Trip to Maine - Part 1
#1
08-16-2010, 08:32 AM
Trip to Maine - Part 1
Out trip to Maine – Part 1
Saturday, July 10 – Sunny and in the 90s. 370 miles covered through North Carolina.
We both had to work late on Friday in order to ‘clear the deck’ for our two weeks off. On her way home from work Friday night, Vicki, had a flat tire. Fortunately she was close to home and I was able to change it for her but I had to take care of getting it repaired this morning. It was 10:15 AM before we were on the road.
For the journey north we had decided that we would go up the east coast and return coming down the Appalachian Mountains. So “Head East” (great Midwestern rock band from the 70s) we did. We wanted to make it as close as possible to the Outer Banks that day so we traveled mostly 4 lane roads (Routes 85 to 49 to 64 to 17) across North Carolina. We stopped in Elizabeth City for Supper and the Garmin showed us a campground in nearby Shawboro. It was the North River Campground. $35 for a site with water and electricity. The couple running the campground was very nice and the place was clean. Not much shade but we were only staying the night. We did find out that the place used to be a hunting club once owned by Andy Griffith.
Sunday, July 11 – Sunny and in the 90s. 250 miles covered through North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
Taking some back roads to reach Virginia Beach,
We skirted the coast until coming to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnels. 20 miles all together.
Bridge section 1:
Tunnel 1:
Bridge section 2:
Tunnel 2:
Bridge section 3:
We didn’t spend much time in Maryland as we would be coming back through the western end of that state on the way home.
We cruised through Delaware stopping only to board the Cape May Ferry for a ride to New Jersey.
As I stood looking at my rig next to the tractor trailer rig it dawned on me… maybe size really does matter.
That night we stopped at the Seashore Campground. This place was huge and expensive! It cost $55 for our little camper with water and electricity. However the sites were nice and the place was clean. That evening we had some excitement. A young couple tent camping next to us had a canopy tent set up for their cooking and eating area. While the young man was off taking his shower the girl decided to start up their butane stove. We were setting in our camper when suddenly we heard a loud explosion and saw a fire ball. Their butane stove was going up in flames as the girl was inside the screened in canopy. As I struggled to get our tent open so I could get out, I had visions of her burned to a crisp. She was able to break through the screen material, as it was weakened by the fire, and she ran over to our camp site. Miraculously she was not hurt at all but their entire food prep area was going up in flames. By this time the boyfriend had returned and he was able to beat out the fire with his wet towel and a neighbor helped using his fire extinguisher. Thank God no one was hurt. It made me realize that I will never again set up our stove anywhere close to our camper or awning.
Monday, July 12 – Sunny and in the 90s. 166 Miles covered in New Jersey only.
I did not know that New Jersey had attendants pump your gas. At our first gas stop a nice young lady ran my credit card through the pump’s reader. She handed me back my card and then handed me the nozzle. She explained that since I was on a motorcycle I should pump my own gas. Once my transaction was complete she handed me my receipt and I was on my way. As you read this you may be thinking, “So what’s the big deal?” There will be more on this later.
I was trying to time our trip up the New Jersey coast so that we would wind up around the Gateway Nat’l Rec. Area. I wanted to stay the night in that area so in the morning we could tackle Staten Island and Long Island after the morning rush hour. So we took a leisurely ride up along the RI coast on route 9. We would occasionally jump out on to one of the strands and travel northward for a stretch.
As we travelled through Asbury Park, Vicki snapped this picture.
Bruce? Are you in there?
When we reached the Gateway area, we could not find a suitable campground so we headed back south. Along the way I stopped to top off the gas tank so we would not have to stop in the morning. The nice young man at this station took my card and ran it through the pump’s card reader. He then handed me the nozzle before walking away and I began to fill up my tank. When I finished he came back over to the pump, removed the receipt and handed me my receipt along with my credit card. At the time I thought nothing of this (I know… I am too trusting). There will be more on this later. Off we went again. We finally found the Surf and Stream Luxury RV Resort in Toms River, NJ. Nice clean place but again very expensive ($55). It must be Jersey?
Tuesday, July 13 – Heavy rain most of the day. 204 Miles covered through New Jersey and New York.
One big note: Whoever came up with the E-ZPass idea is a hero in my book. Before we left on our trip I got one for the bike/camper combo and I can’t imagine doing the trip without it.
We were on the Parkway for about a half hour before it started to sprinkle. The skies were dark and the weatherman said chances of rain and thunderstorms were around 70%. We got off the Parkway at 287 to cut across Staten Island and then hit 278 to cross the Verrazano Bridge. The rain continued to come down heavier and heavier. I took the Shore Parkway around JFK Int’l Airport and caught Rockaway Blvd. to Atlantic Beach. The rain continued. When we hit Long Beach we decided to take a break from the rain and grab a bite to eat. We stopped at a Subway. While inside eating my foot long, the skies opened up. So we sat, and sat, and sat. Finally after feeling that we could stretch our stay no longer, we went back out in to the rain and continued up the Rockaway Freeway. The streets were flooded in spots and I was driving through puddles up to my pipes. Our HD Hi Vis rain suits worked as advertised and we stayed dry, for the most part. Later that night we learned that Long Beach had over 3 inches of rain while we were there. Once we got to the Meadowbrook St. Pkwy. We jumped over to Ocean Parkway and rode that until we got to the Robert Moses Causeway. I wish the rain would have let up so we could have spent more time exploring this area.
