2019 Big Truck Trip to Maine, Day 3

Day 3 started with some early morning blogging while the female contingent slept. A front had worked its way through during the night, so the temps were slightly cooler and perfect for biking. While they were waking up & getting ready for the day, I took off to do a bit of wandering around Malletts Bay.

One thing I've noticed out here is that I haven't seen a single fatbike. I understand it's summer, but this is a climate that necessitates winter exercise, so I'm surprised to not see at least a few other hardy souls that are riding fat year-round. That helps explain the reactions I was getting on my ride, which ranged from stunned to confused to mild approval. This was especially true for the 2 guys who were standing in their front yard as I was out of the saddle sprinting toward the Your Speed radar sign and got it to register 31 in a 25. Maturity...

These last 3 pics were taken at the end of Marble Island Road, where I witnessed 4 college-aged kids playing tennis on their private court among the gigantic houses surrounding this marina. While they were giving me disapproving & dismissive stares, I was trying to figure out how many of the 3 dudes were named Preston or Sterling, if she was named Miffy, and if one of their middle names was Charlzel. During this mental exchange a middle aged guy with an amazing Fading Glory rolled by in a Carrera 4S. I decided it was time for me to exit their lives.

I got back to the campground late, having received the dreaded 'Where are you?' text when I was at least a 20 minute ride away. Since I was out of quarters and didn't want to give the campground another $0.50 for 7 minutes of lukewarm shower time, I decided to have a quick shower in the Big Truck. The bathroom in the Big Truck and I don't get along well. It has been affectionately nicknamed 'the Bear Cage' when I am in there, as each dimension was specifically engineered to prevent getting dressed, drying off with a towel, or turning around without planting an elbow or kneecap into something. This is pretty much me trying to get out.

We made our way into town with a plan. We were going to explore the waterfront portion of downtown Burlington, grab some lunch, and go to the ECHO center, which is part science museum, part aqaurium, and part children's museum. First up was lunch, Kimberly found this place and it was perfect.

While we ate, we got to watch the traffic along the bike path and the waterfront. I hate to nerd out about something as simple as a bike path, but the city planners here have nailed it. We watched as full families kept rolling into town, with everything immediately accessible right off the path, with bike racks at all the local businesses.

The ECHO center was a 5 minute walk from the restaurant and it is positioned right on the waterfront. I won't bore you with all the details, but this place had enough to occupy us for roughly 3 hours and we probably could have stayed a couple more.

Apparently this place can be rented for events, receptions, etc. Once we got to the upper level that became pretty evident, the views were amazing.

Back inside, there were lots of interactive exhibits, one in particular using sand and overhead projectors to teach kids the effects of erosion. It was really well executed, and yes I know. Huge nerd. We hit a few others, the wind tunnel for aileron design tweaks, and the obligatory Champ reference.

We've addressed this here before so I won't digress, but there are many people around these parts that believe there are one or more Loch Ness-style creatures in Lake Champlain. Finally someone found a good way to market this, branding their local minor league baseball team around this myth.

With the ECHO center behind us, we wandered down the waterfront a bit further, finding all of the Jordan checklist items. Ice cream:

Boardwalk:

Rocks:

Swings:

On our walk back to the Jeep, we stopped at the curiously named Foam Brewing. It was a pretty cool atmosphere, although it made me immediately realize how old I am and how irrationally angry I can get when surrounded by trendy hipsters. I know they're just trying to have a good time, but I am always amused by the phenomemon of people trying so hard to be different that they all end up looking the same.

Overall the place had a pretty good vibe and a nice outdoor area, but I am realizing that it is nearly impossible to get a beer out here that isn't some variation of a NEIPA (makes sense, we are in New England), a hazy/honey/hibiscus infused/lactose brewed/something IPA. I'm all for new beer styles, but not so much as to knock all your other standards off the menu. Guess I wasn't finished yelling at that cloud. Here's what the place looked like.

Our downtown Burlington experience was coming to a close, and we now have a city that rivals Chattanooga TN in terms of the waterfront/downtown area. We'll keep exploring and I'm sure we'll find more, but if you get the chance to visit this place, do it. Even the views from the Vermont side give you a mini-Lake Tahoe vibe.

Back at the campground it was time for the pool, as Jordan had been jabbering about it all day. It appears that the pool is fed from the runoff from either the laundromat or the icemaker line from the camp store fridge, because the water was Clark Griswold-level cold. Weird that we were the only ones in the pool.

Yesterday I neglected to document a new game Jordan came up with. This pool actually has a real, 8ft deep end. Hard to find those around any more. It tapers from about 4' around the edge to 8' at the center, so Jordan invented a game called 'Waterboarding'. As she was describing it we both were crying in laughter, as we explained that she may want to rename it due to, you know, the torture thing. She just said "Well mine isn't torture, it's fun." Checkmate.

Here is waterboarding (snowboarding stance, slide down the ramp into the deep end) and it's cousin, watersliding.

After thawing out, we headed back for a campfire, dinner, and some stargazing. 

Day 4 - head to Wolfe's Neck Campground near Freeport, ME. Good times, Burlington.

