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.

Promise You PA State Parks are Incredible

Friday, August 5, 2022 - Saturday, August 6, 2022

And just like that, we were back in Pennsylvania at Promised Land State Park. Our 2022 road trip was coming to a close.

We pulled into Promised Land State Park in the early afternoon, but we could sense some rain on the way. We were fortunate enough to not only have a lakefront camp spot, but we also got the camper popped up in time before the downpour.

Pickerel Point campground, which is a part of Promised Land State Park, is on this thin piece of land that juts out into the lake. At the end is a beach. We were only a few sites from that beach, but we still had a lake-view site.

We were only here for one night, and it was our last full day on this trip, so we knew we were taking it easy.

So, naturally, we did some puddle jumping.

Dark and Stark

Thursday, August 4, 2022 - Friday, August 5, 2022

Our second-to-last stop on the 2022 road trip would keep us in Vermont. Because of our decision to spend an extra night in Burlington, it meant that we'd spend one less night at this Vermont State Park in the southwest corner of the state: Molly Stark State Park.

The decision to stay at this park was one of convenience. We knew our limits of traveling and camping with the girls, so we weren't looking to drive too far. And with us only spending one night here, we were glad we weren't driving much.

We knew nothing about this park other than checking out some campground maps and local hikes on AllTrails. Coincidently, I did stumble upon this Reddit post just before leaving., which gave us some interesting background on who Molly Stark was and why there's a park named after her.

Burlington: The Town, Not The Coat Store

Tuesday, August 2, 2022 - Wednesday, August 3, 2022 - Thursday, August 4, 2022

When we planned this trip, we originally scheduled ourselves to spend only one night in Burlington. Part of the reasoning behind this was that getting from Schroon Lake to Burlington was a two-hour drive at most (I think we did it in just under two hours). The other reason being that we couldn't find a campsite that would allow us to spend two nights in the same spot. We figured that if we were going to have to pack up the campsite anyway, then we'd be fine making our way to our next stop.

That said, as the dates above suggest, we changed our minds.

The North Beach Campground was unique in that it was situated directly in the town of Burlington. It was as if you were driving through a city with a camper, making a couple of turns, driving by a school, and finding yourself at the entrance to a campground on the shores of Lake Champlain.

While our campsite wasn't on the shore itself, it was a 5-minute walk to the beach, which was wide open and huge. It included a playground and tons of space for games, playing, and finding a spot away from others, which was a good thing with a dog.

So, naturally, the first thing we did after unhitching and unpacking a few things was to change and head down to the water.