We tried to get into the village two prior times and discovered them closed.  We finally found them open but we did not have time to cover the entire village.  Probably only saw about one-third of the buildings and exhibits and really would have liked to come back the next day.  However, it was moving day and we had to leave for New York.

This village is similar to the one we saw in New Hampshire but has more demonstrations and people actually doing the work as they did many years ago.  It was fantastic and informative.  We actually saw two people working in the blacksmith’s shop and the newspaper office.  Several people were working in the flower garden and they had a horse-drawn wagon and boat ride.  So more fun for us.

First off we went into the clock museum and WOW it was great.  As some of you know I started my working career working in a jewelry store at just 18 years of age.  The boss, Jake Enns, was also a watchmaker and also worked on grandfather clocks.  Even back in 1970 (Oops, I just gave away my age) he was the only watchmaker in the area that worked on these clocks.  So the store often had these clocks chiming out the time as he made sure they were running on time.  So these clocks in the museum brought make so many memories.  I really enjoyed working for Jake and his wife Annie.  He was the best boss ever!!  I thought about him as I went through the museum and how much he would have enjoyed seeing all these clocks.  There were hundreds of them and I will only post a few.

Next we went into the village, starting at the Glass works.  We saw examples of the different glass items, the tools of the trade, and how they were made.  The first picture is a glass knob.  The next one is decorative and the rest are self-explanatory.  Then we went into the military museum which had guns, and more guns.  It also showed the tools and how they were made.  The uniforms were interesting.  Hard to understand how they could fight in something that looked so stiff.

Our next stop was the gardens and then appropriately the bee hive.  We met several ladies in period costume in the garden trying to identify some of the plants growing there.  They told us that they often have weddings in their gazebos.  Such a beautiful place to use for a wedding.

The bee hive was in a building beside the garden.  I could not take pictures as a group of children from a school were inside on a tour.  I just managed to get one picture of the hive.  I did get to listen to the guide as she explained about the bees.  I learned how to tell the different types of bees apart and how they created the hive and much more.

Our next stop was a schoolhouse called “A Child World” which had artifacts and toys pertaining to children.  I must be old because I recognized and played with some of the same type of things that they had there.  Then we stopped by the Cider Mill and the Printing Press.   The man using the printing press was actually printing brochures that they use for school tours that come through.  Was so cool to realize that he was making something that they used.

We then traveled on to the store where we purchased cookies and a beverage.  We sat on a bench in front of the store and looked out over the town square.

After our brief respite we traveled on to the Salem Towne House and then walked around the square looking at several other buildings, one of them being the bank.  After that we crossed the covered bridge and went on a ride on a river barge.

Next we got on the horse and carriage for a ride to the back side of the park.  There we found the blacksmith’s shop with two men working there.  We stayed a long time there asking questions and taking pictures.  They had two forges and both were being used.  One man was working on a tool that he used to bend metal.  This was so interesting we almost didn’t want to leave.  We never did get to the rest of the buildings in that area.  The horse and carriage came back so we had to leave.  The park was going to close soon so we had to head toward the exit.

Our next stop on the journey is New York state.   Have pictures to download and then I will work on the next blog.  Hope to get it completed within the next week and get all caught up soon.  I am now only 2 weeks behind on my blog.  Talk soon

Tony and I were worn out after our quick trip across the northern states.  We changed our itinerary to stay longer at each campground.  This would give us time to rest between travels and sightseeing.  We planned on staying in Sturbridge two weeks before moving on.  We took time to recharge and then enjoy the many things around there to see.

Our first time out on the motorcycle we headed south to The Submarine Force in Connecticut.  This was quite an experience.  The Nautilus submarine is actually part of the museum and we were able to tour the entire thing.  They have it set up as a museum with glass covering the displays.

