TravelStream™ news feed for member thebusmonkeys on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/thebusmonkeys en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:33:19 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256940873/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256940873/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256940873/tpod.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:33:19 -0500 Monkeys In America

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Kingston, New York, United States

What a cold night it was last night! So much so that we had ice on the windows this morning – on the inside!! It was still very cold and also very foggy when we got up around 7.30am, and an hour later when Neil started to get the bus ready for us to move on, the ice was still on the inside of the windows! And so, donning hats and gloves, we set off towards the Catskill Mountains and the KOA we had phoned a few days ago. Electric for the heater would be most welcome!We headed north on Route 9, crossing the Hudson River via the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge. By now the fog had lifted and the sun had come out but it was still bitterly cold. The KOA is situated just on the edge of Catskill Park, about 10 miles away from Woodstock. On the way there, we debated whether it was <i>the Woodstock. (Neil didn’t reckon it was, but Mel was pretty certain it was and had to find it on Wikipedia later in the day to prove it!) We arrived at the campsite around midday to be met by a rather terse woman. Once in reception she informed us that the rate was actually about $5 more than we had been quoted earlier in the week. We showed her the size of the van and explained that we used very little electric and didn’t need cable TV, but as far as she was concerned, the rate was the rate and that was that! And so, completely fed up with being ripped off, we decided that we would leave her almost empty campsite and go elsewhere. We tried another site fairly nearby and they were even worse. They wanted $45 per night!! Our next challenge was to find a working phone so that we could phone the DMV and find out where on earth our paperwork was. Once we knew the state of play with them we could formulate plan B. You just would not believe how difficult it is to find a phone. We tried in the town of Saugerties but to no avail. So we headed back down the 9W constantly scanning the pavements and strip malls but no sign of any phones. We eventually found one at a fuel station, which Mel went to use while Neil filled up, but that didn’t work! The young lad at the fuel station asked the usual “How are you doing?” and completely hacked off at this point, we replied “crap, don’t ask”, much to his amusement. We guess everyone usually replies “good, thanks”, robot-like, with no thought to how bad a day they were really having! When we explained our frustration at not being able to find a phone, let alone a working one, he kindly handed his mobile to us and told us to call whoever we needed to. After a surprisingly quick call to the DMV we offered to pay Manny for the use of his phone but he wouldn’t hear of it. It was nice to have our faith in humankind restored, if only temporarily. And temporarily it was as we were soon lured into McDonalds by a poster offering wi-fi. As we needed to get online to check out more camping options we decided to have lunch there and take advantage of the wi-fi. It was only after we had confirmed with the staff that it was working and had ordered lunch that we discovered that at this particular McD’s they charged for the privilege. We’re just astounded that in the current economic climate, rather than offer incentives to promote trade, so many people are content to just rip off others for as much as possible today, with no thought given to repeat business or whatever. Incredible…..And so back to feeling dejected we continued on to the town of Kingston, a fairly large place with lots of large stores including a Wal-Mart. It didn’t have a large car park though and the layout didn’t lend itself to parking up for the night inconspicuously so we carried on to find the library. Once there we checked out more Wal-Mart locations and also New Jersey State Parks. We found a state forest with camping still open in north-western New Jersey near the state line with Pennsylvania; it doesn’t have electric but at least it has showers so that’s something. Sadly today’s huge run-around had taken up most of the day and as it was now almost 4pm it was too late to set off for there today, so we headed back to Wal-Mart for another look. We managed to find a spot that was ok. It wasn’t brilliant in that it was under great big floodlights but at least it was tucked away around the corner form the main entrance, and as we didn’t have many other attractive options for tonight, we decided that it would do for one night.After a visit to the store to buy food for our dinner we returned to the bus with a huge, stodgy chocolate fudge cake to console ourselves with. We also cracked one of the bottles of wine that John had given us to drown our sorrows with. Nice! Cheers John!Miles travelled: 66 Total miles travelled: 15171Days on road: 139States visited: 32National Parks visited: 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202979/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202979/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202979/tpod.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:16:56 -0500 Monkeys In America

