Boston + food + great weather = One happy family!

Wompatuck, what a fun word to say! Wompatuck State Park is a very pretty park and campground right there in the middle of Hingham, MA. You would never know you were in the middle of a city but it's convenient when you need to run to the store for something. We arrived at Wompatuck shortly after leaving P-Town. The lady that worked at the campground was not the happiest person we've met this trip but hey... We are in Boston :) Since we need electric and we are out of staters we needed more cash than we thought for 2 nights. We decided to pay for 1 night, drove to look at the campsite and then left to quickly grab more cash. An hour and half later we had more cash. It was one of those times where your updated GPS keeps taking you to random places saying it's a real store and then it's a dumpy gas station. Once we got back to the campground we set everything up and it was strictly relaxation from there. That night we had steak, mashed potatoes and green beans! High living right there :) We sat around the campfire as I read the book "On Rabbit Trails and Bear Hunts". It's a good one if you want a good read.

Enjoying the Ferry ride

The next morning we made our way to the ferry with 12 minutes to spare before it departed. We love riding on ferries. The wind, the water, the boat and just knowing you're going somewhere by boat is a fun time. The ferry arrives right into downtown Boston so we went straight for Quincey Market, one of the best parts of Boston. We started our day of grazing at the Bagel stop at the end of the Market. There was a man gracing everyone with his terrible piano skills in the main eating area so it entices you to get out there and see all the great things Boston has to offer.

We got a stamp for Solomon's passport and a patch from Faneuil Hall, walked to the Commons and sat in the Gardens watching squirrels run around. The weather was really amazing. No humidity, just a slight chill and clear skies all day long. We walked back to Quincey by way of China Town to get some lunch. We already knew what we wanted and that was lobster mac and cheese for me and a lobster roll for Christopher. Man do they know how to make some good food! We walked through a huge farmers market and sat at the end watching people take dance lessons with Let's Dance Boston. They had a full orchestra that we thoroughly enjoyed listening to as they played swing music. We also stopped to watch the group of street performers by Faneuil Hall who do dance tricks and jump over a bunch of people, eventually, at the end of their funny show. Our final destination before boarding the ferry back to Hingham was at Quincey Market for some bacon wrapped scallops where we relaxed and watched the people go by. We enjoyed our day in Boston and headed back to the campground for round two of the campfire and our book. 

The next morning we headed out for Niagara Falls, ON. We did the Niagara Falls experience on the New York side in 2012 and it was fine. Not somewhere we majorly suggest but if you wanna see the falls then go see it by all means. We were really looking forward to staying on the Ontario side because we've heard it's much cleaner and has better views. Well... do we have a story for you! On our next post :) 

Boston

Boston Harbor 

China Town

Until next time 

2006 Roadtrek RS Adventurous

You can read about the adventure we had with getting our van in our first post but here is some more in depth information the the van alone.

After a little over a month and a half of research and shopping Shekinah and I are the proud owners of a 2006 Roadtrek RS Adventurous. We knew we were after a class B RV, something we could drive long distances in as well as navigate big cities. To accomplish the gas milage for the longer drives I new it would require a diesel engine. That quickly narrowed it down to only a few models which have all been built on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.

I found a killer deal on a model built out by Roadtrek for sale in Mesquite, NV. So Shekinah, Solomon and I flew out to pick it up on a Friday and left, for our 5 week trip, the next day. It has been a blast so far and we look forward to the adventures we will have with it for years to come.

So far this trip I have been averaging right around 20.5mpg and have already put over 4,000 miles on it.

Here are some of the specs on the ride:
Mercedes-Benz Turbo Diesel  (2.7 liter) (up to 25 MPG), 98K miles when I purchased
Fully Self-Contained, Microwave oven, two singles or king bed
Satellite Antenna (Auto Tuning), Generator (Onan propane)
140 watt Solar Panel with controller, 2 Trojan Aux Batteries
20 inch LCD W DVD Player (Digital/Analog), TV Antenna w Amp
 Alarm System, Back-up Camera, GPS, 600 watt Inverter
Bike Rack, Roof Ladder, 3 way refrigerator



Video tour of the exact same year model and layout of our new ride.

If there are any other pictures you would like to see or questions about our experiences, with this ride, so far drop us a line.

Who went to the Cape? We went to the Cape!

We are truly winging it on this vacation as our plans changed the morning of the 18th to go to Cape Cod instead of Boston! None of us had ever been to Cape Cod before and it would be the second place on this trip that I had not been to yet. It's been fun marking a few more places off the list with it being Solomon and Christopher's first times too.