Well Tony toured the entire vessel, I had to give up after two sets of stairs.  No elevator for handicap people in that part of the museum.   So I turned around and went back against the flow of people to get back up.  Talk about interesting, the hallways are very narrow and I got some interesting looks as I climbed out.  Took me a while to go up the stairway so Google maps probably showed a traffic slowdown in that area.  LOL

After going through the submarine we went into the museum building to see more submarine information and artifacts.  They even had rooms set up as different parts of a submarine so you can see and touch the parts.  The one with the periscope was really a working one and you could see the parking lot on the screen.  You can see Tony looking through it on one of the last pictures below.

Our next ride took us to Lexington and Concord to see the area of the first battles of the revolutionary war.  Most of the actual sites required walking so we didn’t get to see too much but we did have a nice ride.  We did stop at a couple of places and I have included some pictures below.

We saw a replica of the North Bridge and then stopped at the Minute Man National Historical Park.  There we found a couple of men dressed in revolutionary costume teaching a bunch of tourists how the soldiers had to stay in formation and shoot.  When I took my first picture of him he saw me and said, “Excuse me Ma’am, please move so we don’t shoot you.”  I said, “Especially since I will be shooting back.”  Of course I meant with my camera.

After I moved he continued on with his training.  All the people were told to line up in formation.  They he divided them into groups and taught them how to turn and fire safely.  Of course they didn’t have real guns, they used their arm as the gun.  If they didn’t stay in the right formation they would have probably shot some of their fellow soldiers.  It was really funny watching the people trying to follow his instructions.

Watching this I wondered how farmers and storekeepers could have won the war against trained soldiers, but they did.  Thanks to God that the people training them had a lot of patience and discipline.  I am so thankful to God for these soldiers who made it possible to worship God freely in the new land of America.

After leaving the battlefield we drove to Boston.  After getting lost and having to turn around we settled for having a few pictures of Boston harbor.  Too many tunnels running under the city for miles and then you have to back track to get where you want to go.  So after our pictures we headed back home.  Here are some of the few pictures I was able to take.

I will finish my adventure in MA on my next post as this one is getting pretty long already.  See you soon…

We stayed in a campground in Bar Harbor, Maine.  It is on an island that you can only get to via a bridge from the mainland.  Yet it has one of the most beautiful national parks in the country on that small island.  There was a surprise sandy beach amongst the craggy cliffs and beautiful harbors and hills.  We spent two days riding around the island enjoying the scenery.  Tony even got to try lobster rolls.  He was not impressed since lobster is not one of him favorite seafood.  Oh well, he tried it to keep me from pestering him to have some.  I don’t eat seafood but everywhere on the Maine coast it’s all about the lobster.  I thought he just didn’t want to spend the money.  Boy, was I wrong.  LOL

The first day we went through one of the loops in Arcadia National Park.  The views were awesome.  We saw so many beautiful spots, hills, lakes, cliffs, etc.  The next day we tried to go on the other loop.  The sad part was fog came in before we were able to see the most beautiful part of the park.  We missed the cliffs and falls going down to the ocean and more.  Oh well, we still had a great time and saw a lot of gorgeous spots.

The next day we made a loop on the other side of the island which is mostly small towns and harbors.  We found a gem of a museum, the Seal Cove Auto Museum.  What a trove of antique cars.  The cool things was it was less than an hour to closing so we got in free.  We frantically took pictures of everything so we could look at them later.  Hope you enjoy the few that I chose to share with you.

Our next stop on our adventure is Massachusetts.  We were there two weeks so I may have to split the posts into two parts.  Not sure at this time.  Talk to you soon.

The Lord bless all of you.

When we entered Vermont we stopped at the Visitor Center and were met with a host of beautiful flowers growing around the building.  I could not pass up the opportunity to take pictures of the gorgeous flora and fauna surrounding us.  Here are just a few of the pictures that we took there.

As we drove around the countryside I looked for evidence of the changing seasons.  But, alas, we were too early for that.  So I bought postcards with the pictures and had to let my imagination run wild as I looked at the greenery around me trying to picture what it would look like when the seasons changed.  So here are just a few pictures of the scenery so you can imagine along with me.

