Summer in New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 8

Today we woke up with an amazing view of the sea from our tent at Recompence Shore Campground near Freeport, Maine. We hung around camp for a little longer than usual because we weren't going as far and because we were waiting for Purl Diva, a yarn shop in Brunswick, to open at 11:00 am. We made our usual Starbucks breakfast-time run before heading to Brunswick, where Katy picked up some yarn and she talked me into buying a drop spindle kit so I can learn to spin yarn for her. We went through Portland, Maine next, which turned out to be larger than we thought, with a metro population over a million. They had a large downtown that we drove through and found a parking place so Katy could go into Knit Wit, a local yarn shop there. Katy bought some needles that she didn't have and we went to go get lunch at a place on the outskirts of Portland called "Anania's, Your Neighborhood Store." We got a gigantic turkey wrap to share and each got a homemade Maine "Whoopie pie," which is a cookie/brownie/cake substance with cream sandwiched in the middle. We bought our lunch and took it out to Fort Williams Park, home of the Portland Head Lighthouse. We sat out in the park at a picnic table and ate our lunch before heading out to take some pictures of the lighthouse itself, built in the 1790s, and the surrounding seascape. Our next adventure was to try to take a walk on Old Orchard Beach, consistently voted the best public beach in southern Maine. It was very difficult to find a parking spot, but eventually we did and we got to go stick our feet into the ocean and walk along the beach. Afterwards, we took a short drive to Biddeford, Maine where we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and went out for some local seafood at the Seafood Center, just north of Kennebunk, Maine. We got our first taste of a lobster roll and got to eat at a restaurant that was brimming with local Maine culture. It was a fantastic day and we got to spend the night in a very nice hotel to cap things off. Looking forward to heading south tomorrow for the first time in a while! Here's our pictures!

Summer in New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 7

Today we woke up from our chilly night of camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and packed up camp. We went about 20 miles down the road to the Conway-North Conway area and found a Starbucks where we sat and caught up on blogging, charged various electronics, and waited for a knitting shop in North Conway (Close Knit Sisters) to open at 10 am. At the knitting store, Katy bought a kit to make a headband and some circular needles. When we left Conway-North Conway, we headed for the Maine state line near the town of Fryeburg, Maine. We stopped just on the other side of the Maine border at a travel information center and met a nice lady who told us about some cool things to see in southern Maine and told us about a place to camp on the Maine coast near the ocean. We took her advice on some of the things she told us and went through Naples, Maine to see a little quilting shop at a bed and breakfast, then went to Standish, Maine, near the southern tip of Sebago Lake to find Korner Knitters. At Korner Knitters Katy bought a couple of skeins of yarn and a pattern for a hat. We also took up the lady's advice on where to camp and we headed to Recompense Shore Campground near Freeport, Maine, where we were able to find a very-private campsite with an ocean view. They also had a shower house and laundry so we cleaned our clothes and ourselves before going back to nearby Freeport for supper at the China Rose. Freeport was a town full of outlet malls and restaurants that was cool to walk around on foot. Freeport is also home to the L.L. Bean flagship store. After supper and walking around Freeport for a little while we went back to our campsite and settled in for the warmest night Maine had all year up to this point, a low of only 63 degrees. We had great slow-paced day with lots of breaks and resting. Looking forward to travelling out to the Maine coast tomorrow! Here are our pictures from today!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 6

