This is NUTS!!!

After spending a long day on the road and "enjoying" the significant traffic of the American East Coast we ended up a place between the cities of Scranton,PA and Wilkes-Barre, PA. Like every afternoon we were looking for a convenient place to park for the night. Bea was scrounging "The Next Exit" and our GPS, but such places seemed a rare commodity. Sudenly we saw the known sign of a PILOT TRUCK STOP. I made the turn off the I-81, came around and ended up at the entry to Scranton Airport. Ouch!  A big semi had done the same mistake and blocked a lot of the road. However, behind the semi was a little space and a turn-off to a private company parking.  We just squeezed through and I managed to turn and get back to the I-81. A few miles farther down the road we actually saw the sign of the PILOT TRUCK STOP again and turned off again. One glance over from the road showed that the place was packed to the brim. But big SURPRISE, across from there was a huge new WALMART. Trouble was, the lower end of the parking lot seemed occupied with TRUCKS.

WHAT?

Walmart Truck-stop

That's right, the truckers had moved over to WALMART. And at this hour more of them are coming!!

But we were lucky, as one guy was just leaving and I was able to back in to his spot. So here we are at Walmart Camping.

Paved parking, Night Security w. lights and restrooms in the shopping center, though we never use them. And instead of paying camping fees we top up our fridge at....WALMART.

Bridge over Hudson River

The mighty Hudson River

Hanne speaks Norwegian

Who?  I am talking about Hanne, our Norwegian GPS-Girl. Yep, we have set the language to Norwegian as we really like her soft-spoken road advice. The American girl speaks like a military commander and the German colleague speaks like a teacher to some idiots. So we chose Hanne. The real "Hanne" was a colleague of Bea in the days when she was a travel agent in Lillehammer,Norway.

Today's route was leading from Maine, via New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York State into Pennsylvania.

Most of the time we were driving through seemingly endless woods. Where is all the agriculture? Anyway, we have left the worst of the traffic behind and will be heading through Pennsylvania tomorrow.

Bridge at Portsmouth/NH

Hartford,CT

East Coast Traffic 

Enjoy your evening and see you tomorrow right here.

Next Travel log

May 29


It's a challenge...


It's a challenge to describe the beauty of the States of Vermont and New Hampshire. I hope that the pictures Bea shot out of the driving Motor Home, might assist my words. Where shall I begin? Well, maybe with what we started our day today - FOG!!

Fog at Point Rousse, New York

Marina at Point Rousse

It is really foggy this morning. The air is muggy and heavy as we roll across the two bridges of Lac Champlain, connecting the State of New York with 
Vermont. Looking ahead, the bridge seem to disappear in the fog.

Bridge to Vermont across Lac Champlain

When reaching the other side, we see that huge areas of the land is flooded. 

Flooded house at Lac Champlain

Houses and travel trailers are standing way out in the water, and some places, the water reaches up to the edge of the black top. The rivers we see, are all brim-full of a rushing flood. Breathtaking waterfalls appear along the road - indescribable beautiful. 




Farther to the east the land rises and we see lovely green valleys and gentle mountain slopes beyond, dotted with beautiful homes and red barns.
"Vermont" is French, and means "Green Mountains". And it seems hardly possible to see greener mountains than those in Vermont. 

Not many foot left to flooding THIS bridge

The neatness of New England is beyond words. From the I-89 we drive up country road 104. This road is narrow and winding, but if you want to see rural 
Vermont, this is the road to take. The towns of Johnson, Hardwick and even St. Johnsbury, which is much bigger, are all to fall in love with. The gardens are full of blooming lilac and cherry trees. Along the fields crap-apple trees shine white within all the green.

Beautiful New Hampshire

Then New Hampshire: The mountains are higher, the hills steeper, but the towns are as beautiful as the ones in Vermont. If you have extra time at hand, stop at a little local Cafe, search the garage sales for a treasure, make contact with the people - they are all friendly and want to know where you are from. 

Rain shower during Thunderstorm 

The ride through New Hampshire is rather short, from Lancaster to the State Line with Maine it is only 35 miles! There is a lot more to see if you are going farther south, but we have to catch Highway 26 from Bethel, Maine. It runs down to South Paris, then NORWAY!! Driving through Norway we are looking for signs indicating the Scandinavian Heritage, but can't find any. I guess we'd have to spend a coupla days here to get to know more of this town. Another tour - another chance.


But hey, we are home-bound and eager to reach Bangor, Maine. We have decided to have a last overnight stay there before reaching home.
Alright, we could make it home today, but coming home in the evening hours is not what we want. There is some work waiting for us at home and we better start it during daylight hours.


Anyway, coming down from Hwy26 we reach the big Interstate 95 at Lewiston and continue our way north. $4.40 is the toll we have to pay with our rig, after that there is no stopping.


Reaching Bangor we pull up at Dysarts Truck-Stop and park in the spot we always park in, when coming home or heading out.

Read more tomorrow: Campobello Island - Finally and wow it's May 30!!! Our big day.