Our Travel Map

Friday, February 22, 2008

6,000 Miles Later...Post #1

As the self-coronated Queen of Procrastination I have spent the last eight months and 6, 000+ miles saying, “I really should start blogging today". Well, my friends, today has arrived. Never mind that we have blown through 17 states without a single blog entry…that all ends here and now! Fear not, however, for I have a mind like a steel trap and have forgotten nothing of our journey so far! Okay, I’m so totally lying. It took me about six days to compile the recap below and I had to rely on the much YOUNGER memories of my children and the attention span (I tend to space out around Tuesday of any given week) of my husband to piece together the last eight months enough to be able to put together a brief travel log. I share this with you here. Happy travels!


6000 RV Miles, 5000 Tow Vehicle Miles
and Counting…
July 3, 2007 to February 2008
Destinations, Campgrounds, Trip Highlights (and just a few “lowlights”) and Memorable Meals

Disney World, Orlando, FL
Fort Wilderness Campground
Animal Kingdom
Epcot
Dinner at Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge

Helen, Georgia
Enota Campground and Resort
Smokey Mountains
Brasstown Bald Mountain
Blood Mountain/Cherokee Trail of Tears
Hiking on the AT
Fishing on the Chattahoochee River
Guided fly-fishing trip with Unicoi Outfitters-Mike
Panning for Gold and Gems at Crisson Gold Mine
Liz locked out of RV for 4 hours-not even the locksmith could pick our locks and had to break into a window!

Camden, South Carolina
A farmer’s field, perhaps??

Overnight

Wilmington, NC
Wilmington KOA

Pier Fishing on Johnnie Mercer Pier
Playing on Wrightsville Beach
Dinner at Brasserie de Soleil-Izzy and Gabe got their own table.
MarineQuest Marine Biology Camp @ UNCW-Gabriel and Elias (with cousins, Izzy and Isaac)
Airlie Gardens

Williamsburg,VA
American Heritage RV Park
Colonial Williamsburg
Jamestown Settlement/Powhatan Village
Yorktown Victory Center
Dinner at Peking Mongolian and Japanese Restaurant – Kids loved the Mongolian barbeque.
Unexpectedly ran into old friends/neighbors from VA-Their son was Gabe’s best friend. Fun to catch up!

College Park, MD
Cherry Hill Park Campground

Overnight

Plymouth, MA
Pinewood Lodge Campground
Plymouth Rock
Mayflower II
Plimouth Plantation/Wampanog Indian Village
Fishing on Pinewood Lake

Searsport, ME
Searsport Shores Campground
Gabriel’s birthday - 1st time to cook live lobster at home. One jumped out and we had to chase it. No joke. Still traumatized.
Labor Day Lobster Bake on the beach
Tide-pooling
Ocean front campsite with sunrise through the front window
Belfast
Rockport
Camden Windjammer Festival and lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant
Witch’s Foot, Bucksport-spoooooky!
Fort Knox
Verona Bridge Observation Tower
Freeport-Home of LL Bean and great outlet shopping
Red’s Eats in Wiscasset-world famous lobster rolls. YUM!
Blue Hill Fair - a childhood tradition of Liz’s. Introduced the boys to fried dough, a little bit of heaven on earth.

Ellsworth, ME
Patten Pond Campground

Acadia National Park
Bar Harbor
Deer Isle
Blue Hill
Brooklin
Brooksville-Holbrook Island Sanctuary
Bangor Children’s Museum (bonus: saw Stephen King pumping gas)
Bangor-Dinner at a fabulous Indian restaurant called Taste of India
Sedgwick-Liz grew up here.
Stonington-lunch at Fishermen’s Friend. Best clam chowder so far!
Whale watching cruise (or maybe we should say LACK of Whale Watching Cruise..grrr…)
Alamoosic Lake and Craig Pond Fish Hatchery
2 moose strolled through the campground right past our site
Canoeing/Fishing on Patten Pond

Greenville, ME
Moosehead Family Campground

Fishing on Moosehead Lake
Moose watching
Hiking on AT
Mt. Kineo
High-centered RV leaving the campground – lots of sweating and swearing and that was just me sitting comfortably under a tree watching Mike dig!!

