NewEnglandCamper's Blog

Busch Gardens - Howl-O-Scream - Day 1

2011-10-29T14:37:00.007-04:00

I'm back!!! Now that things are quieting down... I'm going to blog about our summer experiences.

Wow! What a AWESOME time at Busch Gardens, Virginia Howl-O-Scream!

"Beauty by Day, Fright by Night"

We bought a 2 day ticket for each of us for $66 and went during the weekend 22-23 October. It was worth every penny! NOTE: Parking is an additional $13 (per day).

We met up with our good friends from FL. They had the easier commute I think (even though it was the same distance) and the teens had a great time.

During the day it is still the same Busch Gardens that you experience in the summer. Saturday was absolutely MOBBED but we had a good time. We waited about 45 minutes for Alpengeist coaster. (NOTE: The coaster is similar to Hersheypark's the Great Bear but longer and better!!!) Forget Griffon that had an hour+ wait. The park was heavily decorated in fall and Halloween tradition. We had several photographers in our group and we constantly stopped to take pictures. Just a relaxing time walking through the park. It was not elbow to elbow (like Disney's Magic Kingdom gets). We stopped and got some souvenier popcorn and drink cups. $.99 cents refill.

The adults attended the Fiends show in the Germany Octoberfest pavillion while sipping on our favorite brews. The show has caused some "internet" controversy but I didn't see any issues (perhaps Tampa is different). No nudity at the BGVA show. In fact I thought the show was a bit boring and the actor could not sing.

We ate at buffet for dinner in the Festivas Italy... mediocre but filling food at best for $11.99. When we came out the park transformed into Howl-O-Scream!

Our first night we went through the "Fear Fair" outside haunted house with the evil clowns! Totally Awesome! I loved the themeing that BGVA did. There was one house that had dead chickens (simulated) with a really really bad smell. This probably is NOT appropriate for children under 10. My 7 year old went through it and cried. Although he went through more haunted houses the next night.

Avoid Backwoods Family Campground

2011-09-27T19:40:00.002-04:00

Backwoods Family Campground in Rumney, NH is one campground to avoid.

That's Camping Thread

Yelp Review

If you have been taken advantage by Backwoods Family Campground please contact me at rconnellii@comcast.net

Jerusalem Countdown - now playing at the MVCFF

2011-04-21T19:56:00.005-04:00

Jerusalem Countdown Review

Christian movies have come a LONG way in the past 5-10 years since I've attended the Christian Festival way back in Salem NH theaters (which is now a Babies R Us). Gone are the days of a movie made for TV vcr being projected on the big screen. Gone are the lousy cheesy poor quality soundtracks and questionable acting. These modern day Christian films are now filled with action, special effects, high quality sound track, high quality big screen viewing, and features well known favorite actors. The goal of these movies have not changed, the message is still same spreading the good news of the Gospel and the loving salvation message of Jesus Christ. This exceptional movie is no exception!

Without giving the plot away too much. Jerusalem Countdown is an "end times" story (which I believe we are currently living in) which involves a plot of "terrorists" who plan to setoff nuclear bombs at strategic locations in the US in order to neutralize the govt. and economy so other countries can attack Israel. The movie features a pair of detectives (experienced actor David A.R. White and ??) who use their FBI detective skills to stop this.

One of my favorite female Christian artists Jaci Velasquez ("God so loved the World..") had a small part in the movie as well as Randy Travis, Lee Majors, and Stacy Keach.

There are some slow points in the movie and some parts that need better clarification but overall the movie has action, explosions, gun fights, a surprising twist, and an interesting rapture scene at the end that will have you talking for quite some time.

At the end of the movie as usual President and Director of Christian Film Festivals Mr. Tom Saab gave an excellent short Christian message strait to the point. This is always an eyeopener! The boys and I talked about the rapture, salvation, etc. all the way home.

Old Christian movies from the 1980s that my wife had from her parents were what changed my way of thinking of my life, this world, my political views and ulitmate and most importantly provided salvation. I highly recommend these movies to everyone.

The Merrimack Christian Film Festival is going on through and including Easter! ALL MOVIES ARE FREE!!! The popcorn is NOT!

Merrimack Christian Film Festival Starts Tomorrow!!!

2011-04-16T18:11:00.002-04:00

Christian Film Festival!!! starts Tomorrow at the Lawrence, MA Showcase cinemas!

ALL SHOWS ARE FREE

Stay tuned for reviews!!!

Niki's step mother passed away -

2011-04-10T20:47:00.006-04:00

Our daughter Niki (Nichole Francoeur from Barre, VT) stepmother Sheila Thain (age 40) from Berwick, ME suddently passed away this Friday evening 4/8 due to hardship from enduring breast cancer, MS, migrane headaches, and depression.

Her obtiuary can be found here:

http://www.autumngreenfuneralhome.com/cgi-bin/autumn-obit.cgi?Name=Sheila Lititia Thain

Niki is now trying to collect and organize funds to support her Dads walk (Phil Thain) in the Boston Breast Cancer Awareness Avon walk (which Sheila originally signed up for)! If you can afford $5 or more it will be much appreciated.

Please support Niki & Phil for Sheila Thain's Avon Breast Cancer Awareness walk

Direct donation form:
https://secure2.convio.net/avon/site/Donation2?2200.donation=form1&idb=1116377349&df_id=2200&FR_ID=2020&PROXY_ID=5922227&PROXY_TYPE=20

Boston Chowda Co

2011-02-26T10:26:00.003-05:00

After the great ice show we took a short walk down to the Faneiul Hall / Quincy Market. The kids and wife got some pastry's from one of the many vendors.

The New England Clam Chowder caught my attention at Boston Chowda company. For $6 I was able to get a medium size clam chowder with oyster crackers and small soda. This was really really good and hot which was appreciated on a cold winters day! Best Clam Chower in Boston for 2 years strait and I can see why!!! Lots of bits of clam and potatoes in a white creamy sauce.

Glad to hear they have a new location in North Andover! Will have to scout that out to get more chowder and try their other menu items including lobster roll.

Toy Story 3 on Ice review

2011-02-26T08:40:00.008-05:00

We took our kids to see 1pm performance of Toy Story 3Disney On Ice at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. I orderedd my tickets online through Ticketmaster saved 25% by using the TOY3 code. Check mousesavers for new or additional savings. I ordered the tickets the night before the performance and picked it up at the will call window. The TD Garden and Ticketmaster tacks on all these other charges but overall our family of 5 went for about $25 each which isn't bad since 3D movies at your local cinema these days run $15 and up!

Our seats were good. We were way off to the left so we could barely see the main prop where the skaters came out of but we saw everything perfectly on the ice. Also the actors were mainly focusing on the audience at the front of the ice (as you can see in the picture above). Overall it was a great show with lots of skating.

As with every Disney ice show (that I have been to at least), Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Goofy introduce the play.

The first act tells the story of Andy going to college and the toys contemplating the move. Woody, Jessie, Buzz, Bullseye, Mr. & Mrs Potato head, Slinky, Rex, and the Hamm (the Pig) all make an appearance. I was amazed with how they got the pig and slinky on the stage. That must of taken on some coordination and lots of practice. Woody, Jessie, and Buzz take on their human look instead of the character look as they appear in Disney Parks. This act has a lot of wonderful group performance which gets started with the invasion of the green army men even some being parachuted from the ceiling, followed by then the three eyed alien men - buzz lightyear and the claw, and finally Woody's roundup which I really enjoyed the costumes, dancing and music. Each major skit had a large amount of people.

Intermission gives you plenty of time to use the restroom, grab another snack, and stretch your legs.

The second act tells the story of the Toys adventure at Sunnyside Daycare and overall had more of a plot. Barbie is introduced along with Ken, Lotso, and Stretch. The couple skating between "Barbie" and "Ken" was truely amazing (Olympic quality in my opinion) to Dream Weaver. There was times when the male skater lifed the female skater over his head. There was a bit of concern because some of the other male skaters had some near falls. The scene with Ken trying on clothes was a riot!!! The rest of the story was wrapped up in about 15 minutes including the jail scene, Buzz lightyear reprogram, and the toys being trapped in the furnace. To wrap up at the end with all the characters coming out including Mickey and friends.

With intermission this is two hour show.

Overall, a great show, awesome costumes, great choregraphy and music, everything you expect with a Disney production. There was some but there didn't seem to be as much smoke, lasers, pyrotechnics, etc. compared to other shows weve been too. The skating and performances makes up for this! I believe all ages will love this. A great family event.

TIP: Each lunch before hand. The TD Garden does not provide many options and the ones they do is NOT healthy and very pricey. A lousy hot dog costs $4.50 and a small Uno's pizza is $10! A water bottle is $4.

Toy Story 3 on Ice runs through February 27th in Boston and then moves to other locations

Cameras and video cameras are allowed. You can use them only for your benefit though. I'm going to try post some pictures on my Webshots account. Stay tuned!!!

Chunky's Movies

2011-01-22T21:48:00.005-05:00

Tonight we visited Chunky's in Pelham, NH for dinner and a movie.

Dinner:
- I had the chicken quesadilla's and unfortunately the chicken was under cooked and the tortilla around it was overcooked even burnt in some areas. I have not liked other dinner items that I've had.
- My wife ordered tea but never got sugar or a spoon. It toook me asking two "waiters" before I was handed two sugar packets and a plastic stirrer.
- The waiters were really busy and never checked on us after the meal was served.
- The meal was served during the movie in the dark (although I'm sure if we got their early enough we could have eaten before the movie)
- My wife and had the chicken finger/fries plate. This was good.

Movie:
- We saw the Green Hornet in 3D. Chunky's (like other theaters) charges $3 extra for 3D which comes with glasses in packages. I think this movie would have been just as good without the 3D. In fact I thought the 3D made it a bit dim.
- It was a good B movie action flick. Although understand who's who was a bit confusing. If they cleaned up the language a bit this could probably be a PG movie.
- This time around the soundtrack quality and the movie was in Chunky's was really good condition. My wife and I saw Alice in Wonderland here and it had an annoying repetitive bubble appearing in the upper right hand corner.

Overall, a good time but definately not fine dining. I may go for movie and a desert next time.

LaQuinta Harrisburg / Hershey

2011-01-01T18:32:00.001-05:00

There are some good things about this hotel. Location is OK and it is convenient to Hersheypark (8 miles away) and I283 (there are closer hotels to Hershey at higher prices). Staff seem friendly, quick checkin however this place is OLD, OLD, OLD! Even the key cards to enter the room are from the 1980s!

The beds fortunately have been updated and were comfortable but very small (doubles) so a good night rest was not had. Room was very warm and we had to open the window part of the night. The TV is also ancient and a bit fuzzy. The bathroom was right out of the 70s and had water stains on the wall and tub. However it was functionable with plenty of hot water. The floor in the room had weird groves. Free Internet connection is available. We didn't use that for our quick stay.

Not a great value especially at the rate of $74 during the off season which we got at a last minute stay and the hotel was not even 1/2 full.

Pets are allowed in for free which is the main reason why we like LaQuinta. Its been hit or miss at these hotels.

LaQuinta has upgraded several of their hotels recently and this is definately one that needs a makeover desperately on the inside. There are lots of hotels in the Hershey/Harrisburg area that I would consider before returning here again.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T15:48:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

I lost 8 lbs and lower my blood pressure between Thanksgiving and Christmas (believe me this wasn't easy especially when neighbors and friends are dropping off delicous deserts and food). Got some work ahead of me but I believe this is a great motivator!

SparkPeople motivated me to keep track of what I'm eating and to make positive choices.

Join the Web's Only Nutrition & Fitness Program Just For Teens!

Diet

Doggie Travel Trip #1

2010-12-27T19:25:00.002-05:00
Dog Travel Tip #1 -

Don't feed dogs anything out of the ordinary if you don't want wierd smells! The Christmas snacks that Santa brought is not agreeing with Mowgli. Had to put him in the other room!

Or was it the Turkey scraps? Either way keep to their strict menu and strict times... :->

Marriott Residence Inn Newport News Review

2010-12-25T19:57:00.005-05:00

The Marriott Residence Inn Newport News is in a wonderful location just off of I64, convenient to several restaurants, shopping, etc. Carrabba's and Cheeseburger in Paradise chains are within walking distance (for the young at hear). The airport is also nearby. Typically only small planes and helicopters fly into this region.

Room:
- We had a very beautiful very spacious and modern one bedroom suite with 2 very comfortable queen beds. The sofa pulled out into a sofa bed. This suite could sleep up to 6. The beds were very comfortable. There was plenty of bureau space to unpack. The room also had a table with four chairs for serving dinner and a separate desk area. Just perfect for my wife and I to read, relax, and connect with our online connections.
- This room had a full size fridge, microwave, toaster, 2 burner stove top, sink, and dishwasher. I was able to prepare meals most nights including a precooked Christmas Turkey.
- The room also had 2 beautiful full size HD flat screen televisions. Easy hookup to our game system that we brought which the boys took advantage of in the 1st bedroom.
- The bathroom was adequate and clean. Showers were always hot.
- Free High speed internet was wonderful. It did get a little bit slow Christmas evening when people where checking in and the following day when people were grounded because of the airport being closed due to the snow storm.
- The room was always warm... in fact a bit too warm for us Northerners... attempts to turn down the heat failed so we shut off the system and opened a window (and we were fine).

Pet friendly
- This Marriott is pet friendly but they do charge a $100 flat fee. If you are here for more than one day it acceptable (any less than 3 nights is unacceptable). Upon check in they provide you a water dish and a bag holder with some doggie doo-doo bags.

