Wandering Around America One State at a Time – New York

State 29:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. We have never been to New Jersey so the next state in my series is

New York

New York became the 11th  state on July 26, 1788. The capital is Albany.

A few years ago we camped in Niagara Falls, Canada. After exploring the Canadian falls we made a day trip into New York where we had close up views of the Bridal Veil Falls and got soaked as we walked along the decks on the Cave of the Winds Tour.

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Bridal Veil Falls as seen from Canada
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Niagara Falls USA

You will get wet if you take the Cave of the Winds Tour!

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You can’t get much closer to the falls that this
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Up close to the falls on the Cave of the Winds Tour
Walked under the American Side of Niagara Falls in New York
That’s Henry waving from the Hurricane Deck

Our next stop in New York was Golden Hill State Park. Although the park is located about thirty miles by water from Niagara Falls the drive is a little bit longer. This peaceful state park was exactly what we needed after the excitement of Niagara Falls. Where else can you have a view of a lighthouse and one of the great lakes from your campsite? We enjoyed touring the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse and Blondie enjoyed swimming in Lake Ontario. The highlight each day was watching a gorgeous sunset over the lake.

I recently returned from a fantastic Mother-Daughter Weekend in New York City. We did all the things on our bucket list and much more. The best part of the weekend for me was seeing the city with my beautiful daughter.

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri     Montana     Nebraska     Nevada      New Hampshire     New Mexico

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – New Mexico

State 28:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

New Mexico

New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912. The capital is Santa Fe.

We have traveled through New Mexico several times in our travels. The first time was in 1985 in a mini van on our way to the Grand Canyon to tent camp with our two kids. Each time we were in the state we made sure to eat some of the delicious New Mexico food.  From blue corn tacos to green chile stew it’s all delicious. One year we visited my brother and his wife near Albuquerque and they took us to some of their favorite restaurants. Nothing better than eating where the locals eat!

In New Mexico many restaurants give you a choice of red salsa or green salsa. If you want both, when the server asks you what salsa you would like, the answer is “Christmas”. And where else would you have green chile stew and nachos for breakfast?

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Green Chile stew and nachos for breakfast at the Frontier Restaurant in Alburque

When we left home on our first RV trip in 2006, one of our must see stops was Roswell, New Mexico to visit the UFO Museum.

New Mexico is one of the states that meets at the Four Corners.

Four Corners – States of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada

Our campsite at Santa Fe Skies was a perfect home base to explore Santa Fe and the surrounding area. We enjoyed wandering around Santa Fe, shopping at the Palace of the Governors and visiting the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.

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St. Francis Cathedral Santa Fe
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Camel Rock near Santa Fe
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Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe

When we asked one of the staff at the RV park the best way to get to Taos, he told us we could take the high road or the low road. Of course given two options we decided to travel to Taos on the scenic high road through high desert, mountains and small towns and return to Santa Fe on the low road through the valleys beside the Rio Grande River.

The scenery changed along the high road as we drove from Sante Fe to Taos.

We visited the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge outside of Taos before exploring Kit Carson’s home and enjoying tacos from a vendor at a Fiesta in Taos.

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Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
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Kit Carson’s home in Taos

As we drove back to Santa Fe on the low road there were great views of the Rio Grande.

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Rio Grande River on the Low Road between Taos and Santa Fe

Santa Rosa is one of the places to see some of the neon signs along historic Route 66. The Blue Hole was also worth a visit.

There is so much to see in and around Albuquerque. Although we had visited before, my brother and his wife were great tour guides and knew the best places to go. After attending a Navajo Rug sale with them we all took a hike through Petroglyphs National Monument.

On our most recent trip to New Mexico we wandered around Old Town Albuquerque and visited the Coronado State Monument.

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Historic church in Albuquerque
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Coronado State Monument

The highlight of our stay in Albuquerque was the drive on the Sandia Crest Scenic Byway. The views along the way and at the peak were amazing.

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View from Sandia Crest
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View from Sandia Crest
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View of Albuquerque from the Sandia Peak

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri     Montana     Nebraska     Nevada      New Hampshire

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – New Hampshire

State 27:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is one of the original 13 colonies and became the 9th state on June 21, 1788. The capital is Concord.

