Red Tail RV Trips

Busy day in the City. Left our campground on the commuter ferry and docked at pier 11, lower East Side on Manhattan. From there we walked to the Trinity Church and Wall Street. Then we boarded the Gray Line open top bus and started the driving tour. This tour is a must if you are short of time in the city. The guides are great and the routes take you to the important areas. You are allowed to exit and reboard at any stop. We exited at Rockerfeller Plaza, had lunch and then did the NBC tour. Barbara and Gayla volunteered to be the shills and they did a mock newscast. We then continued on the tour until the WTC site. We went thru the memorial section in the church and then walked to ground zero. Unfortunately ground zero is no more, it is a construction site for he new tower and the memorial. It is a realization that something of that nature could happen again.

WOW, to wake up, look out the window and see the Statue of Liberty from your coach is awesome. We left for the City on the PATH train, only 5 blocks from our coach. Next we took a cab to Pier 83, bottom of 43 Street, and the Circle Line Boat dock. The Circle Line Cruise took us on a 3 hour tour around the island of Manhattan. The guide has done this since 1989, so he knew all the buildings and sights to see. I highly recommend this tour if you every visit NYC. From the tour we headed to Carnegie's Deli. An old favorite from our flying days. The atmosphere is NEW YORKISH, and the food is outstanding; especially the cheese cake. After eating we walked down to Times Square and over to Grand Central Station. On the way down, our route took us past the headquarters of Lehmann Investments. If you recall Monday was the day they declared bankruptcy, so the news media were everywhere.
One new store on Times Square was the M&M outlet. Never saw so many M&M's and all the things to go with them.
Our trip back to the campground was again on the PATH train, a total of 18 minutes on board. Great way to get around.

On the road again. This time we left the campground and headed to New London to catch the Cross Sound Ferry to Orient Point on Long Island. We then headed towards New York City. Originally we planned to cross over the Veranazzo Bridge, but construction work prevented that. So instead we crossed the upper part of Manhattan on I-95 and the George Washington Bridge. From there we headed south to Jersey City and our campground, Liberty Harbor RV Park. This park is right on the Hudson river, directly across from the WTC site.

Been off the blog for a few days as we were having our annual RNPA reunion in Hartford CT. This was a GREAT reunion, even though it was smaller than those in the past. It was held at the Marriott Convention Center Hotel in the middle of downtown Hartford. The hotel is only a few years old, so it was very nice. Our accomadations were more than ample for our group. The first day was Check-In followed by a social gathering that night. The second day was our tour day. We boarded busses and headed to New London to visit the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, then to Mystic Village for lunch and to the Nautilus Submarine Museum. All three venues were very interesting. On Saturday we had our general meeting, with election of Officers for the coming two years. I was re-elected President, so will continue having that duty. Saturday evening was our banquet. The scholarship receipents were announced and monies raised for the fund.

Spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday getting ready to leave the coach in the rv park and move to the Marriott Hotel in Hartford. This will be the RNPA (Retired Northwest Pilots Assn) annual reunion. Have a full slate of activities planned and lots of time to catch up with those attending. We did get our reservations on the cross sound ferry for the day we leave.

On the road again, this time from Twin Mountain, NH to East Hampton, CT. Rain was threatening all during the trip and some sprinkles did hit us. The scenery was rolling hills, still green with no hint of fall as yet. As we went some 240 south you could tell they had not had the cold snaps we had in NH. You could also tell we were getting closer to big cities and more population. The traffic was much heavier, especially around the Hartford area, and the drivers more aggresive. The evening in the campground was interesting. To start, the campground provided a free taco supper for all guests. But then the rains came. The tail end of HANNA was reaching the New England states and the weather proved it. We had heavy rain and strong winds. No damage was done at the campground, but flood warnings were out for the low lying areas.

Left the campground and headed west to Vermont, only 25 miles. We went to the town of Graniteville and the Rock of Ages quarry and plant. This is the home of BARRE (barry) granite, a light grey stone used in monuments. The quarry is the largest dimensional quarry in the U.S., meaning that all stone taken from the quarry is cut to size before it comes out. It is drilled into very large pieces and then lifted some 600 feet to the surface. From there it is cut into smaller pieces and then into the shapes desired for monuments. All the work is done in the building on site.

From the quarry we ventured to Cabot, home of Cabot cheeses. A tour of the plant showed us how the cheddars are made and the various other products. Interesting fact is that all cheddars are white, they only become yellow when a coloring agent is added. Cheddars on the East coast are white, on the West coast they are yellow.

Next, in the town of St Johnsbury, was the Maple syrup plant and store. Unfortunately we were too late for the tour, but a video showed us the process of distilling the syrup. It takes 30-40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup.

Another beautiful day in the White Mountains of NH. Tuesday was a laundry day and catchup, have to have those periodically. Today we headed to the COG RAILWAY of Mt Washington. This railroad system was started in the 1800's and has today become an international tourist attraction. The trail, gog driven, climbs the west side of the mountain from 1400' up to the summit of 6288' The average gradient is 25% but on Jacob's Ladder the gradient is 37.41%. This incline means that the front of the passenger car is 14 feet higher than the rear, when on this part of the track. The engines are the original steam powered and coal fired. Lots of black smoke comes from the smokestack on the up hil trip. The fireman shovels 14 shovels every 20 seconds, using a ton (2,000lb) coal on the uphill trip. The engine also uses 1,000 gallons of water, making the necessary steam going up the hill. Once at the top you can see VT, ME, Quebec and of course NH. MT Washington is noted as having the worst weather in the U.S.
with top winds of over 200 mph. There is a full time manned weather station at the top.

Another beautiful day in the north New Hampshire White Mountains. Today we headed on the circle tour of the White Mountains, some 100 miles total. We stopped at several scenic vistas and river edges. Just too bad the leaves are not in full color. This would be the best place in New England for the color of the leaves. We did stop at the ski resort, Attitash, and rode the alpine slide. This is a sled on teflon runners that goes down the hill on a fiberglass track. You can control the speed by pushing forward on the stick to go fast and pulling back to slow down. The track is a mile long, weaving thru the trees of the ski area. From there we went on to North Conway and then across the Kancamus pass road. This road follows the Swift river, extremely scenic with swimming holes and lots of rocks that help warm the water.

Another travel day by car. This time we journeyed south to the town of Lincoln, right in the middle of the White Mountains. Here there are two different offerings of riding old trains. We chose the HOBO train. This was a ride some 1hour and 20minutes long, and you were served a hobo lunch and got to keep the ruck sack. The train followed the river and was very scenic, however in a couple weeks it will be outstanding with the fall colors.
We also stopped at the Clark's trading post where they have a steam train and trained bears. On the way home we took back roads and stopped by the home of Robert Frost.

Spent the day on back roads and exploring the town of Littleton. They have a restored grist mill that actually mills wheat for flour. They are restoring all the downtown area which is quite a project. One store of interest was the candy shop. It is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest candy counter in the world. It is over 150 feet long. Plus the rest of the store is filled with candies.