Bill and Eileen's Travels: Thursday, December 23, 2021

I never posted anything after Bar Harbor. We left Bar Harbor on 9/21 and moved on to Conway NH. Eastern Slope campground. This was an old campground with lots of water from recent rains but we managed after changing the site they assigned to us. From here we shopped in the pm then next day we drove ot the cog railroad for Mt Washington. This was a unique experience that I have wanted to try for many years. The ride was fun but unfortunately the mountain was fogged in and it was blowing like crazy on the summit. I took some interesting pictures of the summit. That night we had a great dinner at a restaurant in North Conway. Next day 9/23 we moved on to Bear Pine Woods Campground in Moultonborough, NH to visit Paul and Cindy. The campground here was for the little guys and we had a terrible time leveling, even after changing our site. We were in the weeds and sloping mud. Not fun, this one is off the list for sure. Had a fun visit with our good friends in spite of solid rain. We were able to take our third shot at planning the excursions for our European River Cruise. Sure hope the third time is the one. We went out to dinner both nights and had a great visit. They have a beautiful place on the lake. On 9/25 we headed out to East Thetford, Vt which is just north of Hanover NH. Rest N Nest Campground. We visited Hanover, went to church with Mary Kemp and had a nice dinner at the Hanover Inn. What a beautiful part of the country. We met Marys husband Tom and took in the beautiful view from their home near Hanover. Fun visit. On 9/27 we moved on to Apple Island Resort in Hero, Vt. This campground is on Lake Champlain and it is a great place. Small restaurant, 9 hole golf course, pull in sites overlooking the water, and nice people. We were there basically off season but still a nice facility. This one is near the top of my return list. Next day we explored the Island that we were on. Went apple picking and drove to within a couple miles of the Canadian border. We stumbled onto a Shrine to Saint Ann that was established here many years ago. A very neat place with an outside stations of the cross. Very nice. The details will be on the pictures. We spent three nigths here and enjoyed them all. 9/30 we headed for Herkimer NY where we joined up with Carol and Skip and Noel and Eileen. This is a KOA accross the street from the Herkimer Diamond mines. It is a nice facility and the mines are some commercial but mostly tourist related. The "diamonds" are really crystals that are found in the rocks here. They do make jewelery out of them. It was fun going into the mine field and trying to discover something. We all found something and had a nice time watching each other. The next day we had tickets for the Erie Canal ride. This was a fun trip up a portion of the canal, through a lock and back again. The captin gave us some of the history of the canal and the local area. Fun time. We enjoyed our time with the crew, spent nights at the campfire and even enjoyed a few libations. Keith and Beth joined us on the last night for dinner. Apparently they live nearby. We had gone to Copperstown NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even as a non baseball guy I really enjoyed the museum. It is very well done and really brings out all aspects of the game. The town is all baseball tourist stuff. We had a great day there. 10/4 it was time to head out to Williamsport. We visited Dan and family, had dinner at Tom and Sandi's house, played golf with Tom and Corey, dinner with Sherry,Dave,Patty and Bob , and worked in a cosmo and a visit to the cemetery. Fun visit. 10/8 we headed to Americamps in Asland Virgina, had lunch with Sara and Wes and shopped at Bass Pro. 10/10 we headed for Selma and while we shopped on Monday I had the bus serviced at Cummins in Kenly, NC Next day was home. Overall this was a great trip. Our goal was to see the leaves change but because of the warm wet weather that NE had the leaves were very later and we really only got a small taste of the real glory of the leaves. I actually saw better color on my way hunting this year than we did in NE. I took my mobile hunting lodge to Pa once again and had a great hunt even though I didn't put anything in the freezer. The bus is in bed now and I'm starting to plan a trip for next year. I start now talking my bride into it. I'm still as excited about the travels as I was in 2006. See y'all next trip.