Author: travelingterrells

Our trip to Chincoteage, Virginia was a special one this past Easter Break. Our kids were able to bring their good friend and neighbor, Elena, with them on the four night trip. Our children absolutely love camping and have been begging to go since Christmas and there’s nothing better than sharing something you love with someone that you love.

We stayed offseason at The Chincoteague Island KOA but there were many amenities that the kids loved. Aside from the two playgrounds, they spent most of their time on the bounce pillow. Bouncing all day and finding many different ways to slide off the pillow led to sleepy campers at night.

We booked a boat ride on the Assateague Island Explorer with the objective of just seeing the wild ponies and it didn’t disappoint. We were able to see a small family herd of horses in addition to osprey and other water fowl. We saw nary one horse on while in Carolla, NC last year so we had to make this happen, particularly for Sarah. I’m so happy to report that this was not our final encounter with The Assateague Wild Ponies. More below.

We took a very short hike to the light while we were on Assateague Island, For some reason the lighthouse keeper never came back from his/her lunch break so we didn’t get to go inside but it was a cool learning experience nonetheless.

On Friday afternoon we got rained out at the campground so we ventured out for some rainy day compatible activities. We visited NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility which has surprisingly more rocket launches than any other NASA facility.

They mostly monitor weather at The Wallops Facility, launching giant weather balloons and data gathering rockets.

We probably spent about an hour of our rainy day here and I think the kids might have even learned a thing or two besides the gift shop visit.

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Also on Assateague Island is Toms Cove Visitor Center and Beach. The kids had a great time at the visitor center learning about the indigenous wildlife. There was a touch tank, aquarium and various fossils, shells and bones that they were able to handle.

We went to Toms Cove Beach the second day of our visit. When I spoke to the park ranger ate the gate I mentioned swimming and she replied “you’re not going swimming today, the water is 58 degrees…” I explained to her that she didn’t know my kids, “they’ve gone swimming in North Carolina in February!” I could only bear to go in up to my knees and yet my their hair was wet. They just don’t feel it!

We were on our way to Toms Cove with our sand toys when we encountered a group of cars pulled off the road taking pictures of horses a couple hundred yards fro the road. We took our pictures and moved ahead only to find a few more cars pulled over. The horses were right at the roadside and later in the road! We ended up being surrounded by these wild animals! Linda moved away from one horse and nearly backed into another. We were completely surrounded by these gentle but large ponies. They stayed for about a half an hour before the herd’s stallion corralled them away. This was a lifetime experience especially since feeling that we’ve been chasing these wild horses since Cape Hatteras.

Check out the video above to see more of our trip to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. We had a wonderful time and were happy to share our experiences with our friend. I’m not sure where we’re bound to next but stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.

The end of 2018 has been quite a busy time around our household. We’ve been posting our wrap up video on New Year’s Eve for the last several years and have forgotten to create and post one this year. We’re a couple weeks late. I guess it’s  better late than never. We’ve traveled to The Outer Banks of North Carolina, Shenandoah National Park, Lancaster, PA, The White Mountains of New Hampshire, Nova Scotia Canada and The Schoodic Peninsula of Maine and Acadia National Park. We’ve had some setbacks (Linda’s foot) and have had to modify our plans but that didn’t keep us away from traveling and experiencing. I can only hope 2019 holds as much adventure for us. Please enjoy our video and have a happy and healthy new year!

In Maine you’re just surrounded by lobster. It’s a huge part of their summer economy. I wanted to show the kids just where lobster came from. Sail Acadia was our second choice as there is another company that has lobster boat charters but it turned out they don’t allow children under six years of age. We’re happy we found Sail Acadia as Southwest Harbor is now one of our favorite spots in Maine.

They begin the tour by telling you about Southwest Harbor and pointing out historic sites among the land masses as well as educating you about different boats that can be seen in the harbor. Every lobsterman has their own specially marked registered buoy and when we got to our spot that’s when the fun started.

They pulled up two traps on our charter and proceeded to tell us about the mechanism that helps pull the trap and the parts of the trap. Then they pulled out the lobsters and proceeded to tell us all about hard shell, vs soft shell, molting, how to judge if the lobster is a keeper, regeneration of limbs and all things lobster. We learned so much about lobsters on this cruise. We also learned we had been eating mostly soft shell lobsters at this one restaurant in Winter Harbor and didn’t know the difference. When we cracked a claw of these lobsters there was so much space inside the claw compared to the meat that filled it. Those lobsters were growing into there shells. Linda did order a 2 1/2 pound lobster there one night and it was bonafide hard shell.

