A little side trip to Rotterdam

So its a 6.5 hour flight from Newark (NJ) to Amsterdam and too good an opportunity not to fly over and spend time with our Dutch family. We rented one off the Cube houses - Kijk Kubus - in Rotterdam through airbnb. It was rather expensive and not very practical (no air conditioning, so in a week with a european heat wave, very illogical) they are an absolute Dutch landmark that is a the top of every tourist destination. kind of fun living in a tourist museum!

We had 6 days in Rotterdam, Richard combined this with a work trip to look at catalyst equipment in Alkmeer, so the kids and I had time to spend with the family. 

New York, New York

Man, what a crazy city to drive through. We came in on the Interstate 87 and tried to stay out of Manhattan Island and circle around to new jersey shores, we were waved over by a cop about an hour out. He asked us if we wanted our RV to be a convertible? there is an 8 foot bridge just a head. No warnings on the highway! so we turn around and get on the I95, which of course goes through Manhattan. What a nightmare, low bridges, tunnels that are closed to RV's because of propane tanks, streets super busy with traffic. We got lost trying to get on the George Washington Bridge and then again on the New Jersey turn pike and went up and down. like 3 times before we found our exit. So.... About 2 hours later than we had calculated we finally arrived. Where is that cold G&T!

luckily we separated the RV and jeep before trying to drive here.

 

Once we set up the camper and walked Milo, we headed for the empire state building. It's a busy place as I think everyone who comes to New York heads here, it is very well organized and staffed so there is little wait time. The views of course are amazing, you can see all of Manhattan island and the surrounding cities like Queens, the Bronx, New Jersey Shores (where we are staying) In a way its more logical to look from above as the island is so built out you see nothing from the street level. Cost is $72 to go to level 86 for a family of 4, its another 430 if you want to go up to level 101, level 86 is an information trove of how the empire state was built, stories, facts and fabulous photos.

Salem and Boston, Massachusetts

Staying at Winter Island camp grounds on Salem Harbor, definitely the most unusual camp ground to date. When we drove in, the first impression was a large car park and an abandoned hanger and a few scattered RV's around the shore line. We were wondering if we had the right place! so off to talk to the office folk who explained how the RV park and camp site work, it's not a car park but it is open to the public to launch their boats and park their trailers. The park is surprisingly large and covers the whole island, it has a deep and long history dating back to late 1500's with French and Russian fur traders who traded with native Indians. Winter Island has been in use since the early settlement of Salem in the 1620s. It was first used as a fish drying and shipbuilding area by early colonial settlers, (they 'wintered' there, hence the name Winter Island) in the early 18th century it was considered a strategic defensive point for Salem, which was by then on its way to becoming an economically important port. Winter Island was the earliest center of Salem's flourishing fishing industry and is also the home of Fort Pickering which was built in 1643 and frequently rebuilt and repaired over the centuries. Originally known as Fort William, the fort was renamed in 1799 and was manned during the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, and the Civil War.  Fort Pickering Light House was built in 1871, and the military use of the island was eventually transformed into a Coast Guard station. In the 1970's use was discontinued and the island was turned over to the city, which established Winter Island Marine Park.

We are a stop on the Salem Trolley tour, now that is strange, being checked out by the tourist!

We didn't spend too much time in Salem, mostly it was a base for Boston as there are no RV parks within an hour of the city. Salem is old and strangely fascinating with the history of the witch trials and the puritans. We had booked a walking tour called "Hocus Pocus" (for the movie which is loosely based on Salem stories) but didn't end up making it as it was raining and being Anneka's birthday we decided to stop for dinner. Next time

So onto Boston. We spent 2 days exploring. on day one we started to walk the Freedom Trail which is largely a self guided tour of Boston telling the story of the lead up to the revolution and the declaration of independence. About half way, it rained and I mean it really rained, you could not see. so we took shelter for lunch then tried again, we gave up and stayed at Quincey's Market for an hour till it stopped. Boston is about an hour from Salem and the coast road is lovely to drive, old houses, small towns and a lovely coast with beaches and marinas scattered along the way.

On day 2 we explored Boston commons for a while, drove around Harvard University and MIT then drove down to the Boston wharf district for lunch at No Name restaurant on fisherman's wharf. It was not as good as what we had read, really rather disappointing to be honest.

Niagara Falls, just the falls

We walked the US side on the day we got in, 14th July and it was mostly cloudy with some squally showers. It’s super touristy, though the state park itself is green and well laid out with wide walking trails and viewing areas. To be honest, you can’t see the 3 falls from the US side, its mainly the river and the top of the horseshoe and the 2 smaller US falls. Still it’s pretty spectacular. Back to the camp to play laser tag and relax, then we went back into town for an Indian Curry. I was amazed by how many people of Indian descent live in the area, so I was betting we could find a good curry. We went Zaika it’s a buffet and it didn’t disappoint. The most authentic Indian cuisine I’ve had in a long time. Cullen is a true convert and wanted to go back the next day!

