Cleveland, OH - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Cleveland Indians

Based on our son's recommendation we had to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....so we did. The museum was interesting but for me it was a bit of a sensory overload.  I could have easily spent at least two days reading everything, instead I focused on the general sense of everything and the various outfits that were worn by the musicians. I did spend some time with Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dick Clark, and U2 to name a few...Rolling Stone Magazine is celebrating it's 50th year and there was a whole floor dedicated to that.  I was never a big reader of the magazine but after being there it made me want to run out and buy a copy, of course I didn't :)

  

Rolling Stone Display - Covers & Costume worn by Steve Martin on one of his covers - I love Steve Martin, he's so darn talented...Not a big fan of his stand up stuff, but most everything else...yup, very talented!  Yup, I even made the cover, go figure :)

                                           
                            


                       
                  Elvis                                  Jimi Hendrix                             Jimi's Guitars

We also took a stroll through Johnny Cash's touring bus which was parked outside...amazing that they could travel in such close quarters and at the time it was probably considered state of the art...I can't remember exactly how much he paid to have the bus retrofitted but it was a lot.

Wilson left there and felt as if he saw his life pass his eyes.  Music has been a much more important aspect to his life than mine and as he went through the various displays they brought up memories of his life that he associated with the time period and the artists.

While in Cleveland we decided to take in a baseball game as well.  We walked down to the Cleveland Indian's stadium from the Hall of Fame. The Indians lost but we didn't happen to stay and watch them do it...we left around the 6th inning as it was over an hour to get back home and it had been a long day.

Check it out - Terry Francona, Mgr. of the Cleveland Indians
Formerly, Mgr. of the Boston Red Sox

Cleveland seems to be a really nice, manageable city. Wilson and I both agreed on this as did our son while he was here.

  

Free Camping & Our 1st KOA Campground - Pymatuning

Friday- Thursday June 9-15, 2017

As you may remember when we bought Alex, our first camper, we received an offer of free camping at Gettysburg with Travel Resorts of America.  Not only did we receive that week for free we were given three vouchers (1 week stay each) for any of TRA's property after having gone through their club spiel.  We decided to take advantage of one of their sites in Pymatuning, OH.  Ironically one of the selling points to the TRA club was exclusivity, however, the campground is now a KOA site which means that membership is not necessary.  This change was a big source of contention for those who spent thousands of dollars to join the club....so glad we didn't do it...Of course we would never have done it because we didn't know whether or not we would even like the camping life and they needed our commitment right then and there.

Ok...enough about that.  Here we stayed for a week.  This was a great opportunity to get settled and try out various things with the camper that we had not used yet.  The biggest challenge was probably trying to figure out where the switch was to turn the hot water tank on, but we found it and all is working well with it.

The weather was in the high 80s and low 90s while we were there, needless to say it was very hot. The campground did have a pool which was refreshing and lucky for us it was right across from our site.  Not only did we get in the pool but we also rented a canoe ($8/hour) and went out on the lake. We only rowed for an hour (ok we didn't row the whole time), but it was clear that we needed to do more than just hike to get in shape.  In fact doing things like renting the canoe along with hikes and such is a great way to get exercise without doing exercises.  We will continue to this, perhaps rent bikes or a paddle boat, and activities that are not only fun but are good for us....just for the record we did pull out the weights that we brought a bit later in our trip 😎 - so far just once, but I'm hopeful...

Like so many places that we've been we've met some really nice people.  Pymatunig was no different. We had some really nice contact with Cathy & Dennis from Pittsburgh.  Cathy is interested in becoming more full-time, Dennis isn't quite sold on it.  Cathy if you're reading this - Hi!

Our set-up with Elwood &"The Clam"

We took several day trips around the area, including the Linesville Spillway on the PA side of Pymatuning Lake, where we read that the ducks walk on the fish.  Intriguing for sure but both Wilson and I were a bit disgusted by it.  Apparently it's the only place in PA that you are allowed to feed the wildlife and people come in droves to throw bread at the fish and geese (yup, darn geese, no ducks that I could see, just dirty, dirty, Canadian geese).

We also took a ride up to Cleveland from here....more to come on that.