Pool / Gym / Laundry:
- The pool was broken (67 to 63) during our entire 5 night stay. The Marriott Courtyard is right next store and we were allowed to use their pool and hot tub. I believe we were the only ones that did that. It was a bit chilly.
- We did use the exercise equipment. They have 2 treadmills, 1 elliptical trainer, and one bike (with TVs attached). There are a few free weights. All in great condition!
- I did laundry - $1.50 per load and you'll need to run it through the dryer at least twice. ($3.00)

Breakfast:
- This one was of the better Marriott Residence breakfast I had. Although I wished they served bacon one of the days I was there (and off my diet). Plenty of fresh eggs with optional toppings such as cheese, salsa, and sour cream. Real Thomas’ English muffins. Breakfast also included a wonderful yogurt, fruit, granola combination and make your own waffle. Real minute maid OJ and fresh coffee!!!

Staff:
- This is the only real complaint about this hotel.
- First I had booked this room over 1 month in advance and requested extra towels and an oven to cook a Christmas ham in. I got neither and the oven was not available when I checked in.
- I was constantly running out of shampoo, toilet paper, etc. (even when the room was serviced) and had to send the kids down to get supplies.
- The snow removal around the property after a big storm was awful. I can understand that this is southern VA but when 2 days go by without walks (and more importantly stairs) being cleared is totally unacceptable especially when you see staff standing around smoking at the back door (give them a shovel!). The back door was also broken for several days of our visit so we would have to make phone calls to let the kids in (when they took out our dogs).
- To top it off when I went down to ask to buy quarters and laundry detergent from the evening staff member I got an attitude and was told that quarters wouldn’t be available until Monday! I walked over to the Courtyard and got a totally different attitude. The host was very gracious where I bought my quarters and even gave me complimentary detergent and dryer sheets! I avoided her for the rest of the trip (even when I wanted to extend my stay).
- The main breakfast hostess was an exception, she did a great job and had a friendly mood and conversed with her patrons.

Overall, great hotel, staff could use some improvements in some areas. I travel to this area often on business and wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again or better yet, the Courtyard. ws.

Busch Gardens Christmas Town Review

2010-12-25T19:56:00.001-05:00
A must see event if you live in the Southern VA area or like to travel to theme parks.

FULL REVIEW with pictures coming soon.

Harrows Chicken Pie

2010-12-12T16:56:00.004-05:00
My wife instructed me to head to Harrow's in Reading, MA after church and bring home a big FRESH chicken pie with potatoes and carrots. I also got some rolls and a blueberry pie. I've passed this place many times in the early 90s but never once eat a pie from there. It was very popular in her family.

I brought it home and put in a preheated over at 375. I made up some mashed potatoes, squash, and some cranberry sauce. I'm not a big chicken pie fan (the ones you get a supermarkets) but boy was this one good! Lots of juicy pieces of shredded chicken, big pieces potatoes, and small little cut carrots. The jumbo pie cost about $20.00 and this feeds a family of 5 or 6. We had left overs which we will have for dinner. The crust was very good as well (not terribly thick just the right texture). The rolls were out of this world as well.

I even found nutritional information on SparkPeople.com my new favorite social network for helping you track your nutrtion. Although I'm not sure if the sodium count is right here.

I don't believe they have a restaurant (I didn't see one). They also have potatoes, squash, and other side dishes.

SparkPeople Chicken Pie

Journey to Bethlehem review in Windham, NH

2010-12-05T08:29:00.005-05:00
Last week we went to the Journey to Bethlehem at Windham Bible Chapel in Windham, NH. This is a fun filled and FREE event which focuses on the REAL meaning of the season. The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NOTE: This event is over with for the 2010 season). This event ususally occurs the 1st weekend in December (Thursday through Saturday).

We arrived around 7PM on a Saturday evening and were greeted with "Shalom" from the greeters dressed up in Sheppards clothing. This year there was no line during this time (in years past we have waited up to 35 minutes in line). The "pre-show" takes place inside the chapel's sanctuary. Once inside you are seated in one of the rows of chairs with your group.(Depending on what time you are seated is what part of the show you see.) There is a combonition of continuous live action skits during the time of the prophets from Moses to Mary (along with a slide presentation). During the presentation the guides usher one row out of the santuary at a time out into a small room where you are given name scrolls. Your "family members" (also dressed up in hebrew garb) arrive and you get going on your journey. The rest of the event is an outdoor walking event.

There are several stops including the map maker, roman guards, three wisemen, sheppards, and finally to the Bethlehem inn and stable. The last scene is of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Each stop has a roaring warm fire where you can gather around to keep warm! Each station there is a small presentation (about the Christmas story) that takes about less than 5 minutes. The paths are lit up by candlelight in pails. Hot chocolate is served in the lobby of the church an another even bigger fire is in the front of the church.

We have been going to the Journey of Bethlehem for quite some time now. Each year it seems to be getting better and better. The Roman Guards are move animated and more involved (even have two new stopping poings) so make sure you hold on to your name scrolls. There seems more barn animals.

Unfortunately the Journey to Bethlehem is over for this Christmas season.

Overall this event is wonderful, free, and like I mention celebrates the real reason for the season. Only advice - dress WARM dress very warm!

Boyden Valley Wine Tour & Tasting

2010-11-26T15:42:00.012-05:00

My wife, oldest daughter, and I visited Boyden Valley Wine Factory in Cambridge VT. This location is located in a pristine location of Northern Vermont with large fields all around surrounded by scenic mountains. It takes about 30-40 minutes to travel from Burlington, VT.

The tour is free and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. The tour takes place in the basement of the main store. The tour guide describes the process of fermenting the wines in the oak barrels and stainless steel barrels (which 15 years ago was used for milk). The tour guide gave us descriptions of the fruit and grapes wines and show you their bottling plant machine, which to me didn't seem very big but can bottle up to 1000 wines per hour (I may have this number wrong but it was impressive). Most of the grapes for the wine is grown on their farm (and the vineyards are close by). Some grapes are imported from PA and other farms in VT. The tour is nice and informative but think it could be refined or retooled to describe the process from harvest to bottling. When we arrived they were had a bit vat of cranberrys fermeting for their cranberry wine (which was cool to see). The tour guide correctly answered all the tough questions from my NECI student (daughter) had for them.

Also at Boyden Valley you can spend $6 to sample a variety of wines. They start off with the white wines. My wife and I enjoyed the Cow Tipper wine which is a dry Riesling and my daughter liked this as well (even though she is not a fan of this type of wine). I like the Seyval Blanc but the girls didn't. This is a Sauvignon Blanc wine with grapes grown from PA. The Glogg wine is a red wine and is best served warm (designed to warm you up after a day after skiing). We tried a variety of fruit wines. I liked the Blueberry the best. The cranberry wine would definately go good with Thanksgiving dinner.

We tried the Ice wines where the grapes are crushed after they are frozen. These types are wines are popular in Northern regions including Canada. Workers wait for the first real frost in VT and capture the grapes. The wine is more fruity and tends to have more alcohol content and more residual sugar (also to me it seems to be thicker and sweeter). Both my daughter and I thought the Vermont Ice Red tasted more like cough medicine. However both girls really enjoyed the Vermont Ice which is made from Le Crescent grapes.

To end the our we tried the new Vermont Ice Apple Creme. This is not a wine but similar to an Irish Creme! Yum! Yum! We bought a bottle to enjoy over the holiday season. It may be available at your local NH Liquor outlet soon but will be more difficult to get into Mass. Also your glass that you sample comes with the wine tasting fee so we have two cool new glasses to remember our visit and to enjoy our wine that we bought.

Boyden Valley Web site

Campmor's Tip #13

2010-11-14T20:23:00.004-05:00
On Twitter Campmor stated:

Camping Tip #13. Dress in layers. As the temp rises or falls, you will be able to remain comfortable by adding or removing layers.

Camping Tip #13

Boy is this true during winter and fall camping...

I start with a T-shirt, Long Sleeve shirt, Sweatshirt, second sweat shirt, coat, etc. Lots of socks too! It may be COLD outside but nice and toasty in the camper :->

For summer camping I suggested the following:

@Campmor - how about camping tip #13A - bring lots & lots of T shirts when hot; its gross but I sweat through them (and enjoy "the change")

The Afters - Light Up The Sky - Music Video (Official)

2010-11-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

Back to Owen & Ollies - Updated Review

2010-10-23T20:45:00.007-04:00
We had a lovely anniversary dinner at Owen & Ollies tonight in Dracut, MA. Owen and Ollie's is an American restuarant (with a hint of Irish) that is located on Mill St. right off of Lakeview Avenue. The restaurant is VERY modern, comfortable, and simply gorgeous... It resides in an renovated old mill and they put a lot of money into this place. I love the very high 30 to 40 feet ceilings in the main dining room and the modern fire place. I love the Boston sports flags that are hanging in the bar area (visible from the dining room). The booth we sat in was tall so private conversation can be made and it is not all that noisy here either. The bar / lounge area is in the next room.

My wife was able to get her favorite Magner's Irish Cider for a beverage while I had an local Ollie and Owen brew (which is like an Amber boch). Both very good.

I had a 1/2 pound of steak tips which came with two sides. I had a fresh green side salad, and a vegetable medely rice. The steak tips were very good and the rice was a very nice compliment to the tips!

My wife had the turkey dinner which included stuffing, cranberry sauce and two sides (she chose mashed potato and a side caesar salad).

On a different visit I also had the Chicken, Broccoli and Four Cheese Pasta dish and was pleasantly surprised after being disappointed at many places including Bertuccis and Olive Garden. Very flavorful. I still love Cafe Luigi's version in Bedford, MA better though.

The service tonight from Sean was out of this world! He was very friendly, personable, and hard working. It was also nice to see our oldest daughter's friend. This is a nice local place.

There menu has been EXPANDED so they offer a lot of choices.

I also like that they give you the option for only having 1/2 the meal on many of their entrees. This helps out if you are trying to watching your waistline along with your wallet. We had appetizer, two entrees, a few drinks, and a desert and the bill was just over $50. So overall it was an excellent value.

A new favorite of ours that is just minutes away!

Burtt's Apple Orchard - Pick Your Own Review

2010-09-19T21:26:00.005-04:00

Beautiful Fall Day in Vermont... we stopped by Burtt's Apple Orchard...

We enjoyed Burtt's Pick Your Own in Cabot, VT. Parking is limited and street parking is very limted as well. They had a GREAT variety of apples to pick from including Macintosh, Golden Crisp, etc. Our bag was about $20.00. They only take cash and checks so come prepared. The trees are on the small side so it is easy for young ones to pick. It was a very scenic ride to get here.

We visited from Mass. since our daughter lives just a few miles away.

Cabot factory is just a mile or two down the street. Great place to visit as well.

NH Hiking - Cap Ridge Trail - Mt. Jefferson / Mt. Clay

2010-09-14T19:28:00.016-04:00
The Cap Ridge Trail is located in Jefferson, NH off of the Jefferson Notch Rd (so this starts you off at a good elevation). My 15 year old son and I arrived here at 8AM and the parking lot was alredy 3/4 full on a bright and sunny but crisp saturday morning. Parking is limited so get there early. There is a self pay station which cost a modest $3 to park (cash/check only). The trail begins in deeps with a rocky and moderate climb. Also at the very beginning there are a few small foot bridges and believe it or not there was some water (even through its been really dry in New England). If you are not careful you may slip and fall into the mud (ask my son - fortunately this happened on the return trip). After a 1/2 mile or so the path evens out and narrows for a while and eventually comes to the clearing (about 45 minutes in) with a great view of Bretton Woods ski resort and the Mt. Washington Hotel (picture shown below).

The hike then resumes a more moderate climb (with small trees and brush) for what I would guess for another 1/4 mile or so. Then the fun begins! The trail gets VERY VERY steep. At the time that we arrived it was very windy and chilly too. You need to be super flexible to bend in the positions to make it up this section of the trail (I am not, so it was difficult to get up this part and probably took 1 hour to go only a 1/2 mile, I'm guessing). From here on very little trees and brush.

Once we got past the steepness of the Cap Ridge we took the Cornice crossover trail which is a route to the Gulfside Trail (Appalachian Trail). Our goal was to make it to Mt. Washington by noon (which both my wife and I did accomplish when we were much younger and "more in shape"). The Cornice trail is open was easy to moderate when compared to the steep part of the Caps Ridge. About a 1/2 hour later we reached the marker that stated distance for Mt. Washington was still 2.1 miles away. We then realized we would make it to Mt. Washington at 2-3PM instead of noon and then potentially not make it back until after dark. At that point we both decided to reach the Mt. Clay summit. The climb to the summit was moderate to difficult (and took about 20 minutes). It was difficult to find the summit marker (and we actually walked past it at first). The top of Mt. Clay appears to have 2 or even 3 peaks. After the second peak we decided "we were at the top" and ate lunch. When hikers passing by us confirmed that peak 3 was a lower peak we went back to peak 1 and found the marker.

Bring lots and lots of water with you. There are no natural water sources on this trail. We had plenty and went through a great deal (and had some to spare). At the top of Mt. Clay we watched 3 Cog railroads(2 bio-deisel and 1 coal) climb and descend Mt. Washington. One appeared to stop just before the summit and let its passengers out to take pictures. On the other side of Mt. Washington we could also see many many cars drive up the Mt. Washington Autoroad.

After our lunch we started our long descent. Now normally the hike down take less time (e.g., 4 hours up / 2-3 hours down). Not the case with the Cap Ridge trail. Due to its popularity, narrow trails, and steepness there was a wait to slide down the rocks.