Oh yeah; also #1…. My four year old Garmin Zumo 550 decided to crap out in this rain. We were travelling blind.
Also #2…… Our credit card quit working. Remember the nice young man who did not immediately return my card while purchasing gas? Well the SOB must have copied the numbers off the front and back and ordered over a grand of stuff using our card. Fortunately the credit card company stopped all those transactions and notified us. Unfortunately all we had now was our debit card and I hated to use that as I did not want that stolen. The credit card company sent us new cards to the camp ground we would be staying at in Maine, but that was two days away.
After driving through more rain and making our way to the Orient Point/New London Ferry, we finally called it a day and got a motel room close to Orient Point. It was the Drossos Motel in Greenport. We spent the evening drying things out. What a day!
Wednesday, July 14 – Mid 80s. Drizzle through the morning. Rain mid-day. Clearing late afternoon. 105 miles covered through New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
We caught the Ferry from Orient Point, NY to New London, CT.
Riding rout 1 and 1A, and hitting light patches of rain the whole way, we made our way over to Newport, Rhode Island. We stopped in Newport to window shop and take in some history. We really like this town and I think could have spent a few days there if we had no time constraints.
While in Newport, we spent an afternoon hour in Starbucks while the rain came down. After leaving the downtown area we made the circle to Brenton Point St. Park to see how the other half lives. Some great scenery and some huge homes.
We then started north to find a campground that a gentleman at Starbucks recommended. It was about an hour north of town and called the Melville Campground. It was a nice, clean little campground run by the burg of Melville. $31; now that’s more like it!
Thursday, July 15 – Sunny! Mid 80s! 250 miles covered through Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
We decided that since we have both been to Boston, although for business purposes, that we were ready to make a dash for our destination campground in Maine. We took 24 up to 495 and used 495 to bypass Boston. Sorry, Massachusetts, that we didn’t stay longer.
We hit 95 just south of Maine, picked up route 1 at Kittery point and rode that all the way to Bath. At Bath we went south to Phippsburg to arrive at Meadowbrook Camping Area.
To be continued.
Saturday, July 10 – Sunny and in the 90s. 370 miles covered through North Carolina.
We both had to work late on Friday in order to ‘clear the deck’ for our two weeks off. On her way home from work Friday night, Vicki, had a flat tire. Fortunately she was close to home and I was able to change it for her but I had to take care of getting it repaired this morning. It was 10:15 AM before we were on the road.
For the journey north we had decided that we would go up the east coast and return coming down the Appalachian Mountains. So “Head East” (great Midwestern rock band from the 70s) we did. We wanted to make it as close as possible to the Outer Banks that day so we traveled mostly 4 lane roads (Routes 85 to 49 to 64 to 17) across North Carolina. We stopped in Elizabeth City for Supper and the Garmin showed us a campground in nearby Shawboro. It was the North River Campground. $35 for a site with water and electricity. The couple running the campground was very nice and the place was clean. Not much shade but we were only staying the night. We did find out that the place used to be a hunting club once owned by Andy Griffith.
Sunday, July 11 – Sunny and in the 90s. 250 miles covered through North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
Taking some back roads to reach Virginia Beach,
We skirted the coast until coming to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnels. 20 miles all together.
Bridge section 1:
Tunnel 1:
Bridge section 2:
Tunnel 2:
Bridge section 3:
We didn’t spend much time in Maryland as we would be coming back through the western end of that state on the way home.
We cruised through Delaware stopping only to board the Cape May Ferry for a ride to New Jersey.
As I stood looking at my rig next to the tractor trailer rig it dawned on me… maybe size really does matter.
That night we stopped at the Seashore Campground. This place was huge and expensive! It cost $55 for our little camper with water and electricity. However the sites were nice and the place was clean. That evening we had some excitement. A young couple tent camping next to us had a canopy tent set up for their cooking and eating area. While the young man was off taking his shower the girl decided to start up their butane stove. We were setting in our camper when suddenly we heard a loud explosion and saw a fire ball. Their butane stove was going up in flames as the girl was inside the screened in canopy. As I struggled to get our tent open so I could get out, I had visions of her burned to a crisp. She was able to break through the screen material, as it was weakened by the fire, and she ran over to our camp site. Miraculously she was not hurt at all but their entire food prep area was going up in flames. By this time the boyfriend had returned and he was able to beat out the fire with his wet towel and a neighbor helped using his fire extinguisher. Thank God no one was hurt. It made me realize that I will never again set up our stove anywhere close to our camper or awning.