Leave Erie, PA 10:30am - sunny 67°
Rte. 8S►6W►322W►(seeing in our travels Meadeville, Jamestown, & Persons Rd - so cool)►
12:33pm Welcome to OH
Arrive Travel Resorts Campground/KOA Pymatuning Adventures - 12:35pm
Miles traveled - 78

Boondockers - fellow travellers unite

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Wilson has really done his camping homework.  He was the one who found trustedhousesitters.com and is also the one to find boondockerswelcome.com.

What is boondocking you might ask?  The most basic of definitions is that it's camping anywhere without hook-ups also considered dry camping.  The site connects people who have a parking space with people who are looking for a space to park for a night or two.  Those offering the space are generally fellow RVers who love camping and meeting new people.  The cost to join the site is only $25/year and if you just use it once you've already paid for it.

For the protection of the innocent 😊 and the privacy of our boondocking friends, I won't be sharing any personal information and will only reference them as our hosts.

We had our first Boondocking experience just outside Erie, PA in our host's driveway...actually it was the driveway of a building that he owned.  Our hosts came and met us, making sure that we had everything that we needed and also shared with us a few camping tips that I'm sure we will put to use later in our travels.  They were incredibly sweet and made for a great first experience.  We were pleasantly surprised that he also offered water and electricity which we weren't expecting (based on the aforementioned definition).

While there we visited Presque Isle State Park, based on the host's recommendation.  The park is right on Lake Erie and has a long walking/running/biking trail along with multiple beaches.  There are various picnic and hiking areas, fishing holes, playgrounds etc.  Wilson and I took a nice walk on the path along the lake and soaked up the sun at one of the beaches.  The only downfall, which really isn't a downfall, is that there were swarms of Mayflies.  It was a bit irritating to me because I have issues with creepy, crawly things which includes flying things, but we learned that it was a sign of a healthy lake.  Apparently each year the Mayflies make an appearance.

Leave Niagara Falls, CA 9:47am - sunny 66°
Rte. (Wilson Driving)►Stanley Ave►Falls Ave (420)►
9:57am arrive border crossing ► 10:03 depart border crossing....Welcome back to New York
►384S►190S►5W►
Lunch at Aunt Millie's in Irving, NY - classic diner (11:22-12:02)
►76 SorW►20W►90W - 1:03pm Welcome to PA - mile 98 ►8S
Arrive Boondocker Host 1:28pm
Miles Traveled - 118.6

Niagra Falls Photos

Beyond The Falls:

    

                                

Hornblower Cruise:

Skylon Tower:

  
          Canada to the left - US to the right                                           Canadian Night

   
               American Falls Light Show                                         Canadian Falls Light Show

                                                              Elvis was in the house!!!

Niagra Falls Here We Come...

Monday, June 5, 2017

We originally had plans to visit with Wilson's cousin but unfortunately we had to change our plans because he fell and injured himself.  We spent an extra day with Dan and still had one more day to kill before reaching Niagara Falls.

As we have often done we traveled until we got tired of driving and found a spot to park for the night. We tried area Walmarts but there were none that accepted overnight parking.  We ended up staying at the New York Thruway Ontario Travel Plaza alongside a bunch of truckers...it felt safe and worked well for us because the service center was open 24 hours and it felt completely safe.  Staying overnight with the truckers really made me feel like a true Road Warrior!

Leave:  Champlain, NY 10:30am - rainy 55°
Rte. (Pat Driving)►11S►781W►81N (Driver Change @156 miles - 3.75 hrs)►(Wilson Driving)►90W
Gas - Warner's Travel Plaza 90W - $2.48/gal
Arrive:  Ontario Travel Plaza - mile marker 376 on 90W - 5:30pm
Miles Traveled - 315

Tuesday-Thursday, June 6-8, 2017
Off to Niagra Falls we go.  We have been told that the views and such are much better on the Canadian side so that is where we booked our hotel.  We're staying at a Wyndam Garden Hotel that we booked through Groupon....the deal was for $70/night with coupons totalling that much and more if we were to use them all...of course most of them were for food so we didn't use them and there were some hidden fees associated with the stay so suffice it to say we did not get it for $70...The biggest extra was the taxes in Canada so if you ever go there be prepared, they add a whole lot more to the price.  Don't get me wrong we did use some of the coupons and we had to eat, so in the end it was fine.

