Our mid-June travels certainly started off on a good foot! We left Baltimore on 6/14, a bright sunny Saturday morning and headed up I-95 to our first stop in New Jersey. Fortunately for us, we were able to avoid the New Jersey Turnpike and if you have ever driven on it, you know what I mean! Since we stayed on I-95, we passed by Philadelphia and exited north onto NY 31 then US 202 north to I-287. It was a nice, easy drive since it was still pretty early on a Sunday. A short 212 miles got us to Morristown, NJ to visit a very important Revolutionary War site there. Since Washington’s Headquarters is right off I-287, we decided to start there to get the scoop on the events that happened in Morristown (the second time) at the end of November 1779. Since the British needed to be ‘watched’ while they occupied New York, Morristown once again fit the bill for winter quarters as they had after coming off victories at Trenton and Princeton in 1776 and 1777. Unbeknownst to them, it was to be the hardest, most brutal winter in recorded history there. Over 20 snowstorms blasted the hills that winter and only upon the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette did the Continentals finally get the good news that France had declared war on Great Britain. We had a great visit to the site and were anxious to visit the other two sites (Jockey Hollow and New Jersey Encampment Sites) but lacked the time to spend there.
We didn’t have far to go to get to our next stop at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, NJ. Real easy to get to, the site is right off I-280. I always thought looking at the map and it reflecting the denseness of the population around there that it would be hard to get around but not so! Even pulling the trailer it wasn’t hard to get to these places, at least not just then…. Thomas Edison NHP is the site of Edison’s laboratory complex. It includes the main laboratory, chemistry and metallurgical laboratory and a place called Black Maria. Black Maria is a house that spins on a turntable so that optimum light can be focused on the filming activities that took place there. Pretty ingenious! No need to wait till tomorrow for the sun to come back around, just rotate the house! Edison was quite a fellow, earning 1,093 patents in his lifetime. I encourage anyone who finds themselves in the area to go there. These old lab buildings are filled with the most interesting things that Edison and his employees worked on. It was fascinating and hard to believe that one man could possess such insights and invention. He knew that for every question, there was an answer and he never stopped experimenting till he had the answer!
We wanted to stop at Paterson, NJ to see the Passaic Falls National Historical Site but my GPS failed me again! I missed the turn-off and since traffic in this area was getting a little hairy, we decided to pass it up. The one thing I did not count on is that sometimes a GPS can take you into some pretty rough neighborhoods and you’re there before you know it. That’s what happened to us. The roads were bad, the houses were bad and the folks hanging out looked like they could be bad, and that all happened in about 3 minutes. We ‘got away’ and made it onto I-287 north again, headed for the NY State Line!
Instead of taking the New York State Thruway, we opted for the parallel, NY 17 to take us to our camp at Beaver Pond State Park. Part of the larger Harriman State Park, our camp was pretty nice and not too crowded. After all, it was Father’s Day Weekend and there were plenty of kids enjoying a camping weekend with dad and mom. It was nice to see. It was pretty windy and temps went down considerably when the sun hid behind the clouds so we turned in early when the mosquitoes arrived for supper.
We were up early on Sunday June 15 to continue our trek up the Hudson Valley with a reasonably quick trip to Hyde Park, NY and the location of three National sites. If you have never been up the Hudson Valley, you owe it to yourself to take any one of the “9s” (explanation later) and enjoy the ride! We began by intersecting US 9 just above Poughkeepsie, NY. We arrived at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historical Site early and took in the film. Not what you would call a Roosevelt fan, I was impressed by the accomplishments Eleanor made throughout her life. The National Historical Site is the only home Mrs. Roosevelt owned. Called the Val-Kill Cottage, the grounds surrounding the home are really nice. The park service has done a great job preserving the home and grounds just as Franklin and Eleanor would have enjoyed them in their day. I encourage anyone not familiar with Eleanor Roosevelt’s accomplishments to spend a little time investigating them and like us, become enthralled with the things she championed and sought to make right.
Two miles away was the ancestral home of Franklin Roosevelt and today also the site of his Presidential Library. Since Roosevelt was elected to four terms of presidential office, there is a lot of moving displays and memorabilia there. I thought the most moving was his handwritten draft of the address to congress on December 8, 1941. It must have been SOME time back then! I can hardly imagine the mood. Even if you aren’t a fan, it was well worth the effort to visit and explore the life of a president, who by most accounts, did much for America before the war in the darkest of economic times to the darkest times in world conflict. It was a great time and we really enjoyed ourselves.