The Cape is a fun experience. It can be as rustic as you want or as high living as you want. We stopped along the way at a few different areas to take pictures and look around the Cape Cod Visitors Center. Stamped little Solomon's passport book and bought him a patch as it is Cape Cod National Seashore, Nauset Beach was a beautiful beach with quite the staircase down to the sand. There were a good amount of people there but I could only imagine how it is on the in season summer weekends... I don't really want to find out :) I like crowds in certain settings but the beach is not really one of them! The Nauset Lighthouse and the Three Sisters Lighthouse are all right there by that beach.

Solomon had never felt sand before or the oceans tide washing over his feet. He was so cute and just stared at us like what's the big deal and why is that water so cold :) It was fun to take pictures of the sign that warns you about the great white sharks in the water.... Eeeek... I'm not one for shark movies or basically anything that has to do with swimming things in the ocean however, I still got out there and snorkeled in Cancun when I had the chance but, I'll pass on playing in these waters! Wallowing around in the sand all day sweating in the hot sun and burning, even after applying an entire bottle of sunscreen to each limb, has never really been my idea of a perfect scene but I really enjoy doing almost anything for a short period of time.

Sign at Nauset Beach, Mass

What's my idea of a perfect scene? Why, thank you for asking! It's Seattle, WA or Acadia, ME on any kind of weather day with the temperatures just warm enough for me to take my shoes off, roll up my pants and walk along a rocky beach (fog is a double bonus) in the cold water with my sweatshirt on and coffee in my mug at sunset (or any time of day) - If the weather is slightly to cold and rainy that's ok because I have super cute rain boots (my Penny boots from Lost in Space) and a cute rain jacket - If the high is only 75 that's excellent because then I'd wear some shorts with a cozy sweater - While the oceans tide washes onshore rolling over my feet i'd then do some exploring through all the rocks where all the sea critters live - My hair looks perfect with that salt water breeze giving it the perfect style and everyones shadow looks great with no make up at sunset. I know i'm really hard to please :)

Anyway, back to our current road trip! We finally made it to Provincetown, MA at the very top of Cape Cod. We picked out our campsite at Coastal Acres Camping Court and walked into town where we instantly found out more about Provincetown than we knew that morning. We found out that Provincetown is one of the top destinations for Gay and Lesbian travel. We enjoyed our time walking around the little city and staring at the ocean. We ate at Babulu for dinner where I had fish and chips and Christopher had fried clams. We were excited for our seafood but it was pretty average tasting. With my tastebuds wanting more we stopped at Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream and I had the BEST homemade coffee heath bar ice cream i've EVER had!!! It was so good that I'm still thinking about it! The Coastal Acres Camping Court has a really great path through pretty greenery that leads you right into town. While we were walking back that evening we stopped so I could take some pictures of a beautiful plant and out popped a fox right behind us!

Mr. Fox

While it was very cute it was a little to close so it moseyed in one direction and we picked up our pace in our direction. It was a very nice quiet campground and the next morning we took our time to pack up and then drove to a rocky beach area where Christopher made us bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches and we all sat on the foggy beach shore for a while.

There are two lighthouses at the end of a very long rock dike there in Provincetown. We parked the van for a bit and decided to get as far as we could and only made it about halfway before the sun got to strong that early in the morning, and our parking meeter was going to run out.

Shekinah on rock dike

 It was so beautiful with all the boats docked by the little town. We've really enjoyed our road trip so far and next time I'll write about our two nights at Wompatuck State Park and Boston.

Docked Boats 

Civilian Conservation Corps (Americas National Parks)

Shenandoah National Park (http://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm)  was the main attraction for our Tuesday. It's amazing to see the types of trees change just within a few miles of each other. The Blueridge Parkway ends where the Skyline Parkway begins. The same winding roads along the ridge line of the mountains. 

The boys of the CCCs (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps) pretty much created the parkway we've enjoyed so much. They would get $30.00 a month with $25.00 of that being sent back home to support their families. There's a lot of history in these mountains so it's amazing to think of soilders marching through and making a base camp or the young CCCs up here building roadways and families farming the land. It's very lush and very green with, what we feel is, a lot of butterflies. I've been to over 80 national parks and monuments but I had never been to Shenandoah National Park  so it was fun to mark it on my list! We stopped at the visitors center and got Solomon's national park patch and even bought him a little National Park Passport book. that way we can stamp it every where we go or at least write it down ourselves so we know where all he's been and when. 

Front Royal... the end of the line for these two beautiful parkways. It may seem like all we do is drive, and that may be true, but it sure has been a nice one. There are many campgrounds and even a lodge in this national park. There are so many lookout points and stops along the side of the road you have to start picking which ones you want to stop at or you can stop at them all and take the day to drive 100 miles :) From Front Royal is was Springfield, Mass with a stop in Hershey, Penn. It's really fun to drive through the town and see the hershy kisses on the tops of the lamp posts. The Chocolate World is a site to see with more candy than anyone could imagine :) We, of course, had to buy something and got a magnet for our stove top. 