Why Niagara Falls you may ask?  Again, it's just one of those places that you hear about your whole life and feel like you need to see.  Of course it has that romantic mystic associated with it which may be felt by people but my impression was that it was too touristy to be romantic.  In my head, and I knew it was a fantasy, but I was still picturing cabins by the falls not unlike that old Marilyn Monroe movie set there....Despite the commercialism Wilson and I really enjoyed our time there.

My first impression of the Falls were, that's it?  I soon changed my mind as we delved deeper into them, literally...We both went on Journey Behind the Falls and the Skylon Tower (night views), I went on Hornblower cruise that takes you right to the falls, and Wilson did the White Water Walk.  All of these experiences really made me see how awe inspiring they were.....check out the photos on the next post.

Leave: Ontario Travel Plaza 7:38am - rainy 55°
Rte - 90W►98N (Exit 48)►18W - 9:15am first visual of Lake Ontario in Olcott, NY►18F Through Youngstown & Lewiston, NY which are sweet little towns►104W►Toll Bridge across the border $3.75►10:20am arrive Canadian Border - Delay at Customs, UGH!!!►11:35am leave Customs, stop at Visitor Center
Arrive Wyndam Garden Hotel 11:50am
Miles Traveled - Who knows, I keep forgetting to write it down....based on hours driven, it couldn't have been that many.

Fast Forward Three Months....

Wednesday, June 14, 2017....

Due to my procrastination and lack of drive I clearly haven't been keeping up on my blog.  Much of it has to do with my thought process of heading home to VT and spending a lot of time in familiar places, places that have been regular stops in my life, thus not really feeling part of the journey.....Of course everywhere I go and everything I do is part of the journey and I need to just stop be lazy 😃 With that said I am going to begin with a few basics updates, followed by our current travels, and then back to fill in the gaps of the last three months.  I find this a tad difficult to do because if nothing else this journey has shown me I'm far more obsessive than I thought and having things out of order doesn't sit quite right with me.  If I don't do it this way, I'll never get caught up because I am now reliant on public libraries for Internet connections.

Updates:

• We have a new camper!!!  As you can see I'm very much excited by this fact.  I enjoyed Alex (pop-up hard top A-Liner), but I could not see myself long term travelling with him.  It was a challenge for me to feel settled and organized (I know obsessive behaviour) as I was always working out of plastic bins for clothes, food, pots & pans, etc. because there was really no storage.  We now have a Sonic Lite camper, which has storage for all of those things and is always set-up for us.  When we stop now all we have to do is set up the outside because the inside is already done.
• We have christened the new camper Elwood....not because of Elwood from the Blues Brothers but because the type of camper is a Sonic which takes us to the speed of sound which in turn takes us to Chuck Yeager, whose middle name was Elwood....whew...that's quite a stretch....but it suits.
• We have a new vehicle!!!  Yup, I'm excited by that as well.  Our van (Carrie) was rated to tow our new camper, however, it was at the top of it's range and would not really work efficiently with our northern travel plans.  We now have a Ford F150 truck, who has yet to be named.  I originally felt that it should be a male name, truck and all, but it has a bit of a feminine feel to it as well, so I'm thinking it may need to have an androgynous name like Pat or Chris or Sam...but not Sam since that was our dog's name...
• We left Vermont on Friday, June 2nd, which is where the northern chapter of this story begins...

                                          

Friday-Monday, June 2-5, 2017

Total Truck Mileage = 1,405

Our journey begins with a visit to our friend Dan's home in Champlain, NY.  It's not too far from home which makes it a great slow beginning to our journey with our new camper.  We spent a really nice weekend with Dan hanging out, playing cards, and luckily for me he's crazy about Jeopardy too. Dan is an excellent cook as well and he made us a few different things that I will make in my little kitchen while on the road.  

Leave Waterbury, VT 2:56pm - rainy, 56°

Total Truck Mileage = 1,405

Travelling Wilbury's begin our journey as they almost always do 😍

Rte. 89N►Exit 21 (Swanton)►78W►2W (Alburgh)►Welcome to NY (Rouse's Point) 4:25pm ►11S

Arrive Champlain, NY 4:58pm

Miles Traveled - 85

The Biltmore Estate

Wednesday - Tuesday, February 29 - March 7, 2017
Like Monticello I was set on visiting The Biltmore Estate, the home of George Vanderbilt.  Don't ask me why because I'm not sure that I would even be able to tell you.  I have had a couple of conversations with people who have ties to the estate, in fact Wilson's cousin's nephew still works there....does that make him a second cousin or a cousin once removed?  We unfortunately did not get to see him this trip.