2019 Big Truck Trip to Maine, Day 2

Day 2 started with possibly the most efficient campground exit we have ever executed. By 7:30am we were packed and rolling. 20 minutes later, feeling good about our accomplishments, we were greeted by a somewhat clanging metal sound coming from what we thought was the outside of the motorhome. As we slowed to a stop at the upcoming intersection, a sweet old lady pulled up next to us and let us know that we had lost a hubcap off the passenger side. This is what it used to look like.

This is what it looks like now.

Not exactly an upgrade, especially when you consider the tire shop had repaired a blowout we had last summer on the way back from Indy. Apparently they used this method when replacing the hubcap.

Losing the hubcap was a bit of a buzzkill, as was the labyrinth we had to follow to get back onto the toll road. But, after merely 180 miles of highway cruising, we were met with a $37.80 toll for our trouble. Now, in our history the Ohio Turnpike has been the worst, mostly because it's in Ohio.

This comes close, to the tune of charging us $0.21 a mile just to be in New York. For that kind of money there should be tankers pulling up next to us for full speed refueling, or at the very least enough competent drivers to allow me to leave the cruise set at 61mph without having to touch it for 5-6 hours. Sadly, neither was the case. Once we got off I-90, however, things changed pretty quickly.

We've been to Burlington once before, but we came across from the east on our way back home. This time we had a chance to explore the west side of Lake Champlain, specifically Adirondack Park. The drive was difficult to describe. Every bend, hill, etc reveals another lake providing a beautiful contrast to the green backdrop of infinite trees growing out of rocky outcroppings. I am well known within the confines of the Big Truck for becoming 'nature frantic', an affliction I cannot help but one that just needs to be given time and space when it attacks. Let's just say that there were many eye rolls exchanged among the female contingent after the 500th "Look! Check this out!" moment. I am quite certain this was going through Kimberly's mind at the time. Anywho, it was amazing, as these blurry shots through a bugsplattered windshield prove.

Earlier we had debated whether or not to take this rig on the ferry, which is the only way you can reach Burlington from the west unless you plan to drive all the way to the Canadian border to take US-2 across. Jordan was nervous about it because she remembers a point in time in her life where she became seasick, even though we have been on the water with her roughly a billion times since then (including on ferries similar to this one). After a few efforts at changing the subject and just blatant distraction tactics, we finally reached the ferry dock.

The last ferry we took was in Seattle, and that was with just the Jeep. I was a little apprehensive about taking the full tow rig setup on the ferry, until I saw that the rates for vehicles went up to the 70' length range.  We were just fine.  Once aboard, we met a Harley biking couple while trying to take a picture near the front of the boat. We did the tourist thing of watching them awkwardly try to take a selfie before offering to take their picture, which they then reciprocated and we ended up with this.

While the guy was talking about how far they had driven the past two days (all the way from Buffalo!), I didn't have the heart to tell him we were over 825 miles away yesterday morning. What I did do, however, was realize that he was the spitting image of this dude, the infamous Mickey Jones (RIP).  That prompted what it usually does, me tumbling down a rabbit hole of learning more about this guy while grabbing his pic for this comparison. 

This guy was a drummer for Bob Dylan, Kenny Rogers, put up with Tim Allen's coke habit, was in Justified, but the thing I somehow had never realized is that he was also the mechanic in Vacation. Yes, that mechanic.

This digression was fully worth it for me, as that scene was one my dad used to belly laugh at when we watched the movie together, especially the "And I'm askin you how much you got" line. Anyway, back to the ferry ride and the model-worthy conditions creating these natural windblown looks for the photogenic side of the family.

Not sure how that last one got in there, and that seems like a very natural pose. Just know that in 2 weeks that will be transformed into a glorious mullet, so that should make it better. Also, did anyone else (Sheline, talking to you) get a little bit of this out of this picture?

With the short ferry ride successfully behind us (see how little the Big Truck looks all tucked in there behind the FedEx truck?),

we found the campground about 20 minutes away, right on Malletts Bay about 15 minutes from downtown Burlington. We set up camp, then immediately headed for the campground pool as it was about 85 degrees and direct sunlight is the nemesis of 2/3 of our family. 

Once we returned, we planned to head into town for dinner and to wander a bit.  Appropriate given the new sticker that adorns the Big Truck this year.

It was at this point that we were introduced to our camping neighbors. I will try to be careful with my description as to not offend. Their voices arrived at least 30 seconds before they did, they had clearly been drinking (does not bother me) and clearly could not handle whatever they had been drinking, causing max volume F bombs at 4pm. If there is one skill I have honed, developed, and am convinced I could go pro with given the appropriate venue to display my talents, it is letting people know through non-verbal cues that I am not interested in their company. Kimberly and I together in this capacity would be an Olympic gold medal winning couple. I deployed these skills appropriately with our neighbors and we have come to a bit of an understanding. Also, I am not certain what hobbies they share outside of creating a public spectacle, but after our brief encounter I can rule out any activities that create any sustained heart rate that would be associated with physical activity.

