Today was a day I've been waiting about 22 years for - we went to Green Gables. It was wonderful.
We slept late this morning - it was the first time on the trip that we were staying somewhere more than one night. Plus, the hour time difference takes a bit of a toll. So even though we got up around 8:30 our time, it was 9:30 here.
The bath house here is fairly decent - we are 2 for 4 on bath houses so far, in terms of how nice they are.
Anyway, so first we had to go up to the corner to get gas - $.99 a litre. That equals out to about $4 a gallon. So suddenly the $2.80/gal we were seeing in NY and ME doesn't seem so bad! Then we went over to the Cavendish Visitor's Centre where mom's day was made because we finally were able to get a map of just PEI.
We went back down the road to Green Gables then - it's part of Prince Edward Island National Park and I was pleasantly suprised at how non-commercial the actual site was. Everything around it is terribly commercialized - the Shining Waters Fun Park, the Kindred Spirits Cottages, that kind of junk. But the Green Gables house is just a re-creation of the late-1800's era farm that Lucy Maud Montgomery grew up near.
There is a restoration of the barn and then you go through the actual house, which has been re-stored and decorated to look as it's described in the novel. You even get to walk through the upstairs, which I thought was really neat since most old houses don't let you go up the steps.
There are two walking trails near the house - the Haunted Wood and the Lover's Lane, as described in the book. The Lover's Lane trail was only about 1/2 a mile, so dad and I walked that while mom waited at the gift shop. The other trail was even longer, so we decided not to do that one.
I spent a fortune in the gift shop - upgrading to DVD copies of the three PBS movies. I had thought that a lot of the movie's exterior scenes were filmed here, but apparently it was primarily scenery shots. But whatever. I still love the movies (for the most part - I have some issues with the third) but Megan Follows was perfect as Anne and I adore Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert.
Roasted chicken for dinner tonight and finally a campfire and some S'mores!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day 4 - Newport, ME to Cavendish, PEI
Left Newport around 10:30 am - arrived at the Cavendish KOA around 8:30 pm (Atlantic time, so 7:30 EDT).
Miles driven - around 400
Total trip - around 1500!
It poured rain all Sunday night in Maine. Dad had to put on his rain jacket to go out and unplug all the stuff. He came back in and his pants were soaked. But when we looked at his camera & saw the pictures he took, we said well no wonder you're all wet - you walked all the way down to the lake to take pictures of the ducks!
We stopped at the Walmart in Palmyra, ME before getting on I-95 - there is no sales tax on food in Maine!
We rode on 95 for a little bit and then took Route 9 over to Calais, where we crossed the border. We waited about 30 minutes to get through customs - it's a very small border. Only a couple of lanes to drive through. We found out later that the Queen arrived in Halifax yesterday, so we wonder if that might have been why it took a little bit longer - they may have been checking a little more closely and there may have been more people driving through than normal. Of course, we're also used to crossing over at Buffalo/Niagara Falls where there are two bridges and tons of lanes. So who knows!
Then we had to get all the way across New Brunswick. We drove on the Trans-Canada Highway, which is the closest interstate equivalent up here.
Then we see a sign that says Train when Flashing.
A little bit later?
Ya'll, there are railroad tracks running ACROSS THE HIGHWAY! Can you imagine a train running across the middle of 40 and all the traffic stopping for it? Crazy! A little bit later we came up on a bunch of backed-up traffic and I was hoping it was because of a train so I could take a picture but it was just because of going to one-lane in a construction zone.
Anyway, we finally made it to the Confederation Bridge, which is 12.6 km long and terrifying. I do not like bridges. But they're very glad to have to it because you used to only be able to get over the Island by ferry. Then we drove all over a bunch of back roads and finally made it to Cavendish.
Dad walks into the store here at the KOA to register and the guy working the counter is on the phone with someone. Turns out it's dad's cousin Ann wanting to find out if we were there yet. I walked in the store and the guy's like "Welcome to PEI - everyone knows your business here!" So hopefully she will be able to come over and visit us this evening.
Gotta eat breakfast and then head to Green Gables now!
Also, just a maintenance note - with the weak internet connections, uploading pictures to Blogger takes forever. So I'm just going to put pictures on Facebook and recap the trip here. Thanks for following along! :)
Miles driven - around 400
Total trip - around 1500!
It poured rain all Sunday night in Maine. Dad had to put on his rain jacket to go out and unplug all the stuff. He came back in and his pants were soaked. But when we looked at his camera & saw the pictures he took, we said well no wonder you're all wet - you walked all the way down to the lake to take pictures of the ducks!
We stopped at the Walmart in Palmyra, ME before getting on I-95 - there is no sales tax on food in Maine!