North Conway, NH
Danforth Bay Camping Resort
Conway Scenic Railroad Fall Foliage Tour
Outlet shopping
Hiking on AT
Mt. Washington

Twin Mountain, NH
Twin Mountain KOA
Crawford Notch State Park
Hiking on AT
First snow

Stowe, VT
Gold Brook Campground

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory Tour
Cold Hollow Cider Mill factory tour-the best apple cider donuts in the world!
Percy Corn Maze – way beyond Liz’s attention span
Hiked Hogsback Mountain
Fly fishing lessons for the boys on Gold Brook
Montpelier- Dined at New England Culinary Institute restaurant. Magnificent food and they treated the boys like royalty!
Visited Goddard College-Mike got his BA there and Liz got her MA there many moons ago.
Amazing fall foliage

Gloucester/Salem, MA
Cape Ann Campsite
The Fisherman’s Memorial
Wingaersheek Beach-photos, tipepooling and freezing!
Rocky Neck Artist’s Colony
Salem Witch Museum
Jack ‘O Lantern carving by the campfire

Mystic, CT
Mystic KOA
Halloween-Trick-or-treating in Historic Mystic. The boys changed into their costumes behind a Chevron station and then we just sort-of blended in with the local crowd. They made out like bandits!!!
Dinner at Mystic Pizza
Mystic Aquarium
Bouncing at KOA’s famous bouncing pillow – boys had the playground to themselves.

New York City, NY
Liberty RV Park and Marina (Jersey City, NJ-overlooking the Statue of Liberty and WTC site)

Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Manhattan-WTC site, Trinity Church, China Town for lunch, Little Italy, Fifth Avenue, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center
Dinner at the Stage Door Deli

Philadelphia, PA
Timberlane Campground (Clarksboro, NJ)

Independence National Park-Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin House and Museum
Lunch at deli-ordered Philly Cheesesteak of course!!
Ron Paul Speech and Rally (not on our agenda, but stumbled upon him nonetheless)

Washington, DC
Cherry Hill Park Campground (College Park, MD)
Friend visited us for dinner at campground
Met friends for lunch and shopping at Eastern Market
National Air and Space Museum-Dulles
Visited South Riding, VA-our neighborhood from 2000-2002
Capitol Building, Washington Monument, White House
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
National Archives-viewed original Constitution and Declaration of Independence
Union Station
Mike spent 2 days at his corporate HQ – had to dig out the tie.

Somewhere in Georgia
Wal-Mart parking lot

Overnight-1st and only foray into the world of “boondocking”.

Atlanta, GA
Bogert Home
Friend’s home for Thanksgiving. Fun, fun, fun!

Wilmington, NC
Marshall Home
Liz’s mom’s home for Christmas/New Year’s
Julian’s birthday
Mike to Amman, Jordan for business
Santa brought a Wii!!!!!!
Enchanted Airlie-Christmas light display and Santa
Shrimp boil and Texas Hold ‘Em tournament
Mike’s dad flew in from Detroit for Christmas
Celebrated Ukranian Christmas with (Ukraninan) friends-fantastic time, fantastic food!
Golf at Inland Greens with friends and family
RV repairs

Myrtle Beach, SC
Myrtle Beach KOA
Miniature golf
More KOA bouncing!!!
MagicQuest-the boy’s favorite!

Hilton Head, SC
Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort and Marina
Toured island
Lunch at Sea Pines Plantation

Disney World, Orlando, FL (again!!!)
Fort Wilderness Campground
Magic Kingdom-Julian’s first time!!
Dinner at Rainforest Café-Downtown Disney

Cape Canaveral, FL
Jetty Park Campground
FOTR (Families on the Road) gathering.
Watched giant cruise ships float by as they were leaving port
Drove across Alligator Alley to get to Naples-very cool!

Naples, Fl.
Crystal Lake RV Resort
Dinner at Riverside Café in Tin City
Toured Marco Island
Everglades City-Airboat ride
Everglades National Park-Chokoloskee Bay
Dinner with new FOTR friends at campground

Sanibel Island, FL
Sundial Resort
Tarpon Bay Eco Cruise/Wildlife Refuge
Chatting with the birds at Jerry’s, the island grocery store
Sanibel Lighthouse
Captiva Island
Swimming, shelling

Ft. Myers, FL
Red Coconut RV Resort (apparently resort is a loose term on Fort Myers Beach)
Pizza at Junkanoo on the Beach-YUM!!! The owners are from Cape Cod and they know pizza!
Adopted (finally, after 5 months of begging) 3 land hermit crabs-Pineapple Sno-Cone (Julian’s), Blueberry Smoothie (Elias’) and Root Beer Float (Gabriel’s).

Cedar Key, FL
Sunset Isle RV Resort (another very loose interpretation of the word resort!!)

Shell Mound Archeological Site
Manatee Springs State Park – Otters, Deer and Scuba Divers – Oh My!
Nature Hike and picnic
Nature Drive