Destin, Florida-Top Sail Hill Preserve

September 25-October 6, 2017

Well I was about to update on where we currently are but then I realized that I hadn't posted the last place we visited!  And I can't forget that one because we had special visitors!  Nana and Papa came to hang out with us at the beach in Destin.

We had such a good time with them.  We played in the water and sand together,

Learned to build sand castles (while fighting off horrible biting flies),

Went on a Destin history and dolphin sightseeing tour,

Ate at Lulu's,

Had a tea party,

And a candlelight dinner.

AAANNNNDDDD we got to celebrate Nana's birthday with cake and games!

After a fun week together, we all left out on a Friday morning to head back to Texas hoping to stay ahead of the hurricane headed toward Louisiana.  But hurricane or not, we had to stop for beignets!! haha

Galena, Ohio-Berkshire Lakes Campground

September 11-23,2017

Our next stop was Galena, Ohio where we met up with our friends Tara and Kevin and two of their children Colton and Asher.  We had so much fun hanging out with them and while we already knew Jacob and Asher got along well, they became two peas in a pod.  I loved watching Jacob have sooooo much fun.  (Not sure what happened with my pics.  So many are blurry!)

Our big outing together was to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  In the town of Peninsula, we hopped aboard a train and rode about 45 minutes to our north to the Rockside station.  

(Jacob doesn't look happy here but he totally is.  These two talked to each other non-stop!)

From there, we rode our bicycles the 13.1 miles along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail back to Peninsula.  So proud of the kids!

The Ohio canal opened in 1832 and one could travel from Cleveland to Cincinnati in 80 hours rather than weeks.  And somehow I missed this in my youth, but did you know that they used mules alongside the canal to pull the boats?! (totally makes sense now considering the year).  And as the canal brought growth, Ohio became the third most populous state by 1850.

There are a series of locks along the canals that are all in poor shape now that the canal is no longer used.  We stopped to check out a couple and found a few snakes!

We made several stops along the path, one of them being the Canal Exploration Center.  There we watched how thread was made, check out many of the exhibits indoors and had lunch.

(It was so cute watching them.  Jordan found some clothes to dress up in and was helping Asher with his attire)

On another day, our family went to downtown Columbus, where we stumbled into a small business festival and then checked out the splash pad area.

The rest of the days, we just enjoyed the company of our friends as much as we could.  The boys even had a couple of sleepovers.

And I saved the worst for last.....

The kids found three baby mice and decided they needed to try and raise them.  Bleck!!!  I was not in favor of this one bit, but they were determined.  In the end, I don't think they lasted even 48 hours (felt like weeks to me), but we learned quite a bit about trying to raise mice, like their development stages, what to feed them, how to feed them and that even those who try often rarely succeed.  They were sad when the mice were gone but they made a very good effort.

(There are two of them in the top left.  One is licking milk off of a paintbrush)

Our two weeks here flew by.  We were all sad to leave, especially the two boys but one day we will catch up with them again!

Mattawa, Ontario-Sid Turcotte Park

September 2-11, 2017

Our next adventure took us further north into Canada for the first-ever International Fulltime Family Rally!

(Our "Canadian" costumes for the rally party)

But before arriving at the rally in Mattawa, we wanted to check out a few other locations. 

We approached the Canadian border a little wary because only an hour before we pulled out of our campground in Vermont, we realized that Greg's passport had expired just 3 days prior! We thought it was still worth a go at it since we had his birth certificate and really the biggest problem might be a delay in reentering the US. And guess what?! It was no problem at all! The Canadian border patrol didn't even want to see his birth certificate and was super nice. AND upon returning to the US (which was on September 11!), the border patrol didn't even hesitate. In fact, it was probably the easiest crossing we have ever had!

On to what we did while in Canada...

We took three days to explore Ottawa and Montreal before heading to the rally location. The weather was not real cooperative but we were able to sneak a few things in between rain showers.

In Ottawa, Ontario we visited:

the Canadian Museum of History

Parliament Hill

(view from the bell tower)

and took a ride down the Rideau Canal.

In Montreal, Quebec we visited:

the beautiful Notre Dame Basilica

a cool Pirate Ship play area

and Mount Royal.

And then it was on to the rally! This was our second rally and we had as much fun as the first one. There was only one family there that we had ever met before so we made many new connections, which is what the rallies are all about.

Jordan had a blast making MANY new friends and danced the night away at the closing party.

There weren't as many boys but Jacob still made a few connections with kids his age. What he loved most was that all of the teens and tweens played a game called Mafia. Basically, some kids were chosen to be “mafia” and they had to sneak around a kill off the villagers (they had to put a piece of red duct tape on them). If they were accused of being Mafia, they would go to trial. So then they had to work together with a prosecutor and defender to present the case with real legal procedure and jargon. I was a juror in one of the cases. It was a fun and great experience for them all.

