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 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 – 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

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Michigan

State 20:

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

Michigan

Michigan became the 26th state on January 26, 1837. The capital is Lansing. Michigan is the only state with two peninsulas.

Our wandering around Michigan took us to three great lakes, two national lakeshores, huge sand dunes, magnificent waterfalls, a beautiful island with no motorized vehicles allowed, a lock connecting two great lakes, lighthouses, and gigantic cliffs.

Our Michigan journeys included camping in Muskegon State Park on Lake Michigan and in Lakeport State Park on Lake Huron.

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Swan in Muskegon Channel
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Beach on Lake Huron in Lakeport State Park

We picked a beautiful day to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

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Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
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450 feet above Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

We had a great view of the Mackinac Bridge from our campsite at Macinaw Mill Creek Campground. The campground was our home base for a visit to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Bridge at sunset
Mama Swan with babies

 

After crossing the Mackinac Bridge we spent a few days in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, otherwise known as the UP. We spent a day marveling at the spectacular waterfalls in Tahquamenon (rhymes with phenomenon) Falls State Park.

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Upper Tahquamenon Falls
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Lower Tahquamenon-Falls

We drove up to Sault Ste. Marie for a look at the Soo Locks.

Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie
Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie

Another day was spent exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

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Sable Falls
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Miner’s Castle
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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Our campsite at Porcupine Mountains State Park was right next to the rocky shore of Lake Superior.

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We enjoyed seeing a few of Michigan’s Lighthouses.

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

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Idaho

State 10:

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

Idaho

Idaho became the 43rd state on July 3, 1890 and the capital is Boise.

We’ve driven through the Idaho panhandle on I-90 a couple of times going between Montana and Washington but never had a chance to stop in that part of the state.

Welcome to Idaho
Welcome to Idaho

I discovered there was more to Idaho than potatoes when we spent a fabulous week in Island Park, Idaho near West Yellowstone, Montana.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in addition to potatoes there were waterfalls, mountains, cattle ranches, and spectacular scenery.

We chose Red Rock RV Park in Island Park on a small country road as our home base for exploring Yellowstone National Park.  It was a quiet and peaceful location to relax after spending the day exploring.  We were so busy enjoying the wonders of Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and  the scenery going to and from the parks that I never got around to taking many pictures of the campground.

One of our drives took us through Yellowstone and the Tetons and back to the campground through Idaho. We passed by fields of wheat and potatoes before driving on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in the Targhee National Forest.

We made a stop at Mesa Falls State Park for a look at two waterfalls.

Lower Mesa Falls
Lower Mesa Falls
Stairs lead to a viewing platform atUpper Mesa Falls, Idaho
Stairs lead to a viewing platform at Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
Upper Mesa Falls
Upper Mesa Falls
Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho

One day as we were returning to the campground we were held up by cowboys herding cattle down the road. Another day we had to cancel our plans to attend a rodeo because of a big thunderstorm.

Idaho Sunset
Idaho Sunset

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