Mount Defiance

After hiking up to the top of Mount Defiance this Fourth of July weekend, it was refreshing to see the American flag flying at the crest. It wasn't always that way though. Several different flags have flown from this lofty position. On July 5th of 1777, General John Burgoyne had placed two cannons and the Union Jack atop this location.

As your eye would see it, two cannons pointed in the direction of Fort Ticonderoga. I would find it hard to believe that even a well seasoned artillery team could cause too much damage, if any, upon Fort Ticonderoga seen in the far distance in the middle of the peninsula.

Sandi snagged this photo of me pretending to be the British General totally pleased with myself that after dragging only two artillery pieces up the step mount, General Arthur St. Clair, Colonial Commander of the fort, abandoned the fort to the British without a single shot being fired. Idiot!

From this vantage point you can see up Lake Champlain all the way to New France.

Putnam Pond, New York

By now we would imagine that everyone is getting bored by always seeing a photo of the truck and the Airstream situated in some site of a campground. For all you would know we just move the truck around from one site to another at the same campground!

Actually we are always some where different and we decided that we would have to stay home one weekend of each month. This year for the Forth of July we decided to celebrate the holiday at Fort Ticonderoga, a location filled with history starting in 1666. The actual fort was built in 1758 by the French. Several key battles were fought between France and England and the fort eventually fell to the British. Fast forward a bit, May 10th, 1775 and the fort was taken by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen & The Green Mountain Boys. And so the story continues. There are so many flags flying at the fort today you do need a quick history lesson to figure out who is who.

The Dump

OK, so it may not be a big deal to most of my readers but check it out, 0004!
The dump is a Saturday morning ritual which since we are always camping has become only a once a month occasion. Permits are issued around the first of June but many of us get our checks into the town clerk way before that always looking for the coveted low number. As luck has it I have the same number as last year. See the early bird does get the worm, or in this case the low number. There is only one place other than the dump to meet up with friends and trade the male gossip of town and that is at Nick's Barber shop. Since I don't have much hair left, the dump is still the best spot in town.

Riverside Marina

We spent the weekend on the Connecticut River with our friends from the Charter Oak Unit of WBCCI at a very cool well kept secret of a campground right on the river.

Friday night was the night before a full moon.

And what a view, camping right on the river with water and electric.


Of course there is nothing much better than an Airstream, actually seventeen of them, in the middle of a marina filled with boats. Oh, there is one very pretty Bristol sailboat for sale which I was able to go on board. It will be in the water in a few weeks. I think we will be camping here again in the very near future.


A view from the river looking up at the happy campers.

Looking up the river toward Middletown. Our host had posted that one of their members, Toni, was wondering if anyone else would be bringing their kayak's. I always have mine on the truck so we spent four hours paddling the river together. We went up river and found Madabassett river and it was incredible! Beavers, Herons, Wigeons, turtles and a whole bunch more. We are planning on going back in the fall.

I never try a new dish at a rally before testing it but this was an exception. A new Mac & Cheese, no bake with Gruyere cheese, slab bacon, leeks, and a few other ingredients.

No doubt, it was too hot to be inside cooking, but Sandi was helping with all the prep and we pulled off a wonderful new dish. Good news, I wrote this one down!

As with any Airstream rally there is always lots and lots of food for everyone.

Here are a few of our fellow campers getting the pot luck dinner ready.

Toni, my new kayaking buddy, surprised everone with a case of bubbly to celebrate her last day of being sixty-nine years old.

Not sure how it happened but it became my responsibility to make sure Toni always had an open bottle to pour!

Gardens

The pepper garden is doing quite well this year. We planted the usual varieties, Hungarian, Cayenne, Cherry Hot, Habenaro and Halipino to name a few.

A whole new hybred plant this year is a Lemon Hot. Lots of buds right now so we are looking forward to see if they will be worthwhile.

New for us this year is also Brussel Sprouts and Celery.

For the first time in a few years my Hostas and ferns are doing very well. No critters eating away at them. Over twelve varieties this year all doing well.

The grasses always do well and this year is no exception.

Quechee River

Andre, Ken and I decided to take a cruise down the Quechee River. There was water but not as deep as we would have liked. The weather was perfect and seemed like a good day to go down.

We had a very mixed bag of water, most of the time we have a good flow with 12 to 36 inched of water, sometimes a lot less.

The river was crystal clear and you could always see the bottom.

Some times you could see the bottom so well you were better off walking the stretch.

Sunday Storm

Over the past weekend a large part of the country was devastated by a series of storms. They were fast, strong and damaging. We have 20 minutes of incredible winds and little rain. If you look at the tree in the center of the photo above, when the winds were somewhat calm, and then the photo below of the tree bending to the winds you get an idea of how strong the storm was.

