Monday, May 10, 2010
After 3 months
That's what we've done so far, around 8,800 miles or 14,100 km and still loving it!
Over the next weeks I will add pages with more specific tips for people wishing to undertake a similar trip
Washington and on to Boston
The last 2 weeks have been rather uneventful.
In Washington DC we had a nice campground close to downtown and university, so we went there by bus and underground on the second day. The night before we had been on a commercial bus-tour to all the sights, actually rather boring. At least we knew now what we wanted to see again at daylight!
National Mall, White House, Capitol, all that stuff is kind of interesting, but it actually feels a bit like a patriotic Disney World to me, maybe because Washington is not an old town that has grown over time but was planned as the capital city around 1790 or so.
You can spend an afternoon there but that's more than enough. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History maybe famous from the movies but stands no chance to Te Papa in Wellington, NZ.
In the end, we got back early to the camp ground and went for a bike ride around the university area. Washington claims to be the tree capital of the world or so and they may be right here.
From Washington we went on to Gettysburg, the region steeped in history of the American Civil War, battlefields all over the place, patriotism again seeping out of everything you see. The town itself is still smallish, of course touristy but we start to encounter a new problem: more and more the camp grounds are still closed for season, the weather is also deteriorating, getting cold sometimes, rain also, hmmmmm.
Anyway, we bypass New York as we have been in Manhattan for 3 nights last year and are not really keen to see more of it. Last year's visit was great but so far our second visit to places we had visited before never were able to compete with the first visit. The next stations of our trip are in West Connecticut and Massachusetts, in New England. Roads through the countryside, woods and beautiful houses and villages mark our way for the next couple of days, one day we saw an Amish horse cart parked at Wal-Mart, funny world. We like that a lot, only problem is to find a place for the night. We would love to stay somewhere for a week or so, but cold and sometimes rainy weather make it difficult. We are driving far more than planned at the moment and are about 3 weeks ahead of the lose schedule we had made up before our trip.
Soooo, well, the beach is always an option, there are more campgrounds also, back East to Cape Cod! Again our expectations are completely and utterly wrong. Cape Cod - being close to Martha's Vineyard , the island for the famous and rich - we expected to be covered in holiday resorts, high-risers, you name it.
We found a beautiful - although touristy - small town , however, named Provincetown at the end of a rather thinly settled peninsula. Nice campground there because rather empty - off-season !- and a couple of relaxing days. Claudia had an amazing encounter with a dragon-tail turtle during a bike ride around the dunes!
More of those after passing through Boston on a cold and windy day. We didn't see too much inviting when driving our RV through downtown, there are no RV parks close to the city, so we went on to Salisbury Beach where we are at the moment. Huge state reserve here, but luckily only a few campers.
We definitely need to slow down if we do not want to reach Canada in the snow :-). Last night the forecast for Montreal ( probably a week of travelling from here) was for round 4 degrees Celsius and snow with rain.
In Washington DC we had a nice campground close to downtown and university, so we went there by bus and underground on the second day. The night before we had been on a commercial bus-tour to all the sights, actually rather boring. At least we knew now what we wanted to see again at daylight!
National Mall, White House, Capitol, all that stuff is kind of interesting, but it actually feels a bit like a patriotic Disney World to me, maybe because Washington is not an old town that has grown over time but was planned as the capital city around 1790 or so.
You can spend an afternoon there but that's more than enough. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History maybe famous from the movies but stands no chance to Te Papa in Wellington, NZ.
In the end, we got back early to the camp ground and went for a bike ride around the university area. Washington claims to be the tree capital of the world or so and they may be right here.
From Washington we went on to Gettysburg, the region steeped in history of the American Civil War, battlefields all over the place, patriotism again seeping out of everything you see. The town itself is still smallish, of course touristy but we start to encounter a new problem: more and more the camp grounds are still closed for season, the weather is also deteriorating, getting cold sometimes, rain also, hmmmmm.
Anyway, we bypass New York as we have been in Manhattan for 3 nights last year and are not really keen to see more of it. Last year's visit was great but so far our second visit to places we had visited before never were able to compete with the first visit. The next stations of our trip are in West Connecticut and Massachusetts, in New England. Roads through the countryside, woods and beautiful houses and villages mark our way for the next couple of days, one day we saw an Amish horse cart parked at Wal-Mart, funny world. We like that a lot, only problem is to find a place for the night. We would love to stay somewhere for a week or so, but cold and sometimes rainy weather make it difficult. We are driving far more than planned at the moment and are about 3 weeks ahead of the lose schedule we had made up before our trip.
Soooo, well, the beach is always an option, there are more campgrounds also, back East to Cape Cod! Again our expectations are completely and utterly wrong. Cape Cod - being close to Martha's Vineyard , the island for the famous and rich - we expected to be covered in holiday resorts, high-risers, you name it.