Monday, July 12 – Sunny and in the 90s. 166 Miles covered in New Jersey only.
I did not know that New Jersey had attendants pump your gas. At our first gas stop a nice young lady ran my credit card through the pump’s reader. She handed me back my card and then handed me the nozzle. She explained that since I was on a motorcycle I should pump my own gas. Once my transaction was complete she handed me my receipt and I was on my way. As you read this you may be thinking, “So what’s the big deal?” There will be more on this later.
I was trying to time our trip up the New Jersey coast so that we would wind up around the Gateway Nat’l Rec. Area. I wanted to stay the night in that area so in the morning we could tackle Staten Island and Long Island after the morning rush hour. So we took a leisurely ride up along the RI coast on route 9. We would occasionally jump out on to one of the strands and travel northward for a stretch.
As we travelled through Asbury Park, Vicki snapped this picture.
Bruce? Are you in there?
When we reached the Gateway area, we could not find a suitable campground so we headed back south. Along the way I stopped to top off the gas tank so we would not have to stop in the morning. The nice young man at this station took my card and ran it through the pump’s card reader. He then handed me the nozzle before walking away and I began to fill up my tank. When I finished he came back over to the pump, removed the receipt and handed me my receipt along with my credit card. At the time I thought nothing of this (I know… I am too trusting). There will be more on this later. Off we went again. We finally found the Surf and Stream Luxury RV Resort in Toms River, NJ. Nice clean place but again very expensive ($55). It must be Jersey?
Tuesday, July 13 – Heavy rain most of the day. 204 Miles covered through New Jersey and New York.
One big note: Whoever came up with the E-ZPass idea is a hero in my book. Before we left on our trip I got one for the bike/camper combo and I can’t imagine doing the trip without it.
We were on the Parkway for about a half hour before it started to sprinkle. The skies were dark and the weatherman said chances of rain and thunderstorms were around 70%. We got off the Parkway at 287 to cut across Staten Island and then hit 278 to cross the Verrazano Bridge. The rain continued to come down heavier and heavier. I took the Shore Parkway around JFK Int’l Airport and caught Rockaway Blvd. to Atlantic Beach. The rain continued. When we hit Long Beach we decided to take a break from the rain and grab a bite to eat. We stopped at a Subway. While inside eating my foot long, the skies opened up. So we sat, and sat, and sat. Finally after feeling that we could stretch our stay no longer, we went back out in to the rain and continued up the Rockaway Freeway. The streets were flooded in spots and I was driving through puddles up to my pipes. Our HD Hi Vis rain suits worked as advertised and we stayed dry, for the most part. Later that night we learned that Long Beach had over 3 inches of rain while we were there. Once we got to the Meadowbrook St. Pkwy. We jumped over to Ocean Parkway and rode that until we got to the Robert Moses Causeway. I wish the rain would have let up so we could have spent more time exploring this area.
Oh yeah; also #1…. My four year old Garmin Zumo 550 decided to crap out in this rain. We were travelling blind.
Also #2…… Our credit card quit working. Remember the nice young man who did not immediately return my card while purchasing gas? Well the SOB must have copied the numbers off the front and back and ordered over a grand of stuff using our card. Fortunately the credit card company stopped all those transactions and notified us. Unfortunately all we had now was our debit card and I hated to use that as I did not want that stolen. The credit card company sent us new cards to the camp ground we would be staying at in Maine, but that was two days away.
After driving through more rain and making our way to the Orient Point/New London Ferry, we finally called it a day and got a motel room close to Orient Point. It was the Drossos Motel in Greenport. We spent the evening drying things out. What a day!
Wednesday, July 14 – Mid 80s. Drizzle through the morning. Rain mid-day. Clearing late afternoon. 105 miles covered through New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
We caught the Ferry from Orient Point, NY to New London, CT.
Riding rout 1 and 1A, and hitting light patches of rain the whole way, we made our way over to Newport, Rhode Island. We stopped in Newport to window shop and take in some history. We really like this town and I think could have spent a few days there if we had no time constraints.
While in Newport, we spent an afternoon hour in Starbucks while the rain came down. After leaving the downtown area we made the circle to Brenton Point St. Park to see how the other half lives. Some great scenery and some huge homes.
We then started north to find a campground that a gentleman at Starbucks recommended. It was about an hour north of town and called the Melville Campground. It was a nice, clean little campground run by the burg of Melville. $31; now that’s more like it!
Thursday, July 15 – Sunny! Mid 80s! 250 miles covered through Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
We decided that since we have both been to Boston, although for business purposes, that we were ready to make a dash for our destination campground in Maine. We took 24 up to 495 and used 495 to bypass Boston. Sorry, Massachusetts, that we didn’t stay longer.
We hit 95 just south of Maine, picked up route 1 at Kittery point and rode that all the way to Bath. At Bath we went south to Phippsburg to arrive at Meadowbrook Camping Area.
To be continued.
#2
08-16-2010, 03:19 PM
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