Great Eastern Road Trip

Warning - photo heavy post!  I whittled down what I could, but there were a lot of pictures over two weeks.

On June 14, we picked up a rented RV (for the second time) and headed out on a road trip to show our kids and see for ourselves some of the amazing sights and historical locations this country has to share.  My husband is the route planner and camping reservation king, so he knew where we needed to go and when we needed to be there. I tagged along for the ride - haha, just kidding. I was responsible for all the prep and planning outside of the camping reservations (aren't we moms usually the ones who handle all the details, like reminding everyone to bring raincoats?).

Our rental unit this time was a 29-foot Class C RV, which means that it is all contained in one vehicle. The nice part of that is that you have several places to sit while on the road, you can create at least one bed (important with teenagers) with a seatbelt, and it is easy to stop and eat along the way. The downside of a 29-footer is that it is a lot to handle when you're in smaller towns and on narrow roads (or trying to clear low bridges!), and once you're parked, you have to move everything to go anywhere. Overall, it was the best choice for our family and we enjoyed this one just as much as our last one.

Our home for two weeks

We started our trip near Cleveland, OH at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I did a little research and found that it was easy to hit the two park highlights in one day - first was the Ledges hike - a beautiful hike around a rock formation that led to a nice overlook.  The second is Brandywine falls.  We enjoyed that the weather was cool so the hike was easily done in long pants and lightweight jackets. The views were really amazing along the hike and the kids really enjoyed scrambling around and in between all the rocks. The waterfall was great too - this spring of heavy rains made it a very full waterfall.

Ready for our first hike!

The Ledges Hike at Cuyahoga Valley NP

Brandywine Falls at Cuyahoga Valley NP

 After a good hike and a nice visit of the falls, we headed for New York and Niagara Falls. I was the only one who had been there before, and when I was, I'd seen them from the Canadian side. We were all looking forward to a day of exploring the falls. We tried to go the evening we arrived to see the light show and fireworks, but rain and trouble parking waylaid us, so we went back, slept well, and did our research for the next morning so we could easily get to the RV parking. The falls did not disappoint - we spent about half a day there and really enjoyed watching the water and seeing the falls up close on Maid of the Mist, the boat ride that goes into the falls.

Niagara Falls from the American side

 After leaving Niagara, we drove a few hours east and stayed in the Finger Lakes region of New York. We were hoping to do some more hiking, but heavy rain encouraged us to stay put for a while. As we had really weak wifi that afternoon and evening, we all enjoyed some reading and non-connected activities.  After dinner, the rain cleared and we spent some time out by Seneca Lake (our campground had lakefront access) skipping rocks and enjoying a beautiful sunset.

Sunset at Seneca Lake

 Monday morning brought a drive to Albany, New York to visit the Schuyler Mansion, childhood home of Eliza Hamilton (A. Ham's wife). Jenna was so excited to see this home, as she loves everything Hamilton, and especially has enjoyed learning about the confident, intelligent young women of the Schuyler family. We were treated to a private tour of the home (they are normally closed, but one of their historians agreed to give us a tour once he read Jenna's letter about how much she wanted to see the home) and it was fantastic.

Jenna in her element at the Schuyler Mansion

 We spent the night in the same area, had a lovely campground on the Mohawk river, and headed out the next morning toward Vermont and then New Hampshire. We stopped to see the Bennington Monument in Vermont and then had a lovely drive to get us to our State Park campground in New Hampshire. We were really in the middle of nowhere there and the park was almost empty on a Tuesday afternoon. I think it was the quietest night I can remember!

Bennington Monument in Bennington, VT

Jack having a little fun

New Hampshire hike - our first warm/muggy day of the trip!

 The next morning dawned bright and sunny and we started the long trek north to Acadia National Park in Maine. It was a full day of driving, and we were in and out of rain showers, but were greeted with a lovely evening at our campsite just across the bay from Mount Desert Island. We were all tired and excited to see the park the next day. The morning was a little overcast and foggy, but we headed out anyway and did the Scenic Loop. The sky was full of fog and we had light rain most of the day, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the park, I think one of the best in the country. We had two full days at Acadia and made the best of the rainy/overcast weather with several hikes, some driving, and some good food. We all had our fill of lobster and crab and even did a little shopping in Bar Harbor, where we saw a cruise ship docked for the day.

One of many rocky beaches at Acadia

Stone bridge in the park

The harbor (and cruise ship in the background) at Bar Harbor, ME

Jenna enjoying a Popover at Jordan Pond House, Acadia NP

Great views and a happy hiker at Acadia NP

 As we said goodbye to Maine, we all looked forward to seeing a little more of New England. We stopped in Plymouth, MA on our way south to see Plymouth Rock. There was a ranger there who told us what was fable and what was true about the rock and the stories we hear (hint, most of it is fable). We stayed in Mass. for the night and then decided to take a trip to Newport, Rhode Island. It was a busy Sunday there with gorgeous weather, which made it a little tough to navigate an RV. We eventually found a parking lot that would take us and then enjoyed a lovely cruise of the harbor. There are many mansions along the water, and a lot of rich history in this town. It has over 300 colonial homes that have been preserved, and it is pretty amazing to walk by house after house built in the 1700s!

Plymouth Rock (date carved many years later)

Scenic Cruise in Newport, RI - the sailboat in the picture has raced for the America's Cup!

 The next day was one of memories for me - my grandmother lived in Budd Lake, NJ when I was a kid and that's where we always went to visit her. We took an afternoon for the tour of this area, including a stop on the rock behind her apartment where my brother and I played for many, many hours. We also had pizza at her favorite pizza place (which has been there 41 years!) and visited the cemetery where she, my grandfather, and many other relatives are buried. It was a good day to relive good memories from my childhood and share some with my children.

My favorite rock - Budd Lake, NJ

 The last leg of our trip took us through Pennsylvania - we started in Philadelphia, where we squeezed in as many historic sights as we could in two days, then went to Gettysburg, and finished up with a somber trip to the Flight 93 memorial. Philadelphia was great! It had warmed up by the time we arrived there, but the air was mostly dry and we were in and out of air conditioning most of the day. The kids really enjoyed seeing so many important places in our nation's history and they also enjoyed some great food! After Philly, we toured the battlegrounds at Gettysburg and really were amazed at the size and scale of the battles - we all appreciated learning more about the history of this important place. The last stop on our drive home was near Shanksville, PA to see the Flight 93 memorial. It was a somber place, much like Gettysburg. The national park service has done a wonderful job of paying homage to the passengers who saved that plane from hitting another major landmark. I was really impressed with the volunteers who are there to tell stories from the planes, who know a little bit (or a lot) about all 40 of the victims, and who help us understand the importance of what they did that day, knowing they would probably lose their lives in the process.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

The room where the Constitutional Congress met and signed the Constitution, Philadelphia

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia

A monument at Gettysburg National Battlefield

Monuments for all soldiers and many battalions line the battlefield at Gettysburg

Flight 93 Visitor Center and flight path (in dark grey)

 We left the flight 93 area in early afternoon and headed for home, two weeks from the day we left. We had a wonderful time, saw some beautiful parts of our country, and got along pretty well for being together in a small space all that time! Hope you enjoyed the pictures - we look forward to doing probably one more big trip before the kids head off to college, so let me know if you have any suggestions for where we should go next!

Home late with a happy cat!