Fall Road Trip 2008 - Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

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

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

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

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

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

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 #!

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.
Hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming holiday season.

Danforth Bay Off Season Review

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

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

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

*** 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

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

"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

Happy Halloween!!!

Pumpkins from Sherman's Farm.

Sherman's Farm

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...

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

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.

Hersheypark in the Dark

We attended the Hersheypark in the Dark on the opening weekend - Saturday 17 October 2008. The photo to the right is of the entrance during the evening.

Tickets are $23.95 for attendees ages (10+) and $16.95 for ages 3 to 9 and seniors (55+). This includes entrance into Hersheypark and includes all rides and shows. On Saturdays the park opens up at 2pm. Parking is $6 for this event.

Barking Lot

Hersheypark provide a clean, well staffed, and maintained kennel to house your pet called "the Barking Lot". Kenneling your pet will cost $10.

Rides

With exception of the Boardwalk section (waterpark) of the park most of the rides were open. Each ride was named something different for Halloween. The carousel even had Halloween music coming from the Orchestra. We were disappointed that the monorail only had 1 train running. This caused a large delay and long lines. However most rides did have the maximum number of units running.

Theme

For being one of the top candy producers in the USA, except for the great entrance, the "themeing" (decorating, holiday spirit, etc.) of this event was somewhat a disappointment. There was corn stalks and hay bales and some lights few and far between.

Employees were dressed neatly in nice Orange "Hershey in the Park" sweaters and rides were "renamed" with a Halloween feel.

The good news for parents of young children is that there is nothing scary about this event. We were concerned about the Busch Gardens event and the Canobie Lake event (right here in New England).

Also the Trick-or-treating was a bit disappointing especially since we took the extra effort to bring costumes for the kids. Trick-or-treating (for kids 12 and under) in the brochure is advertized as starting at Hershey's Chocolate World through Treatville (which is a catering area across from Boardwalk) but this must of been a well hidden secreat as the only trick-or-treating we found was in Treatville (nowhere else) where kids receive about 10 pieces of candy and a magazine that is suited more for adults. The brochure definately is not correct.

We were disappointed that there was hardly any character sitings. Only one spot when you entered the park.

We have been to the Hershey Sweet Lights show and Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane and have expected the same type of quality that we have experienced at these two events.


Value

Lets face it, you come to Hersheypark for one thing -- the rollercoasters and the superb rides and shows that they have and we were not disappointed. For $23.95 (about 1/2 the summer price and most of the rides open) this is well worth the visit! I relaxed more and didn't feel I had to hit every ride.

Tips

• Arrive early - Hersheypark parking lot opens well before the park opens. We arrived 1 hour early and were able to get parking near the stadium. You can poke around in Chocolate World, nearby shops, and then head down and stand in line.
• Buy Tickets Ahead of Time - Hersheypark did not open up the gate early and by the time they did there was a LONG line. If there is a specific popular attraction that you want to hit (e.g., Farenheit, Stormrunner)
• General Savings Tip. After about an hour of searching (and even a post to the facebook site) I was not able to find any promo codes; coupons, etc. online. We stopped at the Giant Supermarket in Hershey, PA (off of PA 39) and was able to pre-purchase our tickets a savings of $3 per ticket (9 and over $20.95; 3-9 $13.95) and was able to immediately enter the park which saved about 15-20 minutes.
  
  As always, photos on my webshots account.

Hershey's Chocolate World

Hershey's Chocolate World is located about 7-10 miles off of I81 in Hershey, PA.

For us its a "must see" trip on our trips down to Virginia. Its a little bit more than 1/2 way.

Review coming soon!!!

Homecoming

Hope everyone had a nice Columbus Day weekend. The weather was superb here in New England and continues to be excellent!

We were fortunate enough to have a nice visit from our daughter and her significant other back from her US Coast Guard station in Nantucket. She was happy to get off the island! We will definately have to make a visit there sometime soon.

The two middle kids were a little bit dirty (working in the yard).

After seeing this picture along with my 3 siblings (and their families) early this week I realized that time flies! Enjoy every moment. Hug your kids! They grow so fast.

Popup One Stop

Marc and Jenn have recently purchased a 2000 Palomino Colt popup camper, have already been on 3 trips already, and Marc has started his own website called Popup One Stop

This site contains buy tips, pros/cons, general information and even a You Tube video or two on popup camping.

They are just starting out but I'm sure this site will be filled with invaluable information soon.

Check it out!

Connecticut Renassiance Faire Review

My son is learning about the Renaissance in his 8th grade homeschool class. When we heard about the King Richard's Faire (KRF) in Carver, MA and we thought this would be a great way for him to experience this period of time. Well after doing some research on the internet we found that there were several bad reviews of the King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA and stumbled upon a more affordable alternative (the Connecticut Renassiance Faire in Hebron, CT).

