June RV trip to New Hampshire

SUNDAY, JUNE 7
The truck was packed. The trailer was packed. The cooler and frig were packed.  Carl backed up the truck and after a few tries he connected perfectly with the trailer.  The antenna caught on the tree tops as we went to pull out of the driveway.  Carl had to get out, lift the antenna, move the tree branch, lower the antenna and try again.  Success this time, we were on our way.  We had discovered earlier that the TV instructions were in Korean, obviously just a foreign language to us.  Carl finally got the language changed after some tinkering.
Odessa en route was our first stop.  We used the facilities there but ate our lunch that we brought at our table in the trailer.  I was even able to heat up some water to make a tea that I sipped on for the rest of the afternoon.
We arrived at the Kinek building in Massenna, NY just at 4 o'clock. Unfortunately, it closed at three o'clock so, it was time to reevaluate.  Luckily, fate was with us in the form of a Walmart across the street.  I checked with them and they have no problem with RVer's using their parking lot overnight.  This was we can grab our stuff in the morning and carry on to New Hampshire.
The Walmart is huge, open 24 hours and carries a massive assortment of stuff. My best discovery was a rotisserie chicken for $4.99.  The chicken, corn on the cob and leaf lettuce made us a great dinner.  After a visit to Home Depot, we passed the remaining hours of our day on our devices; me reading and Carl listening to podcasts.

MONDAY, JUNE 8
We slept pretty well.  My CPAP machine made it through the night until 6:30am before it lost partial power and started beeping at me.  I found the mattress a bit hard but I will likely get used to it.  It was raining pretty heavily when we woke up so we put everything away, pulled up stakes, went to Kinek and then to McDonald's for breakfast.

After my usual Egg White Delight McMuffin at McDonald's we set off for part two of our journey to Cannon Mountain RV Park.

The GPS sent us in a direction with a bridge that was closed and this goof cost us over an hour.  Back we went to McDonald's to verify the driving directions with Google.  It should be noted that as we started out on this route I stated that" I didn't feel good about this route."

It gets better! On the drive through New York we were stopped twice by state troopers looking for two escaped cons.  They had both killed people and the state troopers felt they might be headed for Canada.

The hits kept coming!  We stopped at McDonald's for a pee and upon returning to the truck we noticed that one of our hoses had come loose and escaped somewhere into the wild. I guess we will have to buy another one somewhere.  

Somewhere turned out to be an RV dealer just as we entered Vermont.  Here a new sewer hose was acquired.

St Albans provided us with a decent chinese food lunch.  

We were driving along about 1 1/2 hours from the campground and the tire pressure light went on.  The front right tire was very low.  We drove a few more miles to Morrisville and stopped at a collision repair shop.  It turned out to be a hole in the sidewall; the tire was toast.  The gentlemen here helped us out by using his air gun to take the old tire off and put the spare one on.  After checking the tire pressure, we hooked up the trailer and were off again.  We were very lucky that the tire did not blow out on us.  

Twenty miles on we got stuck behind a school bus but it wasn't for too long. When we got to Franconia we were not sure where the RV park was located and just as we were trying to figure out what to do, there it was.  It took about 1/2 hour to back up the trailer, level it, connect the sewer,  hook up the water and electrcity (all done by Carl with me looking on).

Dinner was chili from at home with corn and a salad. All was delish.The weather is quite cool and windy but the furnace is keeping us toasty warm inside.  We even have some TV stations including METV which was showing Gilligan's Island and Hogans Heroes. Some original Star Trek helped pass the time this evening. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 9
It was still drizzling when we woke up so we spent a leisurely few hours showering, reading and eating breakfast. After my shower, the grey water holding tank was full so Carl had to go outside to drain it.
 Around 10, we drove to Franconia to talk to the tourism people (actually 1 person in a booth). Here, we took advantage of her wifi and the agent's knowledge of the area.
It was decided that Littleon would be our destination today since there are some box stores, grocery stores and even a movie theatre in town.
Driving the 8 miles to Littleton went very quickly and we were able to find the Walmart, Shaw's (groceries) and downtown.  At Walmart we found a great little table and 2 chairs that should work well for the trailer but more importantly, we found a wine called "Oak Leaf" for $4.00 a bottle.  My friend, Lynne-Marie had told me about this wine as she was drinking it when in Florida.  At Shaw's we picked up a few vegies and then we headed back downtown to grab some lunch.  Isn't it always the way that after you've just eaten, you find someplace else that looks a lot neater; crap! I guess we will have to come back to experience the Schilling Brewery & Tap House where Carl sampled a flight of beers.

We stayed in town until later so we could catch a movie at the theatre downtown.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10

Wednesday turned out to be a mostly sunny, partly cloudy day and we decided to explore the sights closest to us.