This trail is not for the beginner or for those that are not in excellent physical shape. Some people turned around 1/2 way up and some paid for it days later ;-> Overall we had a great time but definately chewed off more than we can chew. Next year some smaller mountains for us and then Mt. Washington in the late summer again (perhaps the Jewell trail).

Lantern Motel & Campground Review

2010-09-12T17:24:00.005-04:00

Lantern Resort Motel & Campground Review found on Yelp.com

My oldest son and I stayed up at the Lantern Campground Resort in Jefferson, NH. A reasonable $29 a night for accomodations with water/electric ($24 with no hookups).

See my full review on Yelp or ThatsCamping.com

Friendly staff

Spacious sites

Beautiful grounds

Modern and clean bathrooms

FREE hot showers

Two great pools

Camping Rules...

2010-09-12T16:00:00.000-04:00
In case you are not following me on Twitter (newenglandcampr) and Why not?

Here are my live Camping Rules that I've posted while actually camping.... you can see I've lost count so there is a few missing...

Updated: 12 September 2010

#camping rule #1 - NO site cutting! Cabin campers need to learn this!
#camping rule #2 - NO smoking in common areas... Yuk! I DONT WANT TO BREATHE THAT IN!
#camping rule #3 - stand back when adding lighter fluid to a campfire. Cabin campers... Ugh! ::shakes head::

(missed camping rule #4 -- have to rethink this)

#camping rule #5 dont let the non cook pack the cooler! NO CHEESE for the burgers tonight...lol
#Camping rule #6 - "there's bug everywhere son... Your camping... Deal with it"
#Camping rule #7 - Do not move wood! It spreads bugs into the forest. My camping neighbors are doing this :'(
#Camping rule #8 - Bring a firestarter; Usually the campground wood is high quality wood that is diffult to light.
#Camping Rule #9 - Kids riding their bikes after dusk (when dark) is VERY VERY dangerous (especially without helmets)
#Camping Rule #10 - never leave your candy bar BINGO winnings on the picnic table (when the dogs are around).you might not have nothing left
#Camping Rule #11 - Never forget the matches or lighter especially if you are tent camping in the Whites in the fall (fire = warmth)

Apple picking in New England

2010-09-06T18:31:00.004-04:00
Where is your favorite place to "Pick - Your - Own" Apples?

We've picked from the following:
* Drew Farms in Westford, MA
* Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, MA
See our review from 2008:
Review

* Mack's Apples in Londonderry, NH
* Ward's in Madison, NH
See Review from 2007:
Review

Now looking for a place in Vermont when we visit our daughter and son-in-law. Any suggestions?

Christmas in July!

2010-08-29T19:47:00.007-04:00
Christmas in July
Congratulations to my DW who won 1st place at the Christmas in July contest at a local campground we were visiting this past July. We filled up the trailer with all our decorations. It paid off!

This makes her total winnings the following:

* Halloween - 4 or 5 wins (at 4 different camp sites) + 1 honorable mention
* 4th Of July - 1 second place win
* Christmas - 1 first place win

She loves to site decorate!

Now we got to find a place where we can decorate for summer luau!!!

Makes camping fun!

Plain & Fancy Restaurant Review

2010-08-21T21:33:00.002-04:00
*** As seen on TripAdvisor and Yelp!!! ***

We just finished an excellent Aaron & Jessica's Farm Tour buggy ride and were hungry and decided to stop in at the Plain & Fancy restaurant (right next door) in Bird in Hand, PA

We were all hungry for sure and this place did not disappoint!

My wife and I had the roast beef dinner special for $10.95. Delicious tenderly cooked roast beef topped with a delicious brown gray was served. Very excellent!!! Roast beef was tender. Extra gravy was provided for the REAL mashed potatoes. Not to mention a scrumptous bread stuffing! For my second side (included in the price) I had a fresh crispy garden salad with delicious cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions on topped of mixed greens. For beverage I had a glass of the local Lancaster beer (I like to try the local flavor out).

Our servers were probably not Amish by any means of the imagination. Service was thorough and was excellent! After ordering a basket of hot piping buns were served with a sweet and very good apple butter (real farm fresh butter is available as well).

My daughter had the hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes (it came with a bit of cranberry sauce). She really enjoyed every bite! It looked good and it is something that I would of ordered. My son enjoyed the crispy spicy nuggetts.

They put us in a side room which was very plain and if you needed to use the restroom it was quite a distance shared with the gift shop! They could use some more decos.

The value was excellent... With the 10% discount it was only $50 (not including tax). Everyone was full.. I was ready for a nap!

ebay frustration

2010-08-09T20:49:00.002-04:00
Ebay has all the bells and whistles... wonderful enterprise services to complete your online transactions but the customer service is VERY POOR! I had to explain their policy to them... NOTE the time and how long it takes as well...

Also there is no real protection for sellers from fraudelent users.

(I'm its4my4kids):

---------

Pamela B. has joined this session!
7:59:40 PM System
Connected with Pamela B.
7:59:56 PM Pamela B.
Hello, thanks for waiting and welcome to eBay Live Help! My name is Pamela B. How may I help you?
8:00:01 PM its4my4kids
hello Pamela... I believe we chatted earlier but got disconnected..
8:00:41 PM Pamela B.
We are facing some technical difficulty at our end and the chat might get disconnected. If the chat gets disconnected then do not hesitate to contact us back via Live Help. We appreciate your understanding.
8:01:19 PM its4my4kids
I'm trying to understand why I can't take advantage of the free listing promotion... I have a number of items to post... but I'm getting charged 25 cents
8:03:37 PM Pamela B.
let me look
8:03:57 PM Pamela B.
Did you list it or are you trying to list it?
8:05:05 PM its4my4kids
trying to list it but I did list one earlier tonight but got charged!!!!
8:07:12 PM Pamela B.
May I please have the item number to begin?
8:07:37 PM its4my4kids
one moment while I get that for you...
8:09:52 PM its4my4kids
320573543819
8:11:41 PM Pamela B.
Let me look
8:12:21 PM Pamela B.
I see you have selected teh Buy It Now option
8:12:26 PM Pamela B.
The*
8:12:33 PM its4my4kids
Yes... that should cost 5 cents...
8:12:37 PM its4my4kids
which I don't mind
8:13:04 PM its4my4kids
another auction that I didn't have that but it was going to charge me...
8:13:16 PM Pamela B.
I'll explain further
8:13:52 PM Pamela B.
Gallery Plus 0.35

Subtitle 0.50

Bold 2.00
8:14:56 PM its4my4kids
I didn't have any of those selected!
8:15:07 PM Pamela B.
Value pack is 0.65
8:15:13 PM its4my4kids
nope
8:15:27 PM Pamela B.
Just a second
8:15:47 PM Pamela B.
This fees should be charged but I see Your fees are 0.00
8:16:02 PM Pamela B.
And the current bvalance is 4.83
8:16:07 PM Pamela B.
balance*
8:17:34 PM its4my4kids
I signed up to pay my balance automatically with paypal... also I check my "accounts" page and the .25 cents was charged... I have a lot of books to post and many of them may not sell. So it will cost me more just to post... that is why I'm very interested in the promotion
8:22:09 PM Pamela B.
Yes you can list under the promotins
8:22:25 PM Pamela B.
there are no charges on the listing
8:22:47 PM its4my4kids
ok - I just posted in my secondary account for no fee but my main account has a fee?
8:23:27 PM Pamela B.
Nope there is no fees for this listing as I see it is free
8:23:29 PM its4my4kids
I'm very confused... can you explain why its charging me .25
8:23:36 PM its4my4kids
Oh... let me check
8:23:40 PM Pamela B.
There are 0.00 charges
8:23:45 PM Pamela B.
sure
8:25:50 PM its4my4kids
No... If you go to my Account activity... for item #32057353819 you will see there is a 0.25 insertion fee... clearly stated on my page...
8:27:35 PM Pamela B.
let me look
8:32:37 PM Pamela B.
Thanks a lot
8:32:56 PM its4my4kids
???
8:32:58 PM Pamela B.
Hey I see that you have listed the item with the starting price as 2.99
8:33:08 PM its4my4kids
and?
8:33:38 PM Pamela B.
In fact it should be as 0.99 it should be less than $1
8:34:29 PM its4my4kids
I'm not following? There is a free listing promotion for any price.
8:35:03 PM Pamela B.
Yes there are promotions goin on
8:35:28 PM Pamela B.
But then the item should be listed under the 0.99 it should be less than $1
8:35:43 PM Pamela B.
and I see your starting price is 2.99
8:36:01 PM Pamela B.
so that is the reason you are been charged
8:36:10 PM its4my4kids
I'm not following you? What does .99 cents have to do with it?
8:36:41 PM its4my4kids
No. There is a an ebay promotion listed / advertised on your web site that states list for any price with NO Listing fees!!!
8:37:03 PM Pamela B.
http://pages.ebay.com/promo/ListFreeAuctions2010/
8:37:23 PM Pamela B.
Just click on this link and you will get the correct information
8:38:03 PM Pamela B.
That link is from my messages
8:38:13 PM Pamela B.
Where ebay has send the email
8:38:32 PM its4my4kids
Ok - Here is what it says about the price I put in:
8:38:43 PM its4my4kids
$1.00-$9.99 FREE!*
8:38:53 PM Pamela B.
Just click on the my messages and you will see the email from ebay
8:39:09 PM its4my4kids
I did..
8:39:18 PM Pamela B.
may I know where do you see that 1.00 9.99
8:39:43 PM its4my4kids
It is near the bottom of the page
8:41:56 PM Pamela B.
Thanks for waiting!
8:42:11 PM Pamela B.
Hey yes I see that you are right
8:42:16 PM Pamela B.
I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
8:42:24 PM its4my4kids
No problem.
8:42:31 PM Pamela B.
Here what I can do is issue the credit from my end
8:42:53 PM Pamela B.
Not only that but I have already escalated the issue to our Technical team
8:43:07 PM Pamela B.
so that they can fix this problem as soon as possible
8:43:14 PM its4my4kids
Pamela... that is great! However I'm concerned about posting other items... thank youor your help.. will I get an email?
8:43:23 PM Pamela B.
That's a lot for bringing this to our attention
8:43:32 PM its4my4kids
or some type of message from ebay? because on or issues... i've been concerned...
8:43:33 PM Pamela B.
yes you will get the email
8:43:41 PM its4my4kids
thanks!!!
8:44:02 PM Pamela B.
You're most welcome!
8:44:03 PM Pamela B.
Is there anything else with which I can assist you?
8:44:18 PM its4my4kids
thats all for tonight!!!
8:44:28 PM Pamela B.
Have I addressed all your concerns to your satisfaction today?
8:45:03 PM its4my4kids
if I get the email describing the problem then yes...
8:45:28 PM Pamela B.
Thanks a lot:-) I’m sure customer satisfaction is all we aim!!
8:45:33 PM Pamela B.
Good bye and take care :-) 'Thanks for using eBay Live Help! To close this chat window, go ahead and click on the "Exit" button whenever you're ready

SoulFest

2010-08-04T12:05:00.001-04:00
SoulFest starts today at Gunstock Mountain!

4-7 August.

Has Danforth Bay gotten to Greedy?

2010-07-25T22:10:00.002-04:00
Has Danforth Bay gotten to GREEDY?

Check out my post on That's Camping!

http://www.thatscamping.com/forum/index.php/topic,1504.0.html

Camping in the Rain? No Problem!!!

2010-07-19T20:21:00.004-04:00
Camping while Raining?
No problems.

Many campgrounds offer indoor activities such as table-top pool, candy bar bingo, craft activities, etc. Here my sons are playing their portable DS system under our screen house during a downpour! These are even networked these days so the two can play 1 game between several children. This has made an extra long trip to Texas very reasonable.

We had a portable Netbook system that my wife used to catch up on life :-> Unfortunately I don't recommend those as it died during this trip.

Camping Visitor Fees

2010-07-19T19:18:00.005-04:00

My nephew joined us for Memorial day at camp pictured with my oldest son (note all that hair is gone... LOL) and my youngest son. In the much distance past we would take up to 3 cousins with no issues. With higher and higher visitor fees those days of taking multiple kids over multiple days are over. Some campgrounds charge up to $10 per night and up to $15 for an adult. I understand added people means added cost. However I don't think i even spend and extra $10 on food per day.

Showers are usually taken in my camper heated by my own hot water heater with my propane (that is if the kids take showers at all) sometimes you got to twist arms. I guess there is extra cost in water for toilets, dishes, etc. and perhaps extra activity staff is needed to handle all the "visitor" children

We paid somewhere in the vicinity of $30 for our nephews stay with us and it was worth every penny! No complaints. You can't put a price tag on the kids making great memories with their cousins. However back to reality. I would like to take my nieces and nephews on every other trip if I could.

Also I worry about fraud. Some campgrounds are just to busy to notice. Noone counts the number of people in your car. Its on the honor system whether you report a visitor or not. I suspect that two other families that camped near us were "un-paid" since there was no camping ticket on their windsheild. Hmm. Perhaps that is one of the main reasons for the high fees. The honest people paying for the non-honest?

I started a new topic on That's Camping Forum to discuss this. Post comments here or there :->

That's Camping Forum - Visitor Fees post

Hersheypark July Savings!!

2010-07-19T18:47:00.002-04:00
Got this email today... so wish I was heading South instead of West this summer...

Only in Hershey can you enjoy Hot July Savings! Use this coupon to SAVE $15 off regular admission and/or $5 off junior (3-8) and senior (55-69) admission. One coupon may be used to purchase up to four admissions.

Find out more about HOT JULY SAVINGS at Hersheypark.

Tickets must be used by July 31, 2010.

Too hot? Cool down at The Boardwalk inside Hersheypark, featuring a lazy river, wave pool and more!