If you love history, beautiful gardens, architecture, landscape design, wine, horses, farming, or if you are just interested in how the rich lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s The Biltmore is the place to be.  Admission is pretty pricey but I think there is enough there to make it worth your while.  We were fortunate because Laurie, our Trusted Housesitter host had a guest pass and a discount coupon for the pass that we had to purchase.  The guest pass also allowed for a bunch of discounts including dining and the wines purchased at the the winery.   The price is also dependent on when you visit. We were there in early March, which was still considered winter pricing. I think it's cheaper because the weather is cold and damp and the gardens were not everything they could be...just daffodils and tulips at the time.  We did visit the greenhouse and listened in on an orchid talk though, so we did see pretty flowers.  It was rainy and wet so we did not do all that we had hoped, so another visit may be in order 😄

Construction began on the Biltmore House in 1889 and was "completed" in 1895, or at least opened to friends and family.  George Vanderbilt worked very closely with the architect, Richard Morris Hunt, and Frederich Law Olmsted, the landscape architect.  Olmsted designed Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds.  I was duly impressed by the landscape design as Olmsted brought in a variety of elements all while using the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Check out The Biltmore Estate History Timeline

The exhibit that was being shown while we were there was "Designed for Drama".  The exhibit highlighted costumes that were part of films based on books that were in George Vanderbilt's library. It was actually more than just books from his library, they were actually books that George read based on the book journal that he kept for the majority of his life.  The costumes were very interesting and added a bit more realism to the rooms, I felt like I could picture the people within the costumes roaming around the home.  Check out Designed for Drama to learn more.

                 

              Banquet Hall -
              Check out the triple fireplaces

Music Room

Below are a few photos that I took.  The pictures really do not give justice to the home.  For better photos check out the Biltmore Photo Gallery

Winter Garden

"The Chariot of Aurora" circa 1720
originally graced the Pisani Palace
in Venice

The indoor heated pool complete
with underwater lighting

The Great Smoky Mountains

Wednesday - Tuesday, February 29 - March 7, 2017

Finally we make it to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited National Park in the U.S.  For those of you who asked about our journey prior to our leaving you would have been told that this was one of the first places that we would be heading to.....obviously that wasn't the case.  In fact, we were beginning to believe that we would never make it there, in part because of timing but also because of all the wildfires that were raging there last fall.

                                             

Technically we made it there, but it was so cold that we weren't really able to hike or anything.  We got out of the car only to take a few quick pictures.  We will definitely go back to explore the area. The Great Smokies falls within the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee.  We did a drive that took us from the North Carolina side to the Tennessee side.  The entrances to the park on both sides were distinctively different.  Entering from the NC side you go through Cherokee, NC, a reservation area.  This town was developed with a historical feel, log facades, country stores etc., definitely catering to the tourists.  It felt a bit like Frontier Town....a wonderful day trip memory with the Burke family when I was younger...one that Wilson has heard multiple times.  The TN side brought us to Gatlinburg which felt more like tourism of today.  Gatlinburg was affected very much by the wildfires and there was still some evidence of fires.

                                           

As far as the wildfires are concerned I was surprised there wasn't more evidence as we were driving. We both expected to see total burn out in the woods along our drive but did not see that.  Interestingly enough we did see spots in the distance that showed shadowed/burned areas but the area was in the middle of green areas...apparently wildfires "jump", which would cause that type of visual.

        

Lunch was noteworthy....If you are near Gatlinburg Trish's Mountain Diner is worth stopping at. Classic diner fare, serving the local crowd...clean and very, very reasonable prices!

                                                

Asheville SC Adventures - Downtown Asheville & more....

February 29 - March 7 - Asheville, NC and surrounding areas....