Notes:

• Free Parking
  
• $16 per adult / $7 per child (online coupon available to save $1 -- somone in line was nice enough to give us)


• $5.00 fried dough was nice and hot and very good


• $7.00 beef stew bowl was good but the beef could have been cooked a tad bit more.


• $3.00 french fries was OK


• Bottle of soda was $2.00; Can was $1


• Costume rental was $20.00


• Cash is allowed for food (no buying tickets like KRF). You can bring your own food and drinks in. Some vendors take credit cards.


• There are a lot vendor tents selling hand carved swords and sheilds to elegant costumes (one costume we saw cost over $1000)


• This location is about 2+ hour drive to travel from the NH Border and about 1 hour from Worcester.


• This event is held at the Lions Clubs fairgrounds.


• Real bathrooms which were clean and well maintained.

Characters / Dressing Up:

When we arrived we were politely greeted by the guides and was asked if we were here for the wedding. There are many, many interactive characters throughout the fairgrounds. They all speak with a British accent. My 10 year old daughter was dressed in a fancy princess dress we got her several years ago for our Disney trip, and my four year old son was dressed in his Knight costume (for Halloween this year). They both received a lot of attention. Even some of the pheasants would bow down to her. There were "characters" who were all dressed up in mud (yes I said mud). There was mime character. There was a farmer girl trying to catch a "6 foot rabbit". Many of the adults attendees (probably 50%) were also dressed up as wenches, princesses, knights, etc. If we return next year - I am so dressing up! LOL!

Storyline:

When we arrived we watched a sword fight between the King's court. There was activities regarding the wedding all day including a wedding shower, a very interesting wedding (where the evil step sister almost conquered the kingdom), and a wedding reception (where my daughter got to dance with the princess and was later "knighted". The great thing about this was that between scheduled performances you couldn't turn a corner without seeing a group of the King's court in the "Market area" interacting with each other.

There was three jousting shows (the last one was called the King's Joust with knights in full amour on horses). The show and storyline was nicely done and made my oldest son (14) want to come back and see each one. There were numerous smaller shows taking place at several stages. They pass the hat around for gratituies.

Misc:

They had activities for the kids. There was a investigation mystery paper with several questions that you collected and had to get clues from vendor shops or the characters walking around the fairgrounds in order to solve a "who-done-it" puzzle. Many times the kids would have to do a simple activity (e.g., belly dancing, jumping up and down, etc.) to get a clue. Overall we thought there was too many questions and the overall activity was a bit convuluted and complex that we ditched this activity about 1/2 way through. There was also free sword lessons for the kids and several games for them to play. They were not bored.

Overall

For our first EVER event in Connecticut we had a superb time! We loved the characters, storylines, and renaissance feel and felt it was a really good value. I do agree this fair is not for everyone.

I probably spent less than $100 (which I would have spent that alone for tickets at KRF -- not to mention food ticket prices). We drove over 200 miles (round trip) to make this event and have very fond memories and overall feel it was well worth it!!!

This CT Rennaissance Faire appears to be more family friendly and affordable.

King Richard's Faire Bad Reviews?

We wanted to take the kids to a Renassiance Faire for a homeschool field trip since this was a topic that our oldest son was studying in 8th grade. Our first choice was to revisit the King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA.

However after reading mostly bad reviews found on the internet and how they didn't even allow you to bring bottled water into the faire (or even allow kosher food for those on a strict dietary need). Along with the price gourging (and the need to use tickets vs. cash) we decided to skip this non-family friendly event and make the extra mile to the Connecticut Renassiance Faire in Hebron, CT. Great Choice! We had a great time without spending a fortune. More to come on this soon!

My pictures are here:

http://family.webshots.com/album/567675738tshJkI


List of Bad Reviews of King Richard's Faire:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/king-richards-faire-carver

http://www.bostoncentral.com/events/king_richards_faire/p1242.php

http://www.mit.edu/~jik/faire/faire.html

Fryeburg Fair 2008

Fryeburg Fair 2008

The Fryeburg Fair held in Fryeburg, Maine (located on the NH border) is Maine's largest fair and one of the most popular. We attended the fair on Monday, 29 September 2008 and it runs until Sunday 5 October 2008. We purposedly attended on a non-weekend day in order to avoid the crowds (because in the past we have had terrible experiences with heavy traffic which has caused us to wait hours to enter or more likely to leave the fairgrounds also the crowds inside the park are quite heavy. Well with it being a rainy weekend and the opening of the fair we were quite naive to think that the fair would not be crowded. The parking at the fairs two main gates which we have parked in the past (on a Saturday) were SOLD OUT. This year the cost is $5. Premium parking is glady offered by neighbors surrounding the fair grounds which offer you a spot to park on their lawns for $5 to $10 (based on proximity to the fair).

