Life is Good in Ithaca

We love it here. Cara has been coming to Ithaca for, she estimates, somewhere around 25 years. Her and I have come since before kids and still do. We often aim for a trip to one of the three main state parks in the general Ithaca area around the first weekend of June, which is when the annual Ithaca Arts Fest takes place.

This year, however, we opted to tack it on to the end of our two-week road trip around the Northeast. This stay broke up an 8ish hour drive from the family reunion in the Adirondacks. It took us a little over 4 hours to get here. It will take us a tad over 3 hours to get back to central PA.

With this being the final stop of the journey, only one full day in the area, and being familiar with a good portion of the parks and town, we were certainly in "take it easy" mode. There were no set plans, but there were things we wanted to do. Weather cooperated, and it made for the perfect stay.

Sunday's travel was wet and rainy, but we arrived just before a storm rolled in. We got the camper sorta set and leveled before waiting out the cell for about 15 minutes. There was another instance or two of drizzle, but for the most part, things began to cool off. And we began to explore Robert H. Treman State Park campground.

Despite coming to this park many times in the past, this is the first time that Cara and I are not camping in one of the cabins. With the way the park sets up their cabin rentals along with how we've often come in early June, we've always done weekend visits.

Both girls have been to this park before as well. This year, however, with our site in the main loop next to cabins, there was something that they just had to do the second they were unbuckled and out of the car: go to the playground. The site had electricity, proximity to the waterfall, and an easy view of the playground. This was just another huge plus for this stop. The girls could play within view of our site. And did they ever play.

By mid-afternoon, we decided on walking from our site over to the Enfield Falls swimming area. During the summer, the area is a popular spot with a diving board that launches you into the gorge and spectacular sights and sounds of a waterfall, which you can swim over too if you'd like. Both Cara and I jumped in a few times while Aspen and Acadia did a little bit of swimming in the shallower water.

Into the Adirondacks

Finally back with some reliable service as we are in the final days of our 15-day and 14-night road trip throughout the northeast.

This past weekend was spent at Fish Creek Pond State Park in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. It's a huge campground that hugs the perimeter of the equally massive lake. There is something like 300+ lakefront sites.

We had site #1, and we picked that for a few different reasons. For starters, it was near the entrance (minimal drive after arrival), it was near a restroom (always a plus with kids), it was near the beach and pavilion (convenient on Saturday for the family reunion), and it was one of only 5 sites to the left of the entrance station (minimal vehicle traffic which is great when you have a kid that wants to bike a lot).

Thursday's travel day has already been documented, so let's pick up with Friday.

We all slept in on Friday and woke up slowly and with no set plan. We ran into a few family members, and it was decided that a good number of Menzels who were in the campground already were going to do a Panther Trail hike sometime in the late afternoon.

The trailhead was about 10-15 minutes from the campground and somewhat on the way to the small town of Tupper Lake, which would come in handy after the hike. The trail itself was pretty daunting for anybody under 6-and-a-half, which meant that Acadia crushed it while Aspen and any of the second cousins younger than her needed multiple boosts of energy and encouragement. What made this hike so difficult  was that it starts off with elevation. And it's straight up for something like 500 feet over the course of a half mile. There are switchbacks, slippery rocks, and roots all over the place. The entire hike is only a mile-long out-and-back. You're in the woods for 99% of it. When you finally get to the summit, it opens up on to some rocky slabs and incredible views of the hills, mountains, valleys, and lakes in this section of the Adirondacks.

Travel Days and Travel Haze

We knew that because of our extra night in Maine that getting to upstate New York for Thursday night would be long. We were asking a lot out of the girls and dog. It would include just under 5 hours from Maine to the White Mountains or New Hampshire on Wednesday. We'd then wake up on Thursday and get on the road for about 5 hours from New Hampshire to Fish Creek Pond State Park in the Adirondacks.

What we didn't know was that we would have loved for the trip to New York to have been 5 hours. Or 6 hours. Or 7 hours.

But let's back up to our brief stay in the White Mountains.