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Fishkill, New York, United States

Although it was very chilly when we woke this morning, the sun was shining and the sky was brilliantly blue. After lovely hot showers and packing up we drove the bus down to the beach area of the park for a wander and to take some photos before we left. The beach was wide with small dunes at the back, the sand was soft and golden and the waves were lapping very gently onto the shore. Gorgeous! And there, right out in the middle of the ocean was what appeared to be either a submarine floating just above the surface of the water, or a flying saucer hovering just above it. We deduced that it must be land and that the weather conditions, be it sea haze or heat haze, were creating an optical illusion that made all the land around that one small area appear to disappear, if you get our drift. When we checked on the map we realized that the stretch of water in front of us was the Long Island Sound and therefore the land that we could see must be Long Island. Once out of the park it was just a short drive to the first town, where we pulled into a McDonalds car park to use their wi-fi and a phone. We used the Internet to locate more Wal-Marts, both in Connecticut and up-state New York; and with the phone we tried to phone New York State Parks, but it wasn’t working! We tried the shopping mall across the road but there weren’t any there, not even in the supermarket. After several miles we finally found another one to try, this time outside a not too appealing-looking diner, but at least it worked. Mel phoned NY State Parks to find out where there were campsites open and if they had electric. We thought we might head down onto Long Island, towards the far end away from the madness of New York City. That way we wouldn’t be far away from New York City once we got the call from the shipping company to say our paperwork had arrived from the DMV. But the state park employee informed Mel that whilst there were a few parks open, they didn’t have electric and the nightly fee ranged from $39-$54!!!! For a cold campsite, off-season!!! We thinks we will pass on that! We can be cold in a Wal-Mart car park for free!!! Mel also phoned a KOA in up-state New York that was still open. Their rate was just over $30, but at least that included electric. It’s a little further north than we ideally want to go, but it’s always an option.Because we didn’t want to get embroiled in the sprawling Metropolis of New York which basically begins right over the State line from Connecticut, we took Highway 1 as far as New Haven, where we drove past parts of Yale University and then began to head inland on the 34 towards Danbury. Although there was a Wal-Mart there, we decided to carry on, as it was only mid afternoon and too early to park up for the night. And so from there we took Highway 6 / 202 across the state line into New York State. We decided that we would head for a WM supercentre at Fishkill and the most direct way to get there was by taking the I-84. We had been climbing steadily for a few hours and just before we pulled into a rest area around 4pm, we came through a cutting in the rocks and in front of us was the most spectacular view of the lower ground in front of us, and the Catskill Mountains on the horizon, all carpeted with multi-coloured trees. It was like being on top of the world again. It was especially stunning as the sky was blue and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. It was however, quite chilly and so once parked up in the rest area it was time for tea and donuts!After a short stop we travelled the last 10 miles or so to our intersection at Fishkill. The Wal-Mart was clearly visible as we exited the Interstate and we were in our spot for the night within a couple of minutes. There were a few motorhomes parked up and we tucked ourselves in front of one of them in a lesser-used corner of the car park. Once we had set up we wandered across to the store for a few provisions and a warm fleecy blanket to throw over our sleeping bags. As the sun was setting in the sky, the temperature was dropping quite rapidly. While Mel prepared dinner, Neil got chatting to the guy who owned the big motorhome behind us. His name was John and he was <i>the Master Wine Cellar Builder, which meant that he had lots of very nice wine on board. He gave Neil a couple of bottles for us and also invited us to go round after dinner to sample some more. And so a very nice evening followed, chatting with John in his huge motorhome (the first time we had been in one so big; it had a separate bedroom, bathroom and a fitted kitchen to send most housewives green with envy!) and drinking very, very nice red wine. As we stepped out of John’s centrally heated van into the very cold night air, we knew that we would be glad of our new blanket tonight.Miles travelled: 94 Total miles travelled: 15105 Days on road: 138States visited: 32National Parks visited: 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202554/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202554/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256202554/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:16:37 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Madison, Connecticut, United States

