Middle of May Kathy and I took off for Maine...
More to come in follow-up posts.
On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 20:55:41 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
Middle of May Kathy and I took off for Maine...
More to come in follow-up posts.
The next day (Fri, May 22) we drove on to Scarborough, ME...
On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 20:55:41 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
Middle of May Kathy and I took off for Maine...
More to come in follow-up posts.
On Wed, May 20 we drove the rest of the way across Indiana, then
across most of Ohio. Going by Butler, IN we saw a sign for the
International Monster Truck Museum and Hall of Fame. LOL Wind
was out of the West, so a tailwind, and mileage was over 14 mph.
Our campsite was at Geneva SP, on the southern shore of Lake Erie.
It was beautiful and would have been our favorite spot on the trip
if it hadnrCOt been quite so cold and windy.
https://panix.com/~theise/erie/
https://panix.com/~theise/eriesunset/
The next day we drove across a good portion of New York on the
Southern Tier Expressway (I-86). It was a great routerCoscenic,
with very little traffic. There was a lovely rest stop midwayrCa
https://panix.com/~theise/nyreststop/
After gassing up in Binghamton, we headed to Lakeside CG. The
host had sent instructions for getting there, but I blithely
ignored them and followed Google Maps. Oops. We were taken on a
twisty, hilly route that was maybe 1.5 cars wide. Fortunately, we
didnrCOt encounter anyone coming the other way, and eventually got
there. It was a pleasant enough campground, though geared more to
full time residents. We were a little surprised to find the
showers were coin operated!
https://panix.com/~theise/lakesidecg/
https://panix.com/~theise/lakesidecampsite/
The next day (Fri, May 22) we drove on to Scarborough, ME and
arrived at our sonrCOs place. He had cleared space in his driveway
for the trailer, and were able to plug in for 110 V power. He
didnrCOt have extra beds, so we slept in the camperrCowhich was fine.
While there we had lunch at the Lobster Shack, hiked at a nearby
nature preserve, and took a ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge
Railroad. It was a lot of fun.
https://panix.com/~theise/lobstahrolls/
https://mainenarrowgauge.org/
https://panix.com/~theise/menarrowgauge/
On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 13:49:15 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 20:55:41 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
Middle of May Kathy and I took off for Maine...
More to come in follow-up posts.
The next day (Fri, May 22) we drove on to Scarborough, ME...
After several wonderful days with our son and grandkids, we
started making our way west. Our first stop was at Delta Lake SP
near Rome, NY. This was a decent campgroundrCovery nice dump
station, which was my first stop since tanks were FULL. I hadnrCOt
wanted to tow all day with full holding tanks, but hadnrCOt been
able to find dumping options along the way. We could see the lake
from our campsite, but it wasnrCOt anything to remark on (didnrCOt
even take any pictures).
The next day we drove across more of NY, making a stop in Seneca
Falls to see the Women's Rights National Historical Park. The
museum had a wealth of artifacts, though only kind of loosely
organized. I especially enjoyed seeing the restored Wesleyan
Chapel. Overall, well worth a visit.
https://panix.com/~theise/womensrightsnhp/
https://panix.com/~theise/wesleyanchapel/
https://panix.com/~theise/erie/
https://panix.com/~theise/eriesunset/
Beautiful place to stay. I did manage 12 MPG pulling the TOAD
on the Missouri trip. I can't remember if you got something
new for pulling yet. Is this still with the Acadia?
https://panix.com/~theise/lakesidecampsite/
I like the look of that place. I notice that tasty looking
rib! You cook them or did you just bring back take out? I'm
gonna have to consider doing some next trip. I do love good
ribs.
I've never been to Maine, but lobster places like that are
something I look forward to trying. My wife has been several
times and talks about it fondly.
Looks like you were having a good time at the railroad. Glad
you get to spend time visiting your son. Lucky man! BTW, you
two are a good looking couple!
The next day we drove across more of NY...
On 6/6/2026 8:17 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The next day (Fri, May 22) we drove on to Scarborough, ME...
