Author: travelingterrells

When booking the Sturbridge Jellystone in our previous post this was my number one attraction in the area to visit. It’s less than a mile away from the campground and is much like the Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Nassau County Long Island but much larger. In fact it’s rated as New England’s largest outdoor museum. The admission isn’t cheap but once you get inside it’s apparent what you’re paying for. There are so many actors around the grounds dressed in 1800’s garb and they farm and smith all their own products the old fashioned way. Linda and I could’ve stayed all day as it was so informative but we had to keep the attention span of our children in mind. That being said, we stayed nearly four hours on an oppressively hot morning. With a few minor hiccups, the children were engaged. In the video below I was able to catch Sarah a few times really paying attention. We moved quickly through the village just catching  a glimpse of what life was like back then as we had to to keep the kids interested. We saw a cow being milked, how farm animals are taken care of and used for farming, crops be picked and cultivated and wool being processed and dyed. We visited a blacksmith shop, a tinsmith, a grist mill, a carding mill (prepares wool), and church and general store. We realized just how much we take for granted each day. Life was work back then.

As I stated in the Jellystone post previous to this one, there’s so much to do here I feel we barely scraped the surface here at the village and also in the area as well. There’s a hike nearby at the Tantiusques in which you can hike to an old indian lead mine and cave and a nearby creamery that I wanted to visit but I had to leave them both on the table. Traveling with my children is very rewarding  and I want to show them the world but it’s very hard at the same time. They’re still so little so for now I’ll plan to the hilt and crank it down from there. There’s always next time. We’ll be back in a few years and they’ll get even more out of it when they’re a bit older. Thanks for stopping by.

This was our first Jellystone experience as a family. Sarah and I had been to one a couple of years ago during a Father/Son-Daughter camping trip but for the rest of the family it was their first experience with Yogi.

I booked this trip as a shakedown for a longer trip we’re going on this August. Mechanical and emotional problems as they may be, I wanted to test everything out before going on a week long trip. I was looking for about a two hour drive from our campground and Old Sturbridge Village (see our next post) is less than a mile away. I’m happy to say it was a success. Traveling with kids isn’t easy, especially young children. Barring a few challenges along the way, we all came out of it alright.

The Sturbridge Jellystone has a lot of amenities for kids as most campgrounds do but these resorts tend to have more than the average campground. The activities list is chock full of crafts, parties and hayrides with characters making their way through the campground to say hello. Kind of like Walt Disney World crossed with a wooded camping experience. This particular Jellystone has two pools as well as lake swimming, two playgrounds, a petting zoo, miniature golf,  couple of snack bars and even a real bar. We didn’t get to do everything, but the kids really enjoyed the lake swimming and the pool with the waterslide.

We booked a water/electric only campsite as sewer services are not available close to the lake. This was fine, our stay was only two nights and we could’ve stayed a third but the weather wasn’t looking so good the second and third day we were there. Heavy thunderstorms rolled in on our second day and it was cloudy the rest of our stay but our site was great. We were the first site off the lake, right on the beach. Lake swimming was a stones throw away and we could watch the little ones on the playground right from our site which was perfect for us as we sometimes have difficulty keeping all three children in the same place/activity. One always wants to wander off to do something else. They stayed near the site as the location was new to them. At our home campground they’re very familiar with the layout and have tried to wander off succeeding once.

We stayed mid week and checked out on a Friday. All the sites next to us were vacant but we think they book up on the weekend. It could be that these particular sites  don’t have sewer service or that transients for the most part only come out on weekends leaving the campground to the seasonal campers during the week. Nonetheless, I’m sure we’ll make it back here in a few years and as the kids will be older, they’ll get to discover it all over again.

Enjoy the video and thanks for stopping by.

We found this hike by Googling top things to do in Saugerties, NY. After the parade we were looking for an excuse to get back to the area and this hike in Glasco, NY was just the thing. The Falling Waters Preserve is located on the Hudson River and consists of three different hikes, the red, white and blue (kinda ties in with the last post, right?). The blue is a smaller loop and the white and red trails form a loop with the falling waters residing basically where they intersect at the end of the preserve.

We thankfully took the white trail first which is way more technical than the red trail which is basically the return trail and can be traversed by off road vehicles. By the time we were returning on the red trail, all three kids were tired and needed to be carried. I ended up carrying Ava on my shoulders, Sarah in the hiking backpack and dragging Ryan down the trail as he was clutching on to the “kickstand” of the pack. This could have never been done had we returned on the white trail as it was much harder than seemed to be described, I would’ve surely broke something( ankle, knee….head).

One of the first real hike my kids took was at Bash Bish Falls in which the largest waterfall in Massachusetts lies at the end. Now they think every hike ends with a waterfall. What a world they live in, huh? Even though the trail map at the trailhead spells out a couple waterfalls, rest assured they are more like falling waters as the name states. It had been a bit dry upstate this Spring so perhaps there are times that the waters are more impressive but this is still a beautiful hike nonetheless and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of nature and exercise.

Happy Birthday America! Our Fourth of July Weekend started off when we got to Brook n Wood on Saturday around noon. The events in the video actually happened on three different days. We would never expect our children to participate in a marathon holiday celebration as it appears in the video. One event/place per day is about all they can handle.

Since the fourth occurred on a Monday this year, festivities actually started on Saturday and led all the way into the actual holiday itself. The events are out of order in the video but seemed to chronologically flow better the way I sequenced them.