On the charter we also saw ospreys and seals. The kids really enjoyed the cruise. poor Sarah had an ear infection (someone always gets sick on vacation) but rallied in the experience. Disappointed that we didn’t receive complimentary  lobsters as part of our charter, we went on the recommendation of the first mate and went to Beal’s Lobster Pier afterwards. The lobster rolls are gigantic here and the tastiest we’ve had. If you’re going to Southwest Harbor I highly recommend Beal’s and Sail Acadia. They’re with it!

Check out the video below to find out more about lobstering and Southwest Harbor. I wish I could have put up the full 32 minutes of film up as there was so much we learned!

 

Sadly that just about ends our summer travels. don’t forget about us. We’ll be out there again real soon! Thanks for stopping by.

Schoodic Point Campground is a wonderful spot for all that is natural however it doesn’t have the amenities that many campgrounds do such as playgrounds or pools. You’re expected to experience nature at it’s most beautiful. And that’s what they did: forming exploration parties and playing with their stuffed animals in the woods.

It was necessary, however they burn some energy. We talked to a local that said there was a playground behind the town hall. The kids had a wonderful time there and it was only five minutes from the campground. I highly recommend it to families staying The National Park Service Campground.

We also found Sand Cove Beach right Main Street in Winter Harbor. It seems to be a swimming beach but it was a little cold the day we went. We spent time beachcoming and wading in the cool water. We found a trail on the way out that led to Camp Moore, an old decommissioned Boy Scout Camp.

 

We also went to Jordon Pond in Acadia National Park for some swimming a day or two after. Ryan has a knack for finding dead things at the beach. There were plenty of crab carcasses at Sand Cove Beach that were eaten by gulls but somehow Ryan had found a whole dead crab and befriended it. It did not come back to the camper with us as he requested. Later he found a dead fish at Jordon Pond and reveled in chasing his sisters with it.

Later in the trip we revisited the famous Sand Beach in Acadia and spent a few hours climbing the rocks and playing in the sand and surf. For some reason the kids fought us about going to Sand Beach but they had the time of their lives once we were there.

The kids were definitely more capable on this year’s visit than last. Daring to enter the cold water deeper and deeper occasionally getting knocked down by the waves.

 

Maine is such a beautiful place. Everybody wants to go again next year. I could see us planning a quick trip up and back next summer although there is so much of America we’ve yet to see.

Check out the video below which chronicles our adventure to an adventure rope park as well as our beach and playground adventures. Stay tuned as we’ll take you on a working lobster boat next post. Thanks for stopping by.

Back to Maine. What can I say? One of our favorite places on Earth. Mountains meeting Oceans and the spectacular landscape it creates. This year we stayed in Schoodic Woods Campground in Winter Harbor. The Schoodic Peninsula is regarded as the quiet part of Acadia but we found it to be beautiful and unique to it’s own self. It’s separated from the rest of Acadia by water (Mount Desert Narrows) and really seems different from the other parts  of Acadia National Park.

Schoodic Woods Campground is run by The National Park Service. It’s only a few years old and residents still call it the new campground. It’s a beautiful campground and it was our first time actually staying in a National Park. The beauty is what this campground is all about. It doesn’t have a pool. It doesn’t even have a playground. We all thought this to be a problem but the kids reveled! Their imaginations kept them busy for hours at the campground.

The campground does have Ranger Programs though. All three worked on their Ranger Books and became National Park Service Junior Rangers. The campground also has bath houses (showers outside the park in Winter Harbor) and none of the sites had sewer hook ups. I bought a Barker 32 gallon Tote-A-Long to help with my gray tank and we showered every night.

These pictures are of Schoodic Point. The kids had a ball jumping from rock to rock although it was a bit unnerving to Linda and myself as we feared them falling into a crevice or even into the Atlantic as they can get ahead of us so easily. Like little ninjas.

We also visited The Schoodic Institute and learned about local flora and fauna as well as some of the science of early communication. The kids practiced morse code and learned about radar and telecommunications.

We can truly say we love the Schoodic Peninsula. We stayed outside Bar Harbor last year and I can say I love them both but for different reasons. We did find a playground in Winter Harbor and a nice beach and we’ll show you them in the next post.

Check out the video below to see more of the campground and Schoodic Point. Watch to the end as we happened into an impromptu bongo session while at the point. These knuckleheads really got into it!  Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah’s been real into horses lately and had been looking forward to going to The Hatfield Farm for the last couple of days. This was the longest horse ride she has been on so far. Also the largest horse. All the kids went on a good ten to fifteen minute ride each.