On our way out of Fishermen’s Memorial State Park this morning we stopped by the office to complain about the cleanliness of the facilities and to see if we could get a partial refund. The staff in the office didn’t exactly fall over themselves to help and when Neil pushed the matter they called the Regional Manager. He was on his way over, so we waited 10 minutes or so for him to arrive. He was even less helpful, quite aggressive, and either blind or in denial, as he said that he used the showers at this site every day and they were fine. When we asked him to walk down to the shower block with us and check out the ladies’, he replied that he was far too busy sorting out his mail machine to do that!!!! He also said that the facilities had been refurbished at the beginning of the season. Well, doh! It’s now the end of the season and they will have been used tens of thousands of times since then, so that really has no relevance today. We managed to get the e-mail address of his boss, so we will try to get him to intervene. It’s criminal that these state–run facilities are taking full price from campers and then not bothering to keep them clean. Isn’t that what the fees are supposed to go towards, someone maintaining and cleaning the facilities??!! A few miles back up the 108 and we re-joined Route 1 and headed south again. It was quite a grey morning and so felt even colder than the last few days. It wasn’t long before we crossed the State line and entered Connecticut. Thank God! Let’s hope this will be a more positive experience than Rhode Island. That particular state hasn’t left us with particularly fond memories.Only a few minutes in and it was time for our first interaction with the folk of Connecticut when we pulled into a fuel station to fill up. Neil got chatting to the chaps inside who were very friendly. Being well traveled themselves they were very interested to hear all about our trip. Then it was time for one of those “biggest in the world” moments that the U.S. is so good at, when Neil came out with the key for the loos. There was no way you could accidentally walk off with it!After about an hour of small towns and narrow, windy road, we briefly had to join I-95 to cross the Thames River, before exiting to go into New London! We found a shopping mall and went in to use the loos (too much coffee this morning!) and then used a wi-fi signal we picked up to check our e-mail. Another couple of hours down the road and we found a small shopping mall with a Wal-Mart. Unfortunately it wasn’t suitable for us to spend the night at, so after doing some shopping at the food store we carried on another couple of miles to Hammonasset State Park. It was open but there was no electric. After umming and arring over what to do, we decided that if the showers were clean then we would stay anyway, as it was miles to any other State Parks that may or may not be open, may or may not have electric and may or may not have clean facilities!To our surprise and delight the employees of Connecticut State Parks appear to be more hardworking than those of Rhode Island and the showers were clean and well maintained. There was also a disabled pitch next to the shower block which had electric so we decided to try and sweet-talk the staff into letting us use it if no-one with a disability arrived before closing. Sadly they weren’t having any of it. And so we chose another pitch quite close to the showers in the hope that we could move close enough later on for our electric cable to reach!It was perishing cold and so Mel cooked dinner whilst wearing a wooly hat! Meanwhile Neil was braving the elements outside whilst sitting and having a beer and one of the other campers came over to chat to him. During the conversation Neil learned that just along from us was the Campground Host’s trailer and he was a bit of a jobsworth, so we decided the plan to use the electric wasn’t such a good idea after all. After eating dinner sat under a blanket we attempted to keep warm by having the gas stove turned on. It was reasonably effective for a while but not really practical. As it says just below the knobs on the stove, "It Is Not Safe To Use Cooking Appliances For Comfort Heating"! And so we just got layered up, dropped the roof, filled the hot water bottles and had an early night. Miles travelled: 91 Total miles travelled: 15011 Days on road: 137States visited: 32National Parks visited: 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201839/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201839/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201839/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:08:38 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Point Judith, Rhode Island, United States

We were up and about early and whilst it was still very cold, the sky promised us a nice, fine day. We knew from the map that there was a naval complex nearby, but it wasn’t until we heard the early morning bugle call that we realized that it was literally just across the road from us. Once breakfasted and packed up, we exited Wal-Mart’s car park and got straight onto the Newport Bridge, which was just across the road. This put us briefly onto Conanicut Island before another bridge took us back onto the mainland. Then it was a short drive down the 1A to Narragansett, a nice seaside town with a lovely wide beach. We parked up and watched the surfers while we had a coffee and a donut and got chatting to a young German student who was living and studying over here for a year. Another few miles down the road, we arrived at Point Judith &amp; Fishermen’s Memorial State Park. As it was only