay in Cape Cod, we headed back up to New York for two weeks.  Our location this time was near Lake George, in the Adirondack Park region of the state.  We were here during Labor Day, and the campground was full of vacationers. After Labor Day though, everything settled down and the campground emptied out quite a bit. Around the same time, the air began to take on an autumn crispness, which made me happy--I love fall!  

    On one of our first days in Lake George we visited the village of Lake George, just a short drive from our campground. This was such a fun day! We took a free self-guided walking tour around the village and saw the many historic points of interest.  Did you know that Lake George was a part of the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War? I didn't either--until I visited this fascinating village. I really recommend paying a visit to Lake George Village even if you aren't into history, though.  The lake and mountain views are lovely, and there's an assortment of restaurants and souvenir shops to check out. 

In the village visitor's center, we found a 3D map of Lake George (the lake in the center) and the surrounding geography

A pretty side street in the village

The Old Courthouse, now a free museum.  When the courthouse was having construction done on the grounds, a French cannonball was found. 

An old foosball game in the courthouse museum

One winter during the French and Indian War, the British purposely sank their own warships in the lake to protect them so that they could raise them again in the summer and use them to attack the French.  This was done to prevent the British ships from being captured or destroyed by the French. The old wooden gunport lid in the picture above was taken from the Land Tortoise, one of the ships that was deliberately sunk and never able to be brought back up. 

Secluded in the woods of Lake George Battlefield State Park is the humble statue of a Mohawk warrior, dipping water with his hand from a stream

On the waterfront in Lake George village is this carved canoe holding a mixed company of Indians and trappers 

This statue depicts the French missionary Father Issac Jougen, who traveled and worked among several Indian tribes, including the Iroquois and Huron tribes. If you look close at the statue's right hand, you may see that he's missing a couple of fingers. That is an accurate detail. During capture by Mohawk Indians, Father Jougen's fingers were gnawed off by his captors. 

       One day we hiked The Pinnacle Trail, which was a fun hike up to a beautiful overlook of the lake, dotted with tiny islands and surrounded by rounded blue mountains.  After The Pinnacle, my family and I split off from my nana (whom we had hiked The Pinnacle with) and went to another trail--but this one I don't recommend.  The mosquitoes were VICIOUS, and we practically ran up the mountain, because if we went slowly or stopped for a break, they were even worse.  It was so bad, we now refer to it as "Mosquito Mountain Trail." 

Hiking The Pinnacle Trail with our Dunkin' coffees. 

Views from the top of The Pinnacle!

        Probably the most unique day we had was spent in the nearby town of Saratoga Springs.  This town is known for its horse racing and natural springs.  We aren't big into horse racing, but natural springs were something that interested us, so we took a day trip to Saratoga Spa State Park to see the springs for ourselves.  The story behind this state park is that the natural springs in Saratoga were thought to have healing properties; so bottling companies began to tap into the springs and sell the water.  Spas were also constructed on top of the springs so that people could soak in the healing water of the springs.  But the bottling companies became greedier, and at one point there were over 200 private wells tapping into the natural springs.  To protect this natural resource, Saratoga Spa State Park was declared a state reservation, and in 1987, it was declared a National Historic Landmark. 

The mineral deposits from the natural springs were orange, yellow, and white. 

I felt like I was back in Yellowstone, being around all these natural mineral springs and geysers

You can actually drink the water from the springs, and each spring has special properties that support your health. Orenda Spring, pictured above, has high levels of potassium, calcium, and magnesium, as well as iron.  In case you're wondering how the water tastes, it's pretty gross. Salty, carbonated, and sulfuric. Quite the experience, but I wouldn't want to drink a lot of it.

Orenda Spring's tufa (a buildup of solidified minerals from the natural spring water) was very cool as well. 

As we stopped to wade in the river running through the state park, I saw these mushrooms tucked away in the niche of a tree stump. 

        New York's state capitol, Albany, was about an hour from our campground, so we took a day trip there as well.  This was a fun day and I recommend spending some time in Albany if you get the chance.  It's got some amazing architecture and a fabulous state museum--and everything we did in Albany was free!  You can't beat that. 

The New York State Capitol Building!  It looks like a castle, don't you think? Just wait until you see the inside. 

Inside the New York State Capitol Building. 

The New York State Assembly Chamber.  

My mom loved the fancy old elevators 

Riding on the 1914 carousel in the New York State Museum! This carousel was used in local fairs around New York and northern Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. 

My favorite exhibit in the New York State Museum was the NYC exhibit. It offered a history of the immigrants that settled in the city, as well as a background on the subway system, World Trade Center, and skyscrapers. Other exhibits included a history of the lumberjack industry in New York and minerals, Native Americans, and animals that call/called areas of New York home. I really enjoyed this museum, it was very well done and fascinating.  It was my favorite thing we did in Albany!

Corning Tower Observation Deck takes you in a very speedy elevator up 41 floors (our ears popped, we went so high up so quickly)  to the top floor, which has large windows that offer impressive views of Albany.  

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was closed when we visited, but still very grand from the outside. 

        On one of our last days in Lake George, my family and I visited Lake Placid.  This is a very neat ski town that reminded us of some of the towns we had visited last summer when we were out West.  Lake Placid was the location of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, which is a pretty cool fact that makes this town extra special.  We spent our day in Lake Placid hiking in the late morning/afternoon, then eating dinner (gyros at a Greek restaurant) and enjoying the lake views in town in the evening. 

Our hike was called Mount Jo, and it was a nice trail with some wooden ladders to climb and mushrooms growing along the way

One of the views from the top

The Olympic Center area in downtown Lake Placid 

One of the evening views of the lake

        On September 15, we left Lake George and moved to our next campground, near Stowe, Vermont.  During our weeklong stay here, we got to experience authentic Vermont, including visiting a maple sugar farm and tasting real Vermont maple syrup, driving past rolling green meadows with cows grazing and blue mountains forming a backdrop, and enjoying some apple cider donuts and a cup of warm apple cider from the famous Cold Hollow Cider Mill.  I'll write about all that and more in my next post, so stay tuned!