After touring their barn we headed up to the corral for their rides. There was only one girl giving rides and their brochure recommends calling first. It worked out because they have a petting pen with goats and donkeys as well a a charmingly rustic playground near the corral to keep the kids busy as they were waiting for their turn.

There’s another playground near the front and we spent some more time here before heading to Halifax which was a 20 minute drive away. we spent a few hours here.

We had an early dinner in Halifax but sadly did not have time to get to The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic before the 5:00 closing time. I’ve added it to my next time list as well as Peggy’s Cove.

We took day off after Halifax for some campground time and went out to Hall’s Harbor the following day to experience The Bay of Fundy and eat some lobster.

Before heading out check the tide tables. You ideally want to go when the tide is low to see the boats resting on the bottom as we did. While eating we watched the tide coming in and starting to fill the Harbor. The tides are a six hour event and we weren’t able to stay to watch the tide come fully in but we got the general idea by looking at the high water marks on the pilings.

The tides really do fluctuate about thirty feet in the Bay of Fundy and sometimes more then forty feet depending on storm activity and the moon’s position in the sky. When they come in it’s pretty fast. We were exploring some tide pools and not even fifteen minutes after we went back up to the upper beach the tide pools had been filled in.

I’m still really surprised how much the kids love lobster (well Ryan just likes to play with them it seems). Ava particularly loves it and can eat a full pound and three quarter lobster on her own.

We’re off to Maine next in search of more lobster. All in all, I feel Nova Scotia was a great trip even with changing money and the usual learning curve but it is vast as I’ve said before and it took a long time to get really anywhere. There’s quite a few things that we didn’t get to on this trip and one day I’d like to get back and visit the Southeast corner of the province.

Above you can see the children building rock cairns, please check out the video below highlighting our trip to both Hatfield Farm and Hall’s Harbor. Thanks for stopping by.

We stopped by the visitor center in Kingston and the woman working behind the desk excitedly recommended The Oaklawn Farm Zoo. The Nova Scotian people couldn’t be more proud of their zoo. Admission is reasonable and they have a lot of animals. Some our favorites were the lions and the horses.

 

As you make your way through the zoo there are gates. Proceed through the gate and now you’re actually in with the llamas, alpacas and goats. Proceed through the next gate and you’re now back on the appropriate side of “the fence.” They also had a barn with farm animals and a reptile exhibit above the gift shop.

If you’re near Aylesford, I highly recommend a trip to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo. We spent about a half day here. You can see more of the zoo in the video below. Stay tuned as we spend more time with horses and experience some crazy tides next. Thanks for stopping by.

I wasn’t sure how many kid friendly activities were to be had in Nova Scotia so when I found there was a Jellystone in Kingston I thought it to be a safe bet. This Jellystone had three bouncies (one in the little tike area), a shallow entry pool, a rec hall and a snack bar.

The snack bar was a big hit with everyone. From poutine (fries, cheese curds and gravy) to Ice Cream and in between, they had a great menu. Change out your US dollars though, this campground only accepts Canadian currency.

They also had a couple different playgrounds and a wooden train and monster truck to play on.

The site I picked back in April was the last one in the row. We looked out to the woods and a nature trail. The kids spent just as much time playing in those woods as the playgrounds. They would go in there and play all sorts on ninja or horse games.

They had a lot of fun climbing trees and we even made a balance beam out of a fallen tree for them to walk across so their ninja skills wouldn’t get rusty while on vacation.

The bathrooms were very clean as was the entire campground. Our stay here coincided with the halfway point of our stay and I’m glad to say the laundry was also terrific.

Kingston is in the northwest corner of Nova Scotia. The town itself has almost everything you need and is close to The Oaklawn Farm Zoo which will be in the next post. It’s an hour and a half drive to Halifax. In retrospect, Id say if you plan on going out to Halifax multiple times to book a campground closer to the south shore. The Nova Scotia Highways are great but this province is very vast and it seemed to take quite awhile to get anywhere.

I did notice during our stay that we seemed to be the only family staying here from “The States.” All the license plates I looked at were from Nova Scotia. I’m not sure if there are other campgrounds that seem to get more Americans. This Jellystone seemed to be a local favorite.

In summary, I enjoyed this campground and would stay here again but if we ever get back up to Nova Scotia I think I’d like to stay in the Southeast part of the province to see some the beaches and more of Halifax. Be sure to check out our video below which shows more of the campground. Also stay tuned as we’ll show you some the the kid friendly activities we found during our stay. Thanks for stopping by.