Getting there from Maine wasn't too bad, although it was hot. We had to make one detour, which added about 30-40 minutes on to the trip. We were following GPS when it had us turn onto Hurricane Road. But when you make that turn you are immediately blitzed with signs and warnings that the road is not suitable for RVs, towing, and large vehicles. There are also warnings to not follow GPS. So, we had to turn back around and loop around the mountain to US-302, a beautiful and scenic route with towering granite and pine-covered mountains that look like they are in a battle of which what can get taller than the other.

Eventually, we arrived at Dry River campground, which gave us vibes of one of our favorite Pennsylvania state parks: Worlds End. After quickly setting up camp and eating some dinner, we ventured to one of the trails that shoots off of the campground toward Dry River. There, you could mess around in the rocky river bed while cooling off in the crisp water flowing through the granite rocks that range from pebbles to boulders. There was also evidence of a recent flood - or at least higher-than-usual river height.

"I don't want to leave"

On Monday night, Cara and I sorta packed in case we sorta left Mount Desert Island which was sorta the plan. After my parents left our campsite and the girls were settling down for bed, we talked things over, looked at weather, and considered all of our options.

What we came up with was to stay in Acadia National Park for one more day only if we could do so without switching sites and not paying an insane amount of money at our campground. We wouldn't know that answer until about 9 AM on Tuesday.

In the event that we stayed and temperatures cruised to above average, the plan was as follows: go to Bar Harbor and get Acadia her gear, then a small hike, explore Park Loop Road, and then return to the campground for a pool break and decide how to spend the evening.

After Monday's insane biking day, everybody slept in and slowly go themselves moving in the morning. We were still drinking coffee and messing around camp when 9 AM rolled around. Acadia and I headed up to the park office to get the scoop.

It could be done. We'd be spending money and losing out on our first night in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. But our next site did not have electricity, temperatures were to reach 90, and any hikes (which looked absolutely stunning) would be done in the hottest part of the day. It needed to be done. We had unfished business in Acadia National Park.

My parents had started their day before we had officially made the call, so it would just be the four of us plus a dog for most of the morning and afternoon.

The first step would be back into town in the late morning. There, the girls got what they had been hoping for: Acadia got her namesake park gear (it made her day) while Aspen got climbing gear (seriously, this is what she wanted, and was super pumped to pick up a 50-foot rope). Cara and I also got a couple of things that we were glad to have found. While still in Bar Harbor, we checked out a cute bookstore, looped around to Atlantic Brewing Company to get a couple of 4-packs to go, and then a couple of smoothies at The Bite, which was a couple of buildings down from Side Street Cafe (which we didn't get to stop on this trip).

By then, it was about noon. We could sense that on this hot day, Sand Beach and Park Loop Road would be packed. However, we wanted to get a little hike in called Great Head Trail. The trail can be accessed by crossing Sand Beach and the main entrance. We'd be lucky to get a parking spot at the beach, though. Fortunately, we ended up finding a trailhead parking lot outside the main gates.

Uphill Climbs and Downhill Winds on the Carriage Roads

Monday morning started with excitement and energy as we planned to meet my parents at the Jordon Pond House at 9 AM. Acadia National Park can get very busy and crowded, even on a non-holiday weekday, and the parking lots cannot accommodate hundreds of vehicles easily. Lucky for us, we were able to get everybody up, get Molly a little walk in (she was to stay in the camper for the morning bike ride), and then arrive just a tad past 9 AM.

After unhitching the bikes and getting set up, we were on the road - the Carriage Road that is. Carriage Roads are wider paths with more packed down gravel than you would see in a typical hike through the woods. There are no vehicles allowed. The Carriage Roads are only for bikers, hikers, and horseback riders.

The weather for this morning started out like every other day her so far: lots of fog, overcast, and occasional mist. Honestly, though, with the temperatures still in the 60s, it wasn't as bad as it may sound. The fog attempting to lift while still getting glimpses of the various ponds, forests, and mountains still made for quite the unique views.

But despite that excitement and energy that we had early in the morning, the first part of our trek was anything but. 

We decided on doing the Jordon Pond Carriage Road Loop, which is an 8.9-mile ride past Jordon Pond, Bubble Pond, and Eagle Lake before cutting through some forests back to the Jordon Pond House.