Staying overnight? Rooms available! Reserve online or call 1-800-HERSHEY (437-7439).

Hershey Park Coupon

Kancamagus - Swift River fun

2010-07-06T20:28:00.005-04:00

There are lots of places to stop on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway which is located in the heart of the White Mountains between Lincoln, NH and Conway, NH.

Rocky Gorge and Lower Falls are two VERY popular public places to stop to enjoy a picnic lunch take some pictures and to get wet! They have facilities (e.g., out houses) on site. These places are also VERY crowded during a hot summer day as well and charge a nominal fee.

There are several campgrounds that in the White Mountain National Park. We stayed at Jigger Johnston back in 2007. Very very natural and beautiful. Also several hiking trails are along the way. Someday I hike the somewhat easy Sabbaday Falls trail again.

This past 4th of July we stopped at a location off the side of the road of the Swift River. We trekked through the woods and did some lunching, tubing, and relaxing on the Swift River.

Settler's Green - Dog Days!

2010-07-06T19:57:00.002-04:00
Settler's Green Dog Days!

From the Settler's Green website:
* Glam-Fur Photo Booth with Costumes
* Open Agility Course
* FREE Dog Biscuits
* FREE Doggie Nail Clipping
* FREE Doggie Makeovers by Karla’s Pet Rendezvous
* FREE Dog Leashes with your donation to Animal Rescue League-NH
* Fod Kissing Booth
* Puppy Swim Pool
* Raffles, gift baskets and more!

NOTE: The BRAND NEW Marriott's Residence Inn is also VERY dog friendly as well. We enjoyed staying with them this past winter! It is right next to Four Your Paws Only!

Soulfest Discount!

2010-07-01T06:39:00.002-04:00
Discount for SoulFest received in my church bulletin this week:

Please be in prayer for Soulfest 2010 which will be held August 4-7 at Gunstock in Gilford, NH. This is four life-changing days of Christ-honoring music, celebration, worship, fellowship and teaching. For tickets and additional information, please contact Jillian Abbott jillianabbottsemail@gmail.com / 603-630-9577 or visit www.soulfest.com / 978-346-4577. Be sure to use promo code JILLIAN for a 15% discount.

Twitter

2010-07-01T06:32:00.002-04:00
Need to do a lot more blogging but super busy these days.

Follow-me on Twitter:

NewEnglandCampr Twitter Page for my mindless tweets :->

Happy Father's Day - Breakfast at ML Shaws

2010-06-20T15:59:00.002-04:00
I had a lovely father's brunch at ML Shaw's Country Kitchen in Dracut.

Check out my full review on Yelp!

NEC's ML Shaw's review

New England Campgrounds that allow golf carts

2010-05-31T20:34:00.006-04:00
I'm doing research on which campgrounds allow personal golf carts.
If you know of any additional ones email me (newenglandcamper@comcast.net) or post comment.

Here is my list - Updated (6/1/2010)

New Hampshire:
* Danforth Bay Camping Resort (Freedom, NH) - Seasonal / Transient ($10 fee)
* Cold Springs Resort (Weare, NH) - Seasonal

Massachusetts:
* Camp Cold Brook RV and Golf Resort (Barre, MA) - Yes; headlights, brakelights
* Kings Campground (Manchaug, MA) - Yes
* Prospect Mountain Campground (Granville, MA) - Seasonals only

Connecticut:
* Strawberry Park Resort (Preston, CT) - Seasonals only (white, 5 years or newer, electric, $500,000 in insurance)

Disney's Epcot Flower and Garden Show!

2010-04-25T21:10:00.003-04:00

Check out my
My phots from Epcot's Flower and Garden show

KOA Free Night of Camping!!!

2010-04-07T19:47:00.002-04:00
KOA Free night of camping!

May 14-15, 2010

From their website:

Join us for KOA’s special Come Kamp & Care With Us Weekend, May 14 and 15, 2010. Pay for Friday, May 14 and kamp Saturday May 15 at the same kampground for FREE! KOA’s Come Kamp & Care With Us Weekend has become a favorite way for many families to kick off their summer camping season

Campgrounds that I know that KOA in New Hampshire:

Chocorua Camping Village, Chocorua, NH

Broken Branch KOA Campground, Woodstock, NH

Merrimack Christian Film Festival

2010-03-28T07:30:00.001-04:00
The 18th Annual Merrimack Christian Film Festival is returning to the Merrimack Valley.

Location:

Cinemas 7 & 8
Rt 114 at Rt 495 Ex 42B
Lawrence, MA 01843

Contact Number:

(978) 686-4242

*** STARTS TODAY ***

Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday (28 March - 4 April 2010)

As always, ALL SHOWS ARE FREE

Check out details here

See you at the show!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Owen and Ollie's

2010-03-17T19:06:00.002-04:00

This was our first time ever going out for a St. Patrick's Day meal and celebration. A really great idea from my wife! The goal was to listen to some good Irish music, have different types of Irish food, sample some different beverages, along with being family friendly. After driving through downtown Lowell and seeing the VERY populated and congested pubs & restaurant we chose something a bit more quiet. Owen and Ollies in Dracut, MA met all our objectives and did not disappoint.

We expected a crowd so we arrived around 4PM with absolutely NO wait. Had our pick of a table. By the time we left at 6PM there was a small wait and a larger crowd in the open lounge area. We sat in the front .

For our Irish beverages my wife chose the Magner's Cider Beer. She enjoyed it so much she ordered another one! To stick with the St. Patrick's tradition I had a Guinness with my appetizer and a St. Patricks for dinner/desert. The Guinness beer is quite dark and different (for those who never enjoyed one). The St. Patrick's bear is a bit crisp.

Dinner

For dinner my wife and I ordered the Corned Beef and Cabbage special and I ordered the Bangers and Mash with the agreement that we would share.

I didn't care for the Bangers (sausage) while my wife enjoyed this when she had it with the brown gravy. We both liked the Mashed potatoes. Those were very tasty. The brown Irish bread that came with the meal was very good!

The Corned Beef and Cabbage was VERY good and tasty. The boiled potatoes and carrots were good too. Just what you expect at St. Patricks Day. PERFECT. We all shared. My 15 year old choose a non Irish meal - a cheese Pizza but didn't care for it. I have it for left over lunch tomorrow. I thought the sauce was a bit different (a little sweet). My 5 year old didn't like his pizza either. My daughter got a Chicken Caesar wrap. She enjoyed it. It was large enough that she has something for lunch tomorrow.

We all loved the Brown Irish soda bread.

We ordered desert. The kids had sundaes and cake. My wife and I split the Maple Pumpkin Pie trifle which was garnished with a gingersnap and walnuts. That was very rich but very good! We ate every bite.

The restaurant is in an old but renovated mill (near Beaver Brook) in the Collinsville section of town. From the outside it doesn't look like anything special. However it is absolutely gorgeous and modern inside. Most of the comfortable seating has a TV where you can play and watch Keno as well as watch TV if you choose. Very nicely decorated for St. Patricks Day and they had an Irish singer "Shamus Pender" . I absolutely loved the high ceilings and mill environment. Even though we were at the farthest point from the lounge we still got to enjoy the Irish music yet were able to have a nice conversation. This place is NOT loud. Perhaps its because of the very high ceilings The lounge area is very large, spacious, open, and modern. They have wifi as well. I have yet to bring my computer to a restaurant and don't plan to start now.

The service tonight was exceptional for a holiday! No waiting for anything!

Overall a great place and a nice setting for our St. Patrick's Day celebration. I love being Irish!!!

Doggie Travels - Campground Limits

2010-03-13T18:57:00.004-05:00
We've been looking for NEW campgrounds to visit this summer in the northern New England area. I've been finding some of them have the most craziest rules such as NO Air conditioning, fires only for cooking in day time, but one that I find a bit outrageous is the number of dogs you can bring to a campground. Ames Brook in Ashland, NH, Mountain Lake in Lancaster, NH, and Flat Rock Bridge in Maine are examples that told me they don't want my business because I have not 1, not 2, but 3 small dogs (even explaining to them that they are well behaved and weigh less than the average dog).

Anyways... this got me to think about the following review that I read on TripAdvisor.com about the Hampton Inn in Colchester, VT that we recently stayed at.

Another plus was that they charged no fee for the dogs. Many of the other hotels wanted up to 75.00 pet fee which I find ridiculous. Sorry but I think kids do a lot more damage and disturbance than pets do in hotels. I have never seen a dog run up and down the halls knocking on doors and screaming. Dogs don't eat pizza in bed and dump soft drinks all over the bed. Dogs also don't stomp on the floors and pee in the pool.

Unfortnately in the 10+ years I have been camping I believe this is true for children at campgrounds as well! I have witnessed children being naughty in many situations! Leaving messes on common area picnic tables, children under 2 with no diapers in the pool, seasonal children loitering from one transient family to another, children chasing after campers as they are leaving the park, and the list goes on and on. My kids are not angels either so I know first hand of questionable behavoir.

Other than the seldom barker (and I do emphasize seldom) I have never seen a badly behaving dog. Most people that I know own 1 or 2 dogs at most. Should campgrounds start limiting children? Perhaps I can understand them limiting certain types of dogs. We had a pitbull / boxer / lab mix and in the end she didn't get along with people.

Anyways, why are dogs getting the bum wrap at campgrounds?

Cranmore Tubing

2010-03-08T19:07:00.011-05:00

This winter we went tubing at Mt. Cranmore in North Conway, NH which is definately one of my favorite skiing locales for its long ski slopes with varying difficulty, high speed quad, and great views of Mt. Washington and the presidential range. Not to mention its is in a VERY convenient location! This year we decided to go snow tubing here instead of skiing. This worked well as my 5 year old (who isn't ready for skiing) could join in on the fun.

Tubing is $22 for 2 hours at Cranmore (a bit pricey when compared to King Pine ($15) and Pat's Peak ($16) and to speak the truth I can't say much about either of the competition slopes). Check with your hotel as I was able to get a discount tickets from our local lodging facility(cash only).

Cranmore does have two separate runs (with about 3 to 4 lanes each) with beautiful views (which may justify its slightly higher price). We arrived around 1030 and the second uppper run was just being opened.

There are plenty of tubes in your choice of blue or red to choose from. The staff is great and really friendly. They will help you get off spinning if so desired. I always said strait but ended up spinning anyways. Fortunately it is very minor so you won't get motion sick. Also will help you setup your tube for the lift. You can double up tubes. At one point all 4 of us went down. Now that was interesting!

The lines are very long here on a busy Saturday but tolerable. If you don't have to wait in line for the lift (about 5 minutes or so) then you will have to wait up at top. They may really consider how many people they allow on the course (or do better ticket checking). You of course can walk if up if you don't want to wait in line.

Overall tubing was fun but i think I prefer skiing better. I really did enjoy the pictures that I got so that was a big bonus for me. :->

Sleigh ride at the Farm by the River

2010-03-08T18:44:00.007-05:00

My wife and I took a lovely kid-FREE late afternoon private sleighride from the nice people at the Farm by the River in North Conway, NH on one sunny but snow-covered late afternoon this past winter.

Krystal was our guide and the beautiful horses that pulled our sleigh were named Jim and Bob (how appropriate). LOL!

Our package was $99 which included a 45 minute sleighride with chocolates and nice bottle of Champagne. A warm blanket is provide as well. There was also a large group and another couple in a private open sled but they were appropriately spaced. The ride starts right at the farm and includes a 30 to 45 minute ride through the woods. Bring a camera as there is great view of Mt. Cranmore, Catherdral Ledge and the trail goes right up the side of the Saco River. You may even see tracks of live animals.

I'm not sure if I would recommend the inn for lodging itself but I definately recommend the Victorian sleigh rides. May look to go horse back riding there in the summer.

The Farm is located right on West Side Road.

Krystal was a great hostess and she gave us some insight about the area and the farm (including the story of the 3 legged wolf that resides on property).

NH Camping Show this weekend!!!

2010-03-06T12:33:00.003-05:00
New Hampshire Camping show is going on this weekend!

http://www.ucampnh.com/campingshow2.php

The Hampshire Dome, Just off Route 101
Milford, New Hampshire

SHOW HOURS
Friday March 5th, 1pm - 9pm
Saturday March 6th, 10am - 9pm
Sunday March 7th, 10am - 5pm

ADMISSION

Adults $7.00 Children under 12 - Free with an adult

Hampton Beach Fire

2010-03-01T20:01:00.004-05:00

We tend to visit Salisbury beach state park vs. Hampton Beach (although both my wife and I have great memories of Hampton in our distant past). We stopped by to check out the damage from the fire.

There was also a lot of roof/shingle damage from the excessive winds.

Cold Hollow Cider Mill

2010-02-22T19:45:00.004-05:00

We stopped in the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury, VT this past Sunday on our way home.

This is a country store with plenty of unique gifts as well as typical nick knacks. They offer free samples of certain jellies/spreads and cider. There is no tour per-Se during the winter but they have a video running of how they make the cider. Not sure if they offer a tour during the peak season (but they do offer bus parking -- so the place must be popular). Not too far from Stowe Mt.

I'm not a big apple cider guy but I can certainly say this was REALLY good! Even went back for a second sample and bought a 1/2 gallon for later on. Packaging claims that it is 100% apple cider with a note stating that all apples come from the Champlain Valley - NO imports. The only ingredients are Apples and Potassium Sorbate. Also bought some unsweetened Apple Butter - which contains "Whole Vermont Apples and Fresh Cold Hollow Cider". - Very good.

The fresh home made cider donuts (made on sight) are OUT OF THIS WORLD! We got a 1/2 dozen and fought over the last one.