By then, it was still only about 11:00 Monday morning and we only had a few miles up US 9 to get to our next visit, the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historical Site. A fine example of the Gilded Age in Architecture, The mansion is small at 30,000 square feet compared to the Biltmore in Asheville that is about 160,000 of home. I guess everyone knows about the Vanderbilt’s. One of the richest families in American history, the Vanderbilt who had this home built started out rather underprivileged with a ‘punishment’ inheritance of only $10 million dollars since he (Frederick) opted to marry a woman 12 years his senior which dad Cornelius disapproved. The tour of the mansion was free and well worth the adventure. It is hard to imagine such wealth and living as they did then. The house is beautiful inside and has a commanding and gracious view up and down the Hudson River. Great place for a picnic and the grounds are open daily if that’s your pleasure.
We got back on US 9 but I think it was US 9N, but I am not sure. Seems that route 9 in these parts comes in G’s, H’s W’s and a few others if I recall correctly, all north-south routes! Take any one of these and you will be rewarded with some pretty awesome motorcycling roads as well as some pretty inspiring scenery! Ours led us to the Martin Van Buren National Historical Site. Now you may be thinking, what’s up with Van Buren?! Well, I didn’t know much either but for starters he was the first president (8th) that could claim US citizenship by birth. All previous presidents were born under the British flag. Located in the village of Kinderhook, NY, the estate lies along one of the few sections of the original Post Road that ran from Manhattan to the state capital in Albany. Martin was pretty smart. Lots of folks travelled that road and would always stop to pay their respects to one of the founders of the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson’s top advisor (as well as his Vice President), NY State Senator, US Senator from NY, probate judge and, oh, Eighth President of the United States. You never know what you’ll learn on these visits! We didn’t tour Van Buren home, seems we were all ‘home toured out’ by this point. So we continued on up the valley on US 4 to Saratoga National Historical Park. Along the way we passed through Waterford NY, the beginning of the Erie Canal and close to where the Champlain Canal connects to the Hudson River. We got our stamp for the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. What a trip THAT would be! Canoeing the Erie Canal! We stopped to see Lock #2 on the canal before heading off to Saratoga.
Saratoga National Historical Park marks the spot were General Burgoyne surrendered to General Howe (of the Continental Army) and sparked renewed enthusiasm for the independence movement. The highlands overlooking the Hudson River makes a nicely situated bottleneck for any army marching south along the Hudson. Unfortunately for Burgoyne, his march from Montreal to capture the Hudson Valley and cut the colonies in two for the British failed to materialize upon his defeat. Thought by many to be the turning point of the war, it is easy to see from the visitor’s center the importance of this area and the river itself. There is a nine mile driving tour of the battlefield and you can access via your cell phone, information at various points along the way, something too difficult for us wearing helmet and all…. Once again, the roads, the countryside and people in this part of New York are wonderful. We did not see too many other motorcyclists these past few days but it certainly couldn’t be because the area doesn’t have much to offer! I can see just from this part of the Hudson Valley it is deserving of a week’s vacation, maybe longer…and we haven’t gotten to the Adirondacks proper yet.
We camped at a really nice state park called Moreau Lake State Park, just outside Glens Falls, NY. We had just about the whole loop A to ourselves since the weekenders had all left. Nice showers, clean washrooms are always welcome when you’ve been travelling for some time. Even though we were camped at a lake, the mosquitoes weren’t too bad. Our morning of Monday, June 16 was another fine morning with the exception of our failing air mattress. Seems those ‘Made in China’ $17 air mattresses can’t be relied on for much more than a month. The Coleman one we had lasted a long time before springing a leak. There’s little (except rain in the morning) that can dampen your camping enthusiasm quiet like waking up lying on the hard ground!
