Unwanted hitch hiker

       So the other day we noticed that some of the bag with bread in it had been torn. At first we thought it was Carbon but then we found other bits of food that the boxes had missing corners and then we found little tiny poop. So we have decided we have a New York mouse in the truck and we cant find it. We took everything out of the food area but it wasn't there. We need to just empty out the entire truck but its raining and has been sense we discovered the traces of the little guy. We'll keep you up to date with him later.

        Right now were in Greenville, Maine. At a camp sight called Moosehead Family Campsight. The owners are very nice and gave us some much better directions to the trains we're going to see tomorrow. There's also apple trees on the property and we can eat them if we'd like. I've now tried 4 and i think all the good ones were already taken.

        Theres alot of moose signs right around here but we haven't seen any but, we have high hopes for tomorrow.

While in Vermont we were driving right by Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory so we went for a tour.
At the end the gave us a bit of free ice cream. We like it so much we ended up buying 2 pints.

but wait we dont have a refrigerator....

So we ate as much as we could, then put the rest in my coat and drove for a camp site. We figured it would be a cold enough night that the ice cream would survive and we could have it for breakfast in the morning but when we got to the site an older Canadian couple offered to put it in there fridge.( they were very persistent) I thought for sure they would eat it but, i let them take it anyway. So we went to our car watched a couple episodes of Long Way Round( Everyone should watch Long Way Round and Long Way Down. Jamie says so!) and went to bed. The next day we got our ice cream back and ate it all.
     

                                           ben and Jerry's cows

                             coolest trash can ever

We went to New Hampshire to climb Mt Washington which is the tallest point in New Hampshire. We got there and found out it was $35 to drive up in our truck or and 8 hour round trip hike up..... So we drove to Maine.

We found an unknown spot(  bc in the east coast signs are irrelevant). It was raining and we needed  a dry place to cook and be outside( and Jamie still thought it'd be smart to cook outside the awning) bc the car just keeps getting smaller and smaller. No but the car does suck after awhile....

So i made the tent into an awning.... its still raining now

never thought id like New York

       from michigan to canada. crossing the border was easy just need to see our passports. asked us some questions that we didnt have answers to like" where is your final destination?" or "how long will you be here?".

 we tried to find something canadian to do but it was just like everything were used to.  we went to a restraunt and spent to much on nornal food. but Jamie did get a fancy tea set up. She asked for tea, thinking she'd get sweet tea or something. But nope they whipped out the British tea time set up. So that gave us a good laugh.
                                    

      we both bought some new shoes that were slip on's. We didnt want  sandels because it was pretty cold already and there alot more comfortable to were when driving.

 After that we set out to find a camp ground and take some showers. we stopped at 6 campgrounds trying to find something under $20 and eventually settled for $35. way to much. then we went to take shower and the showers cost 25 cents for like 10mins. And it wouldnt take our U.S. quarters so i had to go change some of our quarter for some canadian quarters.

so to sum up canada it was expensive, kph, and a shortage on road signs. and when your ready to leave check behind hanging bushes for the bridge to USA signs.

Our $20 vs their $20

cool sign we found while driving lost

      but on the bright side of canada was niagra falls. i have a little problem with expecting to much and so things dont seem that great but the falls didnt let me down. they were awesome!

                          
                               

Its a double RAINBOW!!!

                                

The Family.

      in Buffalo Jamie found a Nation Wide insurace company run by The Seeligs. it made her day for like 15 minutes.

the next day we went to Lake Ontairo, a town called Pultneyville.  we have now been to all the great lakes. oddly enough they all look the same.
                                   

       yesterday we went to Adirondack forest. we stayed at Greenwood creek state park. there were some beautiful waterfalls near the picknic area. we went out to explore a bit and ended up going down a snowmobil trail(it didnt say that when we entered the trail). We ended up chopping up a tree and dragging a few with the truck to try to get threw, only to find out it didnt lead anywhere. so we went back the way we came. Headed back to camp and made a big fire. then after we got the fire all big an toasty, it started raining.... alot.
                                      
                                     

  
                                                  truck got hungry

                                                      end of the road

                                      

Doesnt he look so cool with his backpack on?

       now we are in vermont. we just visited the ethan allen homestead. the house was cool but the tour was not so much. as with most anything that goes along with tours, the best parts are off limits. we couldnt see uptrairs or in the basement. Half of us just wanted to sneek and look at them... but Jonathan doesnt like breaking laws. ;)

       now were sitting at a rest stop that has wifi. about to head to new hampshire.
                                                       

                                                     we road a ferry !!!!!!!!!!!

