Ben and Jerry's

We got to Country Roads Campground last night, in time for a campfire and roasting marshmallows.  The campground was very nice, in the mountains of New York near Howe Caverns.  It was our original intention to visit the Caverns today but there was no way we could fit it in today along with Ben and Jerry’s so we decided to head to Vermont this morning to take Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Tour.  It was cute, Maddie made a spin art picture, we watched a movie about the history of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, we saw the plant where they made the ice cream, they were making Cherry Garcia today, and we visited the tasting room where we got to try Save our Swirl.  It was quite yummie, raspberry ice cream with white chocolate and milk chocolate shaped “cones.”  We all got our own ice cream after the tour and then went to the “Flavor Grave Yard” where they have tombstones bearing the names of the retired flavors.  We all enjoyed the diversion and now we can say we have properly visited Vermont.  (We have a rule that we have to do “something “in the state in order to say we have been there-LOL).   After that we drove to New Hampshire, where we are currently staying the night in a Wal-Mart Parking lot not too far from the Cog Railroad, where we will go tomorrow.   Tonight we will just kick back and watch a movie before going to be early, since we have to be up early for the train.

Niagara Falls

Today we went o Niagara Falls State park.  This was Hailey’s choice destination.  She has actually wanted to come here for a few years.  She was so excited to see the falls she could not contain herself.  We parked the truck and walked in to the park towards the American Falls, stopping to take tons of pictures of the falls.  It is so beautiful, words cannot describe how incredibly beautiful the falls are (I will post pictures when we get better wifi).  I am so looking forward to scrapbooking the pictures from today. 

We went to the observation deck and the Maid of the Mist boat tour.   I braved my fear of heights to be able to walk out over the American Falls and see everything; it was very cool to see the falls from that perspective.  Then we took the elevator down to the loading dock to the boat where we were given our wonderful blue Maid of the Mist rain ponchos.  We did not have to wait at all to board the boat, Doug mentioned several times how the boat tours worked so systematically with both the US and Canada.  Then we were off, almost immediately we felt the mist from the falls splashing on us.  This made both girls giggle and Hailey got so excited.  It was great.  We had a fabulous position of the boat where Doug could take pictures and video using his new waterproof cell phone. The boat took us to the Horseshoe Falls and back, it lasted about a half hour. I think Hailey posted at least a dozen pictures to Instagram before we got back to the dock. Then we walked over to the stairs that were by the falls for pictures,  I did not go up them because they were so slippery and I am not taking any chances with my back.  Doug and Hailey went up a little bit, but not all of the way for the same reason- way too slippery!

After that we walked to the American Falls observation deck and took more pictures and enjoyed the view.  I even enjoyed people watching, as many people were taking selfies. 

We went to The Hard Rock Café’ Niagara Falls for lunch.  It wasn’t that bad, for being a chain restaurant.  I was able to finally cure the french fry craving; I have had for a few days.

Once fortified and well hydrated, we walked back to the falls and then hiked the entire trail to the Horseshoe Falls.  It was a fairly easy walk (not a lot of hills) and very picturesque.  I kept taking picture after picture because everything was just so pretty. Hailey continued to snap away on her phone and post to Instagram as well. We stopped for ice cream on the walk back to the car.  It was just so nice.

Once we got ready to go back to the camper, Doug punched in the campground to the GPS and started freaking out that it was saying it was 5 hours away.  We knew that it only was a 20 min drive this morning!  Then I realized that he had it set to walking (from when we were looking for places to eat for lunch).  Then he and I started laughing uncontrollably- from exhaustion- LOL!

Now we are back “home”, we have all had showers and are relaxing.  Maddie is with her book, Hailey is on her phone, Doug is enjoying the campfire and I am here blogging away.  We are all happy that Doug was able to find a spot in the camper where his phone can get 3 bars of 4G so that we can connect to wifi. I plan to spend the rest of this evening with my book and a glass of wine.  

Steamtown

Today we went to Steamtown National Monument in Scranton PA.  Doug, being the total train geek that he is, was like a little boy from the moment we drove into the parking lot.  He was practically drooling over the few trains that were on display outside of the museum.

We took the long tour on one hundred year old train cars powered by a diesel train.  It was about a 45 minute ride up the mountain to Moscow PA.  The scenery was nice on the ride up going up alongside the reservoir. It was also very HOT outside, and being that there was no air-conditioning in the early 1900’s (when this train was made) we were hot inside the train, even with the windows open.  When we got to the Moscow stop we ate hot dogs and cold drinks J.  There were model trains set up and a little shop to explore before getting back on the train for the ride back to Scranton. 