Another really fun thing at the rally was the Kids' Marketplace. The kids had an opportunity to sell their wares, whether it was homemade or not. I saw several art booths, sock animals, hiking sticks, friendship bracelets, baked goods, tissue holders, old toys and henna tattoos. We didn't have much time to prepare so my kids sold dirt pudding snacks (pudding, oreos and gummi worms) and bookmarks made from buttons and paperclips. It was an interesting learning experience as we looked at our costs and profits.

Here's a few more pictures of our rally hangout:

(glow party)

Marshfield, Vermont (State #47)-Meadowcrest Campground

August 26 -September 2, 2017

We finally made it to Vermont, State #47! Our home for the week was Meadowcrest Campground in Marshfield, not too far from the capital, Montpelier. It was a small campground with only about 15 RV sites and a few tent sites down by the river. BUT the kids had a FANTASTIC time. There was plenty for them to do and no associated fee to do them. So they could play air hockey and an electronic basketball game all they wanted. There was also an AMAZING slip-n-slide down the hill side, 

a playscape, and a small above ground pool. The weather, however, this time of year is on the cool side. So while they did use the pool, they only lasted about 30 minutes.

(Using THREE inner tubes to try an keep herself out of the frigid water!)

Many people recommended Smuggler's Notch State Park and so we had to check it out. The kids had so much fun exploring a cave area.

Then we hiked to Bingham Falls. The carved rock reminded me a lot of New Hampshire.

There were also many local companies that offered tours. The problem is that many of these products are seasonal and so some of the “tours” are only videos or some printed signs.

The first was Cabot Creamery. A very nice tour and able to see the cheese making process. And plenty of cheeses to taste.  YUM!  We also learned that they use a plant-based rennet, making all of their cheeses (with the exception of the one containing bacon) vegetarian.  Important for us now that we have a little vegetarian in the family.  

(No pics allowed inside)

(That glum face was intentional)

Next up was Bragg Sugar Farm House. This was only a video since maple sugar begins in late March and lasts only a few months. We also got to see their equipment, including the 2200 buckets that they collect the sap in EACH DAY! I really enjoyed this and learned so much. Like, did you know that the tree determines the grade of syrup. As the season progresses, it holds onto more of its sugar, which changes the grade. Vermont has its own set of regulations for production (more restrictive than the US). And the flavor of maple syrup is affected by the type of maple tree it comes from and the soil. Not all maple syrups are the same. Bragg Farm is definitely doing it right though because their syrups were DELICIOUS!

Rock of Ages Granite Quarry offers tours which cost $5 per adult. We did this based on the recommendation of a neighboring RVer in Maine. Our experience wasn't stellar and I think that is due to our tour guide. His discussion was very random and jumped from topic to topic so between that and the cold weather, I really lost interest. When I could follow, I did hear some interesting things. So I would still recommend it, but just hope that you don't get our guide.

Cold Hollow Cider Mill was the next tour. Well not really much of a tour. They had a couple of signs and I didn't really take much interest. I'm assuming there is not much to see here until the fall when the apples have ripened. Their cider was REALLY good, but I wasn't too impressed with the cider donuts. After taste testing, we bought some unsweetened apple butter and cider jelly. They also had a number of other local foods for sale and we picked up a few to test out (results pending).

And lastly, was Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. It was $4 per adult. Unfortunately, they were cleaning the factory (which takes more than 8 hours and they do it between flavors) at the time of our tour. But they have some nice videos that play in the room where you get to peer down at the equipment. It was nicely done. We got to taste their new flavor, strawberry hibiscus, which was surprisingly good. Then we bought a few other flavors to test out. I am sad to say that I was disappointed. I really hoped that I would love it since I could buy it in Austin or wherever but it just did not compare to the ice cream in Maine, nor did I even like it better than HEB's creamy creations! Nice tour, but no thank you on the ice cream.

We enjoyed our time in Vermont. The campground and the owners were great.  It was pretty and well-maintained. But Vermont didn't impress me as much as I had expected. I imagine it is gorgeous in the fall or even in the spring but at this time of year everything just seems overgrown. I feel like the grass, wildflowers and weeds are about the swallow this place up! Perhaps they do not mow and just allow it all to die back over the winter???  And there were so many homes in need of love, it was a little depressing at times.  It was far from ugly, but if we return, I will definitely vote to wait until leaf peeping time!

Now we are off to Canada for our second Fulltime Family Rally!