mid-morning, we asked the young lad on reception if there were any other sites further down the coast with electric and showers. He was a little vague, but reckoned probably not. So we decided to get booked in for the night and make the most of the opportunity to have the heater switched on.Neil spent the rest of the day insulating more of the bus, while Mel wrote some blog and sorted out the photos. It was cold even during the day so we had the heater on most of the time and plenty of hot drinks too.After dinner we went over to the shower block to take a shower, but what we found was not a pretty sight. They were absolutely filthy and quite obviously hadn’t been cleaned for at least a few weeks. The ladies was particularly bad, the walls covered in black mildew, the curtain dirty and lumps of hair and dirt in the mat on the floor. Not able to face using them for fear of contracting something nasty, Mel headed back to the bus, boiled a kettle and had a wash in nice, clean surroundings. Oh joy, another complaint in the morning! Miles travelled: 24Total miles travelled: 14920 Days on road: 136States visited: 31National Parks visited: 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256147855/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256147855/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256147855/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:56:47 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Hanover, Massachusetts, United States

Today we breakfasted at the Merry Moose again, but this time we had the waffles, which were delicious and just as big as the pancakes, even though we chose to omit the strawberries and whipped cream!!! We had to leave today as the site was closing for the winter. It won’t be long before the snow starts falling up here in Maine. The KOA ladies were telling us how the site was under 6 feet of snow when they arrived at the beginning of the season. After a steady pack-up we left the campsite around 11.30 and continued south on Route 1. As we passed through one of the towns we spotted an Obama campaign office, and as Mel had been desperate to get a bumper sticker for the van we stopped off and she went in. They were about to ask her for a donation to the campaign in exchange for a sticker when they noticed her accent and asked where she was from. When she replied “from England”, they told her that they weren’t allowed to accept a donation from her and then gave her a really horrible sticker instead of the standard, recognisable one she wanted, as they said they didn’t have many of those ones left, even though she pointed out that it would get plenty of visibility over a good few miles in the coming weeks. You would have thought that they would have been delighted that she wanted to display one for them, but no.Our next stop was to see the lighthouse at Nubble Point. Although it was very bright and sunny it was also incredibly windy and very, very cold. So after a 10 minute wander to take photographs and stretch our legs, we were glad to get back in the bus. We took the coastal road for as long as possible, passing through the lovely resorts of York Beach and York Harbor, before crossing the State Line and re-entering New Hampshire and the town of Portsmouth. And it was there, quite aptly, that we came across the USS Albacore, an experimental submarine, which was operational from 1953 to 1972, and sits on dry land as a visitor attraction. As neither of us had ever been on a submarine and were quite curious and eager to do so, we decided to buy tickets and check it out. There weren’t many other people “on board” and so we pretty much had the run of the place. It was excellent! Lots of gadgets and gismos to touch and mess around with! Great for an hour, but neither of us fancies the idea of being on one for months at a time, especially under water!!After our fantastic submarine adventure we rejoined Route 1 and continued south. The price of fuel had dropped yet again, now down to $2.619 per gallon. Lovely jubbly! We were only in New Hampshire for around 20 miles, as the state is only about that wide at its coastal edge. And so into Massachusetts where it wasn’t long before we spotted fuel at $2.499!! At this rate we might just get as low as $2 per gallon!The scenery was pretty much unchanged from that of Maine; autumn leaves in various shades, quaint small towns and pretty, painted wooden houses on tree-lined roads, all very clean and nicely looked after. Before leaving the KOA we had marked all the Walmarts along our route as far south as New Bedford, in the south of Massachusetts, just before the state line with Rhode Island. We pulled into one of these just north of Boston, but it was completely unsuitable for us to stay the night, and so knowing that we would now need to get through Boston before nightfall, we had a quick cuppa and a donut and got back on the road.Just before joining the freeway to traverse downtown Boston, we passed through a gorgeous seaside area, with lovely beaches and a promenade. As we had become a little disorientated at this point, we’re not sure where it was exactly, but we think it could have been Revere. It would have been a lovely place to park up for the night, to see and hear the waves crashing onto the shore, but we knew that we would be moved on and so carried on towards the skyscrapers of Boston, which were looming ever closer.As we crossed the toll bridge on Route 1, the sun was going down and the dusky sky provided a beautiful