Launching our boats right from the campsite, we took a wonderful paddle on Ricker Pond, watching loons,
Observing the Great Blue Heron
And just getting some sun and exercise in a pretty setting
Even my blog-writing site is hard to top.
More color shows each day. It’s a great time to be camping in Vermont.
Finally, we got The Goshawk ready for a local mid-week camping trip to Ricker Pond State Park. I had reserved the only on-shoreline spot we could fit into and as I write this looking out the door, I can see early sign of autumn’s colors reflected in the water while a soon-to-depart Common Loon cruises and calls. Few campers, mid-seventies temps, and a nice forecast. What’s not to like?
After a quick setup, Penny and I took a pretty walk where this Great Blue Heron posed for us.
Sally is coming tonight with the kayaks so we’ll hit the water in the morning. While we are waiting, we tried some selfies to pass the time. Penny is up and frisky after a couple of tough medical weeks so we should have a couple of good shakedown days as we get ready for longer journeys.
We do most of our camping in the winter but usually take a couple of local trips each summer to check out Airstream systems and enjoy some of Vermont’s state parks. This past mid-week, we reserved a spot at Ricker Pond State Park in the Groton State Forest and had a wonderful three days.
We headed out Wednesday morning ahead of some thunderstorms.
Ricker Pond SP is like essentially all Vermont parks — aimed more at tent and lean-to campers than RV’s. There are no hook-ups nor is there any internet — wifi or 4G. There are only about five sites where we can fit our twenty-five foot Airstream in.
One thing Vermont parks have going is great attention by the staff.
The flags were at half-mast for the servicemen shot in Chattanooga.
We infrequently camp when school is out and when we do, we avoid the weekends. Even so, there were tons of kids around. It’s a pretty-safe park for them, with limited traffic and long smooth dirt roads for bike riding, but because of all the recent rains, the bacterial level at the swimming area was high and the beach was closed. We enjoyed the squeals and yells of kids although a few carried on rather late. It was nice to see no electronic devices — we had Kindle books on our iPad but other than that, radio silence. It didn’t kill us.
Our site was #17 which is probably the best for a trailer. We even good decent solar inspite of all the trees.
Here are some shots that I took while out on birding/dog walks.
I love this big piece of granite. I tried to get Mary to put her head inside for a photo but she declined.
This young angler had a small bass on the other end of her pole.
There were a number of first-year Mallards which have been tamed by feeding by the campers. Penny was quite interested in these two.
This park has 27 campsites, 23 lean-to shelters, 5 cabins and a couple of waterfront cottages. The lean-tos are very popular and people reserve the same one year after year.
Many of the lean-tos have great locations right near the water.
I did a lot of birding and in spite of mid-summer and heavy foliage, heard and/or saw most of the usual suspects. Red-eyed vireos seemed to be holding a convention there. The highlight was the pair of Common Loons who have nested there and have a couple of chicks. I took some photos from the canoe but stayed well away from them. You can see one of the youngsters in the photo.
It’s a pretty little body of water and it is easy to see why so many folks, many who have camped all over Vermont, come back. If you have a larger RV, there are several sites up at the next campground, Stillwater, which can handle large units. You’ll need a generator or solar system — it’s boondocking at about $20 a day. But look at this shot of Ricker Pond – it’s pure Vermont.
Last week, we spent three nights at nearby Stillwater State Park on Lake Groton.
Stillwater State Park has 62 campsites, 17 lean-to shelters, a beach and boat launch.
We don’t do a lot of camping in Vermont, figuring that we already live in the woods, but it’s nice to visit a few of the parks mid-week when the campgrounds aren’t quite as crazy.
The park entrance landscaping is typical of the lovely displays throughout the campground.
We brought our kayaks, my bike, and our birding gear. We also found some “summer reading” mystery books at the “take one, leave one” collection at the visitor center.
We were at site 43, probably our favorite.
The area has some interesting geological features — many of them being these massive boulders – glacial erratics – which were lugged here by glacial ice.
This boulder was at the side of our campsite. Penny is putting up with me but ready to get down.
Vermont parks have no services per se and most of their sites are for tents, pop-up campers, or lean-tos so there are few sites for large RVs and not that many for our mid-sized 25 footer. There is no cell signal for many miles but a decent wifi connection at the office.
Many families spend a week or two at the park, often reserving the same site year after year. There are an amazing collection of tents, tarps, and lean-tos and more than not, several generations camping together. It’s good to see kids out on their bikes or just framming around in the park – and they seem to get tired and go to bed early.
The birding was ok for late July although we missed hearing the song of the Veery which we heard last time we were there. I did hear and see a Canada Warbler as well as some Nashville Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided Warblers.
We took the short hike up to Owl’s Head and enjoyed some pretty views. The water behind Mary is Kettle Pond.
One of the objectives of the trip was to test the new adjustable weight distribution trailer hitch. Our original hitch was carrying the trailer nose too high and so, after four winter trips, I decided to get a new one. After a lot of messing around and replacement parts, I got it hitched up and it worked great.
We read a lot, paddled a bit, hiked some, and went to bed early. It was a wonderful stay at a pretty well-run state park. And it was only an hour’s drive home.