We had a wonderful surprise when we stopped at Quechee Gorge in Vermont.  We walked across the bridge and were amazed that the river was so far beneath us.  The water was channeled into a very narrow gorge with great power.  Such a beautiful sight even if it made a person a little nervous about being up so high above the ground.  I won’t say who it was, but it wasn’t me!  LOL

Strawberry Banke Musuem – Plymouth, New Hampshire

This was like going back in time to the colonial days and the 1800’s.  There were so many buildings with the period furnishings as well.  They even had demonstrations of how things were done during that period.  The people doing the demonstrations were dressed in the clothing of that period of time.  Even the people working on the gardens were dressed appropriately for the time of that particular type of garden.

We missed a lot of the demonstrations because they were already over for the day.  However, we did make it to one on cooking.  The lady there took time to discuss how things were done and even showed us things she had cooked and canned.  We talked about my experience cooking on a wood stove as well as some of the old artifacts that we had used growing up.  See the pictures of the wood stoves, the old pressure cooker, and old toaster.  These were all things that my mom used when I was a child.  I even learned how to cook on a wood stove.  Then when I was married and moved to WA we once lived in a home with a combination electric and wood stove.  I was thankful for my experience as a child and teenager cooking on one to fall back on.

 

My parents used a lot of the old things that I saw on this farm.  The store was like going back to times I went shopping with my mom.  They had a lot of the same things in the store museum that my mom bought.  Brought back so much nostalgia for some of those things.  I learned how to iron on the old flat-iron that you put on the stove to heat it up.  I also learned how to sew on a treadle sewing machine.   See the picture of the lawn with the crochet set?  That is what we played with company when I was a child.  So it was like going back in history, but not just our country’s history, but my own as well.  It was an interesting experience for me.

Hope you enjoyed my journey through the past.  Let me know if you recognized some of the things from your past as well.  Next stop on this journey is Bar Harbor, Maine.

May the Lord bless you all till we meet again.

I realized that I had forgotten a part of our trip.  We actually went to Ohio before Niagara Falls so it is our of order.  However, I enjoyed Ohio and I didn’t want to forget to include some pictures.  They had so many covered bridges and we only saw a small portion of them.  The house in this state have huge beautiful yards so I included some of them as well.  They must mow acres of land to have the huge yards.  So many of them look like parks.

We also saw some Amish buggies on the road and actually went by an Amish farmhouse with several buggies parked in the yard.  Though you might enjoy the pictures.

We also sent to a beautiful park when we first headed to New York to see Niagara Falls.  It had really great roads and weather for riding.  It is Allegheny State Park and I have included some pictures from that park as well.

It has come to my attention that some readers do not know that the link to my blog is below these comments in Facebook.  Also you can go directly to the blog on the internet by putting this in your address bar.  http://www.calipfamilytravelblog.wordpress.com

Now to the important stuff, how great was Niagara Falls?  It was awe inspiring.  What beauty our creator has provided for us and I could not get enough of the view.  The noise from the powerful river felt like the pounding of God’s heart.  I felt God’s presence in the face of such sublime beauty and power.   This was an experience like no other we have had on our trip yet.  Praise God for the opportunity to see these wonderful sights.

 

 

We signed up for the ride on the Maid of the Mist.  On the previous pictures you can see a boat close to the falls.  We had to put on raincoats to keep from getting wet.  However, due to the power of the falls the wind kept blowing the hood off of my head.  So I got soaked anyway.  What an experience to be so close to the bottom of the falls.  Words can not express the beauty we saw that day so I will now let the pictures do the talking.

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Here is South Dakota we stayed at the most beautiful campground, the best we have seen, the Hart Ranch.

The next day we went to Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park. Mt Rushmore visitor center was so crowded but the view was stupendous. How anyone could have climbed all over that mountain to create such a piece of art if hard to fathom. I certainly would not have been able to do it and probably most of the people reading this could not even imagine doing this. But I am thankful that one man have a dream and was able to complete the work. Now millions of people every year come to see what he did.

