Bar Harbor, Maine-Bar Harbor Campground

July 29-August 26, 2017

Bar Harbor, Maine is such a beautiful area and we were soooo excited to return and be able to stay for FOUR WEEKS!  Acadia National Park is gorgeous, the town center is so beautiful and the ice cream is fantastic!  We are already thinking about when we can come back.

We stayed at Bar Harbor Campground, which is the closest campground into the national park and has full hook-ups.  There is a free shuttle bus system that you can ride from the campgrounds, into the national park or into the town center.  It's so nice because parking in Bar Harbor and in the national park can be difficult.

The kids enjoyed their stay here but not as much as I had hoped.  The pool was too cold for Jordan and so she couldn't last more than about 15 minutes.  I really tried to plug into the local community but as much as I tried, I could not find them!!  Even hung out at the local swimming hole and rarely saw anyone.  Where are the people?!

(Trying to warm up after being in the pool)

(Glen Mary Wading Pool-only 2 feet deep and freezes over in the winter for skating)

The closest we got to locals was Circus Camp.  The camp is only there 2 weeks out of the summer and we were lucky enough to be there during that time.  I actually had to convince Jordan to go.  I knew she would enjoy it.  Turns out, she LOVED it.  She enjoyed the activities and enjoyed being with her new friends.  After it was over, the owner/teacher was amazed to find out that Jordan hadn't known the other girls prior to camp.  He said from the way they acted, he assumed that they had been lifelong friends!

Another fun thing that we had not done before was Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater.  For this, you go out on a boat with Diver Ed and his diving buddy, Mini Ed (a playmobil character).  They dive down with a camera and microphone so that we can see what they are finding and where and hear the commentary.  After collecting a few creatures he returns to the boat to show all of the kids and teach them a few things about it.  It was fun and educational.  Where else can you get your hair combed by a lobster and have a sea cucumber spray all over you?!

But the MOST exciting days were when my mom and Aunt Judy came to see us!  We had four full days to spend with them.  We took them into the park, including the Schoodic area, showed them around Bar Harbor, had lobster with them, visited the lobster hatchery and took them to the top three ice cream shops in the area (pics below).

I have to mention that we tested out all 6 ice cream shops in Bar Harbor prior to their arrival. You know, so they could have the best 😋.  AND we went to an ice cream making tour.  By the end of our stay in Bar Harbor, I had eaten ice cream at least 14 times!  YIKES!)

We made THREE  pints of ice cream at Udder Heaven (above) and the owner let us keep our ice cream in their freezer (since RV freezers are quite tiny) and when we wanted some, we just walked up there and they scooped it for us.  So fun!

This will be hard to narrow down but here are some of my favorite pics from our stay:

Little Hunter Beach:

Climbing the Beehive Summit Trail:

Sand Beach:

View from the North Bubble:

Thunder Hole:

 Having lobster at Thurston's Lobster Pound:

Observing the gorgeous scenery at Schoodic Point:

Collecting sea stars at Tidal Falls:

(Jacob is teaching someone all about sea stars)

 The best place to hang out and eat your ice cream...Agamont Park:

So, it was another fun visit to Bar Harbor.  I know we will be back some day to take in more of this beautiful place (and ice cream)!  But for now, we will move on to Vermont.

  

Salem, Connecticut-Witch Meadow Campground

July 3-29, 2018

After three grueling months of prepping and moving out of our home, a three or four day ride to Connecticut wasn't sounding too bad.  I could sit and do NOTHING.  And I did!  

We left out of Texas on a Saturday morning and made it to our destination in Connecticut on Monday evening, one day ahead of schedule and even after breaking down in rural Virginia. The kids were eager to arrive and voted to keep pushing forward.  

We did what Greg has named "The Cracker Barrel Express".  That means that we drive until evening and aim at pulling into a Cracker Barrel at around 8 pm.  They have RV parking (although we are a bit long for them) and you can stay the night for FREE.  It isn't totally free since we go inside and eat dinner but it's a great meal that I don't have to cook, it is quiet, and we are able to roll out early in the morning.

During our second day of travel, the truck began throwing a code.  It was the same code we got last year when we were heading through the mountains, "Low fuel rail pressure".  It was still running fine but worrisome since we thought that issue had been fixed.  Well after throwing the code a few more times (probably over a couple hours), the truck began to lose power.  Greg decided to head for the exit and it was a good thing he did because as we exited, we lost all power and rolled to a stop on the shoulder.  It was 6 pm.  