We found a beautiful - although touristy - small town , however, named Provincetown at the end of a rather thinly settled peninsula. Nice campground there because rather empty - off-season !- and a couple of relaxing days. Claudia had an amazing encounter with a dragon-tail turtle during a bike ride around the dunes!
More of those after passing through Boston on a cold and windy day. We didn't see too much inviting when driving our RV through downtown, there are no RV parks close to the city, so we went on to Salisbury Beach where we are at the moment. Huge state reserve here, but luckily only a few campers.
We definitely need to slow down if we do not want to reach Canada in the snow :-). Last night the forecast for Montreal ( probably a week of travelling from here) was for round 4 degrees Celsius and snow with rain.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tallullah Falls to Washington DC
For the last 2 weeks we have been driving a lot. At Tallullah Falls we again had to decide whether to follow the coast to New York or go inland. In our trip planning we had some good help from the Road Trip USA website www.roadtripusa.com . Obviously the trip along the coast is through either developed resort towns or 'forgotten' small towns. The inland route this guy proposes is along the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs close to the Appalachian Trail - a hiking route of 2100 miles in total- and connects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
The drive is a total of around 300 miles along the ridge on narrow windy roads with views to the valleys on either side. Couple of smaller towns along the way a few miles from the parkway, nothing spectacular, but still lovely to visit. So far the weather is fine, some cooler mornings in the mountains.
Claudia and realize that for the next couple of weeks there won't be any really spectacular parks or places to visit, on the other hand we cannot rush through to Canada as we don't want to arrive there late in April or so.
Therefore after leaving Shenandoah National Park about 100 miles to Washington DC near Fredericksburg we return to the coast i hope of finding a quiet, nice place on the beach to stay for a week or two. The route leads us through Civil War country, battlefields all over the place ( it will be worse later North of Washington near Gettysburg).
When we finally arrive at Virginia Beach to stay at a State Park close to town, we learn that the park is booked out due to a wedding and the fact that half of it is flooded from recent rain falls, anyway. Doesn't matter, Claudia and I don't like the area too much anyway, another resort town with shopping malls, fast food , all the touristy stuff.
So we hop on the 20 mile long bridge-tunnel combination to Northampton where we hope to find another spot to stay. The state park we had in mind here is closed til spring 2010, so it should be open by mid April, right? Nope, wrong, still closed, maybe spring starts on June here :-( . Next is a private RV park on the beach, looks nice from the distance. On asking about a site they increase their advertised price from $31 to somewhat around $ 49 for the night. So, Claudia and I happily tell them to stuff that site up theirs and we keep going.
The first few miles after the bridge looked quite ok, quiet but well kept. Then the landscape changes totally. A lot of seemingly deserted houses appear on the roadside, abandoned workshops, mills and even smaller villages. The area looks totally run down and poor. Of course, there are no campgrounds at all, forcing us to keep driving til later in the afternoon until we find a state park to stay for the night.
Then again, on our way to Washington, it turns to wealthy resort towns again . This is exactly what the guy from Roadtrip USA mentions a couple of times. In the States you can find real poverty in direct neighbourhood of total wealth. Sometimes this is a little disturbing. Anyway, past Annapolis to our RV park close to the center of Washington DC.
The drive is a total of around 300 miles along the ridge on narrow windy roads with views to the valleys on either side. Couple of smaller towns along the way a few miles from the parkway, nothing spectacular, but still lovely to visit. So far the weather is fine, some cooler mornings in the mountains.
Claudia and realize that for the next couple of weeks there won't be any really spectacular parks or places to visit, on the other hand we cannot rush through to Canada as we don't want to arrive there late in April or so.
Therefore after leaving Shenandoah National Park about 100 miles to Washington DC near Fredericksburg we return to the coast i hope of finding a quiet, nice place on the beach to stay for a week or two. The route leads us through Civil War country, battlefields all over the place ( it will be worse later North of Washington near Gettysburg).
When we finally arrive at Virginia Beach to stay at a State Park close to town, we learn that the park is booked out due to a wedding and the fact that half of it is flooded from recent rain falls, anyway. Doesn't matter, Claudia and I don't like the area too much anyway, another resort town with shopping malls, fast food , all the touristy stuff.
So we hop on the 20 mile long bridge-tunnel combination to Northampton where we hope to find another spot to stay. The state park we had in mind here is closed til spring 2010, so it should be open by mid April, right? Nope, wrong, still closed, maybe spring starts on June here :-( . Next is a private RV park on the beach, looks nice from the distance. On asking about a site they increase their advertised price from $31 to somewhat around $ 49 for the night. So, Claudia and I happily tell them to stuff that site up theirs and we keep going.