Crowds

Even though the parking situation was not ideal. The crowds weren't terrible at the fair (probably a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10). At lunch time you were hard pressed to find any picnic tables for seating but by 2PM there was plenty to go around. There was a long line at Old MacDonald's Petting farm for the young ones but you could pretty much go through all the animal stables and areas without bumping into anyone. Some parts of the fairgrounds near Expo 1 and 2 had some crowds and the ATM was crowded (see below) but other than that it was free-flowing. We literally bounced around from area to area without any problems.

Food

As usual we spent a majority of time and money eating at the fair. My wife had a full-course delicous turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce for $13 which included a drink (this is located near the Agricultural Exhibition center). She was able to share this with our toddler. My son and I each had a delicous sicilian style thick crust pizza for $3.50 each (his cheese mine pepperoni: NOTE garlic and black olive was also available). My daughter opted for a healthy lunch.... she had fried dough ;-> which was an unbelievable $5.00.

For ane early afternoon snack we stopped by the Sugar Shack and got a thing of maple cotton candy for $3.00. This was not the kids favorite and I'm not a big cotton candy fan so a lot of this went to waste. I believe you can try a sample.

For a late afternoon snack the kids shared a very large bowl of delicous fries for $7.00, youngest son wanted a soft serve icecream cone for $3.50 and the wife and I shared a blooming onion for $7.50 (which included extra ranch dip).

To save on money we brought in our own water bottles. Good thing. This was about $2 each for a small water bottle.

Cash

Well the fair had somewhat of its own little "credit crisis" as just about everything requires CASH. Nothing is wired to accept credit/debit cards. And with increasing food prices I was quickly out of cash within 1 hour. My toddler kept reminding me that he was still hungry and with no snacks in our backpack I had to find an ATM. Well the line I found at the ATM you would think it was a hot new ride at Disney or Universal. It took a good 1/2 hour for me to make it through that line. I quickly found out that out of the 4 ATMs they had only 1 was working. The line continued to grow as I moved up in the queue.

Animals

We saw exotic birds, sheep (including a ram), goats, horses, lots of cows, etc. My children was able to ask some of the owners specific questions about their animal they had to research for their homeschool project. After all this was an official field trip.

Overview

One thing about the Fryeburg Fair is that it doesn't change much. Year after year the same vendors return and they are located in the same location. You think they could "shake things up a little" and introduce new vendors or even the old ones in new locations.

Firepit Cooking!

Camp Cookin!!!

This weekend we returned back to basics of family camping in the cooking arena.

For dinner, my oldest son started a roaring fire and about 1/2 hour later we placed some pre-prepared idaho russett potatoes (poked and thoroughly wrapped in aliminum foil) on our campfire grill. About another 1/2 hour later we added corn on the cob again wrapped loosely up in aluminum foil.

Well the potatoes came out flawlessly (we have done this many times before with proven success). About 1 hour on the fire pit (while turning constantly) and then poke the potato to see check on whether it is done. However this was our first try with the corn and I can honestly say that it did not come out as expected. Most of it was burnt or undercooked. Lesson learned, it was an experiment and next time I will check the internet for recipes.

Later on we had Jiffy Pop. My oldest son and I shook this over the fire pit. Boy did this get hot (even with the pot holder) but we managed to get just about every kernel to pop! The popcorn itself was not the best I ever had but was very satisfying especially knowing that we worked or rather shaked hard for it. We all partook and enjoyed! Of course we had smores as well.

The next night we cooked hotdogs over the firepit.

What other firepit recipes do you have?

Burnt Marshmellows!

I recently joined the social network Facebook.com (not as alias NEC but as my real name). I learned about it through a family Labor-Day get-together and how they were talking to my 20 year old daughter in the USCG who is stationed in Nantucket and is hard to get in touch with! Yes I'm totally addicted. I actually got in touch with some old friends I haven't seen in YEARS.

Anyways, I recently saw an ad for Burnt Marshmellows Camping Social network and could not resist in signing up. Not sure how its going to turn out but the website looks professionally done and it has almost 1000 members. If you join Burnt Marshmellows feel free to sign me up as a friend!

PS. I have some good ideas for reviving newenglandcamper.com (or similar) for 2009 if I can just get organized and focused. LOL!

Mt Washington Hike - Part II

Mt. Washington Hike Trip Review - Part II
1130AM - At the extra fast pace that we were going, NOT being in the best of shape, my heart racing, I simply just had to rest with just .4 of a mile to the summit, STORM or NO STORM. We sat, rested, and had some healthy snacks (carrot sticks and grapes). Two college girls easily passed us who didn't even break a sweat.