We had a bit of damage but nothing like some people had. We had a large part of a maple tree come crashing down onto the barn. No damage to the barn but it did take me a few hours to cut it up and get it off the roof. The hardest part was getting so that the trunk didn't crash through the roof as I started cutting off the limbs.

The second hardest part was realizing I wasn't 28 years old any more!

Magnetic Hill

Canada, Oh Canada. What a wonderful view as we crossed over the border. Actually it looks just like the view we had on the other mountain top except we needed passports to see it.

Not sure, didn't research it but it is pretty cool! Just over the line we came upon this really cool stained glass like monument in the middle of a picnic area.

OK, we have been to a lot of (well maybe more than just a lot of) tourist type spots in our travels but this is one you gotta check out. Actually there are several "Magnetic Hills" all around the world. But this is the one we were looking for. To be honest, traveling north we completely missed it!

The sign says it all if you read the left side of the sign. This is definitely a low cost attraction!

The circle and arrow show where the sign above is located and the horizontal line is where we started. We followed the instructions as posted and sure enough! 8 MPH going backwards, 9,200 pounds going backwards up hill! Very cool, we did it twice. It doesn't take much to entertain us.

Quechee Pittsburg Bound

We spent most of Thursday at a trade show in Springfield and were happy to finally start our mini vacation for Memorial Day Weekend in New Hampshire. Just checking email and stuff before we become completely detached from the rest of the world.

We ended up at a KOA for the one night which gave us full hook ups for the night. We had a nice site and enjoyed watching the sun set.

Across the street from the campground was one of those places you only find in the middle of no where. A general store which had 24 flavors of soft ice cream, beer, wine, groceries and gas. Oh yes, they had maple syrup and gifts along with post cards.

Cinco de Mayo

I personally don't get this whole CINCO de MAYO celebrating in the United States of America. I don't see any pubs or bars with "BASTILLE DAY" Banners flying on July 14th offering discounted wine to its patrons. In 1861 Benito Juarez decided he no longer wanted to pay the loan interest Mexico owed to France. Jerk! If I stopped making payments to my bank they would foreclose on us. Upset that Mexico stopped its payments France decided to go get what was theirs, and so it went. A year later France did occupy Mexico but later left after pressure from the USA.

If you do feel the urge to celebrate today, do me a favor, order a Guinness of a Palm! Or better yet, a nice glass of French wine.

Now a history report from Sandi: Hellmann's Mayonnaise - Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's Mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment schedules for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But, as we know, the great ship did not make it to new York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and we eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observeto this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as....

Sinko De Mayo

Spring in Salem

Winter Island Park, Salem, MA before the season opens. We had the place pretty much to ourselves except for one other site. Drawback, they lock at the gate a dusk till dawn. Friday we walked into town and stumbled back much later.

Next Door to one of the potion and herb shops is a wonderful shop that custom blends all natural oils for perfume, bath oils and body soaps. Sandi found a wonder scent and I am sure we will be visiting again this year.

The beach at Winter Island is probably one of our most favorite hidden jewels. Since we are always in town before or after the beach season we have the spot to ourselves. This is the best sea glass beach we have ever found. We always collect several pounds each visit.

Oh yes, the name of the beach!

The seaport was quite busy this weekend also.

Spring in Salem

One of our must stops is REDS for Sunday breakfast. There is always a line but well worth the wait. We were happy to have Kevin with us for most of the weekend. We had just a few rules for the weekend, be happy, well fed and good drink.

REDS is located in one of the many old and historic building in Salem. So many visitors focus on Witches (not that I can blame them) but there is so much great history in this town.


The Old Salem Prison has sat empty for so long, it now has a new owner and is undergoing a major restoration. When we looked at the property is was down to $600K. Very tempting but there were a lot of stipulations. The complex will be a combination of apartments, museum and restaurant with a small park.

This is the inside of one of three units we would consider if they were to sell them. Tall ceilings, a great room with attached kitchen, two full baths and two bedrooms. It would be a major life style change for us but what a great location.

The view from the master bedroom of one of the units we liked.

Herkimer 2010

We finally decided to visit Howe Caverns. We have been to many caverns along the Eastern corridor and it is definitely the most commercial cavern. It has been in operation to the public since 1928.
Here we see the very first guides who took the public down into the caverns during that time.

Here is a photo of the main entry room which is undated but very much the same as it is today.

The caverns are very large and open, something we are not used to. Here you can see Sandi along with our group.

A photo showing the ceiling of one of the sections, Winding Way.

The formations in the caverns are familar but always amazing.