We started out with the Germantown Fireworks Display on Saturday night. I’ve been to many fireworks displays and aside from the one in Lake George, this one takes the cake! For a small town, they actually give you a solid 18 to 20 minute show. It’s not too crowded and there are festivities beforehand but we just came for the show. What you see at the end of the film is just the finale.

Sunday morning was the annual Fourth of July bike parade at Brook n Wood Campground. The kids decorate their bikes with flags and our nation’s colors and parade around the campground after a short reading of an excerpt of the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance. Joe and Vanessa really do a great job with it every year. Ava’s doing great with the bicycle this year. She’s out riding for maybe a combined hour each day we’re up camping

. Her and Sarah get to enjoy a little freedom as the make their own way around the campground. I’m sure Ryan will be out there with them next summer.

Monday we want to Saugerties,NY for their annual parade and what a parade it is. Lasting nearly two hours, every fire company and business in the surrounding area gets involved. The kid’s favorite was the Headless Horseman at the end. Well, that and the silly string.

We liked Saugerties so much we went back there the next day checking out the town briefly and hiking in nearby Glasco, NY. Stay tuned for The Falling Waters Hike and more fun and exploration. Thanks for stopping by.

Graduation/Moving on time is here, and with a parents pride of their children’s accomplishments comes the realization that the scholarly shackles have been released and we now have the time necessary to go explore and make our own plan. Camping Season is finally upon us!  

Stay tuned as we’re headed to upstate to celebrate July Fourth and later visit Sturbridge, Massachusetts to camp at a Jellystone Campground and explore the area. Thanks for stopping by.

We went up to Brook n Wood for a very brief weekend for Father’s Day. I had to be back to work Sunday night and Sarah had a half day of school on Friday. We would have left earlier but they were having an ice cream social at her school and we didn’t want her to miss it. So we left Friday afternoon battling weekend traffic all the way up through Westchester but I don’t think we minded too much because of where we were going. The kids watched a video in the back of the van (yes, we caved- but so worth it) and it gave Linda and I a chance to talk.

When we arrived at Brook n Wood we had a nice dinner with Noni and Popi and settled down for a nice campfire. The next morning we wen in exploration of the Lakeview Hike around Lake Taghkanic. Worst hike to date. The children wanted to play at the playground near where we parked, summer heat is upon us and we might have left too late as anything with three very young kids takes three times as long. We also got lost, or rather never found the trailhead. Park employees were of little help in finding this specific trail among the many trails in this park. We wound up on a snowmobile trail and tempers were flaring. We had lunch right there and made our way back to the car/playground (again) and went back to the campground to soak our physical and emotional wounds in the pool. We don’t even have any pics to show but a day camping is still way much better than a day at work.

     The next day was Father’s Day and we rode our bikes one last time and got one last swim in before leaving. I will make this hike work, I just need better maps and maybe start from  the other end (playground there as well) but there’s plenty of time for that. Thanks for stopping by.

The kids play hard when we’re camping. Memorial Day was the fourth day of a very busy camping weekend (see Bash Bish Falls video). This explained why they looked a little peaked in this video. Mom and Dad get tired too, but despite our aches and pains we were still able to show our children that Memorial Day isn’t just about a three day weekend. It’s a remembrance of all our heroes who helped keep this country safe. They died so we could live. God bless our troops, past, present and future and thank you for keeping us safe.

This was our second hike using the Deuter Backpack. I’m very happy with this product and all three children took their turns in it. Even Sarah. We used it once before in the Muttontown Preserve as a shakedown.

Bash Bish Falls are the highest in  Massachusetts, standing at 60 feet tall. This was a pretty easy hike at 3/4 mile in and 3/4 mile back out again. There is also access in Massachusetts which is closer to the falls but it’s very steep heading down with many steps. The first time we came here we actually brought our stroller which did ok but had me pulling it up over numerous rocks.

We stopped at a great little “swimming” hole on the way out and all bathed in the frigid water. An eye opener to say the least! The water was deep enough in one spot for me to swim all the way under. I recommend taking a dip after the hike to cool off.

Enjoy the video and thanks for stopping by.

We hope you enjoyed Part One!  The first part had a bit of driving in the beginning but we really wanted to share the drive up as it can be quite scenic. Now that you already know the way, you can expect less driving in subsequent videos.

We surprisingly  fit a lot of content into this weekend despite leaving late Saturday morning and returning early Sunday night. We accomplished this by packing a lot of food and necessities ahead of time. This weekend was really about the campground as we didn’t expect to take any day trips. We did however venture out on Sunday afternoon to show you a bit of Germantown and our favorite playground.

As the kids get older, school and weekend sports are becoming more of a limiting factor in regards to our getaways. We feel both of the aforementioned  are necessary to raise responsible, well rounded children and later adults and we want to support them so we are finding it necessary to evolve into “Weekend Warriors”  in the shoulder seasons. Thank you RVFTA for planting the seed in our minds that this is indeed possible especially with small children.

Also check out our YouTube channel, Traveling Terrell’s,  as all our videos will also be featured on there as well. Please enjoy the video and thanks for stopping by.

 

Check out our first camping trip of 2016. We literally out ran the rain on our way upstate. Too much content for one post so stay tuned next week for part 2. Thanks for stopping by.