Solomon has done really well with all of this driving. We stop and walk around when he's awake to get him out of his chair. Honestly I don't know how he's doing so well with how much he's been in there. He likes his car seat pretty well but he'd rather sit up, be standing or kick his legs around. We've used the heater, baked some really good cookies and have had a great time with our van. 

We are with some friends here in Springfield, MA and they are such a fun, calm easy going family to spend time with! We are grateful for their hospitality and will be heading out tomorrow to Boston, MA. Until next time here are some picture of our last few days. 

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Potomac River - Brunswick, MD

Potomac River

Hersey Chocolate World

What should the title be?

You'll understand why coming up with a title was a little difficult for this post. The last few days we have seen so many things and have driven quite a few beautiful miles. Christopher wrote our last post about our travels through the Great Smoky Mountains and ending in Asheville. Our day lounging around the KOA was really needed and very relaxing. Solomon took some naps, we made some meals and laid around outside because the weather was amazing with no humidity or bugs!

The Biltmore was definitely worth the money. If may seem like a pretty penny just to tour a home but your not just touring a home. The Biltmore is a modest, amazing 75,000 square foot MANSION that has its own swimming pool and bowling alley indoors and had it's own village, blacksmiths, diary farm, and the list goes on and on and on back in the day. You first enter the estate and purchase your tickets and then you take the short 3 mile drive ... yes 3 miles to the parking lots where shuttles pick you up to take you the house. I loved how the lady at the ticket counter said "it's just a 3 mile drive to the other parking by the house" as if it was not big deal to drive 3 miles through the forrest to get to this mansion. It was pretty funny to me! The home is amazing and it would take a lot of words to explain all the beauty we saw. We had lunch in the horse stalls... I know more surprises, beautiful horse stalls :) We had a great tour and just stared at it for a bit before we got back on the bus, got in our car and drove another 5 miles to the village. There are a few different places that you can stay at the Biltmore which would be quite romantic.

After the Biltmore, and all if had to offer, we headed out to meet a friend for dinner. This is the friend that Christopher and I met through so it was really fun getting to meet her little peoples and man. Our visit came to an end and we drove an hour north to stay by Mount Airy, NC. With more amazing weather our night that night actually got a little cold. That's not a bad problem to have! To find out what's in Mount Airy take a look at the statues below :)

After Mount Airy we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap. We drove all the way up to the very north end. We stopped a few times to take pictures, look around and enjoyed the amazing scenery all around us. Some leaves were even changing, very few but there were some. It sure is a beautiful drive. You're not really going up and down mountains you are driving the top ridge of the mountain the whole way. maybe that's why they call it the Blueridge parkway :)

We ended yesterday at the Waynesboro North 340 Campground. It was lovely with a lot of trees and it's not in the middle of town so we didn't hear any traffic. Read Tomorrow's post about our drive through Shenandoah National Park that we did today.

The Biltmore Estate

Just a beautiful pond on the Biltmore property

Waterfall on the Biltmore property 

Who are the statues of? They are some of our favorite people!

No route planned

Blue Ridge Parkway-Asheville Bound

Today we left our nice little spot we stayed in last night in Pigeon Forge, TN (Bear Cove Village) http://bearcovevillage.com/.   We were able to have a nice relaxing morning with an11am departure and even made coffee in the new ride for the first time. For me that was the last real thing that needed to be done to break her in. Once we left Pigeon Forge we entered the gateway to the Smoky's, Smoky Mountain National Park (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm). This would make it Solomons first national park, so we had to stop and get him a patch for his newly started colection. As we entered the park it was breath taking. I hadn't driven through this part of the country since I was a kid and must say this gives the Rockies a run for their money. It was view after view and slow driving (35-45mph) for about 2-3 hours. It put the new ride to the test with its 9% grades for 3-4 miles up and down. We took every advantage of pull offs for photo opportunities while Solomon slept. After our last major decent we entered the Cherokee Indian reservation (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/cherokee.htm) on the edge of the park. This was nothing like the reservations of the west. These were luscious and green thriving with life. It reminded me of a scene right out of "Last of the Mohichans". So we decided to stop and walk around for a bit so Solomon could stretch and get some fresh air. After an hour or so and some boiled peanuts we made our way to the Asheville, NC area, were we are going to stay (KOA RV Park) the next 2 days to relax and catch up on work before we see the Biltmore (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltmore_Estate).

Written by: Christopher Govero

Super narrow country road in the mountains (No shoulders)

Bear Cove Village before bed

Look what we get to look forward to when we get old!!