September 25-27, 2018 - Iilon, New York - Parked in a join RV Park/Marina along the Erie Canal.

September 25-27, 2018 - Iilon, New York - Parked at Iilon RV Park/Marina along the Erie Canal.

September 25 - Travel to Iilon, New York

Happy birthday to my sister Jody (Carla Jo - the baby of four sisters Cheri, Cindy, Crystal and Carla).  I am very blessed to have such wonderful sisters.  I called to wish Jody a happy birthday.  I miss these three gals so much and look forward to getting back and catching up with them.  We get together every Sunday (except for when there are 5 in a month) or the person hosting has a conflict.  As the oldest I have the first Sunday and then it runs the course to the youngest.  I've missed out on quite a few this year, so hope to make up for it in November and December before we take off again.

It appears we have settled into what might be a very wet few weeks as we work our way back to Kansas.  Fortunately we were able to leave our campsite in Marshfield, Vermont before the rain started, but it wasn't long before we ran into it and it never stopped.  We had discussed the need for some inexpensive rain suits - and I wish I had ordered some before this day was over.  With the rain, I didn't take too many pictures today. 

These two pictures were taken of some very grey skies after we left the campground, and before the rain began. 

We see more color in the trees everyday, but several people told us it would be at least another week or two before the colors really explode.  

We had gone approximately 25 miles when we ran into the rain, mostly sprinkles to begin with, however from that point on it never quit - it went from sprinkles, light rain to all out heavy RAIN!  

We saw a number of Moose Crossing signs but if there were any moose nearby they blended in well with the dark, drab scenery of today.  Of course we saw these Moose Crossing signs all throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine - but we never saw a moose, well except the one where we paid to take a moose safari.

As we entered the town of Bethel there was a sign that said accident ahead.  Sure enough, there were police cars, fire trucks and a reporter from a TV station.  It appears a vehicle had left the road and hit the corner of a two story house.  It was difficult to tell how bad it was damaged with the rain and all of the commotion taking place there, but it certainly had several broken and splintered boards on one corner of the house.  Several people were moving things out of the house.

Near Middlebury and Mendon, VT there were a number of inns, stores, restaurants to support the skiing in the area.  

As we passed through Rutland, VT I noticed a Norman Rockwell Museum.  I googled it and there are actually three Normal Rockwell Museums.  The one in Rutland, VT; Corning, NY: and Stockbridge, MA.  Many of the originals are at Stockbridge.  Rutland is also home to the Vermont State Fair.

We decided to take a little different route than our neighbor in the park at Lubec, ME suggested, in order to shorten our route by at least an hour, maybe more, by taking Route 4.  According to our Western Mountain book on steep grades, we would hit one area along our way.  We reached it outside of Rutland.  It was a four lane road with 6-7% descents in short spurts, but we did not think it was as bad as the long stretches in the Branson, MO area.  We would not hesitate to take this route again.  

We crossed the state line into New York about 11:30am.

As we passed through Whitewall, NY we noticed a large Sasquatch Statute on display.  I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the business in stood in front of or not, as it was raining to hard to tell.

Shortly after that we saw the beautiful building in the picture below - with a sign stating Whitehall Armory.  It appeared to have several uses now.  The front of the building was beautiful, but since it was on my left side I was not at a good angle to get a decent picture.

While it's not really fun driving in rain all day, it does provide some beautiful scenery along the way.

At some point we entered the Lake George Area - the rain picked up quite a bit here.  This is a major tourist attraction.  It has numerous outlet malls, and shops.  Our RV neighbors at the Bar Harbor Campground, Dan & Shawna, live near this area. 

We've seen numerous roadside stops for pumpkins and other fall items.

Rain really picked up as we neared our stop for the night.

At Saratoga Springs, approximately 75 miles from our stop for the night, it was still raining, and you could see by the amount of water pooled along side the roads it had been raining for quite some time.  

It was about 2:30 when we pulled into the city owned RV Park/Marina in Iilon, New York, that is located right alongside of the Erie Canal.  It's nothing but a concrete pad with some nice large spots marked off (allowing us to park the truck alongside the RV), but what a view where you can watch boats come and go right in front of us.  Boats might be anything from small motorboats to cabin cruisers.  They can travel the locks free of charge and can tie up here overnight where they pay for parking at the marina.  They receive electric, water and pumpout service for their waste - just like the RV's parked here.  

It was another fun day setting up in the rain.  We first parked in the wrong lot (10) and it was so tight Dean was having a hard time getting Bentley into a decent position.  I went back to the office to make sure we had the right spot, and fortunately it was the one next to us - (we could not find the site number anywhere). By moving to Site 9, now with Site 10 vacant, made it so much easier to back in to and soon we were set up.

We settled in for the evening.  While I'm sure there are several things to see and do in the area, I think we are both ready to relax for a few days.


September 26, 2018

One thing we noticed soon after we arrived was the train that runs just across the canal from us.  The sound is very, very loud, however since it does not cross a roadway at least there are no signals that come on, nor is there any reason to blow their whistle.  I guess we slept really well because once we went to bed we never heard it again until this morning.  Not only is it loud, but there are several trains a day and into the evening.  

We woke to a beautiful morning.  Dean was out and about some this morning here in the park but I was inside until after lunch.  We decided to go for a ride to see the town of Iilon and the surrounding countryside.  There is just something about a ride in the country that is soothing to both of us - I suppose the lack of crazy traffic?

Taken from our site.

A boat pulling in - will they just stop for a short while, or spend the night?

Another boat already moored.

Can't get away from those old barns

The old and the new

 On a road with a steep descent - notice the runaway lane next to us.

We decided to stop for ice cream - it's been awhile.....

Black raspberry for me and Butter pecan for Dean.

We no sooner stepped inside of the Ice Cream store and it started to rain...and quickly became a  total downpour.  No problem, we just stayed inside and ate our ice cream....thinking it might quit....but oh no, it did not.  Where were our jackets, and our 4 or 5 umbrellas?  You guessed it - in the truck.  

Yes, we got wet!  It rained off and on the rest of the evening.  It was a good night for watching TV.



Thursday, September 27, 2018

We woke up to a glorious day.  We were ready to get outside, so we took a walk here in the park.

Bentley on the left at Ilion, NY RV Park & Marina

What a gorgeous morning it was - the trees and clouds reflecting perfectly in the water.

A nice place to set and enjoy nature!

Path from the bench above back to the campground/marina.

Additional Dock space - I think it must get really busy here during the summer months.

Very nice and clean picnic area along the waterfront.

Information on the Erie Canal.  Upper right side, shows the Oswego Canal leading to Oswego, NY - our own hometown of Oswego, Kansas' namesake.
Remember, you can enlarge this collage to original size to read the details of each of these pictures. 

This afternoon while Dean was sitting outside watching the boats, a gentleman walked up and said something like "Kansas, man you are a long way from home" - and that's all it took.  They struck up a conversation and Dean was really enjoying visiting with Bill about boating "The Great Loop" and learning more about how that all worked.  

You can find out more information and a map of the area by checking out The Great Loop HERE.  This is really fascinating.  

I was inside working on a blog post.  When I finished it I walked out to visit as well.  A short while later, Bill's wife Nita walked over from their boat.  What a lovely couple.  We really enjoyed our visit with them and learning more about the sailing/boating travel - so similar to RV's, just on the water.  Bill and Nita are also RVer's.  They spend their winters in Florida in their RV.  We exchanged cards with each other so hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch.

After a quick dinner at Applebee's we were back at Bentley for the evening. Tomorrow we'll be moving on to Grand Island, NY.