The path starts at Jordon Pond and immediately inclines up along a mountain that overlooks the pond. This was the hardest part of the entire Carriage Road, and we almost didn't even do it. There were two problems. The first was that my dad's e-bike battery wasn't working properly, so it was a lot of effort for him to get up the hill. The second was that this hill was daunting for the best of bikers, let alone a 6-year-old Acadia, who wanted nothing more than to do some biking. We were about 8/10ths of the way up this hill - and remember this is how our bike ride started out, so it's early still - when decisions needed to be made.

Blueberries on Beech Mountain

Today was one of the best road trip days we've ever had.

It started relatively early, somewhere in the 7 AM hour, but it also started slowly. So slowly, in fact, that the girls just had to jump into the heated pool before 10 AM. Man, to think that we drove all the way to Maine for them to swim in a pool felt hilariously appropriate.

But by 11, we needed to start getting every person and dog ready for a Beech Mountain hike. The plan was to meet my parents at the trailhead and small parking lot at 11:45 AM. The plan was to also have the girls eat their lunch on the 10 minute drive over to the trailhead with hopes that it would cut down on the number of "I'm hungry" groans we'd get.

Cara and I hiked a variation of this summit way back in 2019 with a baby Acadia. The sights and sounds blew us away, and we just knew that we'd have to return to this trail. This time, however, we wouldn't venture to any trail extensions and instead stuck to the 1.3 mile loop up to the summit, where there's an old fire tower, and then back down with incredible views of Long Pond (this is a different Long Pond than what we did yesterday after arriving).

A few hundred feet after you start the trail in a typical northeastern forest mixed with massive boulders scattered around, there is an option to go 0.5 miles or 0.8 miles up to the fire tower lookout. The shorter path is what we chose and includes quite a few scrambles that every person and dog were eventually able to manage. It made the ascent moderately difficult, but allowed for a much more peaceful descent.

A Maine-ly Great Travel Day

As we saw with our ride from PA to NH, travel days can be quite unpredictable. So, knowing that anything could happen on I-95, the plan was to get up, hitch up, and head out.

And for the most part, that's what went down. Molly stirred a few times between 6 and 8 AM, and the girls were up by about 8. Coffee was brewing, and it was "easy breakfast" morning - a bowl of cereal, a yogurt, or a bagel to get you through the pack up and break down.

After breakfast, the girls strolled to the neighbors behind us - a pastor and retired teacher who just so happened to have a dog named Molly as well. The girls spent a little bit of time just talking their ears off about all kinds of random things 6-year-olds and 4-year-olds come up with. A little while later, as Cara and I were finishing up the packing, Aspen ran over to ask it was OK for them to do some water painting.

That's an easy one to answer! Our neighbors were such a huge help to us in the morning. While they entertained the girls, their friend came over and joined in on the fun. The entertainment the girls got plus the uninterrupted time we got, meant that we were more or less ready to head out by 9:30.

It was a quick and easy hour for all. It also meant a sad goodbye needed to happen. It was bittersweet to see Acadia and Aspen going through the ring of emotions as they hugged, laughed, and waved to goodbye to a friend that had pretty much only known for a day. (We did share our address and encouraged the start of a pen pal.)

As for the drive, it pretty much went according to plan including 2 extra unexpected (but let's be real here) potty breaks. Weather was overcast and occasionally misty, but we crossed into Mount Desert Island around 2 PM. We were pulling into our campground 15 minutes later.

We're staying at HTR Acadia, although it sounds like a recent name change or buyout took place and there's a new name. But they're still using the HTR logo and paperwork. Who cares? It's a beautiful, rocky, and secluded spot that offers up stunning views of Somes Sound. There are a few communal areas as well as a spot to dock a kayak, paddle boat, or paddle board. There are a ton of ten sites. Our camper site is located on jutout that has only 3 camper sites. We're in the middle and both neighboring sites are empty - talk about luck with the privacy.

Cruising Up the Coast of New Hampshire

The looks on our faces when we looked at the clock and saw that everybody slept in until 8:30 AM was just the start of the beautiful scenes we would take in today while exploring North Hampton and Hampton, New Hampshire.

After waking up rested, the girls immediately needed to go to the playground. I took them there while Cara hung back and made some breakfast.

Once fueled up, we had ourselves a little bit of a game plan.

