August 2019 – Page 2

Nashua Rail Trail – Groton, MA

August 16 & 17, 2019

We left Traveler’s Woods on Friday afternoon. Spent the morning doing some laundry, playing with Landen and packing up motorhome. We were off to Hudson, MA to spend night at a Cabelas.

Landen was frightened by the large fish in aquarium and animals (taxidermy) in Cabelas. Loved sitting on 4-wheelers. Large RV parking area and Landen spent time riding his Strider bike in the parking lot.

Walmart shopping and off to Boston Minuteman (not in Boston) Campground in Littleton for 3 nights.

Our home at Boston Minuteman campground in Littleton, MA. Sites all very wooded with tall pines and oaks. Moved to site near pool and wifi for last night here.

Everywhere we have gone in Massachusetts we pass through quaint little towns. Many of these small towns have banners honoring “hometown heros” who have served in the armed forces. We loved seeing that! Littleton was one of those towns.

After getting settled we packed up the Fiat and headed for Nashua River R/T trailhead in Groton, MA. We headed north for Nashua, New Hampshire.

We passed through wetlands, forest and meadows. Enough shade to keep us comfortable.

New Hampshire/Massachusetts state line on Nashua River R/T. Trail goes 1 mile into New Hampshire.

We passed thru the small town of Pepperell, MA where there was a bike station. Passed a pond and Pepperell dam. We had a late start so we felt rushed to finish trail before mosquitos arrived.

Someone remarked at the trailhead, “You got all that into that little car?” We make it work!

Sign near Groton trailhead. North to Nashua, NH and south to Ayer, MA. Planned to start in Ayer but parking under construction.

We were both really exhausted after pushing so hard to finish this ride. Landen seemed tired too and he had taken a nap along the way.

Manhan Rail Trail – Northampton MA

August 15. 2019

We all slept in this morning until 9 AM – so thankful Landen is a good sleeper. We are off to Northampton to ride the Manhan Rail Trail

Northampton is a nice little town with beautiful planters all around, many shops and restaurants. Union Station along the trail has been refurbished and houses restaurants. Very tempting, but if we stop we may not get on the trail again. I had read somewhere that the trail was shaded but most of it was not and it was a hot day.

We road the trail south to Easthampton thru parks and community gardens. One park was busy with food bank distribution.

This mural was really incredible. I wish I could have gotten it all on one picture.

Lunch stop on our return to Northampton. Landen loves those PB&Js.

One leg of the trail followed the Connecticut River. As we passed by a small lake the temperature dropped and we felt cool for a few brief minutes. It didn’t last long. These rides have been very hot so far.

Tomorrow we move to another campground.

Canalside Rail Trail – Montague, MA

Wednesday August 14, 2019 and we have a nice ride on the Canalside Trail scheduled. Lenny had an issue with his derailleur so he spent the morning fixing that issue. Landen rode his bike around the park and went down the slide many, many times.

We began our ride in Montague. We passed Turner Falls Dam and Fishway which are ladders that allow fish to travel up stream. The trail then followed the canal where we saw several trestle bridges, ducks and blue heron.

Near the end of the trail we were on the street for a short distance then into a heavily wooded area and over an awesome trestle bridge.

Beautiful trestle bridge on Canalside Rail Trail.

The views from the bridge were gorgeous. Since it was a short trail and Landen had fallen asleep we rode part of the trail twice.

View from trestle bridge on Canalside R/T near confluence of Conneticut and Deerfield Rivers.

So good to be starting out northeastern miles. Tomorrow we will ride The Manhan Rail Trail

Off to Experience the Northeast

We left Saybrook on Monday afternoon August 12, 2019 to begin our biking in the northeast. Our plan is to ride in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We may also get some New York miles in on our return to Ohio.

Our first morning – breakfast in motorhome, Utica, NY. Walmart parking lot beside a Bass Pro Shop.

We headed for Bernardston. MA in the morning as we have reservations at Traveler’s Woods. Our trip was uneventful (PTL) with mostly light traffic and of course some construction delays. Sine we are traveling with a 2 year old our site was near the play ground.

Notice Landen is wearing his bike helmet. Couldn’t decide between riding his strider bike or going down slide. Nice quiet campground.

We plan to stay here 3 nights. It is close to 2 trails we plan to ride. Tomorrow we begin our Massachusetts miles. We are so excited to once again that we are blessed2bbiking. Double blessed to have Landen along

From then until now

After completing our northwest biking experience in October 2019 we were able to spend a beautiful fall in Ohio before heading to Fort Leonard Wood to spend Christmas with Erik and his family. April was with us too.

Then it was off to Florida for the winter. We spent January and February 2019 at West Jupiter RV. We did many miles of biking from the RV Park. Walking the beach is one of our favorite activities and we did plenty of that. Best of all we spent lots of time with our grandson Landen.

Along one of our favorite rides in Cypress Park.

Wild turkey in River Bend Park. We rode here many times and even did a full moon ride. The night sounds and darkness made it a very different experience.

March means Strawberry Festival time so we headed for Plant City area. We camped at Colt Creek State Park for a few days. Had a wonderful visit with the Millers and fun times at the Strawberry Festival. Highlight was the Martina McBride concert.

Amazing the way they plant and harvest the strawberries. I love getting pictures of the flag.

Cookout at Colt Creek in cool March weather.

While staying at Colt Creek we road a couple nice trails that were only a short drive from the park – General James A Van Fleet and Withlacoochee State Trail.

After our stay at Colt Creek we had reservations at Highland Hammock State Park. The ranger who checked us in spent many summers in Ashtabula. Her grandfather was commodore at the yacht club.

While here we enjoyed some biking, hiking, a very informative tram tour and the Civilian Conservation Corp Museum. An excellent history lesson dealing with the depression era.

Then it was off to Ortona South Lock a Corp of Engineers campground. We loved it here. We could walk across the dam and watch boats going thru the lock. There were river otters playing in the stream. Great place for walking, relaxing and biking.

Cattle grazing beside campground. I enjoyed hearing them in the morning. Biggest bull I’ve ever seen!

Ortona Tavern was literally the only place in town. Nice place to stop for a beer while out biking.

Waiting for locks to close so we can cross for our bike ride.

Boats in lock at Ortona. Yacht on right was getting a tow. He had hit a rock in the river.

We took a trip to Shark Valley in the Everglades while staying at Ortona. We biked the Shark Valley Loop.

This guy was across the trail!! We saw way too many gators.

This turtle was nesting alongside the trail. We saw him from the tram tour on the loop.

Love to see Blue Heron, my favorite water bird. We saw many feeding along Shark Valley Loop.

Our next stopping place was W.P. Franklin Lock, also a Corp of Engineers campground. From here we took a second trip to the Everglades for a boat tour in the Thousand Islands area near Everglades City.

Camillia Street Grill a great lunch stop after our Everglades tour.

Our first taste of Stone Crab in Everglades City.

We took the Eco River Tour sunset cruise. We were back at the dock before the storm rolled in.

We were right on the water at W.P. Franklin. I enjoyed seeing a little blue heron feeding in the morning.

Visited my cousin Linda and her husband Jim on Pine Island. Wonderful boat cruise. Jim at the helm.

It was back to the east coast of Florida for a couple weeks in April and then back to Ohio. We had an extra traveler with us on our return.

Landen enjoying breakfast in the motorhome on the trip to Ohio.

We had a good spring and part of summer at home. Landen made life there a whole new experience. We had a good time catching up with family and friends.