Before we began our RV adventures, during an early spring trip to New England we traveled along some scenic back roads in New Hampshire. Instead of spending the nights in RV Parks, we spent our nights in inns along the way. We came across three historic covered bridges as we wandered through the beautiful countryside.

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Covered Bridge in Bath, New Hampshire
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Covered Bridge in Bath, New Hampshire
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Swiftwater Covered Bridge
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Covered Bridge in Jackson, New Hampshire

We picked up some New Hampshire cheese at Harman’s Cheese and Country Store in Sugar Hill and fudge and other goodies at the Brick Store in Bath.

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The Brick Store in Bath, NH

There was spectacular scenery as we drove along the Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains. A hike on snow and ice beside a partially frozen creek  was worth it for a close up view of Sabbaday Falls.

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri     Montana     Nebraska     Nevada

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Nebraska

State 25:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Nebraska

Nebraska became the 37th state on March 1, 1867. The capital is Lincoln.

When I was a child, my family lived in Lincoln, Nebraska for a few years. We moved after I finished the first grade and all I remember is that I walked to school at the end of our street and that it snowed a lot in the winter.

Nebraska is one of the states many people drive through on their way somewhere else and we are among those who did just that. As we drove across the interstate in Nebraska we learned why it is one of the Great Plains states. There were fields of of corn and other crops as far as the eye could see. Road weary after almost two months on the road on our very first cross country RV trip, we stopped for a quick overnight stop at a campground next to the interstate.

As we drove along, fields of sunflowers added color to the green of the crops.

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20060904Nebraska-(5)To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri     Montana

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Montana

State 24:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Montana

Montana became the 41st state on November 8, 1889. The capital is Helena.

We visited Glacier National Park in 2006 on our very first cross country RV trip. The National Park had just opened back up after a wildfire when we arrived at Johnson’s RV Park.  The smell of smoke was heavy in the air and many firefighters were still in the area. Our campsite sat on top of a hill overlooking St. Mary’s Lake.

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St. Mary’s Lake

Driving from the eastern entrance of Glacier National Park to the western entrance in West Glacier on the 55 mile long steep and curvy Going to the Sun Road was the highlight of our visit. After wandering around West Glacier we turned around and returned to St. Mary the same way we came. We also enjoyed exploring the St. Mary side of Glacier.

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Glacier National Park, Montana
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Glacier National Park, Montana
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Glacier National Park, Montana
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Glacier National Park, Montana

The next year we traveled to Montana again, this time to visit the Little Big Horn National Monument near Hardin. While we were in the area we made a day trip to Big Horn Canyon.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana
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Little Bighorn Battlefield
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Bighorn Canyon

Earlier in that same trip we had gone through snow storms in Minnesota so we kept an eye out the weather after we left Hardin. We made a quick overnight stop in Garrison, Montana. Everything was fine when we went to sleep that night. The next day we woke up to several inches of snow. We were headed west with more snow moving towards us from the east so we skedaddled out of there as fast as we could and arrived safely at our next destination in Washington.

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After the storm in Garrison, Montana

Several years later we enjoyed spectacular scenery as we traveled through Montana on the way to Alaska. We spent a night at Cardwell Store and Campground and three nights in Great Falls before crossing into Alberta, Canada about 120 miles north of Great Falls.

Mountains in the distance in Cardwell, Montana
Mountains in the distance in Cardwell, Montana
Our Lady of the Rockies overlooking Butte, MT
Our Lady of the Rockies overlooking Butte, MT
Snow on the mountains between  Butte and Great Falls
It was snowing over the mountains between Butte and Great Falls

In Great Falls we took care of some business and stocked up on supplies before continuing north to Canada and Alaska. We also got to do a little sightseeing.

Statue honoring Lewis and Clark at the Visitor's Center
Statue honoring Lewis and Clark at the Visitor’s Center
Rainbow Falls
Rainbow Falls and Dam

On our way home from Alaska two and a half months later we spent two more nights in Montana as we traveled east towards Georgia.

A Bear cub with fish in our campsite in St. Regis, Montana
A Bear cub with fish in our campsite in St. Regis, Montana
Montana Sunrise
Montana Sunrise at Camp Three Forks

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri