A Taste of New England

We were supposed to take another motorcycle trip last week.  But our plans changed when D was browsing ebay and came across something we've been looking for the past few months. 

Meet our new toy!  It is a 2007 LTV (Leisure Travel Van).  It's small enough to maneuver around town, up and down hills and back roads, but yet powerful enough with its diesel engine to pull our motorcycle trailer.  We're hoping to take some longer trips where we can park and camp and venture out on the bike to explore the area without all the long hours on the bike to get where we want to be.  One little glitch - it was in MAINE!  What else to do - but fly to NH, rent a car and drive to Booth Bay Harbor to make sure this was as good of a deal as it seemed and drive this little cutie back home.  Of course, neither one of us had been to Maine so we didn't have to think too long about making the trip.

Beautiful Booth Bay Harbor!  It seems as though it must be quite a tourist destination, as this little town was quite busy with families taking the whale watching tours and enjoying the shopping and the sights.  Since we didn't get to Maine until Thursday morning and we had to be home by Sunday evening, our sight-seeing time here was limited.  But now that we have a taste of the area, we'll definitely be back! 

So we did get a taste!  My one goal if I ever got to Maine, was to have fresh lobster at dock side.  We were lucky to find the Lobster Dock (not sure that this link will work though).  And now I can check that one off my list.  It was delicious, as were the crab cakes (a Bobby Flay Throwdown contender) !  Our first night in the RV was spent at Shore Hills Campground near Booth Bay.  If we're going to do much camping, I probably should start a campground review page like so many rv'ers have done.  So I would give this one maybe 8 1/2 stars out of 10. Our campground experiences are slim and from several years ago but this one is pretty good, except for the pay showers.   

Our long drive home began the next morning and  was broken up by a few stops along the way.  The L. L. Bean Flagship store in Freeport took a couple of hours just to see everything and I could have spent more time browsing some of the other stores in the town center.  At least with the RV, we have lots of space to load up on souvenirs - but we didn't! (But what we did for the grandsons are adorable - wish I could show you but then I'd spoil the surprises!)

After dropping off the rental car back at the Manchester, NH airport, we took some back roads for awhile to wind our way back to Indiana.  The towns along the way were just what you would expect in New England. Pretty white churches and houses were nestled in the wooded roadsides.  I was able to catch a photo of this classic New England (United Methodist!) church as we headed across New Hampshire. One regret from this trip is that we didn't have time to stop and soak in the  beauty of the area and take many photos.  Most were caught out the window as we drove home (similar to the motorcycle trips we take, except I was able to use the big camera).  After a quick overnight stop at  Hinsdale Village campground near the NH/VT border we were back on the road.  We weren't at this campground very long so rating is difficult, but they were very accommodating about getting us a site at a late hour and the bath house was nice with separate shower rooms and clean, modern restrooms.  You have to drive quite a ways through a nice "trailer park" to get to the campground and the sites are level but the roads aren't paved.  So I guess I'd give this one an 8 on the OTRWJ rating scale!

 

We crossed the lower part of Vermont across some beautiful hilly, twisty roads.  It's not far across this little state at this point and we were quickly into New York.  But along the way we stopped at a little store to buy some maple syrup and cheese,  then at Hogback Mtn. where we saw dozens of motorcycles (this is a great road to ride, we'll keep that in mind!) then a another stop at the little town of Wilmington where I found this great quilt shop, Norton House, and the wonderful County Store full of everything (including fudge!).  Oh, how I wish we'd had more time here!

The rest of the trip home was pretty un-eventful.  We abandoned the pretty back roads and traveled I-90 across New York (a fortune in tolls for an rv!).  We spent our last night at a KOA south of Buffalo near the shore of Lake Erie (probably only a 6 on the OTRWJ scale) with a friendly office staff and good wifi.  We got up early for the long trip the rest of the way home.   Now that we're home again, we'll start to plan some trips where we can pull the motorcycle and then do some day trips out and about from our campsite.  D is even planning on working from the road a little so good wifi is important to where we plan to camp.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to take my sewing machine along, but maybe the embroidery machine or else just plan on doing some type of handwork to keep me busy.  I'm sure some of you think we're crazy but we're looking forward to this next adventure.  We don't really think of this as a new hobby, but as a better way of doing what we love to do and seeing more of this beautiful country!