backdrop to the city. Well Mel thought it was beautiful. Neil just told her to take lots of photos and he would see it that way afterwards. He was concentrating far too hard on keeping us on the right road and not taking us on a tour of downtown Boston by night to be admiring the views, apparently! It actually proved to be quite straightforward, although we did have flashbacks to Madrid, Spain (where we did do a complete circuit of the city in Marge, our VW Beetle, after taking a wrong lane!) as we went through an underpass about a mile long that had lots of lanes and lots of exits. We were just glad that we did that particular leg of the journey on a Sunday evening and not a Monday one!It wasn’t long before we arrived at Walmart in Hanover, and to our delight it seemed that it would be ok for us to stay there. We checked with the staff and they agreed and after three different positions in the car park, we finally settled in for the evening.Miles travelled: 130Total miles travelled: 14649Days on road: 134States visited: 30National Parks visited: 20
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201606/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201606/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256201606/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:56:13 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Newport, Rhode Island, United States

Wal-Mart, Newport, Rhode IslandWe awoke to a very bright and sunny, but very cold morning. After a quick visit to Wal-Mart to use their facilities, we were packed up and on our way, on the hunt for a 7/11, hot drinks and blueberry muffins. We both thought that we had passed one shortly before arriving at Wal-Mart last night and so went back the way we had come. After a few miles it became apparent that we had either imagined it or it was much further back than we thought. And so, before we ended up back in Boston we turned around and headed south again. It was ages before we came across a 7/11, but we passed tens and tens of Dunkin Donuts. Massachusetts must be the Dunkin Donuts capital of the world!Fed and watered, we continued on our way and it wasn’t long before we crossed Sagamore Bridge onto what is effectively a horseshoe-shaped peninsula better known as Cape Cod. The Cape Cod National Seashore is part of the National Park Service and so after passing through Barnstable and Yarmouth we stopped at the Salt Pond Visitor Center to pick up an information leaflet. The Cape is a glacial deposit that is constantly undergoing natural change as winds and water move sand along the shorelines, tearing away one place and building up another. The National Seashore was established in 1961 and contains 44,000 acres along a 40-mile section of coastline. We decided to go to the furthest point on the peninsula and work backwards. Our first stop was the place where the Pilgrims had first touched foot on American soil on 11th November 1620. There isn’t really a lot to see other than a plaque, the sea and the coastline, although there did appear to be an unusually high concentration of gay male couples about, we’re not sure why.Herring Cove Beach was our next stop, where we parked up by the beach and sat having our lunch whilst enjoying the view and watching the gulls catch fish. Despite being very sunny it was also very windy and whilst a few brave souls walked along the beach we were more than happy to enjoy it all from inside the bus.We were braver at our next stop, which was Race Point Beach. After donning warm coats, hats and gloves we ventured onto the beautiful beach. The sand is so soft, fine and powdery that Mel sank into it, filling her shoes with it! The wind really was blowing a gale. You can see why the Cape is so prone to erosion.Next stop was the Province Lands Visitor Center where we watched a film about the history of this area of the Cape, particularly its links with the whaling industry and the local Lifeboat Station. Life was tough for the early settlers. We also went up onto the upstairs viewing area with our binoculars in a vain attempt to spot whales, although we had been told that we were slightly out of season for it. Story of our lives!!From there it was a short drive to Provincetown, a very picturesque seaside town with narrow roads, painted wooden houses, small shops and a quaint harbour. Nothing out of the ordinary…. until we spotted first one transvestite (not unusual), then another (whatever), and then another couple (this is a bit weird) and then more and more and more. You would think that you were driving past a couple of middle-aged women and then realize that they were men. There must have been a transvestite convention going on. Very, very, interesting. As the afternoon was ticking away and there weren’t many campsites to choose from in the area at this time of year, we made one final stop at the Highland Light lighthouse before leaving the National Park. We spotted a State Park on our map and so decided to stop off and see if they had electric on their campground but there was no-one in the office to ask. Then we spotted the phone and so tried to use that to phone the DMV to chase our vehicle documents and also to try a couple of campsites in the area, but it didn’t work. And so we turned around and went into the town of Orleans to find a phone, but there wasn’t one to be found. Not in the shopping center or the supermarket or anywhere. Aaargghhh!!!And so the decision was made for us. With nowhere to camp for the night (no