 

     

we passed chicogo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just to inform y'all this is gonna be a very long post of our last 5 days.


Sept. 16

 This was the day we set off on our trip again. We started off going through Kansas, then the tip of Missouri,onto Hancock Iowa to our campsite. I'm not gonna talk about Kansas or Missouri bc me and Jonathan have been there alot( probably like most of you). So onto Iowa, I really liked it alot. there really wasnt anything out of the norm but it reminded me of the pastures and farms in Oklahoma so i LOVED IT! Now to the campsite we stayed in...
 Lets start with cool thing about the campsite;
-There were what looked like pet buffalo and elk. I say pet bc they were in a big gated off area in the middle of the park. So me and Jonathan had a fun time taking pictures of them and of Carbon watching them.
And for the not cool;
-It cost $10 for a tent site?!?!? what the heck? who's bright idea was that??? Thats a bit much for having a Porta John like 500m away.
-And one of the Host was a "B"( not the best quality to have if your gonna be a host, just sayin) and they did care if we stayed and camped there or went somewhere else(not very happy ppl if ya ask me).
So we'd advise if your going to Iowa dont stay in Botna Bend Park.
                                     
                                     
Sept 17

 We made it to Wisconsin and went to The Cave of  the Mound. it was a cave that they found back in the 1930's while a family had a limestone rock quarry in the back yard so they let miners do there job and mine away. And when they took TNT to it they found a cave.... well i guess it was a nice tourist place if your into that stuff. We weren't that impressed but, we did get spoiled by goin to places like Belize.

Sept 18

On the 17th we stayed the night at a campsite called Jamieson Park :) it didn't just have a cool name it was a free campsite and not many ppl stayed there. That was the first night it got to cold to just sleep with the comforter. Pretty much the only thing we planned for that day was to go to a brewery but, the tour didnt start till 4 so we had some time to kill. So we went to a park near by so Carbon could run around and while we where at the park Jonathan found a dirt trail so we followed it. It ran right by a river. We saw trout swimming up river and the biggest tree we've seen so far. Which made us SUPER HAPPY.... Then 4 rolled around and we went to our tour. It was at Sprecher Brewing Co. (totally advise goin to this one).It was pretty cool getting to see everything behind the scenes of a beer brewery. And our tour guide really knew his stuff. It cost $5 per person and you get four 8oz samples of any of their beer. They make their own pop too and you can have as much of that as you want. And you get to keep the 8oz glass that they put the beer in. So if your into the whole beer thing this would be the place to go.
                                         

Sept 19

On the 18th we stayed in our first truck stop and we slept surprisingly well. Then we drove to Michigan which has alot of campgrounds which is cool. We found a place to take a hot shower for 25 cents. Then we kept driving and found a place to stay in Hiawatha National Park.

Sept 20

We went to Pictured Rocks National Shoreline. Then visited some water falls. Went to the same named Forest but in a different location. carbon loves the forest because we can let him run and theres always something for him to chase.

 

Sept 21

 

 

 

 

We found our way out of the maze of trails we were sleeping in and headed for lower michigan. rained off and on agian like it had been doing ever sence we got to michigan. at one point it started hailing. we crossed the mackanac bridge and tried to find something to do but it was all very touristy and expensive so we just started driving. we found a place were they bring old building and tell there history. it was free so we walked around. of course it was raining and most of the doors were locked so we got wet. afterwards we went to the headlands. theres a place called the international dark sky. it has very little light polution so it makes for great star gazeing. would love to stay and watch because the northern lights are sometimes visible here. but the weater disagrees as its suposed to rain for the next couple of days. we found a light house that was open to the public and had a look around. awesome place plus it was free. for now were headed south.