The first few miles after the bridge looked quite ok, quiet but well kept. Then the landscape changes totally. A lot of seemingly deserted houses appear on the roadside, abandoned workshops, mills and even smaller villages. The area looks totally run down and poor. Of course, there are no campgrounds at all, forcing us to keep driving til later in the afternoon until we find a state park to stay for the night.
Then again, on our way to Washington, it turns to wealthy resort towns again . This is exactly what the guy from Roadtrip USA mentions a couple of times. In the States you can find real poverty in direct neighbourhood of total wealth. Sometimes this is a little disturbing. Anyway, past Annapolis to our RV park close to the center of Washington DC.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cloudland Canyon State Park near Atlanta, Georgia
Claudia also joins the fire prevention brigade!
Savannah and on to Cloudland Canyon State Park North of Atlanta
We had 5 quiet days at lovely Jekyll Island. Lots of bicycle tours to the small town, walks on the beach or in the woods surrounding the camping ground. If there only weren't those midges, smaller even than sand flies in NZ and luckily not as mean, but heaps of them all day, everywhere...
On several occasions we had expressed our disappointment with the way the American towns and cities present themselves, boring and without any charm, often barely liveable. So we didn't expect much for our visit to Savannah on our way North-West to Cloudland Canyon State Park, our next destination.
We had planned to just do a short stop-over at a supermarket, maybe drive through the city center -that was described somewhere as being kind of nice- and then move back to the interstate highway. We couldn't have been more wrong!
Downtown Savannah is one of the most beautiful city centers we have seen on all our trips. We ended up walking the streets and the riverfront for almost 3 hours before returning to the road.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Destin, Florida
The hosts at Organ Pipe Cactus National Park had said that Destin, Florida, is a must, so this is our next destination. We follow the coast and pass through some nice areas like Gulfport. Overnight station is at Spanish Fort State Park, nothing special, just convenient.
Henderson Beach State Park is at a nice location, indeed! White sand beaches, not too busy at this time of the year - however, I wouldn't want to be there at peak season. This is a stretch of resort-free land about 1 mile long ( maybe less), but neighboured by resorts of any kind, amusement parks, shopping malls, factory outlrts, you name it. We have 3 nights there, then it's on the road again to Tallahassee via the coast. Some nice beaches here, overnight near Lanark village.
We now have to decide whether or not to go to South Florida. From what we have seen on the internet like Orlando (Disneyworld), Daytona Beach and worse South of there, the region would definitely not be what we like, overcrowded and absolutely touristy. Our decision is easy: we'll bypass South Florida and go across to somewhere near Jacksonville on the East Coast.
After another night near the highway on some actually quite nice RV park we stumble upon St. Simons Island. This is one of the most beautiful places I have seen on our trip so far, well manicured gardens and houses in an almost surreal environment of live oaks, again overgrown with Spanish moss. Most houses have huge sections, probably at least an acre (4000 m2) or so and are just beautiful. I could name a dozen houses at least where I would love to live! Small problem here: it becomes apparent very quickly that this is an island of the wealthy, sometimes maybe the filthy wealthy. Sooooo, maybe a little early to order the moving van :-).
There is no campground on the island (surprise!), this means we have to go next door to Jekyll Island. Not as posh as St. Simons but still nice. We are lucky and get a spot on the campground despite it being fully booked out officially, so that's where we will stay for the next 5 days.
Henderson Beach State Park is at a nice location, indeed! White sand beaches, not too busy at this time of the year - however, I wouldn't want to be there at peak season. This is a stretch of resort-free land about 1 mile long ( maybe less), but neighboured by resorts of any kind, amusement parks, shopping malls, factory outlrts, you name it. We have 3 nights there, then it's on the road again to Tallahassee via the coast. Some nice beaches here, overnight near Lanark village.
We now have to decide whether or not to go to South Florida. From what we have seen on the internet like Orlando (Disneyworld), Daytona Beach and worse South of there, the region would definitely not be what we like, overcrowded and absolutely touristy. Our decision is easy: we'll bypass South Florida and go across to somewhere near Jacksonville on the East Coast.
After another night near the highway on some actually quite nice RV park we stumble upon St. Simons Island. This is one of the most beautiful places I have seen on our trip so far, well manicured gardens and houses in an almost surreal environment of live oaks, again overgrown with Spanish moss. Most houses have huge sections, probably at least an acre (4000 m2) or so and are just beautiful. I could name a dozen houses at least where I would love to live! Small problem here: it becomes apparent very quickly that this is an island of the wealthy, sometimes maybe the filthy wealthy. Sooooo, maybe a little early to order the moving van :-).
There is no campground on the island (surprise!), this means we have to go next door to Jekyll Island. Not as posh as St. Simons but still nice. We are lucky and get a spot on the campground despite it being fully booked out officially, so that's where we will stay for the next 5 days.
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