It is an easy drive right off of I89 off the Waterbury exit. Worth the trip if you are in the area.

Ben & Jerry's Icecream Tour Review

2010-02-21T20:57:00.006-05:00

*** This will be on Trip-Advisorsoon -- but thought I would share here ***

We last visited the area in 2002/2003 and sadly to say the tour hasn't changed much in 7+ years.

There is a minimal charge of $3 for ages 12 and up. Assume this pays for sample plus salary of tour members. However I don't believe this is a good value.

You start off with a short witty presentation of how Ben and Jerry got started with the company (with a bit of propaganda thrown in). I don't remember the presentation but wife said it is the same one from our last visit.

Then they take you to a room over looking the factory. The host goes so fast explaining things (which is coordinated with a movie that for the average person it is difficult to understand how ice cream gets made). Also because you are high up and crowded its difficult to see anything. Also nothing about quality control was mentioned. In the past the tour guide went slower and gave a better description than the movie.

The sampling room has only onesample now. Back in 2003 there was 2. No spoons available either so everyone is sticky at the tours end.

I also found the ticket taker and presenter to be a bit unfriendly (more smiles needed please) and the whole tour a bit rushed.

Ben & Jerry's is a fun place but the whole tour needs to be revamped to focus more on ice cream production. I didn't learn a thing.

Looks like most Trip Advisor members agree! Check out their review here .

Cabot Cheese Factory Tour

2010-02-19T17:04:00.004-05:00

We stopped recently at the Cabot Visitor Center in Cabot, VT. This place is not all that easy to get to from southern NH!

In the main visitor center there is a gift shop and in the back of the store there is a table set up to sample many, many different variations of cheese (including some that I never even heard of). They also had dips and spreadable cheese to sample as well! Very good.

The tour is $2 (with children under 12 free). Assume this pays for the sampling.

At the beginning of the tour there is 5 - 10 minute movie which gives you the history of Cabot, its standards, etc. After the movie the tour guide takes you down a single hallway. On both sides there is glass windows to each part of the plant. We witnessed sourcream being packaged and cheese being made in a huge long vat. Although I must say not much was happening when we visited. This is a live working plant and the hallway can get busy. We exited the same way we entered.

Overall I thought the tour was good. However I did not get a real understanding of how their products are made. The place was much smaller than I expected.

We did pick up some colby jack and cheddar blocks along with some of the yummy dips.

Muddy Moose Review - North Conway, NH

2010-01-24T20:24:00.004-05:00

*** The following is a review of the Muddy Moose Restaurant that is currently being posted on tripadvisor.com ****

Interior was very clean, "folksy", and "country" especially for Northern NH. VERY Well done!! We really enjoyed the atmosphere even though it was busy and a tad bit loud.

Service:

Service was EXCEPTIONAL! We were really impressed with how fast the waitstaff could clean a table and get the next party seated. I never saw anything like this! Food was brought out in a timely manner too (fortunately not too fast)! Our local waitress was friendly and very accomodating.

Food:

I had the 20oz Sam's Draft for bevarage (no complaints) and my wife had a mixed speciality drink. She thought it was somewhat syrupy and a bit too sweet and didn't finish it all.

The bread was VERY VERY good (served with REAL butter)! I do have to admit that I really missed not having a dinner house salad with the entree. It is NOT offered for any of the entrees . :-< (or not even offered for a $2 to $3 add on).

My wife ordered the Rib Steak for $20. Not good! It was very chewy and not very tasty. She should of brought most of it home for the dogs to nibble on. She states the baked potato and carrots were really good though. My dish has a better story. I ordered the Chicken and Broccolli Alfredo. Not much broccolli but there was plenty of chicken and pasta. It was pretty good and I ate every bite! No cheese was offered as a topping though.

My 15 year-old-son had the Ruby's Lake House Pasta. This was very good as I got to sample a portion of it the next day! I loved both pasta dishes. Daughter had the chicken caesar salad as her meal. VERY BIG salad!!! Plenty for her to enjoy and bring home to have for lunch the next day. My youngest son enjoyed his kids hot-dog and fries. The waitress even brought extra Oreo cookies for all the young-at-heart to share.

This place is loud but fun! We would definitely go there again... (beats Applebees and 99). We would probably try different menu options.

North Conway's Marriott's Residence Inn

2010-01-24T18:38:00.004-05:00

*** Here is a review that I wrote about North Conway's Residence Inn on tripadvisor.com ***

We stayed during this past weekend 1/22 through 1/24 in a 1 Bedroom King suite with a fireplace.

The Marriott Residence Inn in North Conway, NH is a very modern hotel with very beautiful contemporary decor in your guest room and through out the hotel. I especially loved the separate desk area and modern kitchen with granite counters throughout the suite. Friday night after check-in I was able to make a quick delicious nutrious meal while the family relaxed watching the large flat screen TV and enjoyed the free wireless internet service (which was very good as well). Some Marriott hotels are now providing the option for upgrading the wireless to allow better access for VPN (this was not offered here as far as I could tell). The bedroom was exceptionally beautiful with the recessed lighting, soothing atomosphere and modern furniture. The built-in gas fireplace added ambience to the living room as well as some extra heat! I noticed that the bedroom seemed a tad bit cooler though when the fireplace was off. Not a problem with heating during the evening though! In fact I was a tad bit warm (if needed ask for an extra blanket... they will accommodate). I did NOT notice a noisy heating system like others reported.

Other than the granite counters the bathroom was pretty basic. The shower was not as hot as I would have liked it.

The pool area was immaculate! The hot tub was very warm, clean, and relaxing. Plenty of towels and the pool boy checks on the area constantly! Nice lounge chairs to relax in too. If you want to bring a beverage to the pool bring your own plastic cups (as there is not any in the room).

The 24 hour gym is AWESOME! There are 2 treadmills, 2 ellipiticals, a stair climber, weights and 2 different types of bicycles. All in a modern large space with plenty of room to SPREAD OUT!

There is a small business center which is near the elevators. The only complaint about this is that it isn't very private... so beware if you are typing in personal information. The lobby has a wonderful fireplace and plenty of seating. There are some semi-private areas with TVs. I would suggest they move the business center to this area.

The "Free" Breakfast was GREAT! I loved the blueberry "make your own" waffles with fruit topping. They also had scrambled eggs, sausage links, hash browns, and several other continental items (e.g., bagels). Plenty of coffee and juice too!

During the mid afternoon -- delicious chocolate / white chocolate chip cookies were served during our stay! They offer other night time features during the week.

The only complaint for this stay is that our room was never "made up" on Saturday!!! I never saw a cleaning attendant on our floor the whole day on Saturday. This made it a problem and had to constantly run to the front desk to get supplies. The trash was overflowing by the time we left. No laundry bags either. They could use a cookie sheet as well.

Pets are allowed! We brought ours and they really enjoyed the new "For Your Paws Only" store which is located in the next lot.

This hotel is also about location, location, location! This hotel is minutes away from Mt. Cranmore and Outlet shopping!

Lowell Devil's Hockey Review

2010-01-18T11:15:00.008-05:00

This weekend we went to the Lowell Devil's hockey game at the Tsgonas Arena located in Lowell, MA. We went with my son's school and got discounted group ticket for $11 each.

Parking:

There are lots of parking locations in the local area. Not sure of off-street parking. The city of Lowell charges $10 to park in a city lot right next to the arena. Just a few feet away there is a private lot which cost us $5. Spaces in this lot are probably limited but we were in an hour early with plenty of room.

Refreshments:

If you plan on getting refreshments prepare to bring CASH and plenty of it! None of the vendors take credit/debit card. There is a JDCU ATM (near section J and K) but the line was rather long when we attended. Prices are rather steep as well. Some sample prices are the following: $5 - fried dough, $3.50 hot dog, $3.50 pretzel, $4.50 nachos and cheese, and $3.50 / $3.00 Pepsi brand drinks. For beer prepare to pay $5.75 for a Bud Light and $6.50 for Sam Adams. They don't allow you to bring any food or drinks into the arena.

Programs are $2.

Seating

I don't believe there is a bad seat in the house. Everything was clean upon arrival. During the game they offered tickets for some select games for $9. There was a piece of colored paper on each and every seat which detailed this. What a waste of time, paper, and ink. Everything appears to be modern, however the hockey scoreboard could probably use some updating.

Events

* Both teams come out to practice about 45 minutes before the game.
* For those that don't hockey there is 3 periods of 20 minutes each with a 20 minute intermission between the 1st and 2nd period and again during the 2nd and 3rd period.
* There was some events for the kids like T-shirt toss, chuck-a-puck, etc.

Overall it was great time the kids got bobble-heads (promotion going on at the time) even though our team lossed in the shoot out.

Pat's Peak Resort Review

2010-01-14T17:40:00.010-05:00

Last weekend (on probably one of the coldest weekends of the year) my oldest son and I went skiing at Pat's Peak. Youngest daughter and her classmates went tubing at the cool tube park.

Rentals:

My son has long since outgrown his skis, boats, poles, etc. that we bought him about 5 years ago and with him still growing and ticket prices they way they are we decided not to purchase a new equipment for hims this year. For rental and lift tickets I used Pat's Peak secure online order form (the night before). Rentals plus lift ticket was $66. I was pleasantly surprised to find the equipment and tickets waiting for us upon arrival. Of course I got the boot size wrong but Pat's Peak competent staff adjusted this appropriately and we were soon making our 1st run. (My son now takes a size 12 in men shoes!)

Slopes

As usual we started at the easier valley slopes to warm up. The morning crowds seemed light and we found that the Downdraft triple only had a slight delay in the afternoon. They were not forcing us two to triple up which was nice. The chair ride up to the summit did get a bit cold especially with the wind blowing. During the ride up there is a new view of the snow-tubing field and the Nastar Racing. The "Puff" trail is a really easy trail. GREAT to learn on. The Turbulence Park Double lift provides a great view of the young snowboarders and ski-boarders contemplating and exercising jumps and other cool tricks. Some of the matching snow suits and gear these "kids" have are unreal. Who knew that you would be making a fashion statement when snowboarding!

At the other side of the resort is the Hurricane triple lift and double lift. Both of these seems to be a long but relaxing ride to the top. I sort of wished they would replace this with a high speed triple or quad in the future. However there is a nice view of the moguls (on the double black diamond Hurrican trail) and a chance to relax. The top provides a nice view of Central and Northern NH. On a clear day you can see Mt. Washington and surrounding mountains. Skiing Breeze, Zephyr, and Blast provide for nice family skiing (slightly more difficult than Puff). It is a very nice size trail (and the long lift ride does give older people like me time to recover ;->) East Wind and Lower East Wind is also a great trail and has become one of my favorites. Duster was literally very "dusty" when we visited with full SNOW making. This "out-of-shape" body (who hasn't skiied in 2 years) also went down two Black Diamond trails "Cyclone" and "Twister" and lived to tell about it! All trails had GREAT powder with very little ice. At the start of the Blast trail there is a nice small area to ski through trees glades. Lots of fun! Pat's Peak also offers a great beginners area!

Overall we hardly had to wait at all on the lifts.

Each lift has a temp reading. I've seem temps from 9 to 27 why we visited. I doubt it was 27 and I'm sure with the wind chill it was colder than that.

Resort

A cafeteria is available. We ordered some hot chocolate ($2.50) and some french fries ($3.50) after a few runs. Pat's Peak does allow you to bring in your own food and drinks as well. There is a bar and a resturant in a portion of the second floor. No outside food allowed.

Location

It's only about 1 hour from the NH/MA border which makes it a GREAT day trip!

Special

Pat's Peak has a great $39 Pay One Price for rentals and 3PM to 10PM tickets on Saturday night. Come early for this special. It was packed!!!

I've been hacked --- thanks Comcast.net!!!

2010-01-13T20:40:00.005-05:00
Well I was reading and commenting on my Facebook family and friends status when I got a cryptic message stating something like "You need to be logged in to complete this action". "

Ok fb is being flaky as usual", I said... and attempted to re-login again without any success. A bit of shuffling around I quickly found out that password was changed for facebook. I then went to login into my comcast.net account (that I use to login into fb with) and was in shock when I found that password was changed as well! I reset everything with new passwords using my primary account.

Later that day I found out from some "friends" that Facebook had some hacking done so I dismissed this but didn't like how my comcast.net account was changed as well.

Two days later. I wake up with my early cup of coffee to check on my "facebook friends" before heading to work when I noticed that I could not login again to either account. After resetting some passwords and getting into faceboo I noticed that one of the applications that I use was sending status at midnight (2 hours past my bedtime). A scan on the computer found no viruses, spyware, or malware and I believed I'm heavily patch.

After some serious investigation and look. The vulnerability I believe was caused by three factors:

1. My Comcast email address to login into Facebook was EXPOSED on my profile page. It was also known by several other people as well.

2. To reset your Comcast password all you need to do is to answer a very simplified questions such as "Name of your favorite pet, favorite sports team, etc." These answers could be easily obtained by reviewing my fb. profile or even knowing and seriously what New Englander does not love the Red Sox. With ONE (and only ONE) simple guess, the hacker now has ACCESS to your email account on comcast.net!!!

3. The hacker can then easily RESET your Facebook password by typing in your email address and selecting "Oops... I forgot my password". Facebook sends an email to the main email account (which was just hacked into) and doesn't try to challenge you with any security questions.

Suggestions:

1. Never expose your email - facebook login account on your profile.

2. If you use comcast.net then make your secret question really difficult OR don't use comcast.net for email

Massachusetts - Support Scott Brown

2010-01-10T19:36:00.003-05:00
NewEnglandCamper fully supports Scott Brown for US Senate!

