Roadtrip Update

This will likely be my last post regarding our roadtrip. While we have enjoyed much of the experience of travelling and seeing new places, we have also learned that travelling does not come easy to everyone. In particular, the girls have had a hard time with the lack of structure and rhythm that this type of travel requires. As a result, the kids and I will be heading back to Sandpoint on Wednesday while Mark continues the journey alone for now. We have much to be thankful for, including many great memories as well as a lovely home & friends to return to.

Thanks for the opportunity to share our adventures!
Kelli & Family

Boston highlights, October 6 – 28

Replica of Mayflower, Plymouth, MA

While we have been in the Boston area for nearly 3 weeks, we honestly haven’t spent too much time sightseeing. We spent one day doing a trolley tour of downtown Boston, and saw many of the historical sites in the downtown area. Mark & I spent one day touring Plymouth and part of Cape Cod. I returned the next day with the boys as I thought it was worthwhile to show them where the first white settlers arrived. There was also a re-creation of a ship similar to the Mayflower that allowed us to imagine ourselves at sea for nearly 3 months, shut in with very little light, ventilation, extremely limited food selection, and no modern conveniences. The boys were especially interested to learn that the only beverage likely to be available to both adults and children was beer. It was explained to us not only how difficult it is to keep water fresh, but also how the general thought of the time was that water had no value to our body since it was clear, odorless, and tasteless.

On the same day that I took the boys to Plymouth, we drove into Boston so Kyle could go to the MIT science museum. The MIT science museum had a whole different feel to it than other science museums we went to because it was supplied by student expositions. It was pretty neat to see what the gifted college students came up with, and Kyle fancied himself possibly attending MIT in the future.

One other experience worth sharing is the day we wanted to get a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant and see the movie, “Where the Wild Things Are”. The New England Patriots play at Gillette Stadium, which is about 5 miles down the road from the campsite. The Stadium has a multipurpose parking lot which is shared by an adjacent open shopping mall. The mall has the typical mall shops like Game Stop, Baskin & Robbins, etc. We wanted to try a burger place that someone had told us about called 5 Guys, Burgers & Fries.

We left about 4:30 pm, about the same time that we noticed that the rain that had been falling most of the day seemed to be changing into snow. As were got out to the main highway, we also realized that this was a game day, as traffic cones marked off the flow of traffic. As we got into the parking lot of the mall, the snow was coming down steadily and a steady stream of football fans were heading out. These fans were dressed in parkas, snow hats, rain ponchos, boots, etc. Imagine the looks of perceived child abuse as they saw our 4 kids walk through the snow in their sandals, t-shirts, and light jackets! I don't know if you can see Kenna in the picture below, but she is wearing an outfit that is best suited for a 60 degree day!

Montreal, Quebec, October 13-16

We headed north to Montreal so Mark could show our software at a usergroup conference organized by one of our resellers. On the way to Montreal, we passed through the town where Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is made. Well, we couldn’t very well pass up that educational opportunity, so we stopped by. The factory wasn’t nearly as large as we expected, and both the plant and the tour paled in comparison to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon. Unfortunately, we got there just minutes before closing time, so we planned to return on our way back to get the full tour. The sacrifices we make for education!

Ben & Jerry's Tour


We got through the border around midnight. We were a little nervous driving the RV into Canada, wondering how difficult the border control would be. We were pleasantly surprised at the brevity of their interview. As we got close to the border, we discovered to our dismay that most of the RV parks had already closed for the season. So, we ended up dry camping the first night in a Canadian Walmart parking lot. The next two nights we stayed at the conference hotel, and moved the RV to a new parking lot every night. This was partly to be considerate and not take up too much parking space at the other Walmart and Costco we used. But, the main reason was to prevent another tragedy of the freezer running out of power, and ruining the contents of both the freezer and the fridge.

Mmm, breakfast at Starbucks, downtown Montreal



Two aspects of Montreal stood out. The first was that it felt more European that other large cities we had been to. And the second might have been related to the first: French is the official language in Quebec. Fortunately, they were very accommodating of us English-speaking Yankees, but we definitely felt like foreigners as we tried to read the signs and pick up on things.

Overall, our tour of Montreal was brief with just a few highlights. We enjoyed a large indoor, below street level shopping mall. We also went to the Montreal Science Museum. The Museum was much smaller than others we had been to, and although it was modern & up-to-date, it was almost completely vacant. It was even challenging to find someone who worked there. However, small though it was, we really enjoyed the various science activities, especially the ones on the second floor.

A couple of the science activities that stood out to us were a seat attached to a pulley system that allowed you to lift yourself off the ground about 18 inches. There was also a spinning gyroscope that messed with your center of gravity, a huge bubble that enclosed you (Erika’s favorite), and a perception display where you tried to draw a line through a maze while only viewing the reflection of the maze in the mirror. That last one was a surprisingly simple, yet extremely difficult task! We enjoyed walking around the cobbled streets near the science museum in search of lunch.

Bubbles!

Normandy Farms Campground, Boston, MA

The Lodge

Our guardian angel at the RV Park, Kathy:

Inside the kids loft in the Lodge (we supplied the legos)

View of the pool & fall folliage from inside the Lodge

We have been settled in the Boston area since the 6th of October. Originally, this was going to be about a week long stay before heading up to Montreal, Quebec for another business meeting. However, the campground has proven to be so nice, that we rearranged our schedule to return here.

There are several things that make this campground unique and worth extending our stay. The first is that they have a large recreational lodge that has an area where we can hang out during the day. The lodge has a large multi-purpose area, a business center, an arcade, an indoor pool, a ping pong room, and 2 lofts: one for adults, and one for kids. Mark & I typically hang out in the kids loft during the workday as we can supervise the kids while they read, play games, or watch a movie while we tackle our work commitments. We sometimes sneak away in the evening to the adult loft for a game of pool.

