Aug. 17 - 19, 2011 New York to Maine

Well we are getting pretty relaxed about Border crossings now.  No major questions this time crossing into New York State at Buffalo, the only concern seemed to be if we had any illegal immigrants tucked aboard - so the agent peeked into every nook and cranny of the trailer.  Nope no one there!  But our biggest issue was with the toll booths - not having any experience with these - of course we have a 50% chance of getting in the right lane - oops wrong lane - we didn't have an EZ Pass.  Oh well we were waved through but were chastised on the other end for not having a slip or chip or something to show to the check out person.  But we still paid.  All told we had to pay about $63 in  toll fees by the time we got to the Boston area - now that would be about half a tank of fuel for us! This kind of defeated the savings gained on less expensive fuel - oh well!!!!!

We had a bit of an issue with a broken black water valve - so sat in a Camper World parking lot in 'Syracuse' (Sandra got a lesson in pronunciation here - our 'accent' is becoming obvious) for 2 - 3 hours waiting for them to check it and fix it - which they did - but just a temporary patch.  Hope it holds.  We always find other neat things for the RV at Camper World, so this stop did cost us a bit more than it had to!!

Our headache the 'Toll Booth' - stay out of EZ Pass!

The Fire House in Old Towne Boston - still functioning

An example of old towne Boston architecture - Condominiums that use to be on the bay (now reclaimed land) and way back when they would throw their garbage out the windows and the tide would take it out to sea.  After the land was reclaimed, they had to break the throwing out the garbage habit!

Guess where we had lunch?

WWII Destroyer - very interesting - the metal sheathing was no more than 3/8 - 5/8 of an inch thick hence the saying "Tin Can Sailors".  It survived a few hits and has been restored for posterity!

Barry in front of the Cassin Young

An example of the heavily wooded countryside surrounding the Interstate we traveled on through upper State New York and Maine

Looking for Walmart somewhere in this area?  No luck!  Had to make a couple of U turns!  Right!

Bobby Orr

The 'old' and the 'new'!

Kings Chapel - Boston

State House - Boston - the dome used to be copper, then a grey paint during WWII, and now gold leaf!

Another neat old building

Old State House - historical sight during the American Revolution - speeches and a call to arms!

USS Constitution - The oldest commissioned battleship in the world - and to hold this distinction it must sail 1 nautical mile per year.  This battleship was never defeated and dates back to the War of 1812 - it was nicknamed "Old Iron-sides".

The neatest fire pit we've ever  seen in an RV Park or Campground

We were amazed at the heavy bush all through upper New York State - and we mean heavy!  And even into Maine.  You are driving near towns and other habitation and absolutely cannot see any of this from the Interstate.  Once we got into Maine, we realized that there just are not many campgrounds or RV parks.  We finally found one about an hour out of Boston - phoned ahead and secured a spot that would hold us.  We kind of got lost trying to find a Walmart that we were told was in the area - guess it was burried in the bush somewhere.  We never did find it but did find the RV Park and managed to get parked with the attendant's assistance.   Lots of big trees - so no satellite but we had awesome internet connections without using our Verizon.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Boston once we got there.  Had to figure out how to get to the public transit and then to navigate that maze.  Managed to not get lost - which is amazing.  Boston proudly portrays its role in the American Revolution - kicking the British out - and establishing Independence.  This theme is woven through the fabric of the history of the region - Paul Revere's ride, the Boston Tea Party etc etc etc.  Interesting how "Taxes" have remained such an issue all these 200 years plus and still to this day.  We didn't realize it, but Boston today is 75% reclaimed land.  Many of the old building we saw used to be on the wharf but now are well inland.

Before leaving the area we enjoyed a bowl of Boston (New England)  Clam Chowder and a serving of Boston Cream Pie!!!! 

Tomorrow - Salem!