Franconia Notch Basin was our first stop.The Basin is a large granite pothole that was created by a glacier more than 15,000 years ago.  

The Flume Gorge  and Gilman Visitor Center were the next stop.  The visitor center has a free 20 minute video about the area and then you buy tickets for a two mile self guided nature walk with waterfalls, vistas and covered bridges.  

It was a short ride back to our trailer where we used our new bbq to make burgers for lunch.  I was missing my vegetables so it was served with a side order of coloured peppers with french onion dip.

The ticket we bought this morning was a combo with the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway so we drove over there after lunch.

In the evening we drove to back to Littleton and had dinner at 99 (a restaurant and sports bar). Carl wanted to watch the hockey game so we stayed here until the end of the second period and then went back to our trailer. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 11

What a gorgeous day!  Todays agenda started with a scenic drive along the Kancamagus Highway.  This area has lots of mountain vistas that can be seen from scenic outlooks.

When we reached North Conway, we went first to the outlet stores.  I picked up a few clothing items at Eddie Bauer and a new pair of walking shoes at New Balance.

For lunch, we boarded the Conway Scenic Railroad train to tour the area up to Bartlett. The tour included a 3 course lunch which consisited of soup, a chicken caesar for me and a roast beef BLT for Carl followed by a strawberry shortcake.  The tour took 2 hours.  

Earlier I did not have time to go into the Timberland outlet so we drove back there.  It was disappointing as there were only 2 styles of hiking boots and, they were not really a bargain.

We left North Conway going an alternative route back the trailer so that we could see a little more of the area.  In Bretton Woods, we decided to stop in at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel. Wow, what a place.  The view is incredible but I guess it should be, for what they charge to stay there.  We walked through and pretended to belong for about 10 minutes.

It was home made food for dinner; a chicken stir fry that was delicious.  

Above is a picture of our camping site.

FRIDAY, JUNE 12

Today we started off in Franconia at the Chamber of Commerce mooching their free wife to download the newspaper, update my blog and check our email.

From here it was a short drive to the Iron Furnace Interpretive Center.  This park is on the Gale River and features historical exhibits centered on Franconia's early iron history.  Remains of the original stone stack across the river can be viewed from the park.

A scenic drive through the rural roads and small towns kept us busy until late afternoon.  In Bath, we saw and drove through a covered bridge.  That was quite cool.

On the way back to the trailer, we spotted a field of lupines (flowers) which were blooming and very pretty.

SATURDAY, JUNE 13

Yay! Down time.  We are not doing much today, sitting at the picnic table reading and resting.  

After lunch we did drive into Franconia to catch up on wifi, load the newspaper and visit the grocery store.  

We are now in preparation mode to go home since we leave Sunday morning.  

SUNDAY, JUNE 14

We were up early and left the campsite at 8:30 am. This time we did not get stopped along the way by police looking for the two fugitives and we arrived at the Walmart in Messena around 4.  I had time to do a little shopping and look around the store. We also returned our plastic bottles and got the deposit back. We went back for another one of those delicious rotissere chickens we got last Sunday and had a great dinner.  I could hear the rain falling gently on the trailer overnight.

MONDAY, JUNE 15

We woke up crazy early, packed stuff away and moved out.  McDonald's was our breakfast stop and then we headed home.  We got home around 1pm but it took a while to empty the trailer and clean it up.  Since we had been away for a week, the frig was completely empty so I had to do grocery shopping for dinner and some food for Adrian's work lunches.  He is now working at Yonge and Eglinton, a very inconvenient place to get to.  

Carl cleaned out the back of the truck and towed the trailer back to the storage place.  I am looking forward to settling down for a bit but it is going to be a busy week.  Jennifer has her surgery on Wednesday morning and I will be accompanying her and staying with her.  

People ask me "How was the trailer?"  There are good and bad points.  It is certainly nice to have all your stuff with you and sleep in your own bed but it does come with a bit of work (most of which Carl did).  It seems to be a good way to get around and see stuff and meet people.  We got some good advice from someone we met at the campsite.  This was just a short trip to "get our feet wet", so to speak and, mission accomplished.

March 27 Trip Summary

On Tuesday we filled up the gas tank in the car in preparation for our departure Wednesday morning. The rest of the day was spent going to the movies ($5.00 today) to see FOCUS and chilling by the swimming pool.  With the movie tics we got a BOGO free entree at TGI Fridays so that was where we went for dinner. The last order of business was repacking so we would be ready in the morning.