The first stop on our day took us to an L.L. Bean outlet store where Aspen got herself the hydration pack that she craved while we were back in the Delaware Water Gap. She wouldn't need it today, but that didn't matter to her. Cara also returned from browsing with two new pairs of shoes, explained that she shouldn't be left alone in an L.L. Bean outlet store while also assuring me that she doesn't need a birthday gift now.

After getting some discounted gear, we headed to the North Hampton shore. There is a state park that has plenty of parking and a wild and rocky coast that was perfect for the girls to explore and collect. It's a long shoreline with significantly more residential buildings than small town shops.

Not All Travel Days Are Created Equal

The day started out just like any other travel day. Cara and I packed some things the evening before, everybody slept well, and we woke up at a good time for a quick breakfast. Departure time was 930 AM. We were slated to get in at 200 PM, right at check-in time. 

Travel would take us from PA, into NY, through CT and MA, before arriving in NH. We were cruising smoothly until we got to Massachusetts and around Boston, not that we actually were going to drive through the city. 

Multiple accidents, construction, detours, and "unusually heavy traffic" (Google Maps' words) meant that needed to reroute multiple times and didn't arrive to our campground in North Hampton, NH, until a little after 4 PM.

Needless to say, everybody was antsy, annoyed, tired, and both exhausted and full of energy.

The girls immediately hopped on bikes. Cara took the dog for a walk. They all met at the playground, explored the campground, and checked out the game room. I worked on setting up camp.

Eventually, we are got back together, ate some dinner, and then Cara and Aspen headed to a grocery store to get the essentials for s'mores. 

After getting some wood and setting up the fire, we relaxed for a bit while eating a camping snack classic.

Gap-tion Packed Day Along the Delaware River

Nothing like a pun that is both forced and terrible to get your attention.

Molly was the first to stir this morning at about 6:45. That's pretty wild considering she was up for periods of the night. I think aside from the girls, who slept well and until about 7:30 or 8:00, everybody else woke up a various moments and for various stretches throughout the night. Like we always say, the first night of any trip is always the hardest.

After a pancake and sausage breakfast, we got ourselves changed and ready for our first hike of the trip. From our campground, we headed south on 209 for a mile or two before reaching PEEC. There are a lot of family-friendly and dog-friendly trails around the center.

We picked a combo trailhead - the Two Ponds Trail and the Tumbling Falls Trail. That two trails go along the same path for just under a mile. If the girls were feeling good, we'd keep going on the longer trail - the Tumbling Falls Trail - and see some waterfalls. If it was too much, we'd keep it short and stick to the Two Ponds Trail.

By the time we started our hike at about 9:30, the sun was already out in full force and the humidity was creeping back up. Combine that with the bugs waking up from their nighttime slumber, and we ended up sticking to the Two Ponds Trail, which, as the name implies, takes you around two different ponds.

A Road Trip That Starts in Pennsylvania

After taking a road trip hiatus last summer, we're back in action in 2025. This time, we heading back to a familiar place: Acadia National Park.

Cara and I were there in 2017 with my family. A few years later, in 2019, we embarked on a ridiculous albeit action-packed Labor Day excursion with a 9-month-old Acadia.

With a Menzel family reunion planned for after our trip to Mount Desert Island, we decided to turn everything into a 2-week loop around the Northeast. Also for this trip, we are planning to limit any travel between sites to no more than 4-and-a-half hours. And also for this trip, we are staying at each site for a minimum of 2 nights.

The first stop on our journey keeps us in Pennsylvania on the western side of the Delaware River Water Gap.

We are staying at Dingman's Campground in the northern third of the park. From the campground, we have access to the McDade bike trails and a don't-swim but it's-ok-to-wade-in-the-water spot. There's also no cell service, so who knows when this post will make it through.

The campground is about 5 minutes from the Pennsylvania Enviornmental Education Center (PEEC). There are also a bunch of hiking trailheads every few miles with a few waterfall opportunities mixed in.

Arrival to the park and campground on Tuesday came at about 3 PM. It was incredibly hot and humid (94 degrees with humidity that feels like it could rain at any moment). Still, we were able to set up camp, get the bikes set up, and spend an hour or so checking out the campground.