After several wonderful days with our son and grandkids, we
started making our way west. Our first stop was at Delta Lake
SP near Rome, NY. This was a decent campgroundrCovery nice dump
station, which was my first stop since tanks were FULL. I
hadnrCOt wanted to tow all day with full holding tanks, but
hadnrCOt been able to find dumping options along the way...
I didn't dump mine at the campground where I stayed, knowing I
would use the potty while I made my way home, and just planned
on doing it when I got there. The local Loves had a nice dump
station, but their water is lower pressure because of an
underground leak. So, I decided to use the Pilot instead. I
have been with someone else a few years back and we used their
service, so I knew they also had a dump station.
You pay to be able to lift the tank cover to get your hoses in.
That's fine, but when I turned on the water for flushing
nothing came out. Going inside, they finally got the manager
who told me it didn't work. I was a little irritated already
because some stupid woman started pumping gasoline in her RV
and went inside to get snacks and drinks. I only knew this
after watching her pump click off and her walking back after 5
minutes later. She knew I was there waiting, just didn't care
I guess.
Anyway, the manager said they only supplied water as a
courtesy. That is when I got angry and started swearing at
him. I told him Bull Shit. We pay our $10 and ALWAYS then
flush out the tanks. If you don't have water you need to put a
sign up so people don't get fucked like me wasting time and
money there, when we will then have to go to another place to
flush out our tanks and pay again. I was pissed at their
stupidity.
The next day we drove across more of NY, making a stop in
Seneca Falls to see the Women's Rights National Historical
Park. The museum had a wealth of artifacts, though only kind
of loosely organized. I especially enjoyed seeing the
restored Wesleyan Chapel. Overall, well worth a visit.
https://panix.com/~theise/womensrightsnhp/
I would be all for giving women even more rights, if they
started thinking like men. I'll leave it at that.
https://panix.com/~theise/wesleyanchapel/
Completed in 1843, that makes that building 183 years old.
That is a fine looking place of worship.
Our next camp was Four Mile Creek SP just north of Youngstown,
NY...
On Sat, 6 Jun 2026 13:17:47 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
The next day we drove across more of NY...
Our next camp was Four Mile Creek SP just north of Youngstown, NY.
This was on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, and we had some
beautiful views. Our campsite was second row from the lake, so it
wasnrCOt very visible out our window. The sites were mostly grass,
and not that level, so it took some maneuvering to get situated.
The lake itself was lovely, and we got some amazing views of the
Toronto skyline across the lake as the sun set.
https://panix.com/~theise/ontario/
https://panix.com/~theise/ontariosunset/
IrCOd booked this campsite for two days so we could do the classic
Niagara Falls tour. IrCOd been warned about traffic, so planned a
bike route from Lewiston, NY down to the American side views of
the falls. We really enjoyed seeing the impressive sitesrCa
https://panix.com/~theise/niagaragorge/
https://panix.com/~theise/niagarafalls/
https://panix.com/~theise/2ndhoneymoonshot/
Unfortunately, coming back from the falls the drive chain on our
tandem gave out. I was able to put it back together, but it
didnrCOt last long so Kathy had to book an Uber to take her back to
get the car. Oh well.
On Sat, 6 Jun 2026 10:12:53 -0500,
sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> wrote:
On 6/6/2026 8:17 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The next day (Fri, May 22) we drove on to Scarborough, ME...
After several wonderful days with our son and grandkids, we
started making our way west. Our first stop was at Delta Lake
SP near Rome, NY. This was a decent campgroundrCovery nice dump
station, which was my first stop since tanks were FULL. I
hadnrCOt wanted to tow all day with full holding tanks, but
hadnrCOt been able to find dumping options along the way...
I didn't dump mine at the campground where I stayed, knowing I
would use the potty while I made my way home, and just planned
on doing it when I got there. The local Loves had a nice dump
station, but their water is lower pressure because of an
underground leak. So, I decided to use the Pilot instead. I
have been with someone else a few years back and we used their
service, so I knew they also had a dump station.