Custer State Park was a real great place to ride through on a motorcycle.  The winding roads and beautiful views were a great experience.  We saw wild life, a buffalo on the side of the road, wild horses, and others.  The spires in the section called needles were so awesome.  We loved this park.  We covered Mt Rushmore and the park in the same day and were very tired when we got back to the RV.  However, the next couple days it rained so it was good that we pushed to complete all of that in the one day.

It was just a couple of days before the big motorcycle rally there and so many people were  family had when I was young. We drove through Sturgis with the RV on our way to North Dakota the day before the rally began. What a crowd of people in town and for miles around. Looks like every farmer and homeowner opened up their place to RV’s.   We were told that they expected 750,000 motorcycle riders to attend. Glad I got out-of-town before they all get there.

After this we drove through North Dakota on our way across the northern states. We went through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and along the northern edge of Lake Michigan to Standish Michigan. There we visited a railway museum and a small park on Lake . Water as far as you can see!! Our next stop is Niagara Falls in New York. Hope you enjoy your vicarious journey through the eyes of the Calips. May God bless you richly till the next blog and beyond.

We were driving to our campsite in Colorado and noticed signs for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Were told by RV neighbors that it was a sight that should not be missed. So the next day we went back the way we came, on the bike this time, and were so glad we did. This is a very deep canyon and was so beautiful. At the visitor center we learned that the people of the valley below did not have enough water to grow their crops. One man got an idea and it took off. They dug a very long tunnel and channeled the water from the river to the valley and now it is no longer a desert. They have a beautiful green town and crops with plenty of water. It was a fascinating story of many years and such hard work. Shows you how important it is to learn to work together and the see your dream fulfilled. One man did and many people have be blessed by his dream.

Leaving for our next stop we saw signs stating Continental Divide and Monarch Pass. When we got there they had a gondola ride to the top of the mountain. I decided to take the ride and it was one of the most beautiful sights to behold. There were 5 different mountain ranges visible from that view. It got cloudy really quickly so some of my pictures did not turn out very clear. However, the viewing platform gave me a 360 degree view of the mountains. What a sight to behold, I hope you enjoy the pictures. I know that no picture could take in the grandeur of the sight and they don’t do it justice.

We then stayed one night in WalMart parking lot on our way through Colorado Springs. I was unable to find a campground that had any space. So dry camping it was. The next night we stayed in a small town in Northern Colorado so that we could go to church in the morning. Found a fantastic Foursquare church in Yuma Colorado where the pastor even said he knew Pastor Robert. From there we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota.

See you on my next post which will be Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park.   God bless you all.

I noticed that I accidently posted duplicate pictures on my previous post.   Not sure what happened.  Oh well, I loved the Tetons so much it never hurts to see it more than once.  LOL

When we left Wyoming we circled back to Utah. We were wanting to go to Mt Rushmore next but the campground was not available for the days we wanted. So we decided to cover Utah and Colorado now instead of waiting till the trip home. We stayed at a great camp right on the beach of Bear Lake in Northern Utah and spent a couple days exploring the area.

When we left Bear lake we stopped by the Salt Lake and were going to get in the water. However the bugs were so bad that day that we couldn’t get close. So Tony never did get to feel the experience of floating. Since he sinks in the water I was hoping that we could find a place to get in the water, but it didn’t happen. This stop made us late to our campground for the night. When we got there at 9:30 PM it was so dark we could hardly see to find a spot. The nice caretaker came out with a flashlight and led us to a spot that was long enough for the RV and trailer. So thankful for his help.

Our next destination was Moab Utah, home to two National Parks, Arches and CanyonLand. We missed these parks on a previous trip through Utah and I was really looking forward to seeing them. We spent a whole day driving through Arches in the desert heat. I got a severe sunburn on my right arm which took forever to heal. Despite that we really enjoyed to scenery at this spectacular park. If you ever get a chance, make a trip there to see the fantastic rock formations. Due to the sandstone and the desert rains, the scenery is forever changing. They have heavy rain and flash floods even in the summer. We were unable to make it to part of the park because part of the road had been flooded from a previous days rain. We did experience the wild thunderstorms that they frequently have there. The lightening and thunder just did not stop. I tried to get a picture of the lightening but was not very successful. However, I did enjoy God’s light show. I sat by the back window of the RV and watched for the longest time. The next morning the ground was dry and out we went again.