We had such a great time at Mountain Lake Campground last year, spending the Fourth of July with them and enjoying their exclusive campers only fireworks display that we just had to go again this year. Not to mention, Santa’s Village. We did however have an unforeseen challenge this year as Linda broke her foot and had to have surgery just weeks before our trip was to start. After consulting the doctor we planned to still go and just see how things went.

Needless to say hiking was out and I apologize for the lack of hiking videos from this trip but there were a couple things we didn’t get around to last year in this location. If you can’t hike up  a mountain why not drive up it? That’s exactly what we did. We drove up the twisting road (some of it unpaved) to the 6,288 foot summit sometimes feeling we were mere inches from the cliffs. It wasn’t the clearest day but we did get to experience driving through a cloud.

On the back into town we found a park with some retired train engines and rail cars. Ryan got to get up close and personal with them naming the different cars as we walked by. This one’s a box car, that one’s a caboose.

We really enjoy Mountain Lake Campground and some days we didn’t even leave. Aside from the waterslides, Ava, Ryan and I rented a canoe and ventured into a remote part of the lake. The water was warm and the kids spent all day swimming out to the floating dock and jumping off.

On Monday afternoon we went to Santa’s village to “preview” the park before we went on the following day. Santa’s Village has a policy that if you arrive after 3:00 and buy tickets for the following day that afternoons visit is basically free.

We went to the water park first for a couple of hours, rode a few of the smaller rides and then went on Rudy’s Rapid Transit Roller Coaster. I’m happy to say that this year everybody met the minimum height requirement. Because it was close to closing and there was literally no line to get on they let us go around continuously as long as nobody wanted to get off. I counted Sarah and Ava go around 17 times. Ryan and I went 11. A big thank you to Linda who watched us go on all these rides while she stayed in a rented scooter.

We came back the following day and did the rest of the park, riding the flume two or three times. Sarah and Ryan got their slingshots which they’ve wanted since last year. Time will tell if we’ve made a good decision buying those for them.

I must say these kids are daredevils, riding these rides with little on no fear. Now that they’re taller they can ride almost anything in this park. Ava really surprised me as she has just about enough excitement over coasters and thrill rides as Sarah does. They never will cease to amaze me.

You can see more of our adventures at Mountain Lake Campground and Santa’s Village in the video below. Stay tuned as we’re off to Nova Scotia next. Thanks for stopping by.

I had listened to a podcast in January telling of how clean and fun Dutch Wonderland is. They also recommended  to visit while your kids are young enough to enjoy it and also to try to avoid staying in Lancaster in July and August as the heat is extreme. The water park is open Memorial Day through Labor Day so I thought Father’s Day Weekend would be the perfect time to visit. We booked Old Mill Stream Campground in February and had no problem booking a site near the playground.

Old Mill Stream Campground is in fact owned by the same family that owns Dutch Wonderland and is situated right next door to the theme park. You can buy discounted tickets right from the campground store and walk on over. This is the attraction. They don’t have a pool and the playground is pretty small but it didn’t affect our fun. We actually extended our stay to three nights after I convinced Linda that the children would not be missing much in school. Since we were right next door we left our toad home.

The kids just loved Dutch Wonderland! They’re at the perfect age being that there were only one or two rides all three of them couldn’t go on. Linda couldn’t go on any of the rides being she has a fractured foot but she was a good sport as she watched us enjoy  the rides. We rented an electric scooter to make things easier during the day. We all went on Merlin’s Mayhem and Sarah and I went on the wooden coaster that goes over the campground (book the other side of the campground if you prefer less noise). We also went on the family coaster twice back to back and pretty much every other ride in the park including Duke’s Lagoon. We arrived at 11 am and closed the park at 8:30. I never thought we would make the whole day there!

The next day we chilled at the campground. The kids made some new friends in a camper across the street and played sports with them all day. Sarah and Ava actually played flag football!

It really was the perfect weekend! Our new friends told us they go every Father’s Day which had our kids already asking to repeat the weekend next June. We’ll have to see if work allows. I definitely would like to go again before the kids graduate to older rides at Hershey Park.

I highly recommend  Old Mill Stream Campground to any family with young kids looking for a weekend getaway. We will definitely be back.

If you’d like to see more of Dutch Wonderland and Old Mill Stream Campground check out the video below. Thanks for stopping by and say tuned as summer is just getting cranked up and we’ll be traveling to some old places as well as new ones!