The following day we slept in, had a shower did 2 loads of washing and explored the camp site further with Milo, she’s always so happy to be out running around. So far, we haven’t used the RV shower, all the camp sites have excellent amenities so we use theirs. It took about 40 mins to drive through the border check point into Canada, and it didn’t disappoint, you can see all 3 falls in all their glory. We parked up at lot B, right at the extreme end of the horseshoe falls and walked along the escarpment, fabulous views. Had lunch up at the Skylon tower which is a revolving tower roughly 775 feet above the Falls, food was surprisingly good though super expensive. It takes an hour for the tower to revolve.

Niagara, New York State

Driving from Ohio to Niagara was pretty easy, we continued on the I-90 east for another 284 miles, it takes roughly 5 hours so it was early afternoon when we pulled into the camp ground. Stayed at Branches of Niagara which is on Grand island in the middle of the Niagara river, it’s a pretty big island so you don’t get the sense of it being an island except for all the bridges every time you go on and off. The campground was one of the best so far.  A large selection of outdoor activities for kids and families, Cullen and Anneka liked the outdoor laser tag the best, thye also had swimming pools, lake for kayaking and fishing, rental bikes, outdoor movie nights on the weekends. Very well run and organized and the folks who work there were helpful.

Niagara falls was spectacular, I think we were more impressed by the size of the river and how fast it flows, the Niagara river drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario so it’s a really big river. 

Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the American state of New York. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Horseshoe Falls lies on the border of the United States and Canada[1] with the American Falls entirely on the United States' side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the United States' side, separated from the American Falls by Luna Island.

 

Erie Lake island hopping

Marblehead Lighthouse

Marblehead Lighthouse is one of Lake Erie's best known and most-photographed landmarks. Built in 1821, the Marblehead Lighthouse is still standing strong as the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on all of the Great Lakes.

We didn’t climb to the top as we had no cash, its $3, we did visit the museum which is in the old light keepers’ house adjacent to the park and spent an hour walking around the park and the rocks.. The whole area is nicely organized and well kept, and the lighthouse is managed by the Marblehead lighthouse Historical Society a non-profit organization formed to establish a museum for the preservation of the history of this unique village

Kellys Island

After we cleaned up the camper and did a load of washing we headed over to Kelleys island via the ferry from Lakeside Town, the round-trip cost $144, not cheap though it did include our jeep. The kids thought it was super fun driving the jeep on the boat and then sitting there till we got to the island. Kelleys Island is a quieter residential island where it seems the only businesses are local, As of the 2010 census, the island's population was 312.

Plenty of place to eat and drink and shop but its all small scale, which is very refreshing.

We hired a gold cart and drove around the island, takes about an hour. Richard gave both kids cart driving lessons in a car park which was fun. The island has a long history of limestone excavation and fishing which is still in operation today, though far more sustainable than in the past.

Most interesting feature was the exposed glacial grooves showing how the Canadian glaciers from the last ice age have formed the great lakes and left these small islands exposed, fascinating!

South Bass Island and Sandusky

This is the party island and far busier than Kelleys island, we caught the ferry over to Put-in-Bay and took the jeep again, it was kind of redundant as there must be 1000 golf carts on the island, I think there may be an over supply issue! The island is much more geared to water activities, so we took the opportunity to take out a jet ski and then did some kayaking in the bay. I don’t know why it’s called Put-in-bay, but I can imagine some sailor in the 1800’s just saying it a good place to put-in and it got repeated and hence that was its name.

There are several wineries on the island and a couple of brewing outfits, lots of restaurants and a busy marina and shopping district. I have never seen as many golf carts on the roads as on this island, you have to see it to believe it!

On our last day in Ohio, we went down to Sandusky to see the tall ships festival. It is the towns bicentennial and they have a series of celebrations through the summer, they had a 91 foot yellow duck – I fail to see the relationship between a tall ships festival and a plastic duck but lots of locals seemed rather excited about it. Clearly, not everything is bigger in Texas. We then wrapped it up with an afternoon at Cedar Park waterpark, super expensive though the kids had fun and we all cooled off

Erie Lake Ohio

Arrived Monday at East Harbor State Park on Erie Lake in Ohio. the RV camp grounds are in the state park and when we arrived, it was about 20% full, at capacity it has 503 camping sites. I didn't realize it was so large till I drove around, each camp ground is sectioned off with large trees and green space and quite spread out along the shore line. 

We had a nice spot by a track where we could walk Milo and let her run a bit. It was electricity only so after 3 days we had filled up our grey tanks and had to head for the dump station. we are certainly getting faster at dealing with the van operations! 

We stayed for 5 days, it was nice to stay in one place for a while. 

Lake Erie is the smallest of the great lakes with the south shore being the US side and the North Shore being the Canadian side, the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York  forM the western, southern, and eastern shores.