Greg got to work investigating the problem while I tried to get the roadside assistance process going.  In the end, Greg discovered some loose parts near the fuel pump primer. We had lost around 10 gallons of fuel (which our fuel gauge could not detect) and so we simply ran out of diesel before we should have.  FORTUNATELY, Greg was able to determine this AND the closest building to us was a gas station, WITH diesel!  So Greg tightened it all up, put a little diesel in and the truck started up!  We jumped in and headed to fill up and set out on the road again, arriving at the Cracker Barrel around 9 pm.  I have probably said it before, but we are SO fortunate that Greg is so handy and knowledgeable about this stuff. 

As I said, we made it to the campground a day early and the campground was very willing to accommodate us.  This place is great and the owner has been awesome (we stayed here once before when my stepsister had passed away).

The kids have been having a blast!  There are soooo many kids here and they have activities at the rec center nearly every hour from 9 am until about 3:30 pm.  Here's an example of what a couple of days look like:

Jordan loves all of the arts and crafts and Jacob has enjoyed the field games.

They have been walking and riding their bikes a lot and they met up with some old friends. There is also a pool and lake here for swimming and non-motorized boating.

Being in a small state is fun.  Within a matter of a couple hours, you can travel into another state!  So our first big outing was a weekend trip to NYC!  This was more relaxed than our last trip when we had to squeeze everything in, so I think the kids enjoyed it much more. We found a hotel to stay in near Times Square and drove in.  We checked out a couple of the local restaurants like John's Pizza and Mama Ruth's, went to the Museum of Natural History, watched a free Three Musketeers theatrical performance in a park (Jacob's fave),

 walked the Hi-Line after eating in Chelsea Market, went to the American Girl store

 and went to see School of Rock. 

(Getting some autographs after the performance)

Next, we went to Six Flags New England in Massachusetts.  Believe it or not, we had to drag the kids there! They have had so much fun at the campground that they do not want to leave.  But just as we thought, they had a great time.

Then we drove to the little town of Essex.  It was so pretty and quaint.  Jacob said he wanted to live there.  We had lunch on a little island and visited the Connecticut River Museum.  Some of the homes here date back to before the Revolutionary War!!  I was so AMAZED!  

(Built in 1720!)

In the museum, we sat in a Turtle Submarine Replica from the Revolutionary War, built the frame of a ship and learned that Essex was also the sight of attack by British soldiers in the War of 1812.  They burned many of their ships and stole their rum!

From there, we drove a little further north and had dinner with one of my old coworkers, Shari.  It is always good to see and chat with her.  Sadly, I forgot to get a picture.

Back in CT, we checked out Devil's Hopyard State Park.  I told them all, "It's a short hike, just under 2 miles. It won't take us long!"  I think next time I will remember to check the elevation.  It wasn't easy and considering we haven't hiked in 3 months, it was really pretty tough.  And I don't think I have mentioned this, but it is hot and SUPER humid here! 

(Chapman Falls)

Next up was a visit to the Mark Twain House and Museum.  This was a guided tour of the house where Mark Twain lived and completed many of the books he is famous for.  He had the house built and lived there from 1874 until 1891 when finances became difficult.  They moved to Europe where they could live more cheaply.  One of his daughters returned to the home and died soon afterwards from meningitis.  The family could not bear to live there after that and so they sold the home in 1903.  It was very interesting to tour through and learn that they spent $200 per WEEK on food for entertaining.  This was almost as much as one of their servants made in a YEAR and more than I spend weekly 100+ years later!

My final news is that we have closed on our house!   No more worry about that! The closing went smoothly.  Interestingly, they have mobile notaries!  When it was time to sign the documents, a notary came out to our campground and we completed the necessary paperwork and she took care of getting it back to Austin.  Easy peasy!  So we officially said good-bye to Janabyrd Ln. and we are okay with that (although we will miss our awesome neighbors). 

We are now heading for another month long stay in Bar Harbor.  Can't wait to have some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted!!

An Update

April-June, 2018

We spent 3 months in Texas.  It flew by here is why:   After MUCH discussion (prior to our arrival in Texas), Greg and I decided to sell our home.  The decision was tough because we LOVE the location.  We know that if we had to settle again, THAT is right where we would want to be.  So then, why did we sell?  Of course, if we were rich, we would just keep it and keep on paying for all that goes along with taking care of the home.  But we are not rich, and we are super tired of returning to Austin to deal with bushes that still need trimming and plants that need planting even though we have a yard crew, decisions about what to do with our yard because the shade is killing the grass, worrying about if the beautiful trees are getting what they need and so on....  It's definitely a joy stealer.  We decided it was time to rid ourselves of some of the cost and hassle and open up time to do FUN things in Austin and see our friends when we are there.

So we worked our tails off for two months to purge and move out so that our house could go on the market.  On June 1st, the house listed and a couple wanted to put in an offer that night and ultimately, we accepted their offer.  Having had our pre-inspection, we thought this would be pretty smooth sailing and June would be filled with days to relax and see friends. WRONG!  Their inspector came back with 3 issues.  Two were non-issues but certainly consumed time and effort.  The third was that the foundation had shifted and was out of tolerance.  WHAT?!  