We rode on 95 for a little bit and then took Route 9 over to Calais, where we crossed the border. We waited about 30 minutes to get through customs - it's a very small border. Only a couple of lanes to drive through. We found out later that the Queen arrived in Halifax yesterday, so we wonder if that might have been why it took a little bit longer - they may have been checking a little more closely and there may have been more people driving through than normal. Of course, we're also used to crossing over at Buffalo/Niagara Falls where there are two bridges and tons of lanes. So who knows!
Then we had to get all the way across New Brunswick. We drove on the Trans-Canada Highway, which is the closest interstate equivalent up here.
Then we see a sign that says Train when Flashing.
A little bit later?
Ya'll, there are railroad tracks running ACROSS THE HIGHWAY! Can you imagine a train running across the middle of 40 and all the traffic stopping for it? Crazy! A little bit later we came up on a bunch of backed-up traffic and I was hoping it was because of a train so I could take a picture but it was just because of going to one-lane in a construction zone.
Anyway, we finally made it to the Confederation Bridge, which is 12.6 km long and terrifying. I do not like bridges. But they're very glad to have to it because you used to only be able to get over the Island by ferry. Then we drove all over a bunch of back roads and finally made it to Cavendish.
Dad walks into the store here at the KOA to register and the guy working the counter is on the phone with someone. Turns out it's dad's cousin Ann wanting to find out if we were there yet. I walked in the store and the guy's like "Welcome to PEI - everyone knows your business here!" So hopefully she will be able to come over and visit us this evening.
Gotta eat breakfast and then head to Green Gables now!
Also, just a maintenance note - with the weak internet connections, uploading pictures to Blogger takes forever. So I'm just going to put pictures on Facebook and recap the trip here. Thanks for following along! :)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 3 - Schenectady, NY to Newport, ME
First - catch up from yesterday since there was no WiFi at Frosty Acres.
Gettysburg, PA to Schenectady, NY
~364 miles - left around 10 am and arrived around 5 pm.
Today - left around 10 am and arrived around 8:30 pm. Went about 390 miles today.
Total trip miles so far - ~1100 miles!
We had a great day yesterday. Very smooth traveling - bright and sunny in PA and a little drizzle in NY, but okay weather for the most part.
The campground in NY was okay. The campsite they gave us was right in front of their rec hall, where they were having a big dance with a DJ, so that kinda sucked, but we watched Toy Story 1 & 2 and the party broke up pretty much right at 11.
Stephen, Erica and Silas met up with us and spent the night, so it was great fun to visit. Silas liked to climb up on my bed and then slide right off - whether there was a stool or anyone to catch him!
Dunkin Donuts for breakfast this morning - causing my usual panic. The employees at these DDs in NY seem to always be in a hurry, which makes going to DD very stressful for me! But the donuts themselves are much better here than at home. Even if the girls working the counter were like 12 and had a bad attitude!
Longest day so far today - but tomorrow will be longer. These are our two longest travel days of the whole trip though, so at least we're getting them over with early.
We crossed through Vermont and New Hampshire and are spending the night at Christie's in Newport, ME. Dad stayed here several times as a kid and so instead of driving interstate, we had to come across the back roads they took 40 years ago. There were a few stretches in Maine where the road was not paved. But we made it and the camper is still in one piece!
Tomorrow we cross the border!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 1 - Pictures
The internet's being a lot more coooperative now, so I got my pictures uploaded. Just a couple today!
Cannon.
More cannons.
Plaque about the army of Northern Virginia. Where ever we were, it was on the Confederate side. But if you ask dad, he'd tell you that it's marking the site of a historical vista. And it's important. Or something.Day 1 - Kernersville, NC to Gettysburg, PA
Departed: ~11:15 AM
Arrived: ~6:15 PM
Today's miles: ~350
Total trip miles: ~350
Well, we have made it Gettysburg, PA! YAY! We are staying at the Gettysburg Battlefield Travel Resort, which is a pretty nice campground. The highlight here is the bath house, where you get your own little room to yourself, with a sink, toilet and shower.
However, their Wi-Fi kinda sucks, because I've been trying for an hour to get logged into GMail and Facebook, so I'm not gonna try to upload any pictures tonight. Besides, you've already seen most of them on FB anyway! The only other pictures I took today are of some cannons we saw when we wound up driving through a portion of the actual battlefield due to a detour.
Today was pretty uneventful. Since my brother's assignment to Ft. Drum in upstate NY, we have driven this stretch of NC-68/US-220/I-81 several times. It's pretty standard interstate. We have actually also stayed at this campground before - Emily, you'll be glad to know it's much nicer here when it's not raining.
