Philadelphia

Anyone who's driven a large RV along I-95 will likely back me up--Washington DC to Boston, the entire "eastern seaboard" is pretty hairy for driving.  The road isn't great, the drivers are in a pretty big hurry, and it seems like you go through a toll booth every half hour.  So, generally, we go inland a bit and avoid that entire section of the coast.  However, with all the traveling we've done, it seems wrong that we'd never seen the Liberty Bell.  So, on our way south this summer we bit the bullet and stopped outside Philly.  It was great.  We camped at a KOA near the little college town of West Chester.  I got my wires crossed and went to the wrong KOA initially, whoops.  45 minutes later we were at the correct one.  We'd gone back and forth as to where to stay and I got confused!

The countryside is beautiful, though a little expensive, and the roads are curvy and fun to drive.  It was far enough outside of town to be completely removed from city life, but close to a train station.  We took the commuter train into the historic district for two full days of touring, including the hop on hop off double-decker bus tour.  It was great, something we might do again because "you can't see it all" in one visit.  Some pictures:

The Bell.  About 4 feet high, not quite as grand as we expected, but still awesome in its historical significance.  No lines in the middle of the week after the kids go back to school!

Independence Hall.  The Declaration and Constitution were signed here, so we had to take a tour.  It's pretty simple, but again, so much history.  They've kept it in remarkably good shape and original condition.

One of the cooler surprises was a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary.  The country's first.  It was closed in 1971 and is being maintained "as a ruin."  Inmates had their own solitary cell and exercise yard, so they never saw or even talked to another inmate.  23 hours in the cell, 2 half hour breaks in a 10 by 15 foot little hard outside their cell.

Al Capone did a year-ish in lavish comfort here on a weapons charge.  He was on his way back to Chicago and got pinched.  Even so, his money and fame assured preferential treatment.  His cell looked like a gentleman's library.

The Rocky statue from Rocky III, just outside the Art Museum where he ran to the top "feeling strong now."

Yo Adrian!  This is the spot of a million portraits, where the camera spun around Rocky as he finally got his act together.

Can't remember.  City Hall?  There were so many cool, old buildings on our bus tour they started mixing together.  Some fantastic churches there too.

The outside of Eastern State Penitentiary.  It was outside of town when they built it in the 1830s, completely engulfed by downtown Philly today.

Saugerties, NY

After visiting Kris and Yancey, we headed west to get around New York City.  We hadn't seen the Hudson River valley south of Albany yet, so it seemed like a good place to stop for a few days.  We hung out at the campground some, and went on a few country drives to check out waterfalls and other scenery.  All in all a relaxing few days in upstate New York.  Just a few waterfalls from the nearby area:

The Hudson River on a beautiful sunny day

Ledyard, CT

After our Jeeptastic weekend in Maine, it was time to start the long, slow journey south.  We had to stop and see good friends Kris and Yancey in CT on our way.  They've got a great setup to park at their house, which makes for a very easy "drive" home.  We had rain 2 out of 3 days, but we were able to take a tour of the Thames river on their son Colby's fishing boat and visit the Mohegan Sun casino, a super sized beautiful tribute to helping those poor, underprivileged Native Americans (actually just a scam by some white folks to get rich in the casino business...)  All four of us walked out with winnings from $10 to $65.  Take that, fake Indians!

Here are some pictures from our outings

Ledyard is minutes away from the Mystic River, so we had to walk around a bit and have lunch.  Here's the famous draw bridge, just down the street from Mystic Pizza!

Traditional gaff rigged boat on the Mystic River

Sure, it's all smiles before the three hour tour, a three hour to-ur!

Captain Yancey at the helm

US Coast Guard Training Station Avery Point, Groton CT

Light and dingy sailing in Groton

The Electric Boat facility.  This is one of two companies that built pretty much every nuclear submarine we've got

I-95 bridge in our wake.  It's a lot prettier from the water.

Peaceful mooring field in the protection of Pine Island

Casco, Maine

We couldn't come this far up and not stop and see Craig and Jodi and the whole Jacked Up Jeeping crowd in Casco.  We stopped last year and were introduced to the Jeep lifestyle and hanging out in style.  These folks don't do anything half way.  The whole group (6-8 couples) camped at John and Penney's place this time, were they still had their massive outdoor kitchen set up and room for plenty of RVs in the yard.  What a great weekend, though we might need to be there for Labor Day next year.  We're told it was epic!  Some pictures

John, Scott, and Craig in the background, cooking up breakfast for the crew

Our host, John

Craig grilling up a few dozen strips of bacon and a couple gallons of sausage gravy

Wouldn't be a trip to Casco without some trail riding in the Jeeps

John and Penney's spread with 6 RVs and room for many more.

A mountain pond in Maine you can't get to unless you have an off road vehicle

We had a bonfire with a maple tree that had died from the inside out, making it hollow and a perfect chimney.  It looks like we're standing behind the fire, but we're really right next to it.

White Mountains, New Hampshire

After our Labor Day weekend in Vermont, we headed next door to New Hampshire.  Laurie scored us a nice spot in Russell Pond campground up in the hills.  It was just lovely for a three day chill out.  We had campfires on two nights, first time this year.  While we were there, we did a little waterfall hiking too.  White Mountains National Forest is a really nice area, one of the first we visited during our first summer of 2012.  Good to be back.  Some pictures:

You normally get a lot of real estate at a National Forest campground.  We could barely see our neighbors.

Russell Pond on a windless evening

We took a waterfall hike at Lost River Gorge and Caves.  1000 steps

Intrepid travelers in the White Mountains

Baby Bird

A couple views from the Kancamangus Highway

Back in Beautiful Vermont

After our time on the New York side of Lake Champlain, we hopped over to the Vermont side for a few days outside Burlington, Vermont's largest city.  It's a nice area, lots of sweeping views of the lake and pretty sunsets.  We went downtown a couple times and enjoyed the lakefront view from our campsite.  After Burlington, we returned to our favorite like spot in Randolph, Lake Champagne RV Resort.  This is just a great place to hang out and enjoy the shade, the views, and the lightening fast WiFi.  I was the musical entertainment for the Labor Day party on Saturday night, and we had a good time.  Some pictures from the last couple weeks:

Traditional sailboat along the Burlington, VT waterfront

At our local village, they do free Music on the Green concerts that draw all types.  Here's a typical Vermonter, spinning yarn while she waits for the band to start

We caught the last concert of the season, here's the guitar player coming 

Waterfall on the Mad River

Moss Glen Falls

Click to enlarge this one.  Warren Falls is a really cool series of pools and cascades.  There were quite a few folks cooling off in the August heat.

Our mascot, Jimmy Buffett, spinning in the breeze at Lake Champagne.  It's just as green and pretty as it looks, and they don't pack you in on top of each other

My only official "gig" of the summer, Labor Day party on Saturday the 1st.  Good times!

Ticonderoga

After Ottawa, we dropped down into Upstate New York for a few days.  We stayed at a nice little campground near Lake Champlain, about 15 minutes north of historic Ticonderoga.  We toured the fort, which is now under private conservancy.  I remembered Lake Champlain figuring in the various wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, but it was interesting seeing the sites in person.  Just a few pictures from that leg of the trip, all from Fort Ticonderoga and the surrounding hills.