Our pet/home sit as noted was located in the area of Biltmore Villages.  The village was pretty vibrant, in part based on the close proximity of The Biltmore Estate. There were lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance, including a place called the Pour Taproom.  This was an interesting place as there are a crap load of beers, ciders, and wines on tap where you serve yourself and pay by the ounce...The bill is calculated based on a scanned wristband unique to only you.  There is a limit to how many ounces you are allowed to serve yourself, but this can be overridden by one of the servers.  When you pay by the ounce the bar bill increases pretty fast.  There was also an issue around the costs...there were several options where there was a set price for a pint, but when we got the bill the price was not reflected as such, it was charged per ounce.  Wilson ended up pouring less than a 16 oz. glass and got charged more than the advertised price....Pricing that is different than advertised seems to be a theme throughout our trip.  Most times it's young people whose only response is "I don't know why", "The computer charges it that way", "There's nothing I can do, you can wait for or call the manager", etc.  This sparked conversations regarding how reliant people are on computers, especially young workers; how people don't seem to know how or are not empowered to make it right.  I'm not surprised by this...

                                    

Downtown Asheville is a very interesting place.  There seems to be a variety of people who live there, not unlike the feeling of Montpelier.  There appears to be a large arts community there which was evidenced by the various street vendors that we encountered.  While downtown we we did a couple of things:
We visited the Basilica of Saint Lawrence (opened in 1905) - our first church stop on this trip. The entire building is made of tiles and other masonry elements without the use of wood. The best vantage point for viewing the interior of the church is from the main aisle at the altar steps. From here, the dome stretches out 82' x 58' and is considered the largest free standing elliptical dome in North America.

  

While walking around the convention center we were approached by men offering tickets...tickets to what we asked and realized that SoCon basketball tournament games were being played.  Wilson and I enjoy going to basketball games, in fact our first official date was to a basketball tournament game at the BOR.  Well it was a no brainer, especially when we realized that Wofford was playing...Wilson has some history with Wofford and it if that wasn't enough, their tour bus drives by us as we are standing on the street....I don't need to know the teams to enjoy the game...it's the energy that surrounds a tournament game that makes it really, really fun for me.

    

We also visited the Omni Grove Park Hotel, which is a beautiful old inn rich in history.  Wilson and I roamed the halls a bit, had a beverage while enjoying the views, and almost attended a Ballroom Dance competition.  The inn has hosted many well-known people in it's over 100 years of existence including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and many more.

Lazy Blogger ....

I don't know if it's because we are on our way back to New England, because we are following many of the same routes that we took as we started this journey, or perhaps it's just that I'm a lazy blogger. I imagine that it's probably a combination of all of those thoughts along with some others that I haven't really thought about....It's time now get caught up...

When last we connected Wilson and I were preparing to leave Charleston, SC (Stephen & Sandra) to head to Asheville, NC, where we were scheduled to take care of two lovely cats, Belle and Charlie...all part of TrustedHousesitters.com.  We will begin at on.....

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

As I recall (lol) it was a lovely sunny day, as we prepared to leave Columbia.  Based on Stephen's suggestion we decided to stop in Greenville, SC for lunch.  History came to life through sculpture as we walked along Main Street.  One thing that I learned was that the Poinsettia plant was named after Joel Roberts Poinsett (1179-1851) a statesman, diplomat, and naturalist.  He was the first U.S. Minister to Mexico, a U.S. Secretary of War, and the founder of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, which was a forerunner of the Smithsonian Institution.  Greenville also was the home of Shoeless Joe Jackson, a member of the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team that was charged with conspiring to "fix" the World Series. Shoeless Joe was acquitted of any wrong doing but by that point his major league career was over.



After leaving Greenville we headed to the Clarion Inn outside of Asheville where we would spend the night so that we could meet Belle, Charlie, and Laurie before our scheduled sit.  It was at the Clarion that we were introduced to Shag Dancing....Of course I originally thought it was a seniors pick-up dance, but apparently it's a real dance thing...According to Wikipedia - The "Carolina Shag" is a partner dance done primarily to Beach Music (100-130+ beats per minute in 4/4 time signature). I personally like my definition better...

Wednesday - Tuesday, February 29 - March 7, 2017

We spent nearly a week in an area on the outskirts of Asheville called Biltmore Villages.  We did several things while staying with Belle and Charlie which I will share on the next post.

Leave Columbia, SC 9:10am
Rte. 20W►26W►385►276W►25N►26W
Gas - Exxon $1.99/gal
Lunch & Walk in Greenville
Welcome to NC - 1:38pm
Arrive Asheville area 2:05pm
Miles Traveled - Approx. 163