1148 AM - We arrived at the Mt. Washington Summit. The FOG was extremely thick and it was somewhat windy. The Tuckerman's trail crosses the Mt. Washington auto road (or actually ends). I was somewhat concerned about crossing the auto road and getting hit because you could not really see clearly down street with the thick fog. Once crossing the street, believe it or not but climbing up the stairs seemed more painful than the rocks. The two college girls who passed us earlier were already starting their descent.

At the top of Mt. Washington there is several buildings, structures, cafeteria, lookout point, etc.
The actual summit is a very small rocky hill. There was many, many people (who mainly drove up in their cars or on the Cog railroad) waiting for their time at the top. Some people were actually complaining that there was NO stairs to the top. It was windy at the top but nowhere as windy as Mt. Chocura trip we took in 2007, however it was chilly. We decided to eat lunch within the cafeteria area since there was absolutely NO view on the mountain.

After buying Austin a "This Body Climbed Mt. Washington" we started out decent to get ahead of the storm.

1245PM - Our descent started off very cloudy but as time went on it cleared right up. About 15 minutes down it was totally clear. The threat of the thunderstorm must have been false. It was very tempting to hike back up to take additional pictures and get the full view of being on the summit be we proceeded on. We could see the AMC hut Lake of the Clouds nearby on our decent. It was also tempting to complete the short .3 (mostly level) hike to that location but we passed on that as well.

200PM - We chose to take a different route down. We headed through the Lions Head Peak. It was somewhat wet in the short "Christmas-tree" like forest area which lasted for only about .2 of a mile. At the Lion's head peak, we sat and enjoyed the view, took some pictures, had a snack and removed our sweaters. It was starting to WARM UP! People were passing us left and right (both on the trail and while we rested)! We were going slow.

313PM - We finally maded it to where Lions Head Trail merge's Tuckerman's ravine ()(near Hermit Lake). From here on down, fortunately the trail was MUCH easier. Less steep and more managable and less painful to walk on. We were able to pick up the pace and I don't believe anyone passed us from here on.

428PM - We finally made it to Pinkham Notch Base and then drove back to Danforth Bay for the evening!

1 Week later - My legs are finally back to normal. I was in pain for a good couple of days!

Things we did right:

1. Freeze some water bottles, provides for COLD water on the later part of the trip.
2. Packed some nutrious snacks such as fruits and granola bars.

3. Bring a camera! Great Photo oppurtunities.
4. Start out EARLY!

5. Even though it was WET in many sections of the park we DID NOT twist our ankles, slip, or fall. The only item we needed in our first aid kit was motrin for sore knees and sore feet. It really didn't help.

Lessons Learned:

1. Do not pack yogurt as a trail snack. I ended up spilling part of mine - also way too much trash! Bring a trash bag with you!
2. Bring an extra T-shirt or two.
3. Train ahead of time. Good intentions this summer gone bad.
4. Check in with Ranger station about weather. Don't trust hear-say on the mountain.
5. Food is actually reasonable at the Mt. Washington cafeteria. Example. A bottle of diet coke was $1.50 and hot dog was around $2. I believe they even had clam chowder for $3.

6. Bathrooms at Tuckerman's Ravine (real flush toilets) are actually clean. Use the Hikers bathroom at the Mt. Washington summit if you don't want to wait.

Hersheypark Review 2008

*** Updated 9/7/2008 ***

We stopped at Hersheypark on the way home from Virigina. Hershey and attractions is an easy drive from exits 78 and 81 on I81. Our original plan was to visit during the fall during the "Hersheypark in the Dark" event but since that may or may not happen we decided to stop in.

We left Sterling, VA around 730AM and arrived at Hershey park at 10AM. Parking is now $10, a $2 increase from 2007!!!

Hersheypark (HP) provides a dog kennel for $10 called "the Barking Lot". We boarded "Bailey" there for the day. HP provides water and an air conditioned crate. You must stop by several times in the day to walk and feed your dog.

Discount coupons for Hersheypark were easily found in most northern VA, PA supermarkets, Subways, and other food area. In the past we have had REALLY good luck in getting discount coupons at the PA visit center (located on I81) as well as online. This year we used the grocery coupons only to find out that Hersheypark raised their rates from $47 to $49, so this made a dent on our savings.