Wednesday night
We are home again, safe and sound. The flight home was uneventful except for about 10 minutes of mild turbulence.  I was expecting worse because of the inclement weather across the U.S.  The lineup at the airport in Toronto was humungous due to a backlog at Customs.  We had to line up to line up. Adrian picked us up from the airport. The house was tidy, thanks to Justin, for which I was very grateful.
Summary
Summing up, it was really nice to get out of the cold and snow.  We were busy sightseeing every day and didn't stop much to rest but, when you have a flight home booked you have to keep moving toward that goal. The two states were interesting to see; it certainly provides a view of a different way of life.  Vegas was busy and fun and as Dorothy said "Disney world for adults".

March 23 Monday Hoover Dam

Our trip to the Hoover Dam started in the morning and wrapped up around 2 pm. We took the Power Plant tour. There is lots of information to read and the site is a awe-inspring. It was a very warm day and I am getting tourist burn out. I think tomorrow should be a "law low" day.

March 22 Sunday Drive to Vegas

Today was spent driving to Las Vegas. We drove by the Hoovee Dam and decided to come back Monday when it should be less busy.
We checked into our hotel and then got our luggage organized. Carl's card got declined at the front desk and when we called the Credit card company they told us they had to cancel it because someone was trying to use it fraudulently. Luckily, my card is still ok.
Sam's Hotel has a large variety of stuff to do and places to eat. It even has its own 13 theatres on site as well as a bowling alley.  For dinner, we decided to get the buffet and get the temptation over with.  There was so much food and the desert section is almost bigger than some of the others put together. As we were eating, there was a laser and water show just outside the restaurant in the courtyard. Needless to say, we were stuffed when we left there.

I decided that since I had not yet gambled that I would risk a buck and give it a shot. Needless to say, I am now sixty cents poorer.

After this big loss we went to look for the pool. It looks pretty nice.

Tomorrow we will target the Hoover Dam.

March 21 Saturday More Grand Canyon and more

This morning we drove back to the Grand Canyon to see the Desert View drive scenic points. Today it took quite a while to get through the gates. There are several unnamed and named pull ins to stop at and enjoy the view, slightly different from yesterday.

At around 2 pm, we arrived at Desert View Visitor Center and had a late lunch there. We looked around at the watch tower and said good-bye to the Grand Canyon. 

 After driving over to the Wupatki National Monument, we looked a a few more ruins.

Further along the trail, the earth started turning black. This is volcanic ash from the last eruption, some plants are already established here. We came to an overlook that identified the dormant volcano and its vents as they are today. 

Around the road from this site was an immense lava field.

This was our last sightseeing for today. 

March 20 Friday Grand Canyon

The whole day was spent at the Grand Canyon. We walked a lot! It was beautiful and below are a few pics. We did not get back to our room until 10 pm so it was a very full day.

Getting into the park only took a few minutes. We then drove to the  Visitor Center, chatted with a ranger on how to approach the day and then headed off  to start our hike at Mather Point.
Later in the afternoon we decided to stay and watch the sunset not anticipating any issues. The reality was quite different. After sunset it got colder but we were prepared for that. It seemed like longer than 15 mins for the shuttle bus to come get us and when it came it filled up so we had to wait again. Luckily with much squishing we got into this bus. It was very cozy. When we got back to the transfer station, we had to wait for 2 busses to get a ride back to the Visitor Center (last stop). Last stop arrived and we all piled off the bus. Wait, it was pitch black outside and there are no street lights. You could not see a thing and the bus driver pointed in the general direction of parking lot. Did I mention it was pitch black? Luckily, Carl had a flashlight on his phone and we headed off in the direction we thought was right. We were close and finally found our car. Did I mention that I was very frustrated by this time; too frustrated to enjoy the the amazing night sky. The stars were amazing. On the bus we were warned about the possibility of hitting an elk at this time but we did not see one and got home safe.

March 19 Thursday Sedona

The day arrived with a bit of sun which was unexpected based on the previous weather forecast so we set off to explore south of Flagstaff. Hwy 89 took us initially to Oak Creek Canyon. The canyon is about 16 miles long and rarely more than 1 mile wide. The canyon is known for its spectacularly coloured white, yellow and red cliffs dotted with pine, cypress and juniper.

The next stretch of road brought us around many turns and presented us with scenery such as we had not seen yet. We kept stopping to take pictures but of course, you can never do nature justice.

Arriving in Sedona we checked out the main drag and then decided to continue on Hwy 89 to Tuzigoot. Here there is a hilltop pueblo ruin, occupied until 1425.

Continuing on our current route brought us to Jerome, a town initially based on copper mining. Jerome is known for its 1900s brick buildings that cling to the slopes of Cleopatra Hill.

Lunch was had in Prescott, the original territorial capital. Lunch was followed by a short walk around town.

Late afternoon we headed back to Flagstaff on the interstate.