W

e enjoyed a wonderful Sunday service in an Assembly of God church and even stayed for potluck afterwards. Had a great time with the pastor there and he suggested that we go to see Dead Horse Point. The story is that horses were put on this beautiful spit of land high above the canyons. There was only a narrow road getting to this point that the men blocked the path so the horses could not get out. For some reason they were unable to get back to free the horses and the starved to death when down in the canyon they had food and water. Such a sad sorry but a really spectacular view. Just take a look at the pictures and you can see why they could not get to the water.

The next day we took a boat tour of Canyonlands National Park which was almost directly across the road from Arches. We had such a good time on the boat and took some many fantastic pictures. There was a spot where there were writings on the canyon wall. Also they allow rock climbing in spots and we actually watched someone on the mountain. It was much cooler on the water so we were thankful we had decided to pay for the tour. However, things came to a grinding halt when we ran out of gas on the boat. The previous guide that used the boat was responsible for gassing the boat and he forgot. So we got to sit for a while and wait for another boat to come to our reascue. Then we had to climb from one boat to the other. What a difficult thing for me to do and I was terrified that I would not be able to make it. However, they were so nice and made it easy for us to transfer. So catastrophe averted and we were once more on our way back to shore. Praise God. Then the best blessing of all! Even though we were over 3/4 of the way through the tour they refunded all the money except for the included dinner which we enjoyed very much.

After we finished our dinner we went out to get on the bike and the rain started with a  vengeance.  We were drenched rather quickly so went back under the patio covering to wait out the rain. A native of that area told us that the rain should stop in about 15 minutes so we waited. Sure enough it did stop so we were able to make it back to camp before getting thoroughly drenched. That evening God gave us another light show with sound effects. The thunder and lightening went on for hours. Really strange to see so much rain and the days are over 90 degrees. The bad side is that it was really humid the next day but the sun came out and dried everything out quickly. So on to Colorado we went.

Thanks for reading my blog.  I have had so much fun putting these posts together.  Talk to you again soon.

 

Well, I am finally back to complete the Yellowstone adventure.  Here are some of our friends that we saw on our last day in the park.  There were actually a huge herd that was on both sides of the road and some crossing the road ahead of us.  They blocked traffic for quite a while.  At least it enabled me to take some pictures.

 

Mike and the girls left the day before and this day Tony and I were on the motorcycle.  Was kind of unnerving to be riding a motorcycle and out in the open when confronting this big beasts.   But they did not care who was there, they just wanted to cross the street.  LOL

We then went to the Yellowstone River Gorge where we saw both the upper and the bottom of the falls.  There was so much power in the river and it was awesome to see.  Just brought to my mind the power that we as Christians have when calling on the name of Jesus.  All power in heaven and earth for God to use to do His work on this earth.  All too often we underestimate what God can do and put Him in a box of our own making.  God can’t be put in that box!  He is all powerful and all knowing.  He loves us so much but He allows us our own free with which we often use to get in trouble.  A lot of our problems are of our own making.  I am trying to be a better person and follow God’s will every day.  Seeing the beauty of His creation make me love and appreciate Him more than ever.

We walked a short distance to the top of the falls but there were a lot of steps, maybe up to 50.  I had a very difficult time coming back up but the view was worth all the hard work.   Sometimes we have to put an effort into something we want or need.  Don’t let a little hard work or obstacles get in the way of what you really want in your life.  As long as it is something that is a benefit to you, go ahead and push hard.  The great feeling that you get when you meet your goal is well worth the effort.

Hope you enjoy the pictures that I have attached.  Next stop, the Grand Tetons

The next day we drove through Yellowstone again.  We took the motorhome this time on the way to the Grand Tetons and our next campsite.  What a majestic range of mountains.  Hope you enjoy these pictures.