                                          

 

lets try this again

          things to change
               truck- because gas wasnt worth it and it was burning alot of oil.
               motorcycles- we werent useing them and saw no need to.
               camper- TOO BIG.
             
          Solution get a smaller truck, no camper and leave the bikes. one problem jamie likes her bike i likes mine. we dont need them now but we dont want to loose them. So back to oklahoma where we started. we unloaded and decided what we didnt need. no kayaks, no lemon tree, way less tools, no generator, but we are still bringing the bicycles(i have to spell it out because i used bikes in refrence to the motorcycles already). long story chort were bacicly backpacking with a truck.

          sold the truck and the camper, safely parked the bikes and bought a new truck that gets 20 mpg.
 when we were thinking about cars we had a few in mind but it had to be better on gas, 4x4, small enough to get around easily but big enough to sleep in, and I had to be willing to work on it. only one choice. TOYOTA!!!! YAY!!!

         We now have a 95 4runner. not the best set up being a v6 with an auto but i can live with it. the body is good enough that if we do blow the engine then its worth repairing. does need a few things mostly on the front end. little bits of the suspension and cv boots. but those will have to wait we will fix them before we head west but for now they arent a big enough problem.

         right away we made a few changes. space it the main problem with this plan. we will likely be in a tent alot but if were at a wallmart we cant set up a tent. so i built a bed in the back. found all sorts of designs for sleeping platforms online but ended up just making the most simple thing i could think of. Only took one piece of plywood and a couple short pipes i found in the garage. cost about $40. storage is still tight but we got everything in there we need (i think).

                                                                              before

to sleep

for cloths and other things. we each get one side

shared space for cooking stuff, tools, and food.

 

        We're headed back to wissconsin where we left off. not sure what well do there but i know theres cheese and beer. any ideas?

not the big city but still pritty big

      From columbia we headed to a small town called hunnewell with a free camp ground. it was nice and had some jon boats you could use free of charge. but they wouldnt let us take our kayaks out because of  the posibility of transfering zebra mussels to the lake. so we got a jon boat and went out to play. we paddled the best we could but the paddles would fall out of there slots and the wind got pritty bad so we didnt make it to far.

                                      

       next was chicago, or a town just north of chicago called zion. illinios beach state park was there. this was the first paid camping and that wont become a regular thing. we cruised around town a bit on our bikes, found alot of parks and discovered there was a trian that would take us into chicago for $7.25. so the next day we went into chicago. neither of us had ever ridden a trian other than something at the zoo or a mall so this was new to us. it was alittle over an hour ride in to the city but it droped us right in the center.
                                     

                                 
                                   
       right from the get go it was crazy. there were people everywhere, lots of cars, poeple on bikes. it seemed like we were the only poeple not in a hurry to get somewhere. and we were the only poeple who had no clue where we were going.so we just started walking. we found that the bottom floor od all the building were stores and every thing on top were appartments. i cant see why someone would choose to live in a pile of houses when less than half an hour away are empty fields. just my openion but the place looked way to crowded for me to stay very long. we found a walmart right on a corner tucked under a building. i knew they did that with little coffee shops but a walmart, really? but i used this to refuel myself with a 6 pack of hersheys. we got to the river which was my favorite part because ever block there was a draw bridge. they were all built in the teens and 20's.

        pritty cool but eventually it just gave use head aches from all the noise and cigarette smoke. so we desided it was back to zion. but of course the next trian wasnt for 3 hours. so we went and wandered some more and then just sat in the lobby and waited the rest of the time.

 

 

       we got back to camp and settled in we saw a family of dear less than 50 feet from the camper a few times. at one oint jamie went and started her bike and they just lookeed at her then went back to eating. we had a good time but after our little adventure for the last week we have decided we went to big and need to change a few things.