Enough of the ramblings -- here is the review:

Rollercoasters:

StormRunner - As soon as we were in the park Austin and I forced the troops to the Pioneer Frontier section of the park to ride on Fahrenhiet. When we got there (around 1030AM) there was already an 1 and 1/2 hour wait! Instead of waiting we decided to check out the new StormRunner coaster (new in 2006) instead which was about a 5-10 minute walk also located in Pioneer Frontier. When we arrived there was NO WAIT. This coaster takes off 0 to 72 MPH in less than 2 seconds, climbs high then has a big drop. This start is very similar to Disney's Rock-N-Roll rollercoaster but I didn't feel that the startout was as intense. Although this coaster starts off great and has some AMAZING drops and excitement, the overall ride is too short. I would have been disappointed if we didn't get to ride this twice.

Comet - This is one of the most scarier rollercoasters (especially if you sit up front), not because of its drops or because of its loops (it doesn't have any). The scary part is that this coaster is REALLY old. I noticed (and so did the coaster) the wood is warped in several places and the whole time I worried about the integrity of the boards and the entire structure. Especially during the sharp curves and turns. After going to Hersheypark for 10 years, this was my first time on Comet and probably my last time!

Great Bear - Always an awesome and nice and smooth steel roller coaster that seats 4 to a seat (feet dangling) with 8 rows for a total of 32 passengers (on most runs). The lines were short when we visted so we waited an extra 10 minutes to sit in the front seat! Wow! Totally awesome!!! I love the Great Bear. Just perfect.

Sidewinder - Didn't go on this ride. The ride goes forwards and then backwards on the same track and includes several inversions times two -- which makes me ill. Austin hit this ride and loved it like his older sister.

Trailblazer - This was our 4 year olds first rollercoaster. This is a really tame rollercoaster which is suitable for "brave" young children as well as "daring" senior citizens and just about everyone in between. Most of the time there is never a wait for this. Techically its part of Pioneer Frontier section of the park but its really kind of at an obscure section of the park with the Texas-style resturant and show close by. A short walk to either Minetown or the main Pioneer Frontier section.

Sooper Dooper Looper - Located in the Comet area of the park, a bit more agressive than the Trailblazer coaster but by today's standards is rather docile for coasters. It contains 1 inversion and the rest of the ride is relatively slow. My wife who is being a bit more daring since turning 40 stated "why am I doing this", I wish I brought my camera!

Fahrenheit - Hersheypark's 11th roller coaster is definately the BEST coaster in the park. Several dated water features were removed to make room for this beauty! After spending 10+ hours in the park and checking in several times to ride this (with 1+ hour) waits we decided to bite the bullet and tough it out and stand in line. Fortunately the line moved better than advertised and we were strapped in our seats within 30 minutes. The crew was energetic, interactive and the climb was even more amazing! To start out, you literally are at a 90 degree angle during the climb. The first drop is even better. Then several more twists turns and drops! It is truly an amazing coaster. I definately would have ride this again if given the chance. Overall, I still like the SheiKra at Busch Gardens Africa better (didn't get to try the Griffon coaster at BG Williamsburg) but Fahrenheit is definately my favorite ride at Hersheypark.

Lightning Racer - Never a wait at night. One of my all-time favorite wooden rollercoasters which has the daring twist of racing another coaster (i.e., Thunder vs. Lightning).

Wildcat - This rollercoaster really jerks you this way and that way. After my mild neck injury in 2007, I haven't been back to revisit this coaster. My oldest son rode this one with my 10 year old daughter (she confirmed my suspicions) this year. This coaster takes up a lot of real-estate in the park. To be honest, I would not mind seeing this be replaced with something else.

Wild Mouse - This is a mini-steel rollercoaster which is common in many parks. Jerks you around. Similar to ones at Busch Gardens Tampa and Disney. Not my favorite.

Boardwalk

The Boardwalk is a brand water-park area of Hersheypark introduced in 2007. During last years visit (in late September 2007), the temperature was in the mid 60s and we basically had the entire section of the park to ourselves (even though every other ride had a long wait). Proof here at webshots.com

This time being PEAK summer weather with temperatures well into the high 80s and HUMID: NO SUCK LUCK! In fact there was a VERY LONG line just to get changed in your bathing suit. We poked around and found another changing station with less lines. HP really needs to add more restrooms and changing stations in this area.

Each water-park area is gated to accomodate a specific number of guests, each section contains lifeguards (even after closing time at 6-7pm), and the day we visited it was extremely packed. East Coast Waterworks which is a LARGE (actually HUGE) park area with "climb-ups", water guns, accessories, and several slides can accomodate a LARGE number of guests. However even this had a huge line to get access into.

The Waverider is a cool ride and accomodates two "surfing" guests at a time and takes some skill. This is OPEN later in the summer. One of the kiddie sections was closed and just about all the patio furniture was claimed. To get cooled off without waiting in a LONG, LONG lines our kids found relief near the Roller-soaker coaster area which had ground fountains and high-powered squirt guns to squirt the participants on the coaster.