We then cleared out the Jeep and headed into town to visit a favorite from our previous visit, Zero Gravity brewing. When we reached the location, we were excited to see that they had opened a new tap room, but a bit disappointed that it wasn't the alley location with amazing pizza that we had remembered.

Of course, it was only after we had ordered that Kim discovered that this new location hadn't replaced the old one, it merely was the only one that popped up when you search Zero Gravity on Apple or Google maps. Thanks SEO interns. I will say that their belgian special ale, Cote de Champlain, was quite tasty and fit rather nicely into my growler.

At that point we were pretty wiped out, so we headed back but not without a quick detour along the waterfront.

At some point we need to come to Burlington for an extended period of time - the downtown area seems really cool, it has obviously grown and changed for the better since our last visit 5 years ago, we just haven't spent enough time downtown.  Once we got back to the campground, Jordan needed her playground fix resulting in this photo that seems like an album cover for some sort of crappy nu-metal band. I'm looking at you, Finger Eleven.

Tomorrow - museums, zoos, aquariums, whatever we can find in the greater Burlington area.

2019 Big Truck Trip to Maine, Day 1

Well, it's been a while but it's time to fire this thing back up. Last year's trip was documented mostly on Instagram, and the trip was pretty brief. This year we decided to bring it back, so get ready for a little bit of trip discussion and a fair amount of pop culture nonsense.

We still can't really take a full length trip due to work/life constraints, so this one will be around 9-10 days and is basically a sprint from home to Maine & back, with a stay in Burlington and some pit stops along the way.

This year Jordan is 11 going on 21 and is going into 6th grade in a few weeks. She has developing quite a mouth and a stinging sense of sarcasm, both of which can be traced directly to her mom. We let her choose the destination this year - her choice was emphatically Maine, and for good reason. She wants to climb on rocks. Since you can't do that anywhere else in the contiguous United States, here we are.  Shall we?

Day 1 began with an unprecedented 'wheels up' time of 7:30am.  The female contingent of this household rarely stirs this early on a non schoolday, so this was a phenomenal start. We had 450 miles to our desitinaton, 2 Canadian border crossings, and an insane week to put behind us. Before we knew it, we had reached the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron and were in a massive line to get into Canada.

I love Canadian jokes as much as anyone, and have spent a fair amount of time there in my post college years drinking their beer and making fun of their monopoly money. Now that I'm old and responsible, I notice a lot of other things about Canada. How nice their roads are!! We were heading across toward Niagra, and compared to Michigan roads, it felt like we were driving directly behind one of these.

The other thing I noticed is that leaving those yellow temporary splitter guards on Dodge Challengers is definitely not just an American thing. Case in point...

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that will not be the only time you feel this way. To help you get up to speed, read this. Now you know that it is an international phenomenon. Another phenomenon that seemed to be present in Canada is vaping, bro. Yep - ripping fat clouds yo. I just know that the first dude Jordan brings home will probably have a sweet vape mod with a wallet chain attached to his JNCO jeans, so this pic is just helping me prepare.

Once we got rolling across Canada, we were greeted by a battalion of 'spiky windmills' as Jordan calls them. 

We did pass within earshot, so hopefully we can remain windmill cancer free. 

A little while later we were passed by this guy. A splattered bug on the windshield is partially obscuring the name, but yes, this man is delivering batteries that are 'Canada proof.' This made my brain hurt trying to figure out all of the things the engineers must have considered when constructing these batteries. "Well, Marketing decided to call these things Canada-proof. That means they have to be able to withstand at least the following:  Geddy Lee dominating a bassline, Kokanee glacier-fresh beer, Jim Carrey paintings, the list is never ending!"

After many random inner monologues like that, we finally reached the US border a few miles north of Niagra. We have been to the falls a couple of times and I've been there at least twice more on the motorcycle, so we skipped the entire thing in the interest of an expedient border crossing. We were successful! Jordan didn't even end up in a cage, and we weren't greeted by an angry mob of citronella candle wielding MAGA Chads. 

Once back on American soil, we were on the home stretch and couldn't wait to set up camp for the night and relax. When we reached our destination, it was as though we stepped into a time machine that took us back to the moment before any modern day campground convenience was invented. Our hosts were incredibly nice, which is why I won't mention the location. It was clear that the last dollar spent on any maintenance happened when Fred Durst was relevant, and the 'new releases' DVDs (wrap your head around that) still had the 2004 stickers on them in the camp store.

None of this mattered, as we had a pull through site, didn't have to unhook the Jeep, and got to take a walk through a remote path with wildlife all around us.

We met our site neighbor who was stranded for the next 3 days until a critical vacuum toilet component arrived, and that helped put things into perspective. Although the first day had been pretty stressful, hectic, and exhausting, it was the start of a fun adventure and our toilet still worked. Jordan busted out the jumprope, said about 10,000 words, and we caught an amazing sunset right out the back of the site.

Day 2 brings a drive up to Burlington, VT as we make our way to Maine. Solid day all around, although when I went up to the game room all the machines were unplugged so I couldn't even play  

Madden '97 on their PS1. Another time...