Gone west

First we went to Vermont, to a campsite in the Green Mountains. We didn’t particularly like it, but we can’t be picky at this time of year, where open campsites are few and far between. As a family we’re not quite in agreement about the quality of campsites. David and I don’t like the ones with lots of “entertainment”, whereas Dane loves them. We like the quiet ones where the love of nature is the reason for camping, rather than playing party games with other campers. The campsite in Maine (outside Freeport), where everything was taken care of by one person, Missy, who also had a job at L.L. Bean, was just for us. Undisturbed in the woods, small, few amenities, nice and friendly staff (in this case only Missy).

But there was nothing wrong with the surrounding landscape. In the neighbourhood there was a so-called hidden lake. In American terms that’s a lake that’s not accessible by car. It was a four mile (6,5 km) hike up there and back, a very suitable distance for us. On the way up there was a lovely little waterfall and the weather was good, even if it was cold. The lake was beautiful and David naturally had to fish it. Dane and I lasted one and a half hour, then he had to come down again with us. Very reluctantly!

There was no Internet connection at the Vermont camp and we were only online for a few hours at a café in the nearby college town Middlebury. In that time we couldn’t find a single campsite on the route from Vermont to Buffalo, N.Y., so we decided to give up seeing the Niagara Falls. But, when we got back to camp that night, we had second thoughts. So close, and then not going!!! So we decided that we could “rough it” if we had to. By “roughing it” I mean parking the RV somewhere and not having access to electricity and water. And we decided to do the whole trip in one day. By far our longest journey – 400 miles (650 km). That may not sound like a lot, but when the first 100 miles are on little roads in the mountains and all of them are in an RV with a march speed of no more than 58 mph (95 km/t), it’s quite a distance.

Having decided that, we jumped into bed and enjoyed the fact that the furnace could keep the temperature at a steady 60 degrees (15 C) throughout the night. At six we got up and at seven we were on our way. We were well rewarded for getting up early, with little traffic and beautiful vistas.

After a long, long day’s drive with a very patient and good Dane, we arrived in Buffalo, safe and sound. Most of the day was spent on the New York Thruway, a tollroad going through the entire state. It cost 18 dollars to cross almost all the way from east to west. That may be expensive, but I’m all in favour of tollroads, so I don’t mind. And particularly not when every plaza on the way offers free Wi-Fi! That was how we found a campsite that was actually open today (but not tomorrow). And that is why I can sit in the RV and write this. With the lights on and water in the taps.

Tomorrow, it’s the falls!