We woke up at our campsite at Gold Brook and broke camp. Repacking the car was a great investment of time and everything fits very nicely now. I have a slight coffee/caffine addiction so our next stop was Black Cap Coffee Roasters in Stowe, VT. Excellent atmosphere and even better coffee. We recharged a few batteries, wrote a few words, and knitted a few rows and soon hit the road again. We were off to Montpelier, VT. The smallest state capitol in the US. With 8,000 people, Montpelier was a great size. It had an abundance of bookstores in old creaky buildings, coffee shops, bakeries and interesting local shops. We visited two book stores, Bear Pond Books and Rivendell Books and then the local yarn store, the Knitting Studio. We talked to a couple of locals and got advice of places to visit on our journey. We also stopped in at La Brioche, a bakery that is staffed by the culinary students that learn in the same building. They had windows into the kitchen so you could see the pastry chefs to be working hard. Next we attempted to visit a local fiber farm, The Wool Shed, but no one was home so down the back roads of Vermont we went to the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks. Its not sugaring time at the farm right now so we did not get to see the big evapaporator working, but we did get to watch an interesting video made the the 7th generation of sugar farmers there and enjoy a sampling of the different grades of male syrup they produce. We bought a few candies and some syrup in the gift shop. It was a lovely place and we could see how every season brought its own unique beauty that part of the woods. The speed limits in Vermont are quite slow by Arkansas standards on the highway 50 mph is your max and all of the little towns have are 30 mph so our next stop though only 20 miles away, it took more than half an hour to get there! Cabot Creamery Co-op was our next adventure. Some of the 30ish varieties of Cabot Cheeses, some of the best in the world, are produced in this plant as well as Greek yogurt, dips, yogurt, and sour cream. We were able to take a tour of the facilities and watch the plant at work. We bought a lunch of cheese and bread and yogurt as we left and we can definitely say that the products were amazing. Soon after visiting Cabot, we were leaving the state of Vermont. Into New Hampshire and a new adventure to find a new airmattress and travel the Kancamangus Highway. We found a Wal-Mart just across the line in Littleton, NH (yay Arkansas Industry!) and then after many warnings to watch out for moose, we entered the White Mountain National Forest on the Kancamangus Highway. It was quite the scenic drive and we enjoyed watching out for moose, bears, and other wild life. We set camp at the Passaconaway Campground on the far side of the watershed divide and were promptly attacked by hundreds of the largest mosquitos we have seen since visiting Crater Lake 2 years ago (when there was 6 foot of snow on the ground) We did not see much of the camp because of this and spent the evening inside our tent to escape the bugs. We are excited about entering Maine tomorrow and seeing the Atlantic Ocean!

  Here's today's pictures!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 5

Today we didn't have to break camp and pack up because we were staying in the same place for the second night. This meant we slept a little later and then headed out for Stowe, VT to get some breakfast at the Dutch Pancake House. This restaurant was part of the Grey Fox Inn and they served Dutch style pancakes which were somewhat thinner than an American pancake, but thicker than crepes, and it was about 12 inches in diameter. After our awesome pancake breakfast we went up the mountain road northwest of Stowe to Smuggler's Notch , which was a narrow notch cut into the mountain up near its peak. The scenery was beautiful and we got some great pictures of the rock faces in the area. Next we looked up a couple of backwoods Vermont covered bridges and set off to go find them. We saw the Brookdale covered bridge, which was a little more modern, but still had the rustic feel. The second bridge was the Sterling Brook covered bridge, which was built in 1896 and we got some awesome pictures there too. Both bridges were at the end of dirt roads and you really got a feel for rural Vermont.  After the bridges we headed to the Stowe Farmer's Market, where we bought some locally grown steak for supper and got to see some of the same vendors we saw at the Shelbourne market.  At the farmer's market Katy noticed a sign for the local NOMAD Dog Agility Competition being held just a few miles away, so we loaded up and went to see it in person.  We like to watch agility shows on TV, but this was our first in person show, and the dogs were amazing!  They ran the course very well and I'm sure we will see some of them in the national competition later this year.  We had lunch at a local place called McCarthy's, which was fantastic, and then we went for dessert and a tour at Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury, VT.  We got to take a short tour of the factory, see a video on the creation of the brand, and have a sample of an ice cream in testing (which passed the test to us!).  We picked up a few souvenirs and went to see a couple of places we noticed on the way to our campsite before.  The first one was Ziemke glass blowing studio, where we got to watch the glass being made, and the second was the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where we got to see some history on the mill, look around the mill itself, and buy some cider jelly, which tastes amazing!  We tried to find somewhere to buy a new air mattress because ours was losing air, but we were unsuccessful because it was Sunday and lots of places were closed.  It wasn't too bad though, and we had a great day otherwise!

