Don & Karen
Don and I are taking off on a 3-4 month trip to the East coast. This will be the longest trip we have taken so far since retirement. We will be traveling in our RV with our 6 month old lab Karlie. We are sad to leave our family & friends behind but look forward to the many adventures that await us. Hopefully you will enjoy this blog and feel connected to us as we travel along.dekacollins
Travel Blog Posts
The Journey is over........
Published: November 3rd 2010North America » United States » California » Clovis
October 19th 2010
We arrived home on Tuesday, October 19th after 121 days, 28 states, and 10,200 miles on the road. It has been the most amazing trip that we have taken so far in our life together and I am glad that I have kept this blog so that I can look back on all the places we have been and remember it all. While we missed our family and friends terribly this was a trip of a lifetime and I don't think we would change a thing. We met many interesting people and visited some of the most exciting and wonderful places that this great country has to offer. I hope that you have enjoyed this blog too and who knows, maybe we have enticed you enough to go out and visit some of the places that ... read more
NBA Hall of Fame
Published: November 30th -0001North America » United States » Massachusetts » Springfield
October 3rd 2010
We finally got out of the rain in Maine. We left on Saturday after having to extend our stay 2 days because of the storm that had come in. It really didn't hit us too hard but the area that we were traveling through, New Hampshire and Vermont, were getting some really nasty winds and rain so we decided we were better off to stay put until everything blew over. Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day and we didn't really have to travel all too far since we only wanted to make it to Springfield, MA to stay the night so that we could go to the NBA Hall of Fame on Sunday. On our way to Springfield we passed through South Deerfield, MA which is where the Yankee Candle Factory is. We ... read more
September 30th 2010
Greetings from rain soaked Maine. We have been here in Scarborough, ME since Sunday and were going to leave yesterday but then it rained so we stayed an extra day. Now, we are experiencing remnants of Hurriance Iris or whomever and so we are hunkered down for a couple more days here because of the rain and wind that is coming through. It is still in the 70's so it isn't cold but it is raining off and on. The wind hasn't picked up yet but it is supposed to tonight. I am really looking forward to having an East Coast storm experience (NOT!). Once we get on the road we will be heading back into New Hampshire and then Massachusetts to the Yankee Candle Factory and the NBA Hall of Fame. After we have finished ... read more
September 22nd 2010
We made it! Finally we are here and we couldn't be happier. It is weird to be all the way across the US again only this time we are at the top instead of the bottom of the U.S. We arrived here on Monday after traveling from New Hampshire. The roads here are mostly two lane country type roads and not interstates or highways. That said, the going is very slow. The good side to this however is that you see a lot of beautiful country you just have to not be in a hurry which we are not. We are staying in a very nice RV park and it is very quiet and virtually empty which is wonderful. It closes down for the season on October 24th so most people have already been here I ... read more
September 18th 2010
We arrived here on Friday after traveling a grueling 57 miles from St. Johnsbury, VT. I know, I know, we are turning into ODF's but the states are so small that if we travel too far we miss a state or two. We found a nice little park to stay and then went back into town to check things out. We found the Walmart and stocked up on groceries, ate some dinner and called it a day. On Saturday we took the advice of the camp owner and did a scenic loop which turned out to be really nice. The leaves are starting to turn but beyond that the scenery here is beautiful. We are in the Whiteface Mountains and we ran into some people while we were in Michigan who told us to make sure ... read more
September 18th 2010
Greetings from Vermont! We left Lake Placid on Monday and headed to Vermont which wasn't very far but we had to take a ferry across Lake Champlain to get there. We were a little hesitant about this but hey life's an adventure right? Well you will see from the pictures that it was a piece of cake and quite an adventure all right. Considering the time and fuel that we saved by doing this it was well worth it. It only took 25 minutes to cross and it was a breeze. We even fit in lunch while we were going across so that saved us some time. Aren't we thrifty? Vermont is a very quaint state. The towns are all pretty small and very Mayberryish. We went to the Ben & Jerry ice cream factory and ... read more
September 14th 2010
Sorry that I haven't blogged in a while but I haven't been feeling that great. I guess with the change in the weather my arthritis flared up in my shoulder and I was miserable there for a few days. I have rebounded though and am back to my old self. We hit some rainy weather (what's new) in Lake Placid which was really a shame because I think there would have been some neat stuff to see there. We were also there during the middle of the week and since it is after Labor Day things are only open on the weekends which meant we couldn't tour anything anyway but we did drive by the Olympic arena where the men's hockey team won the Gold Medal in 1980. Too bad we weren't able to go inside ... read more
September 11th 2010
We went to Lockport today to go on the Erie Canal Locks. They raise and lower you a total of 49 feet in two different locks down the Erie canal. The Erie Canal connects the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean at sea level with the Niagara River and the Great Lakes at 570 feet above sea level. There are 35 locks, the first lock is in Albany, NY and the last one is here in Lockport. It was really interesting the way they raise and lower the water so that the boats can pass through. We also went under two lift bridges. I really wasn't expecting much but it was fascinating to be in the lock when the water was raising and then coming back through and being lowered. It is the exact same thing ... read more
Niagara Falls, NY
Published: September 12th 2010North America » United States » New York » Niagara Falls
September 10th 2010
Today was a big day. Our son-in-law Chris turned 40, Jim Nussbaum turned 60 and my nephew Landon and Kim got married. So Don and I decided that we would celebrate by going to Niagara Falls! This was one of the things on our list when we started out that we were both really looking forward to because neither one of us had been here before. Therefore we were going to get to experience it for the first time together. It is nice visiting the area after Labor Day because the crowds have all gone home. It is like someone flipped a switch and suddenly all the places are empty. We pulled into the parking lot and we were literally one of about 20 cars in a parking lot that holds about 250. It was great! ... read more
September 8th 2010
Batter up! We made it to New York! Can't believe that we are finally here. It is nothing like I imagined. Everything is green and there are so many trees that you can't see very far into the countryside. There are hills everywhere in fact you will be hard pressed to find any areas that are flat. It is very, very pretty here. We stayed in a little town called Harpursville which was about an hour outside Cooperstown. It was a very quaint RV park and we had a gorgeous view as you will see from the picture I took this morning when we left. It has finally turned cool and we are loving it. It was only 67 today and Don wore jeans and I wore a sweatshirt for the 1st time. It's great! Yesterday ... read more
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