Wal-Marts on the cape either), we would have to leave the Cape and head further south. As we did so we came across something we hadn’t seen in months. A roundabout! Although in these parts it’s known as a “rotary”. Shortly after crossing back onto the “mainland” via the Sagamore Bridge, we pulled into a fuel station for a coffee and to use the phone. Thankfully it worked. However, it gobbled about eight dollars of quarters whilst we were waiting for our call to be answered and when we finally got connected the news wasn’t good. Despite having been told last week that our paperwork would be processed and posted out by the 16th, today the computer was still showing that it was being processed. And could anyone go and physically check on it’s status? No! Computer says no!And so, feeling thoroughly dejected, we continued south and west on the hunt for somewhere to stay for the night. It wasn‘t long before the sun had set on us, we had passed through all three areas that were supposed to have a Wal-Mart without seeing any sign of one and bad road signs had led to us losing ours a couple of times. So we decided just to carry on driving and hope that we came across somewhere suitable to pll in. We agreed that if necessary we would take it in turns to sleep and drive and go through the night if we didn‘t find anywhere. It was now well and truly dark and bitterly cold. Poor little Chippie‘s heater was doing it‘s best but fighting a losing battle, so we were gloved and hatted and Mel was wrapped in a blanket! And all we saw on both sides of the road were car showrooms and car dealers lots for miles and miles and miles. Once we reached the town of Fall River we decided to find somewhere to get something to eat as we were both starving. There wasn’t a lot of choice on the outskirts and as we didn‘t want to go into the centre and didn‘t fancy McDonalds we settled on a Pizza restaurant called Papa Gino’s. What a good decision that was. The best pizza we have had in a long, long time, probably since we were in Italy. We also got to warm up a bit in the restaurant too which was a definite bonus!From Fall River we headed south, across the state line into Rhode Island and onto the island of the same name. After about 30 minutes of driving through pitch-black nothing-ness we reached the town of Newport, but as it didn’t seem to offer us any overnight options, we were about to cross the bridge onto Conanicut Island and carry on with our journey through the night, when we spotted a familiar sign glowing in the darkness. Wal mart!Too exhausted to worry anymore about whether we should or shouldn’t be parking there, we just found a good spot to park, hopped in the back and closed the curtains.Miles travelled: 247Total miles travelled: 14896 Days on road: 135States visited: 31National Parks visited: 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1218770280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1218770280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1218770280/tpod.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:49:14 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Winnfield, Louisiana, United States

We left the site around 10.30 and drove the short distance to the city of Texarkana. An odd place in that half the city is in Texas and half is in Arkansas. (You're getting the hang of these imaginative place names aren't you?) The plan was to find the library and do what we had tried to do yesterday. Well finding the library proved to be really straight forward, the only problem was, it was closed! At 11am on a Thursday morning! Don't ask why, we don't know. As we carried on through the city we noticed how quiet it was, there was hardly anyone around, and it's a fairly big city. It has to be said though, it does look to have seen better days. So we now found ourselves in Arkansas (no welcome sign we might add) but only for a short time, as we took Highway 71 south and soon crossed the state line into Louisiana. It was quite noticeable that we were now in the deep south, the vegetation was very lush everywhere you looked. And it was hot and sticky with absolutely no breeze. We began to notice a crop in the fields which looked like maize, but brown and dead. We thought at first that maybe it had become diseased and allowed to die, but as we drove further the amount we saw made us doubt that. As we drove through the city of Shreveport we crossed the Red River and saw our first paddle steamer. We needed a Wal-Mart but Shreveport is a huge place so when we stopped for fuel on the southern outskirts we asked for directions. We were directed to Bossier City (pronounced bo-sher) which effectively meant that we had done a loop back north. Whilst we were at the checkout in Wal-Mart we were amazed to hear an English voice in front of us. The young lady in question was from Thetford in Norfolk and her husband was based at Barksdale Air Force Base on the outskirts of Bossier City. After a couple more hours drive south-east we arrived at our camp site for tonight, Gum Springs Campground, in the Kisatchie National Forest. It's quite a bizarre place in that the grounds and pitches are all immaculate with nice fairly new grills and tables, but the toilets are locked shut. It's a self-pay station and there's no camp host so we don't know the reason for it, but at least they're only charging $3 a night so we really can't complain. The other really odd thing is that there's no-on else here except us. We think they may have had some heavy rain in these parts the last week or so, so maybe people are avoiding the area for that reason. Neil had the fright of his life earlier, when after standing over the grill for around 20 minutes cooking our burgers, suddenly noticed a big spider and it's web by his foot. Upon bending down to get a closer look he realised it was a Black Widow, whose venom is 15 times more deadly than that of a rattlesnake! Miles travelled: 195 Total miles travelled: 8559 Days on road: 68 States visited: 15 National Parks visited: 11