We started early cause the air mattress gods willed it as such so we headed north some more through Lake George and up US 9N again towards Lake Ticonderoga. The drive up US 9N is great! Most of the way it hugs Lake George offering some pretty spectacular views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Even though it is ‘touristy’, it’s a great drive. Famous for its pencils (not really) Fort Ticonderoga is the site of a Revolutionary War battle the colonies lost just before the victory at Saratoga. We got there so early, they weren’t open yet. We hung around the ferry dock at the lake’s edge (you can ferry across Lake Ticonderoga) and talked to a fellow that was working there about our travels, the trailer and how it is to pull it and how trying some drivers on the road can be. He even had a few trips to Newfoundland while he worked delivering trailers (campers)! Soon we realized when we went back to the fort that we really didn’t want to spend almost $40 to tour the place. I guess we really are overdosed on forts as I suspected earlier in the trip. Once the decision was made, we took NY 22 south (another great ride) to US 4 east towards Rutland, VT.
The good thing about travelling east to west or visa versa in Vermont and New Hampshire is that the states are narrow so travel is short as opposed to the long north-south way. It was a quick ride to our next stop at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, the only park in Vermont. I never heard of it before we visited and had no idea what it was about. Silly me, it has a rich history worth repeating here. After another snafu with the GPS and we being determined to find this place in Woodstock, VT (About a mile long that is), I did the unthinkable and stopped to ask directions from a fellow walking down the street. He couldn’t have been more helpful in pointing out I was right next to the place a few minutes before! Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP was owned by these three seemingly unconnected people throughout its history. The connection?- all were conservationists beginning with Marsh who built the home and adjoining farm buildings around the 1820’s. A self described conservationist, Marsh was alarmed at the level of destruction happening in Vermont as a result of logging. He even penned the first book on conservation titled, “Man and Nature” in 1864. Marsh sold the property to Frederick Billings (of Billing MT fame) who was alarmed at what he witnessed in California during the gold rush. Consequently, Billings built up the farm by planting native trees and advancing the science of farming by hiring a professional farmer to oversee his holdings. At his death, hi granddaughter married Laurance Rockefeller, another conservationist who preserved the farm and its surrounding property and donated it to us via the National Parks Service to be preserved and tell all of us the history of conservation through this one homestead. Pretty remarkable. Oh, and is this part of Vermont nice!! They don’t call it The Green Mountain State for nothing!
Next on our list was the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Site in Cornish, NH, also the only site in New Hampshire. Saint-Gaudens is considered the Sculptor of the American Renaissance. Best known for the $20 gold piece minted between 1907 and 1933, he also did notable works such as the Shaw Memorial in Boston (a Tribute to the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African American Volunteers during the Civil War, numerous cameos and medals, the Farragut Memorial in New York and the monument to General Sherman with the winged Victory leading the way are but a few of his superb works. The National Historical Site houses many of his works that are casting of the originals and you can tour the studio, his house and the gardens. A very peaceful place and no doubt a place of inspiration for him at the time, you can also enjoy the same almost overwhelming serenity of this mountain top retreat. Try to find your way there at some point. You’ll see what we mean!
It was then off to our camp in the White Mountain National Forest. The drive there was almost a disaster! Take heed! NH 118 from Orange to North Woodstock is the worst road I have travelled, maybe ever. It was about 100 miles of broken, rough road with pavement separating in long fissures. If I were a New Hampshire resident I would be ashamed of this road. I mean, why not spread a little tar once in a while to keep the road from opening up to resemble something like the Grand Canyon? Roads like this just wear you out. Even though it was twisty with nice elevation changes and the like, we crept along at about 40-45 and that was pushing it! Once out onto NH 112 and into the White Mountains, it was a pleasure and seeing our camp ground at Long Lost was a welcome sight.
We didn’t stop to get a new mattress till it failed once again the morning of Tuesday June 17. It got on the Walmart list then! I gladly marched down to the campground dumpster at about 6:30 in the morning and placed it where it was longing to go. We got out on the Kancamagus Highway (NH 112) and headed east towards Bangor, ME. This drive is a really pleasant one that winds through the White Mountains, so named for the abundant birch trees. We saw a lot of motorcyclist coming in the day before but not many this day.
After entering Maine at Fryeburg, we took a fairly convoluted route to Bangor. First we headed east on ME 117 then north on US 4 out of Turner. Once in Farmington, we drove straight east on US 2 then ME 100 to I-95 north just south of Bangor. It was a great riding day with plenty of sun, not too hot and roads worth the visit on!
We are off and into Canada tomorrow, crossing at Calais, ME. We’ll be back next week with our next installment of our National Parks Tour! Stay tuned! Greg & Cynthia.