For three years, we have tried to use a solar panel to charge our Airstream’s battery with mixed results. There’s too much shade and too many trees here in New England, especially in Vermont state parks where there are no hookups, period. So I bought a Honda 2000i and tested it out here at home and then took it with us to Ricker Pond SP last Sunday. It worked like a charm – it’s easy to see why they are so popular.
We found it to be quiet while just charging the battery and a liitle noisier when making coffee. Toasting bread was louder but short-lived. I baked some Johnnycake in our small toaster oven and the noise was annoying – although not to others since we had no nearby neighbors. The bread was good, though. We’d only use the heavier demand tasks when all by ourselves, or when our neighbors’ generator is loud.
At about 50 pounds, it’s easy to load in the truck. We know that we can’t run A/C without another linked unit but we rarely have used air conditioning in our travels. The initial reaction is very positive- probably should have done it before. It is nice not to have to worry about battery drain. Now if I can just keep ethanol from screwing it up. Happy Trails.
As I wrote in the last post, I hitched up the Airstream last night and we began to load. This morning, when I brought some more items out to the refrigerator, I found that the inside was room temperature. “One more glitch, and a serious one,” I thought. We were getting ready for church, the temps were heading to 80, and for a few minutes, I thought that the trip was not going to happen. But then I had a revelation – the tow hitch was lower and I had rolled off the levelers, so the rig was far from level. And reefers don’t work when the are not level.
So, I pulled down the driveway and then backed the rig, in four-wheel-drive up the winding driveway, missing the big ledge on one side and the ditch in the other, ending on the one level spot we have. I brought out some freezer packs to protect the food we’d just loaded, and went off to church. To cut to the chase – it was working fine when we got home.
After a rest, we finished loading and headed out, worrying about dark storm clouds to our west. It was an easy trip until it wasn’t. With about ten minutes to go, a deluge hit. I was on a snake path of a highway, VT 232, fighting to see the road and no pulloffs to stop at when we rounded a corner and encountered two trees across the road. Here’s what we saw through the window wipers:
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| You can’t see the intensity of the downpour but believe me, it was raining hard when I ran out in shorts and flip-flops to tug on these. Two of us pulled, slipped, fell, but moved the darn things. |
During a brief lull, I ran out and tried to move the trees with no luck – getting drenched in the process. Three or four cars showed up heading toward us and finally, one guy got out and started tugging. I joined him and we got both trees moved to the edge of the road. I was soaked and covered with pitch and bark but we were on our way – with one more delay for downed trees.
Ricker State Park is set up for lean-to and tent camping with onlybabout five RV sites. And they are tough to negotiate. I had reserved the one that looked the biggest and most remote, but when we got to it, we had several trucks sort of in the way and a real tough back-in. Plus it was raining just enough to make Mary’s job of helping challenging.
So, I got smart. I asked our neighbors, “Any of you good at backing up trailers?” They allowed how Kevin was a pro at it and sure enough he was. With Joe giving directions, he turned that rig around, backed it carefully down the narrow access, and was done in five minutes. I’m not sure I might not be still at it. Turns out that Kevin drives big trailer trucks for a living.
The rain has pretty much stopped and the warblers are singing as night falls. There goes an Ovenbird “disturbing” the silence. Hope to get the boats on the water tomorrow – it looks like a pretty pond. Glad we are here.
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It’s been 14 months since we have used the Airstream so it’s no wonder that I have been dealing with glitch after glitch with the rig and our gear. I got the furniture and the systems running and about everything inside cleaned up. There was a lot of grime from the polishing of the aluminum and the floor was filthy from all the traveling in and out with work boots.
It just takes patience. I found some gas pipes hanging a little loose underneath, and then noticed a nut missing off a bolt holding a pad on to its leg.
When I got our gear ready, my bike was in need of a little TLC and lubrication. The tires were low and when I found my good bike pump, the hole had been plugged with a mud dauber — no big deal. The fancy security cable for the kayaks had apparently been run over at some point – so kiss that baby goodbye.
I got hitched up this evening and tested the lights again (we just did it several weeks ago) and one turn signal was dead. I changed the bulb — same thing. A little scraping of the contacts got it going fine.
So, we will attend church tomorrow — it is the last Sunday this Spring for formal choir — and finish heading out mid-day tomorrow. We have reservations at Ricker Pond State Park — a very small park with just a few RV sites — about an hour and a half away in Groton. Thunderstorms are predicted so it may be an interesting journey — but we have plenty of time and no schedule. It will be nice to get the boats out and do some paddling although I did get out yesterday for some birding by kayak.
There’s definitely no wifi and likely no 4G signal but we’ll survive. Mary has downloaded two new books for her Kindle and I am bringing a thick book that I picked up at the library. A real book – what a concept. We’ll let you know how we did when we return next week.