Security is not something we can joke around with!

Scott's Latest Video Message

2009-10-06T22:20:00.001-04:00

2009-10-06T20:48:00.001-04:00

Disney's Animal Kingdom Pictures

2009-10-06T20:44:00.001-04:00

Danforth Bay going downhill???

2009-10-04T18:47:00.003-04:00
I was completely shocked to read about the conditions of my favorite campground that I was seasonal for three years (2006-2009) :

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23113917/gotomsg/23126892.cfm#23126892

My thoughts:

* Activities: The best activities staff in the past was during the Nick and Sharlene years. It would be very hard to replace these two quality people!

* Playground: A new playground was promised at the 2008 seasonal lunch. This project I assumed never got started. I assume this was because of the economy. I agree the playgrounds at Danforth Bay were mediocre at best! I'm not sure how they received a 5 start Woodalls rating with playgrounds like these.

* Cutbacks in Maintenance: This saddens me the most because Danforth Bay had A++ plus maintenance staff. I hope they kept Rick, Scott, and Alan.

* Overbearing Security: I disagree with the poster. More security was needed especially at night time including some local police presence. This is a BIG campground. I personally did not feel completely safe at this campground (especially leaving my camper alone) during my last few months there.

* Trash Trailers: I agree! This is gross and unsanitary! Danforth Bay needs to come up with a better solution!

I've also heard about the cuts in the office from other sources and the lack of friendliness. Again I assume its because of the economy.

I certainly do recommend Danforth Bay!

Breast Cancer Walk

2009-09-07T21:40:00.001-04:00
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=12782997&pg=personal&fr_id=19925&s_src=PPCviewpage

Nantucket - The Beachside review

2009-07-28T07:45:00.002-04:00
We visited Nantucket island to visit our daughter recently.

For those that don't follow me on Twitter here is the review of 'The Beachside' that I posted on TripAdvistor.

The Beachside @ Nantucket review now posted on TripAdvisor: http://tinyurl.com/nzsmgq

Salisbury Beach State Park

2009-06-25T13:33:00.000-04:00
Check out my pictures from Salisbury Beach State Park taken back in early June when it was sunny and warm in New England!

Plenty of parking. Parking is $9.00
Toilets and showers to wash sand off.
Lifeguards
Bring your own food and beverage!

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573140066IkjrUX

Stop the NH Camping Tax!

2009-06-20T22:37:00.002-04:00
NH is proposing to place a 9% tax on campsites!

Here is some links:

http://www.wmur.com/money/19811369/detail.html

http://www.thatscamping.com/forum/index.php?topic=1266.msg9835;topicseen#msg9835

This will overall hurt the campgrounds and make camping vacations less affordable.

We need to fight this!

Trailer Outlet in Tilton, NH

2009-05-27T18:24:00.002-04:00
Time for some endorsements.

Need a utility trailer? I highly recommend the Trailer Outlet in Tilton, NH (exit 20 off of I93).
I ordered a 6x12' trailer. The staff even put some tie downs in the floor for my golf cart. Everything was perfect during delivery! Tows like a dream. I was pleasantly surprised to find my SUV was fully equiped for towing.

The trailer outlet even provided me a temporary plate to take it home due to Mass' crazy law that you need the certificate of origin (even before you have it) before they will give you a plate.

Diana's Bath

2009-05-26T20:42:00.000-04:00
5/27/09 - Bump - This is a popular thread.

Sunday - August 6, 2006 was a great day to head up to Diana's Bath in the National Forest near North Conway, NH (on West-Side Road).

This past Sunday was a gorgeous beautiful sunny day without a cloud in sight. We arrived around 11AM to a PACKED new parking area for Diana's Bath. Patty was trying to remember where the old entrance location was. Unfortunately there was no parking in the assigned spots so we had to park close by on the road (not too bad). NOTE: if you visit here and park in the parking lot it is a National Forest FEE AREA which typically charges $3 per use. There is handicapped parking available.

The .6 of a mile trail was VERY VERY easy with basically little to no elevation getting to the falls. A person on a wheel chair or pushing a stroller could be easily accomodated since the trail was laced with gravel and very wide.

At Diana's Bath, there was a good constant flow of cold, crisp, and very clear water over and down the rocks. The rocks (especially underwater) can be slippery and if you mis-step you can fall! Even I fell and got my shorts wet. Bathing suits, towels, etc. are recommended. There are several layers of rocks to explore. Please make sure your kids DO NOT throw the smaller rocks since this place is VERY populated. I was a little bit bothered by the couple who let their kids do this. Also keep your eyes and an extra hand always available for the little ones wading in the water. Many chances to fall in the current. In the river, this may be a dangerous situtation for children 4 and under.

There are only a few picnic tables. We found a nice shady rock to have our picnic on. There are NO bathroom facilities at Diana's bath nor are there any facilities in the parking lot area. I believe many people were using the nearby woods.

On a warm sunny day this location will be well populated with vacationers. Dogs are allowed so feel free to bring well behaved dogs.

Check out our pictures at the following link:
NEC's Diana's Bath Pictures

Gardening....

2009-05-24T07:45:00.004-04:00

This year when not camping we will be working on our garden.

I built some garden boxes out of an old deck. We have tomatos, brocolli, squash, pumpkins, peppers, and watermellon.

Now on twitter

2009-05-15T08:37:00.002-04:00
I'm now rambling along with others (i.e., microblogging) on twitter.
Not entirely sure if I like this capability yet but I'm following a few sites and even have some followers.

Check it out.

http://twitter.com/newenglandcampr

Soulfest Announces Lineup!

2009-04-15T20:25:00.002-04:00

Soulfest announced its lineup recently.

Camping is available at Gunstock Mountain.

The July 30th show is looking good to me as I'm a big fan of the Newsboys and also like Phil Wickham.

Merrimack Valley Christian Film Festival

2009-04-02T19:25:00.004-04:00
The 17th Annual Merrimack Valley Christian Film Festival is starting this weekend at the Lawrence Showcase Cinemas!

We are a big supporter of this ministry and this life changing message these films bring. In the past our families have been counselors and ushers.

Tom Saab, his family, and ministry team does a great job!

All movies are 100% free!!!

Tip: Some "sell" out so make sure you arrive early.

Dates: 5-12 April 2009
Location: Showcase Cinema, Lawrence, MA

This has been a tough year for many. Come to the film festival to get some positive encouragement!

Christ is Alive!!!

Danforth Bay - Winter 2009

2009-02-03T07:44:00.003-05:00

Danforth Bay winter wonderland! Picture taken 1/31/09

Niagara Falls - Winter 2008

2009-01-20T20:06:00.004-05:00

Story coming soon....

Road Trip 2008 - Gateway Arch

2009-01-13T23:59:00.000-05:00
Our next stop on the way home was a visit to the Gateway Arch and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National park in St. Louis, MO.

This memorial was amazingly tall! Much bigger than I expected in fact you could see it for miles when we first entered St. Louis from the west. We would have liked to have visited it during the evening but we arrived quite late in St. Louis to begin with.

Getting There & Parking

We found getting there a bit confusing. We ended up over the Mississippi and into a what look like a bad part of Illinois before our GPS corrected us and got us back on another bridge over to St. Louis (the picture above is from the Illinois side). When we had finally arrived, we had a car carrier top on our roof so parking in the garage was out of the question! Parking there cost about $6. We followed signs for the RV parking but that wasn't clearly marked either. We finally found parking in front of the arch.

Visitor Center

The main visitor center is located underground just below the Arch Structure. We arrived at 845AM and it was about 15 degrees outside. The entrance to the arch is located underground. The doors opened at 9AM (so we had to wait outside in the bunker). Security is very tight. Expect to go through metal detectors and have your bags check similar to the airport.

The area includes a large open lobby, huge museum, gift shop, old fashion store (to get coffee), and two movie theaters. This is run by the National Park Service and even have a junior rangers program which the kids were able to go through the museum, answer questions, and earn their Junior Ranger path.

For tickets there are several options. We choose to take a ride to the top and watch the Lewis and Clark movie. There is another movie about the making of the arch.

At the Top

Riding up to the top you take a small tram of 4 to 5 cars. Each car fits about 4 to 5 people and takes a few minutes to get to the top. Our family fit fine in one car. You get some amazing views of St. Louis out of small windows from the top of the arch on one side and some other views of the Mississippi and Illinois from the other side.

Pictures will be here.

Lewis & Clark movie

The Lewis & Clark movie was AMAZING! The 45 minute movie gave an accurate historical account of how President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark and crew to explore the land newly aquired from the Louisanna Purchase. It gave an account of new animals including the Prarie Dog and how the Native American woman Sacagawea.

Speeding....

2009-01-13T21:44:00.000-05:00
*** BUMP -- due to comments ***

Late this past Saturday evening at Danforth Bay, I was walking the dogs with my daughter near my site and out of nowhere a speeding car turned the corner, swerved, and came very close to hitting us. The driver then proceeded to rush up the hill going well over the posted speed limit of 7MPH. We were a little taken back but AOK.

A few minutes later the same car rushed down the hill! I yelled "SLOW DOWN" with absolutely no reaction but fortunatley our favorite DBCR security guard was turning the corner and went chasing after the young driver and later gave him a lecture and lesson on how dangerous it is to drive in a campground with that is nearly full.

I later found out that Danforth Bay may be putting in NEW speed bumps but they may be delayed the grading job was unsatisifactory to the campground and since then the excess water from the severe storms has caused many of the roads to be in repair.

We have noticed from our site a number of "speeders". It is really concerning because we have 1 small child and other older children that are allowed to roam the park. With the campground now filled with LOTS kids running around, people on bicycles, walkers, etc. I have become more cautious when driving my car to my site or driving my golf cart around and obey the posted speed limit rules
It you are on vacation then SLOW DOWN on everything. I learned this on Ossipee Lake Road where I nearly escaped a speeding ticket (going 53 in a 30 MPH zone). The Freedom cops target this area. I've learned to SLOW down and enjoy the scenery and great weoods

Fall Road Trip 08 - T-REX (Kansas City) review

2009-01-09T18:54:00.008-05:00
Review of T-REX Restaurant

On Saturday December 6th we left the OKC Memorial and headed north on I35 (with hundreds of Oklahoma University Sooners fans heading north passing us at peaceful 75 to 80MPH for a game against Kansas City). Our next planned destination stop was to visit the T-Rex Cafe in Kansas City, KS.

Driving through Oklahoma and Kansas was very scenic. The land was mainly flat, many small oil drilling rigs, large farmland. The beautiful untouched prairies at the Flint Hills was simpy amazing. Wichita (the largest Kansas city) seemed no bigger than Nashua or Salem NH to me. If you blinked you might of missed it!

T-REX

Landy Restuarants, the same fine folks that bring you the themed Rainforest Cafe and the Aquarium restuarant also bring this very cool and exciting experience of dining with the dinosaurs and other sea and land creatures. If you love those places chances are you are going to love T-REX as well!

Atomosphere:

The atomosphere, experience, thrill, curosity, or whatever you want to call it is the main reason to visit T-Rex. We made a 100+ mile detour on the way home to have this dining experience (which we heard about at our recent Aquarium visit). The front of the building is amazing with life size dinosaurs statues and "pre-historic rock". Inside just about every dinosaur creature (fully skinned of course ;->) you can think about comes to life at some point. On two floors, T-REX has 7 different theme dining rooms so your dining experience is sure to be different if you visit often. There are aquariums, creepy-crawly things on the walls, and even a "meteor shower" every 1/2 hour.

Check out my pictures to see how this restuarant is themed.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569571323QcmUkQ

Grade: A++

Food:

We ordered quesadillas for an appetizer and sodas. For dinner my wife and I had a thin crust tomato sauce pizza with sausage, onions. The boys had a plain cheese pizza and my youngest daughter had the alfredo noodle sauce kids meal. The quesadillas were good (not the best I've had) but the pizza was only mediocre to put it politely. Well food is not the main reason to come here and we could have ordered some more of the expensive items on the menu. Perhaps higher quality???

Grade: C+

Service:

Unfortunatley the service during our visit was horrible. It was the 1st time I've left less than a 15% tip in a long time. We had to wait over 15 minutes to get a table and they had plenty of seating as the resturant was only 1/2 full and upstairs was mainly empty. It was a good time to snap some photos. The waitress was even worse as it took forever to get our food and when I asked for a drink refill it didn't arrive until the end of the meal. I ended up sitting at my table waiting for the waitress to return my credit card while my family shopped in the gift shop. This restuarant was staffed mainly by teenagers who in my opinion had very little experience. Quite a difference from the great service we got at the other Landry restaurant, the Aquarium in Nashville

Grade: D

Shopping

Great shopping area with lots of souvieners (no postcards though :-<). My wife let my youngest son "build-a-dino" sponsored by Build-A-Bear.

Overall we had a great time. The only problem I have with these "Theme-Restuarants" is that I wish they would provide some higher quality lower priced items on the menu

Winter Cuddling....

2009-01-01T17:33:00.003-05:00

Winter camping can be cold! We have been bundling up with the doggies in our beds on cold nights to keep them warm (vs. their crates). They learned and cuddled up together for a nap this afternoon on their warm and cozy dog bed.

Happy New Year!

Happy "Camping" New Year

2009-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00
Happy New Year!

Yay -- 2009!

I know 2008 was a difficult and not a very good year for a lot of people. I hope 2009 will be better for everyone. 2008 was the year of super high gas prices, bailouts, recession, tornados and wild weather, and a new president. For us, overall this year had its share of disappoinments as well but for the most part there was also many blessings.

