Heading South

Today we begin to head in a southerly direction. We're going about 150 miles to the southeastern corner of Maine, to the town of Wells. We will be about 50 miles North of Boston. The plan is to stay in Wells for the next 2 weeks, as there is plenty to explore from there. While there, we will plot out our route down the East Coast.
It's definately feeling like Fall here. The trees are turning colors fast, and we woke up this morning to a pretty heavy frost. Daytime high temperatures have been in the mid 60's. The past couple of days have been sunny, but there's a bit of a bite to the wind. We've managed to make it out onto the Golf Course a couple times, and that's still a work in progress (for me).
Wednesday Joyce and I took a drive to Campobello International Park. This was the summer home for the Roosevelt's. FDR spent his summers thereas a child, then used it as his retreat during his presidency. This "summer cottage" has 14 bedrooms! The property is on an island which is part of New Brunswick, Canada. There was a little bit of money there. From there, we took a drive inland where we drove about 125 miles through the trees, back to Ellsworth.





The Roosevelt "cottage"

Lobster Pot Floats

Loster Chairs

    And we're off,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie

The "Maine" Event



Joyce at Camden harbor

 On Monday we left the Niagara Falls area and made it to  Northeastern New York State.  We left the Great State of New York on Tuesday, and passed through Vermont and New Hampshire, and rolled on into Maine. Wednesday was to leave us a short ( 175 mile ) run to Ellsworth, Maine. But, the gremlins popped up with slide out issues for both Mike and Joyce, & Jim and Marcella. I had just commented the day before how we had made it all this way with no issues! The good thing was that it wasn't us with the problem. This delayed our departure by a couple hours, but we all made it to Ellsworth by 5:00 p.m.
We went out to dinner, and I had my first lobster in Maine. It was a one pounder, and quite a bit of work to get from shell to stomach.  The following day the guys played 18 holes at a nearby golf course, and the ladies went shopping, etc.  That evening we went to a recommended lobster joint where I ordered the 2 lobster dinner ( 1 lb.each)  for $17.00  What a deal, and I'm getting the hang of separating the meat from the shell.
Friday we took a drive into Bar Harbor with Jim and Marcella, while Mike and Joyce (Sr,) visited Joyce's relatives. Today Jim and Marcella headed north into Canada to visit Nova Scotia, and Mike & Joyce were off visiting more relatives. So Joyce and I took a drive down the coast to do a little sight seeing.
The weather has not been cooperating the past couple of days, and reminds us of Seattle in November. We seem to be right in the clouds. It's been foggy, drizzly, and rainy. The forecast is calling for sunshine on Monday and Tuesday, so we'll try to take advantage of that.

The colors are just beginning to turn, but should be full blown by the first of October. We'll be heading south to Wells, Maine on the 28th, and will be staying there for 2 weeks. We're going to try to take a tour  of Boston;s Fenway Park in our travels.

Tomorrow's another day.     Ernie



Foggy Camden harbor

How many have taken this ride?



LIVE!! FROM NEW YORK, IT"S,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,joyce & ernie

Today (Saturday), finds us in New York. We are about 25 miles from Niagara Falls. Tomorrow we will go over to the falls to check it out. Upstate New York isn't what I had expected. It;s very green with rolling hills. Much like the hill country in Texas. We drove through the "Amish Trail" along the way, and saw several of the buggy's on the road. Some of the houses are from the early 1800's, if not from the late 1700's. We could easily spend a few days here, but not this time, as we are scheduled to be in Maine on the 18th.
Yesterday we were in Cleveland where we spent the day at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. We could have spent a second day here to take it all in. Cleveland was a pleasant surprise. We did not see any graffiti anywhere. Yesterday was also the first day that we've seen rain since we left home.

At The Henry Ford Museum

The Lincoln JFK was riding in on Nov, 22nd 1963

Us again. At The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame

Thursday we spent the day at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. It is a really well done museum that was started by Henry Ford in 1929. It documents the history of the Airplane, and the Train, as well as the car. All makes and models of cars were represented. The cover of the museum brochure had a Desoto on it. The young lady at the desk had never heard of Desoto, and assumed that it was a Ford model. There was also lots of machinery from the 1800's and early 1900's. I had never seen steam engines of that size. Hard to believe that someone had the ability to build them back then. They'd never be able to today.  Monday will find us on the last leg of the Journey to the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. We should be there on Wednesday. We're all looking forward to Lobster!

Out Of Minnesota

Today finds us in Michagamme, Michigan. We left Minnesota in the rear view mirror as we headed northeast. We spent 4 nights parked at Barney and Ginny's in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. While there, we played some Fast Track, took a drive out to Bob & Sheila's, got in a round of golf, fired up Barney's smoker to make a rib dinner for 12, and put a dent in Barney's Apricot Brandy.  Everybody had a good time!

All the kids around the campfire

The view from our campsite

Winter Arizonan's in Minnesota

Tomorrow we will be staying in St. Ignace, Michigan. From there, we will be crossing the Mackinac Bridge which crosses the point where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron join. Wednesday should find us in  Monroe, Michigan where we will visit the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. From there it's on to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then Niagra Falls, New York. Then we'll be hanging out in Maine until about mid October.  Stay Tuned.

Mt. Rushmore & Devil's Tower

We spent two nights at Mountain View Campground in Sundance, Wyoming. Yesterday (Tuesday) we visited Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, and Devils Tower in Wyoming. We also visited Deadwood, South Dakota. We had a full day of sightseeing, and to top it off, had a fantastic dinner at a small cafe in Aladdin, Wyoming.

Today we continued our eastward journey, and at this time we are in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Tomorrow will find us in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. We will be visiting some friends from Shiprock RV Park in Arizona for a few days. From there we will be heading toward Detroit to visit the Henry Ford Museum.

Back On The Road

We finally got the last box packed and moved out of the house Friday afternoon, and hit the road about 4:30 in the afternoon. We couldn't believe our good fortune in the lack of traffic until it ground to a halt just east of North Bend. It took close to 2 hours to make it over Snoqualmie Pass, but when we made it to Easton, it was wide open again. We made it to Moses Lake about 9:30 Friday night. We pulled out of Moses Lake Saturday morning, and are currently in Missoula, Montana. We will be heading for Reed Point, Montana today. From there we will head to Sundance, Wyoming where we will stay 2 nights to take in Devils Tower National Park, Mt. Rushmore, etc. While there we will be able to get the coach organized, as we kind of just threw everything in Friday afternoon just to get going.

The trip to Missoula was uneventful, under sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80's. We woke up to about 40 degrees this morning. The sun is shining, and soon it will be back in the 70's. So in order to get ready to hit the road, I'll just add a few select pictures, and update from Sundance.