First stop of our "Free Falling Tour" was Charlottesville VA where we got married 30 years ago on the 20th September.
We are parked at the Elks Lodge all by ourselves under a huge tree on at least 6 acres of land with water and electric. Our location puts us 2 miles from downtown and right next to a park.
Parked at the Elks Lodge in Charlottesville.
We were married by the sheriff and wanted to recreate our wedding photo. It took some investigative work to make this happen. The sheriffs office had moved so we finally found the new location and then the register of deeds office. Told the ladies in the office what we were trying to do, they wanted to know the sheriffs name, of course we didn't know so they looked through their records and found out who it was, sadly he had passed away. So the ladies called upstairs to see if somebody else could help us with the photo and sure enough they had found someone. To our surprise it was the original sheriff's son!!! The ladies in the office took pictures and clapped as we said "I do" thirty years later. Everyone was so nice and I think we made their day as well.
Afterwards we walked around downtown and found the place where we had dinner 30 years ago (it was an Italian place then) and then had a cold one to celebrate.
That evening when we went into the lodge the bartender that we chatted with the night before came running out and told us to stay put. She came back all excited with the sheriff that posed for our picture, we all talked and he bought us a drink. Such friendly folks really made our day special.
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Day 3 of our tour finds us in Culpeper VA at the Belmont Farm Distillery where the first legal moonshine was made in America by Chuck Miller, it is also where Tim Smith from the "Moonshiners" show makes his Climax moonshine.
On the drive from Charlottesville to Culpepper (which is beautiful) we passed by James Madison's Montpelier home that sits on over 2,000+ acres of well maintained land. He was our 4th president and the "Father of our Constitution".
Last stop was Old Trade Brewery that sits out in the country behind the family home with a beautiful view. First time we have ever been to a brewery behind someone's house, what a great commute to work!
Day 5 of our Free Falling Tour we rode our new Lectric ebikes along the Rivanna river.
Took a ride to Carter Mountain Orchard, enjoyed some cider and beautiful views.
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Left Charlottesville and made it to Falling Waters WV for a one night stay at Falling Waters campground, a bit pricey for what you get but it was time to get off the road.
Mark installed a rack he ordered for the front on the camper. We can put the generator and cooler on it freeing up space in the truck.
Day 8 lands us in East Stroudsburg PA where we made reservations at Mountain Vista Campground.
Drove most of the day in rain but when we got to the campground it had stopped. Setup the camper and have full hookups in a nice mountain setting. Time for adult beverages and a fire.
Day 10 we enjoyed a beautiful 10 mile bike ride on The Riverview Trailhead along the Delaware river in the Delaware Water Gap National recreation area.
Excellent trail, very well maintained with stop off points to view the river, plus there are bathrooms. it was so cool to be riding along having the leaves falling down, no humidity and enjoying nature. Will definitely come back to the area!
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Day 12 we made a short move to Milford PA along the Delaware River and stayed at Kittatinny River Beach Campground. Very popular place in the summer time with rafting, tubing, kayaking and canoeing trips.
Went for a drive through the quaint town of Matamoras PA, crossed the river and ate lunch in Port Jervis NY.
The next day we went to Raymondskill Falls and Dingman's Falls. I bet these are amazing in the spring with the snow melt. Enjoyed lunch at the Milford Diner and then walked around town enjoying the fall colors.
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Day 16 finds us in Plattsburgh NY. We left Milford PA and drove straight through on Wednesday. It was a pretty drive through the Adirondacks. Mark found out about a metal detecting event going on this weekend called Pound the Ground Adirondack Coast, so we signed up! We didn't bring our detectors so we had our son Ryan ship them to us. Two days of detecting on over 1,000+ acres of prime farm land along historic Lake Champlain and the Great Chazy River. The 2nd day is a seeded hunt where they put out coins and gold nuggets plus they give away great prizes. Of course there is a cold front coming through so the highs are 55, we wanted cooler temps but it is definitely nippy with nighttime temps in the 30's. We are staying in a nice state park right on lake Champlain, being that we didn't have reservations we had to move a couple of times. Walked the beach yesterday, did some detecting and have never seen so many geese in one location. We met KG and Ringy from the Diggers show at the meet and greet.
We had a good time at the event and found a few goodies. Sunday the wind was blowing like a hurricane so we didn't stay the whole day, it was a good experience but we are ready to move on tomorrow. When we got back to the campground there had to be over a hundred wind and kite surfers on the beach! I was freezing just watching them but they were having a good time, different strokes for different folks.
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Left Plattsburgh NY and took the ferry to Vermont! Pretty cool experience taking the camper on a ferry. Drove through Vermont and landed at the Elks Lodge in Lebanon NH.
Went for a drive through the White Mountain National Forest for a splendid color show of beautiful leaves! The covered bridge was constructed in 1858 and the Mount Washington Resort was built in 1900-1902 and is one of the last surviving grand hotels in the White Mountains. The Elks lodge where we are staying was once a dairy barn.
Left Lebanon NH and drove to the Elks Lodge in Smithfield RI where once again we found friendly folks!
Day 25 we took a drive to Marblehead MA, a seaport town from the 1600's. Fort Sewall protects the harbor that has over 2,000 boat moorings. Where we are standing in the photo is the same place John Lennon and Yoko stood 2 weeks before his death. The sun was finally out after 3 days of wind, rain and gloom so the locals drove their classic cars to State Street Landing for lunch, we couldn't afford a glass of water in the place! The houses are so close together and the streets are narrow as well. You can buy a basic 2 bed 1 bath house for $425,000, were meeting with a realtor tomorrow!
We spent the last two days visiting Newport RI where I was Stationed 38 years ago as a Navy Corpsman. Our first stop was the Breakers mansion and then the Marble house, these places are just overwhelming! Fresh Lobster rolls for lunch at the docks with beautiful views. Ocean drive, a picnic at Fort Adams Park, Goat Island (cruise ships were docked giving you perspective as to how big they are) and the Cliff Walk made for a wonderful time.
Our plans after Newport were to go to Hancock Maryland (we have camped there years ago) so we could ride our bikes along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. There use to be train tracks along the river but they have now turned it into a walking/biking trails, total length is 184.5 miles! Well, there was a Northeast storm coming through bringing lots of rain for several days so we decided to head home. Left Rhode Island at 9 am, stayed in a Cracker Barrel parking lot and made it back to Leland NC at 2 pm the next day, missed the storm!
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Once settled back home I got busy getting "The Getaway" ready to list on RVShare and Outdoorsy. Here are some before and after pictures of the upgrades we made.
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We will spend the winter in Leland NC at our son's house enjoying family and friends. Mark's RV repair business is busy as always. He bought a new van when we returned as he grew out of the Ford Transit so now it's off to work to pay for it and help folks in need.
As for me I am back to making one of a kind jewelry!
Thanks for following our travels, get out there and explore!
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