As for camping with this last trip we have now camped every month of the year and on every major holiday! For holidays this year alone we added Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and New Years Eve.

We look forward to what God has in store for us in 2009!

Again, Happy New Year Everyone!

Fall Road Trip 2008 - Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

2008-12-31T19:23:00.006-05:00

On our way home from Dallas we stopped in to visit Oklahoma City National Memorial in Oklahoma City to pay our respects (and to teach our children) to the 168 victims who died during the tragic bombing that took place on April 19, 1995.

The memorial was very moving and nicely done. The reflecting pool (shown above) is where once N.W. Fifth Street continued.

Just to the left of this in this picture is where an empty chairs is placed to represent each of the victims. We stopped by in the evening and then again in the morning.

Pictures are located here:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569568815skfZzl

Fall Road Trip 2008 - Dallas Zoo Review

2008-12-26T09:48:00.009-05:00

Logistics

In the beginning of December we visited the Dallas Zoo located just minutes from downtown Dallas. The temperatures in Dallas at this time of year vary widely. One day were were there it was 75 but the day we visited was a chilly but sunny 48 degrees and we were warned ahead of time that most of the animals were inside and not available for viewing. Being "tough, cold blooded" New Englanders we wore just light jackets and jeans and were fine.

There is a parking charge of $5 per car. Admission to the zoo is $10 per adult and $7 for children. You can save a bundle by showing them your AAA card. Our total admission was only $26. Due to the weather and it being a week day there was only a handful of visitors in the park.

There is a carousel and monorail ride which costs extra.
The Dallas Zoo currently has two sections: Wilds of Africa and Zoo North

Wilds of Africa:

To enter this part of the park you need to walk through a wide tunnel (the Dallas METRO rail and other highway is located above) which contains exhibits to view. Upon entering the African section you immediately come upon African Penguins. They didn't mind the cold and were about playing. Unfortunately though on this "chilly" Dallas day, the rest of this section of the park was a bit disappointing. The monorail was not running (due to the weather and most likely the low attendance) and indeed many of the animals were inside and there is no inside viewing areas. We did not see any gorillas or chimpanzees. We did see some storks, crocdiles, and some really cute meerkats along with an Okapi (which to me looks like 1/2 donkey and 1/2 zebra).

Throughout this 'woodys trail' part of the park there is life-size bronze statues of certain animal for the kids to play around and snap a picture or two. One section even has lots of live bamboo trees growing.

Zoo North

The older part of the zoo (I presume) contains many more animals. This part of the park for the time that we visited was much more entertaining. My 4 year old son got a kick out of the Lemur (since he loves the show Zamoobafoo). This section is much larger and could take several hours to properly tour. They have a huge cafeteria and modest size gift shop.

Most of the animals not afraid of the cold included: the Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffes (had an inside viewing area).

They even has some exotic animals which you don't typically see in zoos in the Northeast including: Cheetah, Red-flanked Duiker, Kangaroos, Wallaby's, African Bongo, Giselles, etc.

Overall a GREAT selection of animials including several various species of monkeys. We spent a good amount of time watching them interact with each other. One even had a new born. Also it was a bit disappointing because the Tigers were in.

There was a children Zoo section as well. We didn't have time to visit this area.
Overall

I really didn't find the Dallas area all that appealing with heavy traffic for miles around at all differnt hours. However, if you find yourself in the Dallas area with your family then I highly recommend visiting the Dallas Zoo. We visited for a quick 3+ hours but we could have easily spent a whole day there (especially in warmer weather).

Our pictures are located here

Icy Christmas Roads

2008-12-25T18:17:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Last night with warmer temps to melt a good deal of the snow, some rain followed by cold temps and high winds the roads litterally became sheets of ice!!! We had a hard time coming down some of the hills.

Fortunately the Danforth Bay staff was right on this (even though the campground was technically closed)! A sand truck came around in the early afternoon and made things much more managable.
One of the our new adventures of being winter campers!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T20:51:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! We are camping this Christmas in our travel trailer. We have no water of course but Danforth Bay has GREAT accomodations including a kitchen area to help prepare meals and cleanup.

My wife wanted to continue the "house building" tradition but I was against it due to the stickyness and mess. Guess who won? LOL! Actually -- it wasn't too bad at all. Here are some of "the Gingerbread" houses the kids made.

Now I just hope this icestorm passes and doesn't take out the electricity....

Free Admission to Santa's Village for Ice Storm Victims

2008-12-20T20:02:00.003-05:00
If you were affected by the recent ice storm you can get free admission to Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH this week.

December 21st
December 27-28th
Details are here:

http://www.santasvillage.com/public/contact/ice.cfm

We visited Santa's village in Summer 2006.

Our review is here:

http://newenglandcamper.blogspot.com/2006/08/santas-village-review.html

King Pine's New Years Celebration

2008-12-19T21:45:00.003-05:00
I heard this on the radio today 94.9 FM and later found an inviation in my e-mail inbox. We also heard they have sleigh rides available! We are hoping to do some cross country skiing at King Pine this year as well.

It's snowing up here and more to come!!! Great time to visit the North Country of NH and King Pine is a nice place for all members of the family.

Here is an email that I recieved from King Pine:

What a great deal:

A family-friendly New Years Eve celebration. Looking to spend New Year's eve with the family this season? We've put together a special evening that offers games, events and of course, skiing and snowboarding! Our family-friendly celebration even includes a torchlight parade that everyone can participate in.

Here is what the night looks like...FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY:

Lift tickets for New Year's Eve - 4pm through 10pm
Outdoor music and bonfire at the base of King Pine
Ice skating in our covered and well-lit "Tohko Dome"
Outdoor Hot Tubs, provided by Softubs of North Conway at the base of King Pine
Torchlight parade at 10pm - all welcome to join in!
Family fun ski & snowboard raceFOR KIDS: All the above, plus...
Twisted-10 Big Air Series - PRELUDE (non-competitive and open to all ages and abilities)
Tykes Night Out @ 7-9pm with face painting, magic, balloon tieing, games and FUN! (geared towards 5-10 yr olds).
Enjoy it all at our regular ticket price of...$20 (13+), $12 for juniors (4-12)Snowtubing will also be available that evening from 5-7 pm and 7-9 pm for $15 per person. Advanced reservations recommended.
New Years Eve lodging @ Purity Spring Resort. Relax... spend the holiday with us for even more fun! Our New Year's Eve lodging package includes all the above PLUS 2 nights logding, all meals, complimentary child care from 4-9 pm (advanced reservation only), complimentary skiing and snowtubing ... and even a pizza party sponsored by Flatbread Pizza in the kid-friendly Trail's End Tavern at 10:30pm!

Winter Camping Tips #!

2008-12-19T20:37:00.002-05:00
We are winter camping in our RV trailer this year for the 1st full year. Some tips learned and I'm sure more to come.

Tip #1: Get a good pair of boots! Make sure they are water proof. Sneakers won't cut it. My feet are wet! Bring lots of socks.
Tip #2 (RV): Don't Open Slider: We have an RV with a slider glass door. Keep it shut! We have had lots of ice and snow build up in the tracks, causing the door not to shut and more cold air to come into the camper.
Tip #3: (Insulate Windows): We are going to try to seal some of our windows with window treatment bought at Walmart. Not sure if this will work or not. Stay tuned...
Winter camping can be lots of fun. We hope to ski, cross country ski, snowmobile, shop, go tubing and maybe even take in a sleigh ride.
Hoping to hit King Pine, Cranmore, and possibly Wildcat this year!

Road Trip 2008 - Travel to Dallas

2008-12-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Graceland

From Nashville, TN we headed down I40 to Memphis, TN. I learned that Tennessee takes a long time to travel through going East to West! Almost 4 times longer than Mass. I do love the 70MPH speed limits. Never saw law enforcement once! My wife wanted to stop in at Elvis Presley's Graceland but by the time we arrived it had been closed for several hours. We were surprised to find that this location is more or less set back in a small city. The is a small side access road that you can drive up to and "live park" to get out and take a peak. That is exactly what we did on this rainy cold night (along with a few dozen other people). The picture of the house is from the city street. The visitor center across the street was all lit up with Christmas lights along with music playing (by the king of course!) Elvis' plane "the Lisa Marie" is available for touring as well. Overall, I expected Graceland to be much more in a country setting. It was very interesting but it is probably somewhere I would visit without children.

We stayed the night in Little Rock, Arkansas. The next morning I tried to convince my wife to visit the President Bill Clinton's Library but she wanted nothing of it so we moved ahead to Dallas Texas.

Saltgrass

We were in Dallas for a week while I was on business. Dallas is a HUGE city and believe it or not can be quite intimidating to drive in with these super structure highways and over passes. This was enough for my wife to stay in and catch the kids up on their homeschool work while I was at work. Also my oldest son was sick so we didn't go anywhere. The last night there we ventured out for steak at the Saltgrass restaurant. I beleive this is a southern chain resturant but definately ALL Texas! My wife had Cattleman's Prime Rib with a very large baked potato smothered in sour cream along with a tasty caesar salad. The prime rib in our opinion was just a bit on the fatty side but otherwise very tasty. I had the Wagon Boss Top Sirloin steak (cooked medium) along with a baked potato and a full sized garden salad. My steak was absolutely delicious and I ate every bite (no fat whatsoever). I heard a long time ago that the meat is tastier and leaner in Texas because the cattle are wheat fed vs. corn fed (not sure if this is true or not but I do have to say the entire meal was great). The waiter supplied plenty of wheat bread with a sweet butter. We went through 3 loaves! The weird part of the dining experience that was that the home of "JR Ewing" were were dining in a "dry area" and in order to have a beer they had to scan my license. The beer (can't remember the name) was OK and I didn't want to go through the hassle so only had 1 small glass (and I later found out that it was inexpensive: only $1.50 compared to my wife's $2.29 ice tea.

Great Time! Even the kids enjoyed their pizza and chicken nuggets. My daughter even ordered and the devoured the kids BBQ Baby Back Ribs. The service was awesome and made us feel at home waiter dresses in Western style.

Winter Camping starts at Danforth Bay!

2008-12-13T16:40:00.002-05:00
Winter camping started this weekend at Danforth Bay. Our original plans was to head up on Thursday evening but mother nature had changed that plan! The ice storm which hit northern Mass and southern New Hampshire caused us to loose power at home and we wisely stayed home. We ended up loosing power early Friday morning and it did not come back until Friday evening. Our neighbors right behind us (on a different street) still does not have power and this includes 1/2 of our neighbors. Hope everyone made out ok! We headed up on Saturday morning.

Some winter camping tips are already forming:
Hats, mittens, scarfs, winter coats are needed!
Ice-delocker. Our locks were FROZEN! I had to pull the blow dryer out of my wife's suitcase in order to open the camper.
Ice-chipper is your most important tool!
Lots of blankets. We found some fleece throws at Walmart for $4.
Sleds! The kids enjoyed taking walks and going through the woods.
Stay tuned! More to come for sure!

Road Trip - Fall 2008: - Aquarium Restaurant Review

2008-12-10T12:06:00.008-05:00
This is a first of series of reviews from our recent travels to the deep South and the Midwest.

Our first stop was a very brief stop in Nashville, TN at the Grande Ole Opry complex. We didn’t catch any concerts, nor did we see any country music stars. In fact I was very unimpressed with the area. I was expecting something a bit more "country" but instead it was like another super mall complex with a superhighway along the perimeter.

We did manage to enjoy a very nice lunch at the Aquarium Restaurant in the Opry Mills mall complex.

Quick Review:

The entrance has a large size circular ceiling to floor fish tank.
Another overhead viewing "fish tank" stretches through thee archway of the reception area to the entrance of the dining room.
There is a huge tank in the middle of the dining room featuring many types of sea creatures including sharks, schools of fish, and even a guitar nose stingray. Plus many more.
The restaurant itself, is well themed and very relaxing. You literally feel like you are dining at the bottom of the ocean.
Kids can get up and walk around to explore the fish.
A diver appears in the tank twice a day for feedings.
The service here was excellent! The waitress came around and asked if we had any questions about any of the fish.
Great place for the family as well as a romantic date.
The food was good but a bit pricey. $5.99 for kid meals. $17 and up for entrees
As this was lunch we had burgers and subs (about $10-$12)

Pictures of this great restaurant is here.

Updates to NEC sites

2008-12-06T00:05:00.003-05:00
Hello All!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to a great and exciting winter in New England and perhaps traveling beyond! Thank you for all your support!

I will have at LEAST 5 new interesting post to provide in December and (probably more). Stay tuned!!!

If you would like to see some of our detailed pictures be sure to sign up as a "follower" and I'll send picture e-mails, travel upates, etc. I'm currently re-organizing my webshots photos and will be making some much needed changes.

Happy travels to everyone and Merry Christmas!

NEC (Bob)

Journey to Bethlehem

2008-12-02T00:01:00.000-05:00
Journey to Bethlehem, Windham, NH
(photo courtesy of Windham Bible Chapel)

The presentation of "Journey to Bethlehem" at Windham Bible Chapel, in Windham,NH is coming this weekend!!! (Rt. 111 off of Rt. I93 to S. Lowell Rd., Left onto Cobbetts Pond Rd.)

Travel back in time and experience the people, places, and circumstances that surrounded the birth of Jesus Christ. Follow your guide on an outdoor journey as you travel from the city of Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem. You'll encounter the Roman Guards, Wisemen from the East, Old Testament Prophets, Shepherds tending their sheep, messenger Angels, ending your journey at the Stable with the Christ Child lying in the Manger.