The RV park also has lots of activities and amenities. On the weekends, they host family friendly activities. The first weekend we were here was Columbus day and they played bingo, the ever popular candy bar bingo, did crafts, and even hosted a dj for an all ages dance. The following two weekends were Halloween weekends #1 & #2. They again hosted bingo, had costume contests and hosted a daytime trick or treating extravaganza where the kids were able to trick or treat at all 400 campsites.
Halloween Weekend #1
Princess Erika:

Kyle is the "Hello My Name is:"

The motley crew: a skeleton (Kenna), 8 Ball (Blake), and the princess

The Loot!


During the weekends, the schedules are very busy, but come Monday morning, the campground is at about 10% capacity and it feels like we have the place to ourselves! Some other great things about this campground is that it has 2 baseball fields, horseshoes, a huge playground, and 4 swimming pools! It really is more of a resort than a campground.

Above all, what has impressed us the most about Normandy Farms are 2 things. The first, is that this land has been family occupied since 1779! For 150 years, generations of the Daniels family have been living and gaining their livelihood on this land. It has been an RV park for the past 25 years or so, but I see they still operate a Christmas tree farm. The tale of how this land came to be in the Daniels family is very interesting as well.

The second thing that has really impressed us is how well taken care of this place is. The staff is always on top of keeping the place clean. The buildings and other improvements are in a phenomenal state of repair, unlike the majority of other RV parks we have been to where things look nice as long as they are new. Even during the Halloween party, the crew pulled out vacuum cleaners to vacuum the stray leaves and pine needles that had migrated into the lodge.

Here is a link to the website if you would like to take a look yourself: http://www.normandyfarms.com/

New York, NY

Erika meeting Elmo in Times Square:

View from the "Top of the Rock" with Empire State Building in the background:

Central Park - a family favorite!




We spent a couple of days travelling to Albany, New York and the Harwinton, Connecticut for business meetings. Mark had a couple of business meetings scheduled in New York City on the following Monday & Tuesday, so we opted to spend the weekend in New York City. With such a large family, it is sometimes difficult to find hotel options for us. We opted for the Doubletree Suites in Times Square, which proved to be a great choice for our short stay!

New York City is an overwhelming place at first. Kyle looked absolutely shocked as he got out of the truck as Times Square is the heart of the tourist area for NYC, where the ball drops on New Year's Day. There was a palpable sense of traffic, noise, and wall-to-wall people! By day 3, I noticed the kids took it all in stride.

Some of the highlights of our trip were going to the 'Top of the Rock', top of Rockefeller Building, seeing the Lion King on Broadway, and visiting Central Park. Mark and the boys also made a trip down to see the Statue of Liberty while the girls napped Sunday afternoon before seeing the Lion King.

Niagara Falls

We made an overnight stop near Niagara Falls on our way to Albany to see the falls. We saw the American side of the Falls at night, and crossed over into Canada to see the Falls from their side the following day. It had rained most of the morning, but we lucked out with a brief dry spell to view the falls. Kyle says they are overhyped, but I thought they were amazing. I could have spent a lot longer time enjoying the view, but hungry tummies got the best of us.

Inside the visitor's center, there were a couple of food choices. We chose the healthier deli option and ordered our food. We were surprised to learn that they didn't take Visa, only Mastercard, so we couldn't use our debit card to pay for our meal. Having paid a toll to get over the bridge into Canada and another hefty sum for parking, we were running low on cash. We managed to scrounge up enough money with borrowing a little from the kids to pay for our meal. On our way back into the U.S., the Border Agent asked the usual questions along with the question of if we were bringing back more than $1000. Mark laughed as he answered, "No, in fact we have exactly 17 cents!"

Cedar Point Amusement Park, Cedar Point, Ohio

Erika up on stage with the witches, who asked her what she wished for. Erika's answer? "A horse" (of course!)






We stayed the past 2 nights at Cedar Point Theme Park near Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar Point is built on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. Mark & I were curious about the history, and learned that it is the 2nd oldest theme park in the U.S. dating back to 1892.

We bypassed several water & theme parks in the Wisconsin Dells area because we already had Cedar Point on our radar. Kyle was the one who planned the stop. Apparently, my brother Mark, aka Uncle Bob, had told Kyle if he wanted to go on a lot of rollercoasters, Cedar Point was the park to hit.

Personally, I don't enjoy amusement parks too much as I have outgrown rollercoasters (the last one I went on was about 6 years ago at Knotts Berry Farm with the family, my parents and Uncle Bob). However, I was pleasantly surprised at Cedar Point. First of all, it was huge! They had some amazing roller coaster which Mark & Kyle enjoyed. Plus they had several Camp Snoopy areas that appealed to Erika and Kenna. Overall, it was kind of a difficult park for Blake because he was too tall for the little kid rides and he doesn't really like the thrill rides.

The really fun part for me was the whole park was decorated for Halloween. They had all sorts of skeletons in various states of activity - some were painting, some were playing video games. One of my favorites was an old-fashioned popcorn cart with a skeleton selling eyeballs, spiders and other assorted ghoulish things. I think it was the best Halloween-decorated place I have ever seen.

We stayed 2 nights at the RV park in Cedar Point, even though we only went to the park on Saturday. I was able to walk the girls back to the RV when the girls got tired at the end of the day while Mark and the boys visited all the haunted houses that opened up at dark.

We are currently driving across I-90 in Pennsylvania, near Erie, headed towards Buffalo, New York.