Bielava Summer Resort

On the shores of Bass Lake in Northern Indiana. Bielava is a quiet out of the way summer resort rather than a public RV park, it has cabins for rent and there was a large grup of tent campers the weekend we stayed. Ee were invited by friends who have a permanent RV spot setup that they use for weekends in summer.  We spent 3 days hanging out with the locals, kids went swimming and boating with other families and I caught up on the washing and cleaning (its much easier to clean an RV than a house so I'm done in an hour, just missing the dishwasher!) watched the soccer world cup games at the local sporties bar, i guess not too many people  are into watching soccer as it caused quite a stir in the pub when we asked for a channel to be set up.

Rule 1 - having a golf cart is mandatory and the only way to travel!

Rule 2 - no need to have your dog on a leash, everyone is so relaxed and they all know each other. Milo was running free and loving it

Chicago, Illinois

We drove from the RV park into Chicago, it was nearly 2 hours. We thought we would save time by taking the toll road. not a good decision. we had 3 tolls, one to get on $1.00, one in Indiana before state line, that took us 15 minutes to get through and cost $2.40. the 7 minutes later we hit another toll in Illinois, that was $5.20 and took another 10 minutes. unbelievable!

Finally we got to Navy Pier which is on the Michigan lake water front, parking was super crowded but for a fixed price of $30 its convenient. The pier is all remodeled and updated, its fun and dotted with restaurants and bars. We booked a boat tour which was described as an architectural tour of Chicago landmarks. It was excellent, first we went out into Lake Michigan to look back at Chicago water front, then we went up the Chicago river through the city for about 5 miles. it was surprisingly worth while (I'm often skeptical of the quality of city tours) and the guide who narrated to the tour was informative but mostly funny in a sort of way that's hard to describe, not poking fun but a little bit irreverent and quoting surprising facts and rumors of the Chicago people and buildings!

Got lots of fabulous photos of the city and learnt quite a bit of the history

We didn't have time to explore more as its a 2 our drive back to Bass Lakes, still I already have another trip in mind - adults only I think!

Dodge City, Kansas

So here we are in the heart of Kansas at the historical town of Dodge.  Dodge City is on the 100th meridian and is famous for the 1821 opening of the Santa Fe Trail ("Santa Fe Road") by William Becknell, which became the great commercial route, between Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico, until 1872 when the railroad arrived and the city was founded.

There is a lot to see if your interested in the wild west frontier history. multiple statues of famous folk that spent time in Dodge such as Masteron brothers, Doc Halliday, Wyatt Erp are scattered throughout the town. Boot Hill cemetery and museum and a recreation of Front Street (as the historic main street was called) is informative and fun. Though how much of the current narrative is true is hard to tell as I get the feeling that much has been romanticized or selectively told to encourage tourism and create a "legend", still the TV series Gunsmoke was based here in Dodge City and I'm sure that contributed to the legends. 

we stayed at the Gunsmoke RV park just outside Dodge, its clean and friendly and surrounded by paddocks so we woke up at 6am to birds. Milo found a rabbit, lucky the rabbit was faster. Met a couple who have been travelling in their RV since May 2017, they were driving from Florida to Wyoming and were in no hurry, how nice to be retired and just be able to travel.

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Dodge City

Amarillo, Texas

Feeling more confident we headed to Amarillo which is 250 miles north of Witchia Fall, its situated in the Texas pan handle and is the largest city on the 178 mile portion of Route 66 that goes from Oklahoma to Texas and into New Mexico.

There are two popular attractions close to Amarillo that we visited, on the first afternoon we went to Cadillac Ranch, it was hot and windy and really has to be seen to be believed, 10 Cadillac's stuck nose down and buried in the ground in a row, nothing else there. You can take spray paint as many tourist do and paint the cars any way you like! Fabulous!

The next day we headed out early to Palo Duro Canyon, apparently the second largest canyon in the states, The Canyon is 120 miles long, as much as 20 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Its elevation at the rim is 3,500 feet above sea level. it is spectacular to see and not at all crowded or touristy. Many walking trails, wonderful outdoor amphitheater on the valley floor which is open for performances in summer, visitor center is helpful and has all the information you need to enjoy your stay at the canyon. Unless you want to camp there or hike, you can see the canyon in a couple of hours.

Witchia Falls

For our first trip we headed to Wichita falls, about 390 miles from Houston, it took longer than we thought, I figure we average about 50 miles an hour. Not much to see in Wichita falls, rather depressing town which seems to exist to support the s\Shepherd joint USA and NATO air force base and training center.  

The Coyote Ranch RV park on the outskirts was great, large, clean and had a lot of activities  (3 pools, games areas, jumping air bags, mini golf) and facilities for families. It certainly made our first experience of setting up the RV easier. 

Somewhat apprehensive we only connected power and water, and then connected water to tank fill not city. Still it all kind of worked though we had full tank for driving