Hours:

Thursday, December 4th - 7 to 9PM
Friday, December 5th - 7 to 9PM
Saturday, December 6th - 5 to 8PM

FREE ADMISSION OUTDOOR GUIDED TOURS EVERY 10 MINUTES FAMILY CAROLING AROUND THE BONFIRE HOT COCOA & COOKIES

Feel free to visit the church's web site at http://www.windhambible.com/

Hope you all can come and treat your family to a live reenactment of the true story and meaning of Christmas this Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:04:00.001-05:00
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.
Hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming holiday season.

Danforth Bay Off Season Review

2008-11-22T00:05:00.000-05:00
Feel like doing some late season camping? Why not! Gas prices are low. No crowds, no problems getting in and some campgrounds are open year round. Danforth Bay Camping Resort in Freedom, NH is one example and definately one of our favorites. We have been camping here for over 5 years now. Off Season / Late Fall is our favorite time to camp. We love the quietness and serenity.

Worried about not having water? Danforth Bay has full hookup sites (winter water / winter sewer) located in the Chocura section of the park). If your camper is winterized (like ours) Danforth Bay has....
Warm, heated, clean, modern restrooms
Metered long hot showers
Kitchen area for washing dishes, cooking meals, etc.
24 Hour Laundry room
Things to do:
Christmas shopping at Settler's Green (20-30 minutes away)
Skiing at nearby King Pine (opens 12 December), Cranmore, and other great mountains
Walking around the campground
Relaxing, Playing games, watching a movie in Danforth Bay's family room.
Where to eat? Some of our favorites are:
Pizza Barn, Ossipee, NH (15 minutes) is open on weekends (check below for my review)
Yankee Smokehouse, W. Ossipee, NH (10 minutes)
Whittier House, W. Ossipee, NH (10 minutes)
Cafe Noche, Conway, NH (25 minutes)
99, N. Conway, NH (30 minutes)
Many, many more!
Other mentionables:
Friendly staff and seasonal people
Modern Family room with Big Screen TV
Fall colors, leaves
Did I mention: Very, very quiet

Off Season Camping Tip #2 - Bring Water Jugs

2008-11-22T00:01:00.003-05:00
We arrived last evening to a quite chilly camper (21F registered in the car thermometer). Our programmable thermostat (non-programmed -- I got to figure that one out!) in the camper stated "LO".

I started the RV heater and we proceeded to take a ride around the campground while the camper warmed up a bit. About 20 minutes later we returned and it was now 37F.

The kids wanted hot chocolate so I went to grab a bottled gallon of water. Guess what? The water jug that left from last week was frozen solid! Fortunatley we brought some single water bottles. Interestingly, the bottles in the fridge were not frozen. Lesson learned: Bring water jugs fresh from home.

Pizza Barn, Ossipee NH Review

2008-11-14T23:10:00.003-05:00
We went back to Pizza Barn in Ossipee NH for my wife's birthday celebration.

Now that is the off-season they are only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

When we arrived on a Friday evening, even for a slowing economy the place was packed but we didn't have to wait (we showed up around 730PM).

We were shown to an extra large picnic-table (which could have seated 8 or more) near the back. The resturant during the evening (and even during the day) is cozy but a bit dark. Plenty of light to read the menus. My wife spotted cobwebs on the lights but the rest of the place looked super clean.

The service was only good as the waitresses was very busy with several other tables. We sat near the jukebox and the kids got a kick out of that. Even gave them some quarters to play some songs. We ordered 2 medium pizzas along with some garlic bread.

The garlic bread served with a small cup of marinara sauce was very good but I thought this was just a little bit pricey at $5.50 for the amount of food that you get.

The medium Hawaiin pizza ($13.50) was a great value and was LOADED with bite-size pineapples and ham. Very delicious and was perfect to share with the birthday girl. The medium cheese pizza, ordered for the kids was delicous as well. The kids gobbled this up without any complaints. The pizza was piping hot and very good. At Pizza Barn, you really need a fork and a knife to eat this pizza (especially when its first served).

My wife and I both noticed that cheese on the pizza is somewhat different (when compared to our local pizza joints at home). The cheese contains some spices (italian -- i presume) and perhaps bits of parmesan cheese. Overall it was quite tasty.

Two medium pizza's was plenty for our family of 5 (although my 4 year old did more socializing than eating) with some left over for lunch tomorrow.

The best part of this evening's experience was meeting some of the friendly local folks (this is true New Hampshire). Through my youngest son (who couldn't sit still through the entire meal) we got to know the older couple behind us who told us they visit the Pizza Barn every Friday night for pizza. We later learned that they knew a few of the seasonals here at Danforth Bay and even some of the staff members. They were friendly and we talked with them for quite a bit.

This local establishment seemed to highlight "LOCAL" and "FRIENDLY" when we visited this evening. Quite different from the touristsy hustle and bustle atmosphere feel during the summer season.

Overall we love Pizza Barn and perhaps it may become a Friday "off-season" night tradition for us as well.

*** NOTE: This review can also been seen on That's Camping discussion board ***

Benefit for Candace / Patriots Raffle

2008-11-06T20:00:00.000-05:00
*** UPDATE 11/6/08 ***

I don't usually put items like this in my blog but I got this plea from my sister that I want to share. I'm trying to get more information (e.g., website, story, etc.) that legitimizes this cause. I trust my sister

Message from my sister Jenny:

♥ Cadence Nicole Massie ♥

Cadence is the Daughter of my best friend Nikki. Cadence was born w/multiple heart complications and is now at Children's hospital awaiting a heart for a transplant. She is only 19 months old.

Saturday November 8th from 7pm-11pm
Tewskbury VFW
87 Vernon St
Tewksbury, MA 01876
(978) 658-8983

$15.00 tickets sold at the door.

There will be a DJ, Food and prizes to be raffled off inside.

If you find yourself bored Saturday night w/nothing to do, why not stop in and help out this young family. All the money being raised will go to help with Cadence's medical cost.

If you can't make it Saturday night another way to donate is through a fund at the TD Bank.

Donations can be payable to:

Cadence Massie Fund
TD BankNorth
995 Main St, Tewksbury, Ma 01876

~Always keep Cadence in your thoughts and prayers~

----

Original Message from my sister Jenny:

I need some help! We are arranging a benefit for my friend Nikki and her b/f Jimmy. Their 17 month old daughter is in need of a heart transplant. She is currently at Childrens and living with assistance from a ventillator and she is in a medically induced paralytical state. During this trying time neither of Jimmy or Nicole are able to work, but yet they still have bills to pay, rent to pay and another child (3 yr old daughter Skylar) to take care of....

Message from Nikki's Sister:

"My niece Cadence was placed on the waitingg list for a heart transplant. She is 17 months old, born with many heart problems. Her doctors in Boston have done as much as they can, and now are awaiting a new heart for her.The money is all going towards Cadence, since it is extremely expensiveto travel back and fourth to Boston caring for her. She is expected to spending a long time at Children's Hospital.We are having a raffle for two tickets to Patriots game in November vs the Bills. The raffle will draw on Halloween.You can buy the tickets for $1 a piece or 6 tickets for $5

Please send me a message if you would like to donate or purchase tickets :)You may also email me: jessmassie@gmail.com MyAIM is xrecka, and please message me anything or add me on myspace.

Mishawum Farm Haunted Hayride

2008-11-03T00:01:00.002-05:00

For Halloween we took the kids on a haunted hayride at Mishawum Farms located in Freedom, NH (about 5 minutes from Danforth Bay Camping Resort).

We went around 630PM as suppposedly it gets scarier later on in the evening. The real hay wago ride pulled by a tracker is about $5 per person

Hightlights of the ride:

"Headless horseman" (riding on a real horse) was running through the woods was really cool

Sounds from the haywagon brustling up against the overgrown brush make it a bit more eerie. I keep looking over to see if someone was sneakingup on us.

The ride is about 20 to 30 minute ride (just long enough). Most of it goes through the woods and along the perimeter of the horse circles.

A clown standing on the side of the road only to come to life as we were passing by really freaked out and scared our pre-teens out of their the seats and a recieved big laugh from my wife!
The "Cruella da Ville" character (also coming to life as we passed) chased a "the puppy" was cute. The puppy hopped on the hayride and rode with us for the rest of the trip.
Overall

This is a local "Mom and Pop" operation (vs Spooky World) and I'm not big on going to these "scary/haunted" events so I have nothing really to compare it against. All I can say is that we had a GREAT time and was a nice change to the typical "trick-or-treating". They even gave out a little candy treat for the kids at the end of the ride.

We hoped they had more business as this place was not easy to find. We only knew about it because posters that were around the Freedom/Danforth Bay area.

Next year -- CHECK IT OUT!

Dry Camping Tip #1 - Cook Ahead

2008-11-01T00:01:00.002-04:00
"Off-Season" / "Dry Camping" season is here in New England!

*** Updated 11/2/2008 ***

Most campgrounds are closed for the season but many are still open. This is a great time to camp! Usually things are much quieter, gas prices are much cheaper, things are low key, but the temperatures can be very cold with a few nice days thrown in here and there.

With campers winterized using the water for cleaning dishes is not available. To help solve this problem for us we are cooking ahead of time at home.

Thursday night I did some pre-camp cooking. I cooked a "Lazy's Man Lasagna" for Saturday evening dinner and a cream-of-chicken caserole (with potatoes -- not shown) for Sunday afternoon dinner. All cooked and then frozen ahead of time. My wife even made some Halloween cupcakes (not frosted here) for some snacks.

Lunch will be leftovers. Breakfast will be pastry, cereal, etc. All with disposal utensils, bowls, plates, etc. This will really reduce the number of dishes we need bring home or have do wash at the camp kitchen.

Despite the inconviences, we love off season camping!

*** Recommend defrosting these meals (in fridge for 8 to 12 hours) before cooking in oven. Worked out well but we didn't defrost and took longer time to cook. Not good with hungry kids!!! ***

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T00:01:00.002-04:00
Happy Halloween!!!
Pumpkins from Sherman's Farm.

Sherman's Farm

2008-10-28T21:12:00.004-04:00
We visited the Sherman's Farm located in East Conway, NH in order to pickup our holiday pumpkin's.
We took a nice "hayless" hayride around the permiter of a very large corn maze to the pumpkin field.
Most of the pumpkins in the field were in really rough shape with many rotted and moldy pumpkin (probably because we were late this year in picking them out and perhaps because of the wet cold summer). The kids were able to walk around a bit and find two in good shape. The "hayride" waits for everyone to pick their pumpkin before returning to the entrance.
The "hayride" was $4 per person (children under 4 free) and our medium size pumpkins were about $5 each. The $4 admission charge allows for you to visit the goals and jump in the corn seeds. They had a few food vendors serving kettle corn, hot dogs, etc. They had a a cow tractor ride for the young kids for $1 and a shooting game.
If rain wasn't in the forecast and I didn't injure my foot I would have considered entering the Maize. The Maize cost is $8 per person. I'm not sure if that includes the hayride.
It was a fun way to spend the morning but it would have been more economical to purchase the pumpkins at Walmart but pumpkin picking is one of family traditions.

keep the Change...

2008-10-28T17:43:00.004-04:00
My niece and her friends (a Virginia Tech senior) attended the McCain / Palin support rally in Salem, VA. She got within an arms length of Govenor Sarah Palin.

I love her poster "I'll keep my freedom, my guns, and my money, you can keep the Change" McCain/Palin. This says it all.

I'm proud of her political activism and gives me some hope for her generation.

Gettysburg

2008-10-22T21:48:00.010-04:00
Updated 28 October 2008

During our recent trip to Pennsylvania we stopped in for a history field trip without our homeschooled children to the Gettysburg Battlefield and visited the brand NEW Gettysburg National Military Park (Museum and Visitor) center.

This is located about 1 mile from previous vistor center. The entire entrance area is covered with thousands of beautiful black eye susans. There are at least 3 HUGE parking lots including plenty of spots for buses, RVs, etc. When we visited we had to park in the bus area because all other parking lots were full! Quite a change from 2007 when their other dinky parking lot wasn't even 1/2 full.

Museum, Movie, and Cyclorama

Entrance to the Museum, Movie, and Cyclorama is about $7.50 for adults. The museum is very modern and contains lots of displays and artificats. The movie is realistic as well as modern. It is narrated by Morgan Freeman. After the movie you are escorted to the Cyclorama where you get perspective of Picketts Charge (the third and last day of the battle). They cyclorama is a 360 painting of the battlefield. Definately worth the admission price!

Our kids even took part in the National Park Junior Ranger program (which was revamped for Gettysburg in 2008) and earned their patch. There was about a dozen activities that could be done each worth a specific amount of points. I found that many of the questions were rather difficult. Some sections are geared for younger kids (e.g., monument match). Touring the battlefield was worth 6 points which is what we did.
We followed the audio CDs - auto tour that we bought last year and toured the battlefield. We stopped at almost every stop and enjoyed the sites. I suggest you give yourself 2 to 3 hours to tour the entire battlefield. Its very amazing to imagine the bloodshed, war, that occurred on the fields.

Going Home

We left Gettysburg around 6PM and immediately got into traffic (from an accident -- i presume) on PA15 (they diverted us from the highway for 2-3 miles -- my "low" gas light came on, moving only 5 MPH, but fortunatley we were not stranded). Just a little bit stressful to state the least.

A couple hours later, we left NJ 287 to get some food. (I believe there should be a law against resturants posting their signs on the highway especially if that resturant is 5 miles inland!). Once leaving it was difficult to turn around and our GPS quickly got us onto another highway and that route led us right into NY city (long story -- worthy of a blog entry). We got home safely around 2AM but we have a great Penn trip!

No more field or road trips for now. Time to get back to the basics!

Webshots pictures are located here. Last years pictures are here.