Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 3

Today was day 3 of our adventure and we started off from East Syracuse, NY and headed up the western-northwestern border of New York on I-81 and then later US hwy 11. Our first stop was Watertown, NY, where we visited the NY State Zoo at Thompson Park. Thompson Park was a fantastic place for families because they had not only the zoo, but a sprawling playground, sports fields, and picnic areas all around. The zoo was small, but had some animals we had never seen live before like wolves, wolverines, and a Canadian lynx. It had a great local flair and lots of programs to educate kids and adults alike on the animals, especially the ones native to New York. We stopped for lunch at a Subway in Potsdam, NY. After we left Potsdam, our next stop was Malone, New York, to see the Wilder homestead (actually located a little outside of Malone in Burke, NY) which was the boyhood home of Almanzo Wilder, made famous in the "Little House on the Prairie" series. We took a tour of the homestead and then loaded up to go camping in the Adirondacks! The highway down to Fish Creek Pond where we camped was full of everything you picture when you think of upstate New York; rounded top mountains, hidden lakes, and wetlands filled with trees that look like a moose might jump out any second. Our scenic drive led us to Fish Creek Pond, which was obviously a lake by almost anyone's standards of size, where we set up camp right by the pond (lake) and had a nice relaxing evening reading, knitting, and watching the wildlife. One creature in particular wasn't as wild as his outside let on, namely a little chipmunk friend we named Oliver, who was almost totally unafraid of us and knew that where humans were food was soon to follow. At one point he ran right over my foot looking for a dropped piece of cereal and consistently ran directly underneath our camp chairs while we sat in them. We had a wonderful day and are looking forward to getting into Vermont tomorrow! Here are some pictures from today!

Summer in New England- Road Trip 2012- Day 2

This morning we left from a very nice Comfort Inn in Obetz, OH and met Dean's friend Drew at a local Starbucks. We had a lovely visit and then off to Canton, OH to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We enjoyed some beautiful farmland scenery as we drove through rural Ohio. I dropped off Dean at the Hall of Fame and I visited a local yarn shop (The Artists' Gallery Yarns) while Dean explored the museum. For lunch we ate at a hole in the wall recommended from the yarn shop called Kennedy's BBQ. It was fantastic! We loved the food and the quaint setting. After eating and then mailing a few things at the post office, we headed north toward Cleveland and then finally east on I 90 for a long, long, long time. We saw glimpses of Lake Erie on the horizon and came very close to Canada and Niagara Falls. We have finally arrived in Syracuse, NY more than 1300 miles from home and tomorrow we are ready to explore Upstate New York up close (with much less driving) :-)

Here are some pictures from day 2 of our awesome adventure!

Summer in New England - Road trip 2012- Day 1

We left bright and early this morning to head out on our adventure to the northeast!  After a quick trip to Starbucks for Katy we were off like a shot!
We decided to go a different route than usual to avoid I-40 and see some different scenery, so we went the round-a-bout way through NE AR and the "boothill" of Missouri before heading up through Illinois and turning eastward through Indiana and Ohio.
We saw a very nice Missouri welcome center in Hayti, MO and decided to stop because even though we have both been to the state numerous times we had never been to a welcome center there before. 
We ate at a super-mega-deluxe IHOP in Cincinnati at one of the nicest malls we have ever seen with sprawling mega-versions of normal mall stores.  Overall it was a very nice day because we were expecting the day to feel longer because of the 750 mile distance we traveled. 
Looking forward to tomorrows travels through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York!
Here are some pictures of our first day!

New England Adventure!

Tomorrow we are leaving on an adventure to the Northeastern US including New England and visiting some friends in Brooklyn.  We are planning to see lots of things in upstate NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  We're looking forward to some classic New England sights and some authentic Northeastern seafood!  Lots of pictures and stories of our adventures to come!