Chris, you'll be jealous to hear that even though it's still in the high 80s here in PA, you can totally tell the difference from the high 90s at home.
We stopped at two Sheetz today - the one in Kernersville to get coffee on the way out of town and one in Staunton, VA. That was our only real pit stop today, so we figured we did pretty well! We also learned that you can get a cup of ice for free in any size cup, as long as you use the coffee cups.
Hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner tonight.
That's pretty much it for today - not very exciting, I know! I kinda feel like I'm in a Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, writing up my daily report for whichever girl was working on a scrapbook or had to stay home from the trip or whatever. You so know Kristy would have totally had those girls keeping a blog if they'd been around 20 years ago!
Good night - catch ya tomorrow if I can! :)
Arrived: ~6:15 PM
Today's miles: ~350
Total trip miles: ~350
Well, we have made it Gettysburg, PA! YAY! We are staying at the Gettysburg Battlefield Travel Resort, which is a pretty nice campground. The highlight here is the bath house, where you get your own little room to yourself, with a sink, toilet and shower.
However, their Wi-Fi kinda sucks, because I've been trying for an hour to get logged into GMail and Facebook, so I'm not gonna try to upload any pictures tonight. Besides, you've already seen most of them on FB anyway! The only other pictures I took today are of some cannons we saw when we wound up driving through a portion of the actual battlefield due to a detour.
Today was pretty uneventful. Since my brother's assignment to Ft. Drum in upstate NY, we have driven this stretch of NC-68/US-220/I-81 several times. It's pretty standard interstate. We have actually also stayed at this campground before - Emily, you'll be glad to know it's much nicer here when it's not raining.
Chris, you'll be jealous to hear that even though it's still in the high 80s here in PA, you can totally tell the difference from the high 90s at home.
We stopped at two Sheetz today - the one in Kernersville to get coffee on the way out of town and one in Staunton, VA. That was our only real pit stop today, so we figured we did pretty well! We also learned that you can get a cup of ice for free in any size cup, as long as you use the coffee cups.
Hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner tonight.
That's pretty much it for today - not very exciting, I know! I kinda feel like I'm in a Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, writing up my daily report for whichever girl was working on a scrapbook or had to stay home from the trip or whatever. You so know Kristy would have totally had those girls keeping a blog if they'd been around 20 years ago!
Good night - catch ya tomorrow if I can! :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
T-3 days!
3 days left before we leave! Woo!
(I'm a little excited.)
I'm about two-thirds packed. Various tote bags in varying stages of fullness are all over my house and my closet looks REALLY empty.
And of course, as soon as I got my suitcase out, KC settled in his usual spot. He does this everytime I start packing for a trip.
Like he thinks he's gonna go somewhere. (Well, he is actually - but just to his vet to be boarded. It's better that way. He hates riding in a car and they probably give him wet food.)
(I'm a little excited.)
I'm about two-thirds packed. Various tote bags in varying stages of fullness are all over my house and my closet looks REALLY empty.
And of course, as soon as I got my suitcase out, KC settled in his usual spot. He does this everytime I start packing for a trip.
Like he thinks he's gonna go somewhere. (Well, he is actually - but just to his vet to be boarded. It's better that way. He hates riding in a car and they probably give him wet food.)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
So, we'll see how this goes...
Next Friday, my parents and I will set off on a trip that has been in the works for YEARS (really - mom and dad have been talking about taking this trip for about 30 years.) So, I'm very grateful and excited to be going along for the ride. After some prodding, I decided, what the heck, I'll try my hand at blogging. WiFi permitting, I will try to post each day so you can follow along on our road trip.
We will leave NC on Friday morning, June 25 and head north towards Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, Canada, with stops in PA, NY, ME, NB, MA & VA. We'll hopefully connect with my brother, sister-in-law & nephew on both the northbound and southbound legs and we'll meet up with my dad's sisters and niece in NS.
And, I finally get to go to Green Gables - I am so excited, you don't even know. Our campground on PEI is supposed to be within walking distance of both the Green Gables house and a Tim Hortons, so it's pretty much perfect.
Now I just have to get packed.
Here is our home on wheels!
Aunt Pat, Mom & Me with the motor home.
We will leave NC on Friday morning, June 25 and head north towards Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, Canada, with stops in PA, NY, ME, NB, MA & VA. We'll hopefully connect with my brother, sister-in-law & nephew on both the northbound and southbound legs and we'll meet up with my dad's sisters and niece in NS.
And, I finally get to go to Green Gables - I am so excited, you don't even know. Our campground on PEI is supposed to be within walking distance of both the Green Gables house and a Tim Hortons, so it's pretty much perfect.
Now I just have to get packed.
Here is our home on wheels!
Aunt Pat, Mom & Me with the motor home.
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