Here are our ictures for the day!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 4

Day 4- We were up bright and early this morning as the sun was peeking over the "pond" at 5:15am. I know early, right? We broke camp and were off and going by 8 (well we actually left the site at 7:15 but we decided to drive on around the pond, but when we got to that exit, it was locked, so we drove all the way back around at 2 miles an hour and all the people in their RVs stared at us). The scenery was spectactular as we drove through the Adirondacks. One of the first towns we came to was Saranac Lake, NY. This town is known as the "capitol of the Adirondacks" and was a pretty good size. The downtown area was very impressive, as it has 136 buildings on the National Historic Record. We attempted to visit the weekly Farmer's Market, but they weren't opening until 9, and we were hungry so we headed on and soon reached Lake Placid. As you probably know, Lake Placid, NY was the host city for 2 winter Olympic games (1932 and 1980). Soo cute! We ate breakfast at a place called Pan Dolce, which was fantastic. As we were driving out around 9:45 I spotted the yarn shop, though it was still early I could see people setting up a tent outside with yarn so we stopped in Adirondack Yarns. It did not disappoint. The owner was awesome. She had an excellent variety of yarns and a ton of samples (even some for sale) She talked to me for a while and told me about the fiber arts demonstration she was having outside. One farmer was bringing her alpacas, another was a spinner and sheep farmer, and the last was an Angora bunny breeder. Dean and I got to pet the bunnies. They were precious and I could see how they will make someone some beautiful yarn. We continued through Upstate New York to the small village of Essex to catch the ferry across Lake Champlain. We chose to take the non-interstate route and enjoyed some absolutey amazing bucolic scenery. Eva the Equinox, Dean, and I took our first ferry ride on a car ferry across a lake. There were at least 20 sailboats on the water and the weather was perfect. After arriving on the other side at Charlotte, VT, we drove about 10 miles to Shelburne, VT. This town famous for its musuem and Teddy Bear Factory was hosting a Farmer's Market, so we stopped by. Everything was local and it all smelled and looked amazing. The next stop was the Burlington, VT Town Center, which we thought was a large mall in a good sized city. In reality, it was a wonderful area and city with lots of fantastic restaurants, local stores, and vibrant community. We ate at a little place called Henry's Diner which has been in operation since 1925. We visited a couple of local shops including a yarn/sewing store called Nido. Dean found another yarn shop just a few miles down the road in Essex Junction, VT. Kalideoscope Yarns is my favorite so far. Amazing selection, lots of variety, and super friendly staff. I purchased a pattern that I can't wait to try out. Since I have the most awesome husband I was able to visit one more yarn shop on day 4 in Williston, VT. The Northeast Fiber Arts Center was more than just yarn. The owner had made a haven for fiber artists of all kinds. She was well stocked in yarns, batts, roving, spindles, spinning wheels, and looms. There was also a huge room for sitting and making fiber art with 15 of your closest friends. Apparently many classes are taught there and it is very much enjoyed by the community. So I was able to visit 4 yarn shops in one day and the last 3 were within 15 miles of each other! Craziness! We had planned on camping at Little River State Park, but unfortunately they were full, so we scrambled to find another campsite that would have openings on a Friday night! We drove to almost Stowe and found a lovely campsite called Gold Brook Campgrounds. This is one of the first private campgrounds we have stayed at and we are quite impressed. We have only traveled two states today, but we have learned so much about the local culture. Tomorrow we explore Stowe, Waterbury, and the surrounding area. Having so much fun!

  Here's our pictures from today!