Troy NY to Quechee Gorge VT

NOT at Walmart :))

We took it much easier today after that tough drive yesterday. We stuck with it yesterday though, to position ourselves for what we expected to be a lovely drive today. No thruways today.

After a pretty good night at Walmart we took our time this morning, doing exciting things like adding DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) to the van. We finally got away about 10 am, unusual for us. 

The driving today was all on "back roads", still paved but not fast roads. Most times speed limits were 45-55 mph, with quite a few small villages along the way. These were familiar from years (decades) gone by, when we used to travel these roads for trips to Atlantic Canada, or even just to where we are today, touring Vermont and New Hampshire. Back in the days of throwing the kids and tent into the old Volvo for 2 whole weeks of vacation with limited means, wanting to get somewhere different than home. Lovely country, even when the trees are not in their fall colours.

It's hard to do a drive like this justice with our pictures. We thoroughly enjoyed it, ending up in an old favorite campground, Quechee Gorge (pronounced Kweechee)  where we had no problem finding a campsite. We did get there early in spite of the late start, about 2pm, only 4 hours drive today. 

Ii

This puma statue looks like people are still shooting at it

Very hilly drive, with several emergency pulloffs for trucks with brake issues

Even though flattened by the camera, you can maybe sense the steep slope here

I was taking a picture from down there by the guide rail...

 

... of Cathie on this cool pedestrian bridge

A passerby walking her dog over the bridge

New England styles

Maybe we should get our van done over eh

Cathie starting her Christmas shopping

AAAHHHH, camped at Quechee Gorge

Before the campfire. Nice dry hardwood here.

Today's twisty drive, mostly in Vermont:

Bayfield to Troy NY

Yep, another scenic Walmart

We took the easier (and likely more expensive, we won't know until the bill arrives in the mail) way today after getting in to the US, trundling across toll road I90 from Buffalo to Albany NY. Much like the 401 highway in eastern Ontario. Not too exciting, but it gave us a good jump on where we want to be.

The day started with very pleasant back road from Bayfield to Tillsonburg, and on to hwy 3 all the way to Fort Erie Ont. Along the way, especially from Tillsonburg to Simcoe, we saw large ginseng farms. This wasn't the best picture we could have taken, just a little slow with the cameras today:

 

The fields are all staked and then covered with shade cloth, some were likely 10-20 acres in size.

We also crossed a lift bridge over an old section of the Welland canal along the way:

Coming up on the border crossing, we've never seen so many trucks lined up to cross. This was about noon. Quite a few cars too.

Including a group of 4 Teslas from New Jersey

In spite of the volume, it just took about 1/2 hr total to clear customs and be on our way. The officer that checked us out looked pretty intimidating, with his dark uniform, bulky ballistic vest, and serious manner. Only a couple of questions though and a peek into the van, and we were through.

It was the end of a long hot day when we pulled into a Troy NY Walmart about 7pm, and it looked good to us for a night. No hassle, no fee, simple.

 
 

 

 

*Start* of trip to Newfoundland

Waiting for the NL ferry, June 2013

We're getting on the road again, heading east for Newfoundland tomorrow (Tuesday May 30). We have been there once before, in June 2013, with our car and trailer. A few months after we returned from that trip we sold our car and trailer, and ordered our 2014 Sprinter van. We're looking forward to a somewhat different trip when compared to towing a trailer.

We're going via the northeastern US this time, quite different than the Canadian route across Ontario and Quebec etc. We likely won't be doing daily blogs, but we'll see how it goes. Yes we're getting excited!