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| Just a about ready to go. Can you see the two or three items not ready for the road? (The roof vents are open, the step is down, and the radio antenna, which you can barely see, needs to be stowed.) |
For the last several weeks, when it was not freezing or 8o degrees outside, I’ve been working away, polishing the inside of the trailer. (Last Fall, I had taken off the grimy “mouse fur” lining the walls and fried a few brain cells getting the glue off the walls.) The polishing is just hard grimy work which requires removing the oxidation and rust with one compound, and then finishing up with another. It looks pretty good.
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| The polished walls, with terrible reflections from outside, before I started re-installing beds and cabinets. |
I had carefully marked most of the stuff I had removed and stored down cellar, putting the screws in small plastic bags and taping them to the item. It worked pretty well although the rails to hold the curtains were a challenge. I had multiple sets of holes in the walls but with Mary’s help holding the ends, and some retries, we got them in place.
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| Here is a similar shot after the bed, the cabinet, and the infamous curtain railing were installed. Getting there. |
Installing the curtains is a trick, especially with bifocals. You have to thread little plastic holders into a rail while hunched over and working more by feel. They are installed, the floor is cleaned up, and I only have Mary’s side to finish and the back end of the trailer is ready.
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| My side is about ready to go with mattress in place. All it needs is the dog sleeping on it. |
I got the rig de-winterized with fresh water on board — only one problem so far with a spray hose in the sink which sprays me instead of the sink. I tested out the water heater and finally got the refrigerator going on gas.
Our game plan is to finish up the repairs this week and take a short trip over to Ricker Pond State Park next week for a few days of shakedown. Feels good to get it this far.
After several months of repairs to the underside of the Airstream damaged last winter in our dramatic arrival (belly wrap aluminum sections, plastic bannana wraps on front and back, and the replacement of the steps and step light), we started cleaning the inside. I won’t mention the condition of the refrigerator.
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| Loaded up and ready to go camping |
Having made reservations over at Groton State Park’s Stillwater Campground, we hooked up and launched Tuesday mid-day and gingerly worked our way down the driveway and road. The trip is only about an hour and the traffic was light.
Vermont parks don’t have electric or water services and seem to be more set up for tent and lean-to campers. The sites are generally pretty small and close together. However, we chose an empty site which was spacious and being mid-week and before the major family camping season, was pretty isolated. It even was level.
It felt good to settle into the routines of the Airstream even though the temperature was in the 80’s — quite hot for Vermont. We got the kayaks set up and went for a short paddle before supper. Groton Pond is dark from tannic acid and lined with camps — it’s crazy on the weekends with a lot of boats on a small body of water.
We opted for a movie on the computer instead of a campfire Tuesday night. Everything on the camper worked fine although the noisy water pump could use some muffling. We checked out the campground showers (two quarters for four minutes) and rated them excellent. In fact, the overall appearance and cleanliness of the restrooms, the sites, and all facilities was exemplary — the staff and volunteers do a great job.
Wednesday was cold in the morning — 49 degrees or so — and I lit off the propane heater for a while. I got an early morning paddle in — freezing my hands — and later took the dog for a long run alongside the bike.
Rain later in the day cancelled any campfire plans but we were snug in the ‘stream and glad to be in such a beautiful setting. We decided to pack up the next morning and head home a bit early since the weather forecast was not good. Another easy trip and except for dragging the back bumper on the driveway turn (another repair job), it was excellent.
All in all, a successful re-entry after months of letting the Airstream sit. It’s nice to have it ready to go as we look at the rest of the summer. We also need to start thinking about winter travel for 2011-2012. Stay tuned.
We just spent several days at Lake Carmi State Park in northern Vermont and got to experience summer camping – with all the warts as well as the positives. We had reserved site 16, one of the nicest ones along the lake, and found it a challenge to enter with our 25′ Airstream. We ended up heading down the one-way road the wrong way so that we could angle into the lot.
The weather was muggy and the first day/night was pretty noisy and smoky. Of course, everyone has to have a fire and the combination of charcoal lighter and wood smoke and country music made me wonder why folks bother to come to a beautiful site — but to each his own.
The lake is shallow and has a mucky bottom so the swimming areas are great for kids but not much for adults who swim. This was the first days after school let out so kids were everywhere — and enjoying themselves. It’s a good park for kids — very light traffic and safe swimming sans lifeguards.
Vermont state parks are not set up for rvs with lots of leanto sites and many tent arrangements. There were a few dozen rigs but many of the sites could handle only small units. No Vermont parks have hookups. In the case of Lake Carmi, even the dump station seems like an afterthought. It’s on the right side of the road which means, when leaving, you have to turn around and back up to use it.
There were a number of sites with a conglomeration of tents and popups and three of four carloads of people — generating a lot of noise and seemingly there for the summer. It was a lot different from camping in the winter in warmer climes where you tend to get quieter couples (such as us.) The kids amused themselves at night by shiny flashlights on our silver Airstream, stirring up the dog big time. It reminded us of the stuff we’d be likely to do when we were kids.
The birding was great — lots of yellow warblers, American redstarts, and other warblers. The park has some lovely features and has one pet-free camping area (what’s up with that?) and many forested sites that are hardly used and thus pretty private.
We plan to go back — probably in the Fall after school starts. With less activity, it will be a great place to kayak and bird.
photo courtesy of Vermont State Parks
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