Overall, I'm not liking these mixed water-parks/coaster parks. My experience seems to be that the entire park moves to the water feature during the day when its HOT. The water section of theses park (in Hershey's case the Boardwalk) is not built to handle or accomodate the demand and crowds they have admitted. I have never had a crowd problem at Water Country.

Boardwalk, the SEAquel is coming in 2009. Hopefully it will correct some of these "crowding" problems. However unfortunately (we found out later after doing some online research that one of my favorite rides -- the Canyon River Rapids will be removed forever to make room for this attraction). Yikes -- Why didn't they get rid of the biggest waste of space and most boring part of the park - the Merry Dip Fun Slide and the Midway America tent????

Food

This time, for lunch we stopped at Minetown Resturant. Its cafeteria style where you pick up premade burgers, fries, nuggets, pizza, etc. There is a wonderful condiment bar that contains all the fixings for your bugers, and sauce for nuggests, etc. I had a delicous burger while Patty had a grilled chicken sandwich. The kids had pizza and nuggets.

I ended up buying the $7 themed beverage cup. Refills are only $1 (this was a savings since a large drink was $2.99 in a regular paper cup -- I probably saved a dollar or two and ended up with another cool cup). Hersheypark unfortunately has switched over to Pepsi vs. Coca Cola (which I prefer). We snacked for dinner and hit Wendy's down the street after we left the park. NOTE: We brought water bottles into the park (Hershey allows 1 per person).

Unlike Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, Minetown is the only area where you can purchase a beer and it must be consumed within its facility.

Kiddie Rides

Hersheypark has lots of kiddie rides with little wait. My 4 year old was NOT disappointed! Kiddie Rides can be found in almost all sections of the park with the exception of the Comet area.

Other Rides:

• The Ferris Wheel was fun, scenic, and relaxing for the entire family late at night. People with a fear of heights should not go on this ride. This is a MUST SEE for photographers.
• Capital BlueCross Monorail is a favorite for Patty and a MUST SEE for our family. This provides a small tour of certain sections of park as well as Zoo America. You can actually see where the original "stop" platform in downtown Hershey.
• Kissing Tower - Able to get some GREAT pictures of the park and the Hershey area. Air conditioned/heated. Appropriate for all members of the family. May be boring for the teens in the family.
• Skyview - A favorite ride to sit back relax, take pictures, or just to talk with your companion on the ride.
• Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge - A ride introduced in 2005 (similar to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World). It is an indoor ride where you use laser light guns to shoot targets to compete against competitors in the cart behind you. This ride is appropriate for ages 4+. My 4 year old absolutely loved this ride.
• The Claw - A favorite for the teens and young adults! Those who can't handle "spinning" like my self shoud not even think about this one!
• Rodeo - My daughters favorite ride (she almost got sick on it) is now going away to make room for the Boardwalk II - the SEAquel

Characters

I heard that Hersheypark was going to introduce new Characters and show them more often. We saw Kiss and there was a character play at Music Box Way that we ran into late. I was able to snap a QUICK picture of Nutrageous with Cameron but overall the characters didn't stick around for picturs. We were a bit disappointed about this.

Overall

We love Hersheypark. We feel that this one park provides entertainment for the entire family. Coasters for the adventourous types as well as kiddie rides for the young-ones and entertainment for the young at heart.

Traveling in Boston tips

Well it has been a while since I've been in Boston (use to go their daily for school on the "T") and now three times this week (2 personal / 1 business travel) and there has been some changes.

Here are some *NEW* lessons learned.

- If you are parking at the MBTA ("the T") parking lot, bring cash and small bills. Wellington and Oak Grove (on the Orange line) have non gargage parking lots for those with tops on their cars. I'm not sure about Alewife on the Red line.

- Tokens are gone! Bring cash or debit/credit card to purchase a "Charlie Card". You can pre-load it once for the number of trips you are going to take. Although the credit/debit card machine wasn't working for me today so cash is better!

- Other than the fare increase and methods to pay nothing else has changed much on the T in the last 20 years since I started my daily commute to NU. No new trains, no improved stations, etc.

- If you are using Logan Airport, for pickups now at Logan, bring a cell phone!! MassPort requires that the limo or your pick up now be called 1st instead of parking in front of the terminal. They can't wait for you! Makes me want to fly into Manchester, NH even more so -- even if I have to wait!

Welcome Fall!

What beautiful weather we have been having to end summer and begin the "start of fall".

This week we visited Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, MA to do some apple picking.

$22 will buy you a 1/2 bushel of apples and allows 5 people into the orchard. We took a REAL hayride to the apple orchards (available to only the apple pickers).