Once we were back we went into the train museum, which was really an old round house turned into a museum that showed the history of train travel in the United States.  Doug continued to be in his glory, stopping at each display, reading and learning.  Maddie, Hailey and I enjoyed looking at the artifacts, climbing on the old train cars, and seeing the trains that they still use for tours.  While we were in the museum, they actually brought in a diesel engine to put to sleep in the roundhouse.  We all went to watch as the engineers maneuver the engine into the proper spot. That part was very cool.

At the end Doug and the girls kept climbing onto this one train that had a bell and ringing it on and on and on. They all wanted to be the last one of the family to ring it.  Needless to say, everyone could hear the bell, for a very long time.  

We stayed until close, thinking we would just stop overnight at a truck stop before going on to Niagara Falls.  That was until I double checked the reservations and realized we were pre-paid at Four Mile Creek State park, near Niagara, so off we went on a 6 hour drive to the next campground.  We pulled in around midnight and went straight to bed after a quick shower.

Harry Potter and Ice Cream

After our overnight at home we headed to Clayton Park Recreational Area for an overnight.  It was a cute little park just outside of Scranton Pennsylvania.  We were hoping to have a campfire and enjoy the evening, but Mother Nature had other ideas, in the form of a thunderstorm.  So we kicked back after dinner and enjoyed watching Harry Potter and eating ice cream sundaes. It was a good night!

Colonial Williamsburg

We had a very fun and tiring day today!  We went to Colonial Williamsburg, it was so much fun and we learned a lot too.  We saw so many different things and learned about life in Virginia during the 1700’s.  We went toured the many residences that were in the city, including the Governors Palace.  We visited the numerous Artisan shops and saw how many colonial items were made and distributed.  It was pretty cool, knowing we were standing in the exact same place George Washington and Thomas Jefferson once stood.   Even Hailey and Maddie seemed to enjoy themselves, even though they were learning.  Maddie and I participated in the encampment, while Doug and Hailey laughed at us, shooting pretend stick rifles and yelling “Haazaa” as we attacked.  We all leaned bout firing cannons, and how life was like for Colonial Soldiers.  We at lunch at one of the taverns, which luckily had a gluten free menu. We went to an re-enactment with General George Washington , which Doug and I both really enjoyed. It was an awesome day.

Now we are back at the campsite eating dinner and preparing for another campfire.  Tomorrow, we actually go to our house for a night before continuing our travels north.  Doug has a “to do” list a mile long and I have some laundry to take care of.  We still have 2 weeks left in this years journey and I am loving every minute of it!

A Little R&R

Today we had a day of rest and relaxation!  Doug needed it after the tour and the drive the day before.  So we all slept in and then went to the pool and had some great family time.  After the pool we went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant, because Hailey was craving tacos.  The food wasn’t bad and we split some fried ice cream for dessert.  While we were out and about, we got some groceries and located a Barnes and Noble.  I was almost out of reading material, with half of the trip left.   Both Hailey and Maddie went nuts in the bookstore, finding new books that they wanted!  I love that both of my girls enjoy reading as much as I do.  Once we got back to the campground Doug and I sat outside (I read of course) and then we had campfire and enjoyed the cool evening.  Both girls stayed in the camper, Maddie reading and Hailey was wrapped up with her Pokémon and “Wonder Trade Wednesday”.  It was a great way to relax and enjoy the summer!

USS North Carolina

Today was pretty cool.  We went to the USS North Carolina this afternoon.  It was pretty cool to tour the battle ship.  Doug was in his glory!  We spent over three hours seeing all parts of the ship, including the engine room, the officers and enlisted mens quarters, the mess hall, kitchen machine shop, turrets, and lots of other stuff.  The coolest part was reading actual accounts of the sailors that served on the ship during WWII.  It was pretty interesting to read all of the stories. The whole ship is really like a city unto itself.   About half way through the tour Hailey started to get really claustrophobic, because it was very hot and tight.  So she and I kind of sped up the tour a little so Doug could read everything (like he always does at museums).    Once we were all up on deck we toured some of the different levels and were able to go into the wheel house where they controlled the ship.  It was a good day for looking and learning.

After we were done the tour we ate lunch in the camper and headed to Virginia.  The girls watched a movie, I read, and Doug drove.  He is so awesome for doing all of this driving with the camper, it is something I know that I could not do. 

  Anyway, he now gets a break for the next 2 days.  We are at Anvil Campground for the next 2 days where we will be learning about the Revolutionary War and Early America.