That meant three separate appointments from three separate foundation companies to get bids and opinions.  The shift was not much out of tolerance and all of the foundation guys said it was standard work and par for the course in our area especially after the drought four years ago.  

All was well, so it seemed.  The buyer husband was on board and then on June 9 we get a call that they backed out.  WHAAAA!  So we went back on the market and after another week or so, we received another offer with LOTS of questions.  All valid but they all take time to address.  In the interim though, this delayed the final move-out because our furniture was being used for staging.

At this point, we are still under contract waiting for the closing.  The foundation was stabilized in mid-July without any complications.  We finished clearing the house and closed the door behind us at 8 pm on a Friday evening and then we pulled out of Austin the next morning.  EXHAUSTING!

I NEVER WANT TO MOVE AGAIN!  But I will...  

So what now?  We did not decide to remain "houseless" but we have our eyes set on a particular location and will hold out a while to see if we can get it.  We want less maintenance and to get that, we are buying a townhome.  There will still be home maintenance, but no trees, yard or other outdoor things to take care of.  And there is a pool, that WE will not have to maintain!  We think it makes sense for US and our lifestyle.

So we are in the holding pattern, but in the meantime, we will continue to see this beautiful country and make more wonderful memories with our kiddos.  The townhome may not come available this year, but that's okay.  We will still return to Austin to see our friends and families and we won't have that to distract us. 

Let the next adventure begin!

Cottonwood, Arizona-Verde Valley RV Resort & Campground

March 12-25, 2017

We were told that Sedona was a beautiful area and it is very true. The red rock rising from the earth is such a stark and beautiful contrast to the surrounding green.

We stayed in the Cottonwood Thousand Trails (Verde Valley) which was a little disappointing for Greg and I. First, it was about a 40 minute drive to any hike even though not that far as the crow flies. Secondly, the campground was ok but I was surprised that there were no kid activities even though it was Spring Break time. And to make it worse, the pool was closed for renovations. Boo hoo hoo

But the best news is that just a couple of sites down, Jordan and Jacob met two new friends, Avalee and Aleena. They had SO much fun together each day for the nearly two weeks we were there. And one day their family joined us for an outing. We hiked the Eagle's Nest trail in Red Rock State Park

then drove to see the Meteor Crater in AZ. It was so huge! You could fit 20 football fields in the bottom. The meteor is estimated to have traveled at 26,000 miles per hour and hit with such force that fragments of the meteor have been located 3,000 feet below ground and up to 7 miles away.   The crater itself is 4,000 ft across (~3/4 mile) and 550 ft deep (although 700 ft feet at time of impact).

This is a picture of the largest fragment found. It is estimated that the meteor was 150 ft in diameter.

On our own, we hiked to:

Devil's Bridge

(The sun made this picture difficult.  The natural bridge is slightly right of the center of the picture with a dark area in the arch).

Cathedral Rock,

And we visited:

Tuzigoot National Monument, which are pueblo ruins dating back to 800 AD. This particular pueblo had 120 rooms and was built up on a hill.

Montezuma Castle National Monument. This was a 45-room cliff dwelling with 5 levels. It's so interesting to think about how they built and lived in such a dwelling and then to learn WHY they did so. In this location, they were near a creek and the land below provided them with a place to farm and plant life for other needs. The land would flood from snow melt and monsoons, but this brought in new fertile soil and since they were high on the cliff, their homes were safe. Additionally, in their position, they were shaded in the summer and sunny in the winter, they could send signals to other nearby villages and they had a great view to watch out for approaching dangers.

One last activity to mention was the Cottonwood Recreation Center. One of the locals told me about this and since the campground pool was closed, we decided to go check it out. We had so much fun!. Indoors, they have a little snaking lazy river with a twirling whirlpool in the center, a play area where you can shoot water cannons, and a fun, twisty tube slide. They also had a lap pool and hot tub for the adults. We spent a few hours there and enjoyed it so much that we decided we must do it again. The next time we brought our friends along for the fun.

It was hard to say good-bye to our new friends. We enjoyed their company so much and the girls were such great friends to Jacob and Jordan. The eldest wrote such sweet letters to the kids to say good-bye and they got up early to surprise us for one last good-bye on the morning we left. Another great family that we have to find again in the future!

Now, we are heading back to Texas. Since it was the end of March, we thought there might be a chance to see the Saguaros in bloom so we stopped at Saguaro National Park. Unfortunately not, but the ocotillo were blooming and we saw one or two other blooms.  We will have to try again some other time.

We are excited to get back in Texas but before returning to Austin, we will spend a few days in Indianola with Grandma and Grandpa. We are looking forward to seeing them and being able to go fishing!