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256143112/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256143112/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1256143112/tpod.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:45:10 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Saco, Maine, United States

When we checked in yesterday the ladies in reception had insisted that we should try the Merry Moose, the little log cabin in the grounds of the site that served pancakes and waffles for breakfast. So we wandered down there and put in our order for blueberry pancakes. A word of warning if you visit this KOA! The pancakes are huge! About 8 inches in diameter and about half an inch thick! And so a portion of two pancakes to share was more than&nbsp;enough to stuff us silly. We sat and ate them in big wooden chairs next to the camp fire that was burning away in an attempt to stave off the chill of the autumn morning.As the site is really nice and well cared for, even at this late stage of the season, we had decided to stay for another night and so waddled across to reception to book in. Then we waddled to the phone to call Mel’s Mum, as it was her birthday today. (Happy Birthday Mum!) During the conversation there was the most almighty noise as a flight of military helicopters flew overhead at just above treetop level in a scene reminiscent of that of the helicopter attack in the film "Apocalypse Now". Mum wondered what on earth was going on! Once we had finished our call it was back in the bus and back down the road to Biddeford, this time to Home Depot for some insulation for the bus. We also stopped in at a motor spares shop for some spares and had a very interesting conversation regarding rear fog lights, or rather the total lack of them in the US. One guy in particular could not get his head around why such a thing would be necessary. If it’s foggy and someone runs into the back of you, you just claim against his or her insurance! Right!!After lunch, Mel continued to do more laundry and Neil proceeded to take the bus apart in order to fit the insulation that SDCVW had omitted to put back in. Hopefully from now on, the temperature inside the bus will be warmer than that outside!Miles travelled: 25Total miles travelled: 14519Days on road: 133States visited: 29National Parks visited: 20
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224214020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224214020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224214020/tpod.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:27:29 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Portland, Maine, United States

As we had anticipated, when the alarm went off before sunrise this morning, the weather wasn't good. And so the alarm was turned off, the idea of watching the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain was forgotten and we went back to sleep for another couple of hours. Once we were up and about, we did our usual packing up routine, making sure that we topped up our water and emptied our porta-loo as we left the campsite. The drive out of Acadia was less than spectacular thanks to the weather and so we were really grateful that we had had such good weather yesterday. We left Acadia by Highway 3; the only road connecting Mount Desert Island to the mainland and when we reached Ellsworth took Route 1 south towards Portland. By now the grey clouds had begun to empty themselves and it got grottier, grottier and grottier still. It was really quite dark despite it only being midday at this point. The scenery probably would have been quite lovely if it hadn't been for the weather as we drove through some very quaint, very typical New England towns, with painted wooden houses and picket fences. And the road took us past what we think would have been lovely bays, but sadly we couldn't see anything of them for the sea mist. The roots of the Pilgrim Fathers were evident all around as we passed through the towns of Belfast, Camden, Newcastle, Woolwich and Bath and the county of Lincoln. All in just a few hours! We also passed through the town of Freeport, the original tax-free shoppers paradise, the weather was so grotty we just weren't interested in getting out of the van and getting soaked. A little further down the road, our stomachs got the better of us, and as it was too cold and horrible to mess about preparing food in the van, McDonalds called to us. Some things are worth getting your toes wet for!