Three Notches among other things
We had Vermont in our sights when we left Philly but before we got there we made a pitstop at the FDR national historic site on the way. We enjoyed walking the grounds and seeing the homesteads and gardens and as perusal, earning those junior ranger badges (these kids should be on the National Park Service billboards by now right?)
Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
As you might have noticed when we travel we stay at all different types of accommodations. We’ll Boondock in parking lots for a quick sleep or do partial hookups to get better scenery. The goal is usually just to make sure we have our water full and other tanks empty along the way. There are times, however, where we do actually take advantage of the amenities offered at nicer campgrounds and our stay in Vermont was one of those times. The entire trip was planned around a wedding Evan had in Vermont which meant he would need to leave with the car for a few days… which also meant the kids and I got time to relax and enjoy the campground so we picked a spot with a nice view, a pool with a slide, playground and putt putt. Lake Bomoseen KOA was perfect! We made fires at night and really felt like we were roughing it (insert sarcasm here). Evan had a great gig and everyone was happy and thankful.
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Not too far down the road from our Vermont stay was the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. It’s a large park and we only hit a small part of it. It’s a pretty stop with nice trails, history and of course, the junior ranger program. Texas Falls in the Green Mountain National Forest was along our route as well and we had a good time throwing rock int the gorge and climbing around.
After those sights and two days at the campground and working it meant it was time to hit the road again towards upstate New York. We did a brief stop in Lake Placid but the rain kept us from seeing some of the things we had planned and kept Evan from a long hike. However, we did find a waterfall on accident behind our camping spot at Wilmington Notch so that was a neat experience.
Wilmington Notch / Adirondacks
Side Note: I had the best coffee of the trip from a hole in the wall roaster while we were driving towards a spot to collect groceries in Plattsburgh, NY. We were driving down the street with the windows down and I smelled those most heavenly smell…which then meant I also jumped out of the car at a red-light and followed my nose towards heaven. I was presented with a latte for my detective work and found out they sell their coffee online. You wouldn’t regret a buy from Adirondack Coffee Roasters.
Next it was on to the notches. Franconia Notch and Smugglers Notch to be exact. Smugglers Notch was a drive-thru with a few little places to get out and climb and hike. We are so thankful the camper was already parked at our campsite when we hit those curvy roads or there might have been a blog post about getting ourselves stuck between rocks in the middle of nowhere.
Smuggler’s Notch State Park
Franconia Notch State Park
When we arrived at Franconia Notch we were surprised not only at how beautiful Echo Lakes was but that our campsite was right at the beach area there. We swam in the freezing water and took a sunset hike to the Artist’s Bluff Trail with breathtaking views just across the street. We saw where the “old man of the mountain” was before his face fell off (see pictures for that to make sense) and counted our time there as a plus. As we headed out the next day, Evan saw one of our only big wildlife sightings of the trip…turns out that .just across the road from our campsite was a black bear…. Chilling while the kids rode their scooters… oops. There’s photo evidence but it’s really hard to make out so you’ll just have to take our word for it if you can’t see it.
Next stop, Acadia National Park…..