Only two 1/2 rows were open (Macintosh and Gala apples) when we visited but their was plenty of apples to go around for everyone. If you like roaming through the entire orchard looking for that perfect apple this place may not be for you. Its quite restricting compared to some other places I have been. However for us it is close to home and something you can do easily in an afternoon and then go home and make pies (like we did).

Parlee Farms also has a zoo area with sheep, goats (actually lots of goats), bunnies, and some type of birds. When we arrived they were setting up their hay maze for the kids.

We live close by so this location made sense for us to visit without costing a lot in gas.

Moose Hillock vs. Danforth Bay

Moose Hillock, Danforth Bay, two great, top notch campgrounds located in Northern, NH and a topic for discussion on That's Camping which led me to do some research

Here is my original campground ranking that I visited (last updated in early 2004) that I gave back way back when on my now defunct web page (newenglandcamper.com).

http://home.comcast.net/~newenglandcamper/camping/rankorder.html

Back then I thought the sites were slightly better at Moose Hillock but overall gave Danforth Bay the edge in the ranking because the quality and commitment the overall campground resort provides.

Since 2003 Danforth Bay has improved significantly adding in tennis courts, new pools, premium delux sites, and a number of special little touches.

Tuckerman's Ravine report from Austin :->

My 1st Video Feed on the blog and Austin's 1st report online!

Boy did he grow!

Austin - 2004	Austin - 2008

Mt Washington Hike - Part I 8/18/08

6AM - Leaving Camp

We left Danforth Bay Camping Resort in Freedom, NH. Believe it or not, Mt. Washington (Pinkham Notch base) takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the North Conway / Intervale area on NH 16, Mt. Washington was completely covered in the clouds. This was a bit concerning as I was initially worried by the potential for afternoon thundershowers.

708AM - Arriving

After a quick egg and cheese bagel breakfast along with some coffee for me and water for my son (that's all he drinks) we arrived at Pinkham Notch base to party-cloudy weather. We parked and started "re-packing" our bags. Austin prepared 11 water bottles in his back pack! It was heavy. I had six along with lunch, snacks, cameras, and warmer clothing. To our suprise, we quickly realized that someone was sleeping in the bed of the truck that we pulled next too! We kept quiet but thought it was a little strange that people would "camp out" at Pinkham notch.

723AM - Starting Out:

We finally hit the Tuckerman Ravine trails after "repacking" our bags several times. Suprisingly there was no bugs to bother us, even more surprising since we were deep in the woods and the river was flowing high. We did not stop to take a picture or even to view the Crystal Cascades. If we ever return to visit Glen Ellis Falls (which is nearby - 5 minutes by car) we will make take the 5-10 minute hike to complete view this. The thought of finding my camera in the packed backpack was unthinkable at this early stage in the game

830AM - First View:

After about a mile or two climbing at a very moderate pace, we saw the 1st real view on the trail. I was suprised at the number of hikers that were descending from the mountain. Many of them appeared to have overnight gear while several did not. Makes you wonder !

909AM - Hermit Lake Summit

We arrived at Hermit Lake Summit. Just prior to this location we noticed the Lion's Head trail off to the right. The Hermit Lake Shelters (only legal place to camp on the East side of Mt. Washington) are also close by on the right side of the trail. Bathrooms (flush toilets) are available. Surprising clean but purell replaces sinks. No place to put trash (carry in/carry out). After a few pictures we headed along to the headwall.

1020AM - "Bad News at the Headwall"

At 10AM after some heavy steep climbing we stopped for 10 minutes to enjoy a granola bar and some water while overlooking the Tuckerman's Ravine waterfall. This break gave us some much needed energy to hit the headwall at a good steady pace. The view was awesome but I was a bit concerned on how wet the headwall looked. About 1/2 way the headwall we came in contact with an older gentleman who was using some hiking support tools. Apparently, he had recently heard from some other hikers (that we passed coming down previously) that there was a severe Thunderstorm front moving in around 1PM and how Mt. Washington was like a "lighting rod" and he wasn't "becoming a crispy critter". Well this was concerning especially since just a few hundred feet above us it was very cloudy and windy. The older hiker told us it would take about 1 to 1.5 hours to continue our journey at a good pace. However we would have to be confined to the summit. We took our chances and decided to continue on!

My Travel Reviews from TripAdvisor.com

What a July!

I have stayed in 4 hotels in over 14 nights in July for business travel and a weekend at Busch Gardens Europe (Williamsburg,VA) with 10 nights of camping at Danforth Bay.

Therefore I only spent a total of 7 nights at home in July! While That's Camping provides a great place for campground reviews, for hotels, I use TripAdvisor.com. I have even received some free novelty items from Trip Advisor.