&nbsp;A few miles&nbsp;north of Falmouth, we came across a Welcome Centre, a sort of cross between a motorway services and a tourist information office. While Neil went inside to phone the DMV and chase our documents for exporting Chip, Mel used the free wi-fi to check our e-mail and try to find some camping options for us. Although there are plenty of State Parks along this stretch of coastline, none of them have campgrounds. Some of the ones further inland do, but as a lot of them had begun to close down for the season, we decided not to risk having a wasted journey. The phone call to the DMV was a waste of time and money as the phone ate all our change at an alarming rate and Neil got cut off before he got to know anything; and the internet search didn't give us anything very promising on the camping front, again as most places had now closed for the season, and so we asked directions to the nearest Wal-Mart. It turned out to be not too far away and although it wasn't a supercentre, it was next to a cinema and there were a couple of restaurants around it, so we figured we would be ok parked up for the night. There was also another motorhome parked up, but bizarrely that disappeared after dinner. The only thing that seemed vaguely worrying was an elderly man in bright red trousers who was power-walking around the car park, but not in a "training for a race" kind of way, more of a "loon" kind of way. At one point he seemed to be heading straight towards our van, and then at the last moment, turned abruptly and went off in another direction. We were warned to "look out for the loons"! For something to do and for a bit of a warm, we had a late night wander around Wal-Mart, checking out their Halloween stuff and their very nice collection of lumberjack shirts. If you want one, this is the place to come! Then it was back to our van to fill our hot water bottle and settle in for the night. Miles travelled: 166 Total miles travelled: 14458 Days on road: 131 States visited: 29 National Parks visited: 20
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224128220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224128220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thebusmonkeys/2/1224128220/tpod.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:25:38 -0400 Monkeys In America

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Seal Harbor, Maine, United States

Today we did what we had intended to do yesterday, and that was to see the rest of Mount Desert Island. Our falling-out yesterday turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the weather was much improved today, giving us much better views and much nicer photographs. Our first stop was the town of Southwest Harbor. It is very much like Northeast Harbor with many small shops and boutiques and possibly a few more eating places. A lady Neil had chatted to a couple of days ago had recommended what she claimed was the best place on the island to eat Maine lobster at a good price, but unfortunately we couldn't find it. It didn't take us long to wander around the town and then we were back on the road and on to our next stop, which was Seawall, so called because of the natural seawall there. We pulled into the picnic area right by the pebble beach and sat and enjoyed the views and the sunshine. There is also a campsite, but it was now closed for the season. From there it was just a short drive to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. The access road isn't suitable for large vehicles such as RV's, but for our little Chip it was no problem. So much for the woman with the 45ft RV who felt sorry for us a few weeks ago! The lighthouse is fully operational and is vital for vessels sailing into Bass Harbor as the approach is littered with treacherous rocks. After leaving the lighthouse we headed north through the small town of Bass Harbor toward the picnic site at Pretty Marsh, but again due to the time of year it was closed. And so we continued on past Long Pond and Echo Lake, back to Northeast Harbor, where we parked right by the harbour and sat and enjoyed the views while we ate our lunch. Our next stop took us back onto the other side of the island where we began our ascent to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. It isn't a very tall mountain at 1530ft, but it does afford spectacular views of the rest of the island and the Atlantic Ocean, and in particular Frenchman Bay and the smaller islands which are scattered throughout it. You really feel on top of the world up there. When we arrived at the summit, so had several coaches of passengers from the cruise liners that were docked down in the bay, so it was quite busy. But even so, there is a tremendous feeling of calm and tranquillity up there on the top of that mountain. And we even managed to get some photos without any people in them! The lady who had recommended the lobster place had also recommended going up to the top of Cadillac Mountain at sunrise, and after experiencing it in the daytime, we might just do that tomorrow morning. That really would be something else. Our final stops of the day were along the eastern coast, the first one being the overlook that looks out on Schooner Head. The coastline is very rugged and we had to clamber over some rocks to get some better photos. By now the sun was beginning to dip and so was the temperature, and so our final stop was to take some photos of Sand Beach before heading back to the campsite. After dinner we got ready for bed and all tucked up for 9pm, to listen to the third and final Presidential Debate on the radio. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't too good for tomorrow, so we set an alarm for a sunrise trip up Cadillac Mountain, but neither of us is confident that we will be going. Miles travelled: 79 Total miles travelled: 14292 Days on road: 130 States visited: 29 National Parks visited: 20
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