You pay to be able to lift the tank cover to get your hoses in.
That's fine, but when I turned on the water for flushing
nothing came out. Going inside, they finally got the manager
who told me it didn't work. I was a little irritated already
because some stupid woman started pumping gasoline in her RV
and went inside to get snacks and drinks. I only knew this
after watching her pump click off and her walking back after 5
minutes later. She knew I was there waiting, just didn't care
I guess.
Anyway, the manager said they only supplied water as a
courtesy. That is when I got angry and started swearing at
him. I told him Bull Shit. We pay our $10 and ALWAYS then
flush out the tanks. If you don't have water you need to put a
sign up so people don't get fucked like me wasting time and
money there, when we will then have to go to another place to
flush out our tanks and pay again. I was pissed at their
stupidity.
Ugh. I took our rig to dump tanks at the local Pilot/Flying J
after we got back home. I'd called to verify they had a dump
station, and they advised me the water at the station wasn't
working--but there was water ~70 ft away. Not finding any other
options, I went there and was able to connect for flushing using
both my 25 and 50 ft hoses.
The next day we drove across more of NY, making a stop in
Seneca Falls to see the Women's Rights National Historical
Park. The museum had a wealth of artifacts, though only kind
of loosely organized. I especially enjoyed seeing the
restored Wesleyan Chapel. Overall, well worth a visit.
https://panix.com/~theise/womensrightsnhp/
I would be all for giving women even more rights, if they
started thinking like men. I'll leave it at that.
I suspected we would have differing views on this. Enough said.
On Sun, 7 Jun 2026 14:21:59 -0000 (UTC),
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> wrote:
Our next camp was Four Mile Creek SP just north of Youngstown,
NY...
Okay, here's the last of it...
On Fri, May 29 we headed out across the Lewiston/Queenston Bridge
to Ontario. The process was smoother than expected, though I
wasnrCOt crazy about driving over that gorge! My plan had been to
make our way along the northern side of Lake Erie to our
destination at Leisure Lake CG (thanks for the find, sticks). But
IrCOd gotten burned out on driving enough that I ended up just
taking the shortest routerCoafter hugging the south side of Lake
Ontario, it was pretty much straight through that part of Ontario.
Nothing very notable to see.
Leisure Lake was another commercial CG and mostly full of seasonal
campers. Being a Friday night, the place mostly filled up and was
pretty noisy. No pics.
On Saturday, we headed back into the states, crossing over the
dreaded Ambassador Bridge. Ugh. That thing is so high up it
*terrifies* me. We landed at Potato Creek SP nearish Elkhart, IN.
Stuck in the middle of a full CG, we nevertheless got in a nice
hike to the beach. On the way out, we saw some kind of raptor
perched in a high nest. Nice!
https://panix.com/~theise/potatocrsp/
https://panix.com/~theise/nesting/
Though I had booked the Potato Creek site for two nights, we were
both getting ready to be home. So we packed up and headed out on
Sun, Jun 1, landing at Lake Darling SP near Brighton, IA. This
was a lovely park, though the aged remains from fish cleaning in
the dumpster detracted from the charm. The last morning we woke
up to a fabulous site just outside our camperrCa
https://panix.com/~theise/cranemaybe/
Overall, it was a great trip. The amount of driving I did was a
bit much; if we do this kind of distance again I think IrCOd
probably add a day (or even two) going each way so the driving per
day was less. The trailer did well.
I was surprised that we ran
low on propane midway through the time in Maine. Apparently the
furnace may not work on low pressure even if the stove still does.
It might have been due to leaving the heat on around the clock
while we there, even though we didnrCOt really need it. Sloppy.
I was struck by the large difference in campground policies across
the places we stayed. For example, in Iowa state parks there was
no check in process and no hang tagsrCoeveryone was pretty much on
their own. It was pretty controlled in NY state parks, a very
formal check in process. Checking in at the CG in Ontario was
almost like signing a lease!
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