Here are some of my hotel reviews from recent trips:

• Embassy Suites, Dallas, TX
• Holiday Inn Express, Harrisburg, PA
• La Quinta Inn, Williamsburg, VA
• TownePlace Suites Washington Dulles Airport, Sterling, VA

Happy Birthday

My daughter celebrated her 10th birthday today. In 1998 we were not camping, didn't own a camper, and were home bodies. That would all change in a few months when we bought our 1st pop up in early 1999 after visiting the NH camping show. Since then my daughter has been camping every summer! Her first trip was in early May of 1999. On memorial day 1999, she fell out of side of the pop-up camper while sleeping. Fortunately she was fine but it was one of the reasons (along with the lousy campground that we stayed at) that I started the now defunct website newenglandcamper.com

Hersheypark raises rates

Effective August 1st - Hersheypark raises rates by $2 to $49.95.
Is this the first time that a Themepark has raised rates in the middle of the season?

Busch Gardens Europe

We had the privilege to visit Busch Gardens Europe last weekend (26 July 2008) during a break on a recent business trip. Busch Gardens Europe is located in the historic Williamsburg / Jamestown area of Viriginia about 160 miles from the Washington, DC area. There is also a Busch Gardens water park nearby called "WaterCountry". We did not visit this park.

Upon arriving, we parked at the Pet kennel section of the park, which is in the same section as the preferred sites and the buses. This area is a very short walk to the main gate in the "England" portion of the park. At the kennel, we boarded our dog "Bailey" for a mere $6: he had a nice venilated, clean, and spacious living quarters for the day. However, unfortunately, the outside walking pet area was loaded with "doggie droppings" from inconsiderate previous guests. In any event, the short walk to/from the gate was appreciated since I had to return to give "Bailey" a walk later on in the day. The attendents at the kennel were very friendly.

Some additional highlights include the following:

ROLLERCOASTERS:

• Our first coaster was the Lochness Monster in "Scotland". This is an older steel rollercoaster probably innovative for its time but in todays standard a bit dated but still fun!
• We must of hit the park on a bad day because one of our "must see" rides Griffon promptly closed while we were in line and was never re-opened. From what we gather, a chain had broke (which made an awful noise) while we were in line. They had to evacuate people from the ride. Fortunately it was on the lift portion so noone was caught dangling.
• Then in the afternoon a similar problem happened to Alpengeist in the Germany section of the park. Another evacuation. This one was much more scary since it was near the top of the lift. Fortunately my oldest son and I got to ride that ahead of time (awesome coaster).
• I absolutely loved the highly rated Apollo's Chariot rollercoaster in the Italy setion of the park. The line for this was about 30 minutes but well worth the wait. Huge drops, smooth, and simply awesome. This coaster takes you well outside of the park!

GROUNDS / FACILITIES:

• The park is nicely themed and decorated with all types of plants, trees, flowers, statues, etc. The rides could be more themed though.
• Most bathrooms were really clean
• My worst complaint is that the park claims to be "smoke free" but they have "smoking sections" in just about every corner of the park and some in the middle of a themed area. Yuk! I guess things are different down in the South!
• The park terribly needs more benches as there are very few places to sit

FOOD:

• The food was really good. I had a delicious German Turkey Sandwich with delicous potato salad and some german cheese. Patty opted for the garden salad and the usual pizza, hot dogs, fries for the kids. Patty and I enjoyed our favorite beers along with a scrumpous desert. This was all located in the noon time Oktoberfest show at Das Festhaus. (Temperature controlled -- It was good to get out of the heat). We returned there around the 6-7Pm hour and there was not a table available for the show or dinner.l
• Were were a bit disappointed that Busch Gardens Europe did not offer a Hospitality Center with its fine Anheuser-Busch products (like they have at Sea World and and Busch Gardens Africa) since after a busy day it is nice to sit back and relax and have "happy hour" while the kids are off playing the nearby games.

KIDDIE RIDES:

• Our 4 year loved all the kiddie rides especially in the DinoLand part of the park and in Italy.. In fact I bet he went on more than the other two kids combined.

LINES, SHOPPING, MISC.

• Unfortunately, the lines were rather long so skipped out on a lot of the major attractions. To solve part of this problem, we got there EARLY and headed to the headliners. You can get into the "England" section of the park at 900AM and the "Scotland" section at 930AM.
• For shoppping, they had a lot of speciality stores (e.g., French pottery, German steins, Italian jewelery, etc.) but not many general items souveniers

Overall, I like Busch Gardens Africa (Tampa Bay, FL) much better for the live exotic animals and high quality shows (e.g., KATONGA). For rollercoasters and rides Hersheypark (Hershey, PA) definately has more to offer.

However Busch Gardens Europe was a lot of fun and something our family would return too.