Base Camp
10 Acres Campground and RV Park was home for the week and may have started out on a bad foot. As mentioned last week, we had to move sites three times before finding one that was level enough for our trailer. This was quite the cluster and caused a bit of stress, but we ultimately got a site upgrade out of it with a full hookup rather than just water and electric. The campground was really packed in like sardines though and the bathhouse was a little scary. This along with being really out of the way for things to do, kind of made this spot rank low on our list. However, this place was really beautiful with views as you exited of mountains, Lake Champlain and a cool bridge.
Monday, June 30th
This evening was mainly spent grocery shopping but we made a stop on our way home at the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse. We climbed the small spiral staircase all the way to the top where I had some sweaty palms from my minor fear of heights. But the view of the Lake Champlain Bridge with the setting sun made it all worth it.
Tuesday, July 1st and Wednesday, July 2nd
We knew the next week coming up in Acadia would be jam packed so we took it easy on Tuesday and Wednesday, cooking dinner and bingeing Love Island.
Thursday, July 3rd
This evening we drove up to Burlington - Vermont’s largest town, and parked at the local college to get shuttled downtown for their famous fireworks show. With a backdrop of the harbor and a beautiful sunset as we waited, the show turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. Photos truly do not do it justice.
Friday, July 4th
To avoid holiday surcharges on campground prices, we decided to wing it for the weekend without reservations. Our adventure started with a trip to Ben & Jerry’s Factory where we went for a tour and got to learn about the production and history of a local favorite. We even got to see some flavors that haven’t been released yet! The visit ended with a stroll through the flavor graveyard where we tried to decide which one should be resurrected - my vote was the Vermonty Python: Coffee liqueur ice cream with chocolate cookie crumb swirl & fudge cows, Zac’s vote was for Schweddy Balls: Vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum and loaded with fudge covered rum and malt balls (strictly for the name).
While we were in northern Vermont, we had to drive a little bit further to see the capital. It was beautiful and in the cutest small town.
After the quick detour we headed south to check off New York’s capital. While out of the way, we still felt it was the best time to get it done considering we’ve already been to the state twice and haven’t gotten the chance to see it. The drive took up most of the day but we arrived in Albany right before their Fourth of July celebration. We drove past the capitol building with the RV to snap a couple pictures and then drove about 10 minutes away to park at a Cracker Barrel. From there we took an uber into the city for the celebration.
The event featured the POP 2000 TOUR with Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC, O-Town, Ryan Cabrera & LFO - all of which sounded unfamiliar (except *NSYNC) until they sang a popular one hit wonder from the 2000s. The groups all truly put on a boy band performance with coordinated outfits and dance moves. It was enjoyable for the first 15 minutes until Zac and I decided it was a little too loud and crowded for us. We then walked back towards where the uber dropped us off - near a parking garage, where we put down our folding chairs and waited for the fireworks show to begin. This was a little lack-luster compared to the show in Vermont, but the finale did turn out to be really impressive. Afterwards, we packed up our chairs and blanket while we waited for our ride back to Cracker Barrel. A unique Fourth of July for us this year, but a memorable one.
Saturday, July 5th
Since we didn’t get much of a chance to explore the capital city of New York, we left Cracker Barrel and did our own little architecture tour. This proved a bit stressful with the travel trailer on the truck, but the buildings were so cool! We were also able to appreciate the grandeur of the capitol building again, there really hasn’t been another one like it!
After our quick tour of Albany, we head back through Vermont and into our third state of the weekend. We crossed into New Hampshire and through Concord to see another capital, then traveled north to White Mountain National Forest. We drove up and down hills and pulled off at overlooks to admire the beautiful mountain range, and then we finally took our chairs out and plopped by the river to relax. This allowed us a reprieve from the drive and let Scout stretch his legs in the RV. We stuck our feet in the river and listened to the water rush by, all in our own private spot.
Leaving that spot feeling quite calm, we headed into Maine for our fourth and final state of the weekend. We found a Walmart near Augusta where we watched the third Back to the Future movie before calling it an early night.
Sunday, July 6th
Neither of us had a great night sleep (might be a Walmart thing), so we woke up right when the store opened and got our grocery shopping done for the week. We then headed into town to see Maine’s capitol building - boy are they all starting to look the same.
From there we headed south to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, where they had the most beautiful dogwood collection, the prettiest Lillies and whimsical wooden troll statues.
After an hour or two exploring the gardens, we hit the road a final time towards our destination on the coast. We drove on windy backroads through many adorable small harbor towns since apparently there weren’t any highways along our route. This made Scout a little carsick again, but he powered through. When we finally arrived at our campsite on Mount Desert Narrows Island, we had a quick setup and made an easy dinner to savor with the most stunning view. What a great end to a busy weekend!
As always, thanks again for reading! Check out the videos from this week by watching the reel below.