Monday, June 29 (Crater of Diamonds State Park): We left around 8am for the one hour or so drive to Crate of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Along the way and even more so when we entered Murfreesboro, both Manoli and I wondered about how little traffic there was on the road and how deserted Murfreesboro seemed. Could the Crater of Diamonds State Park be less popular for some reason than we’d expected, or are we still in this economy doldrum? Well, all that changed as we turned the last corner on the park road and spotted the parking lot. [View Full Entry]

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Sunday, June 28 (St. Louis West KOA to Hot Springs KOA): Well, another day of mostly travel. We left St. Louis a bit after 8am, stopped at a TA Travel Center for a very good lunch at their Country Pride Restaurant, then continued on to Hot Springs, Arkansas. This KOA is a bit different, in that it is laid out on a series of hills. Very nice though, with a big office/store, a pool, game room, two laundry rooms, and a separate mini golf area. After checking in, we decided to head into Hot Springs to find a good place to [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, June 27 (Elkhart KOA to St. Louis West KOA): Not much to write about today. We left the Elkhart/Middlebury KOA this morning just after 8am and stopped at a KFC/Taco Bell along the way for lunch. We’d reset our watches to Central Time just before that and were trying to adjust our routine by eating a later lunch than usual, but didn’t expect the KFC/Taco Bell place to help us out, by taking over 20 minutes to fill a simple order for two! The father and son next to us had waited almost 40 minutes for their lunch. Not sure [View Full Entry]

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Friday, June 26 (Amish Communities Tour): We started our day by heading towards the American Countryside Market near Elkhart that Manoli wanted to visit. It was quite busy and contained not only a number of interesting shops, but some folks set up out front as a sort of flea market. We didn’t find anything exciting enough to buy, but we did try a breakfast pretzel stuffed with eggs, ham, and cheese. Yum! Next, we decided to check out two different furniture makers that were supposed to have tours where you could watch them make fine hardwood furniture. The first one, Schmidt [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, June 25 (Niagara Falls KOA to Elkhart Co./Middlebury Exit KOA): Having a longer than normal trip ahead of us, we got up pretty early and hit the road. Other than having to pay tolls in New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, the trip was pretty much uneventful. We stopped for lunch at Arby’s and arrived at the KOA at about 3pm. The Elkhart/Middlebury KOA in Indiana is a bit larger than some of the others, and fairly occupied for once. By this point in our trip, the temperature in the 80s was welcomed. By the time we’d unloaded, it was too [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday, June 24 (Niagara Falls): After a leisurely wakeup, we mounted up and headed for the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We paid the $3.40 toll to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, and then passed thru their inspection station. Knowing we were mostly interested in the falls area, we followed the signs to the falls and the big “P” for parking signs. After driving thru the whole tourist area of the falls, we finally found the main parking lot, and almost turned around when we reached the booth to pay the parking fee and saw that it was $16.50 to [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday, 23 June (Herkimer KOA to Lewiston/Niagara Falls North KOA): We left the Herkimer KOA quite early, around 7am. After letting the GPS get us lost right off the bat, we finally located I-90 West. It’s actually the New York Thruway! The drive of about 250 miles got us to the Lewiston/Niagara Falls North KOA before noon, but they checked us in anyways. This KOA is a bit smaller and the store is only open until 6pm, but it’s still nice, and the WiFi works! After unloading, we headed into the not-so-nearby Lewiston to eat lunch at Syrgos Greek Restaurant. Very [View Full Entry]

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Monday, June 22 (Herkimer KOA): Today we are going to the diamond mine, but since we haven’t been jogging as often as we should, we decided to run first. The KOA office had told us about a nice trail along the Erie Canal in Herkimer, so after our morning coffee, off we went. The trail/path was almost all paved, very scenic, and about 2 miles one way. After the refreshing four mile loop, we returned to shower, then headed to the mine. We paid our $9.00 each admission, which included a wrist band, a small sledge hammer, and a specimen bag. [View Full Entry]

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Sunday, 21 June (Littleton KOA to Herkimer KOA): (Sorry for the "Coopestown", but there was no Herkimer or close place) Before we left Littleton, we discovered a major discrepancy between the route to Herkimer KOA that the GPS had set up and the one I did using Google Map. I’d noted the difference in routes, but the distance difference of 100 miles was a bit of a surprise. We ended up using the shorter route from Google and let the GPS adjust as we went. Before leaving, we stopped by the well known Littleton Coin Company, but they were closed on [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, June 20 (White Mountains Day 2): Today is our day to tour the Northern and part of the Central regions of the White Mountains. First, we headed up to Lancaster to check out the Fuller’s Sugarhouse and their real maple syrup. Lancaster was a nice small town and Fuller’s had a great assortment of maple syrups and products. We ended up buying a larger jug of medium amber for our girls and smaller jugs of light amber and Grade B for us. Soon after we left Lancaster on our way to see the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, we noticed a [View Full Entry]

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