Rock'n'Roll, It'll poison your mind kids!

After Niagara we continued west and headed for Toledo and the Cedar Point State Park at the far end of Lake Erie. We decided to detour along the way and check out the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, on the recommendation of a fellow camper. We checked it out in the ever faithful Rough Guide and it sounded promising. Cleveland hasn’t had much of an influence on Rock and Roll, so it seemed a bit odd to have what is advertised as probably the finest collection of memorabilia in the USA. Apparently the phrase “Rock and Roll” was first used here by the DJ Alan Freed… well that’s just grrrreat pop-pickers!
Given our past experiences with cities we were a bit hesitant about going, but for once the signs were good and there was parking pretty much right outside, so things were looking good. The Museum is a bit pricey at $20 per head… and you are not allowed to take cameras in… something to do with rock stars not wanting people to copy their instrument designs. It wasn’t too bad a place, (in fact I can think of several people reading this that would have had to take advantage of the 2 day pass, there was some fascinating stuff, like Madonna is actually tiny (judging by her outfits and Mick Jagger is really tall! – Jen) but the recurring theme is that rock stars get famous, have a drink or drug problem, then either die or come to some amazing realization that they are not invincible and go on to write politically influencd music and get in trouble with various African governments! Ok… maybe it’s not quite that simple!

So we then left Cleveland, a city that seems to be basking in the delights of economic development, unlike Buffalo that we drove through a few days ago which was a bit of a hole.
We arrived at Cedar Point State Park at about 6pm to find that it was chockablock... Shame as it looked like a really nice place, so off we went to find the nearest KOA (aka Butlins) some 20 miles up the road. We checked in and immediately went for a swim in the outdoor pool as it was a bloomin warm evening. The pool was small, but much cleaner than the scanky swamp at the Holiday Inn in Baltimore. Of all the unlikely places, we also found a Series I landy… It’s a beauty and Jen being Jen, she had to buy it.

Downside to this campsite… it was right next door to a railroad crossing and, I reckon American trains only have 2 controls, one to make the train move, the other to blow the horns… which they did consistently through the night (Jen reckons it was worse than my snoring!).
It’s 300 miles to Chicago, we have no cigarettes, the sun is shining and we’re wearing sunglasses!! (for the uneducated amongst you, thats a take off from a classic Blues Brothers saying ;-) ) … so we need to get a move on. We hoped to get a hotel and spend the night there, maybe check out a Jazz/Blues bar, but everything is very expensive unless you stay at one of the hotels at O’Hare airport. But we can’t find any information about how easy it is to get Downtown, so we’re just gonna drive though and have a look before heading out the other side to the next campsite.

I love it when a plan doesn't come together...

Mm. Well that didn’t work! We made fantastic time heading to Toronto until we hit the half way mark… then a tractor trailer decided to fall over on the interstate blocking the whole thing ahead of us. In two hours we completed about 8km and decided that there was no way we were making it to Toronto for the evening, even if we were lucky we would have been pushing it to make it there for 9pm. The prospect of spending money on a hotel for a couple of hours in the evening didn’t really appeal, the only one we could find with a Charlie-sized car park was just over £100 a night, so with a sigh we decided to head to a campsite instead. As it turned out we got to drive down some of those amazing roads that just go on and on and on and …you get the idea, into the horizon and ended up at a campsite beside a river again. We had a peaceful night playing frizbee (aren’t we cultured!) and made plans to head into Toronto in the morning.


We got up bright and early and followed the interstate down to the edge of Lake Ontario. Toronto is a pretty amazing place, you think you’re in it and then you feel like you’re in the Countryside… then you think your in it again… then Countryside – in reality it’s the large parks and open spaces they’ve designed into the city. Combined with the glimpses of the Lake really seem to take away that suffocating city feeling. We didn’t really get a chance to stop (we are still aiming to make up time) but we saw the HUGE tower which I believe is the tallest free standing structure and I must say, it is pretty big. We were clear of Toronto by mid afternoon, so decided to push onto Niagara, it’s only about a 90minute drive around the edge of the lake… I’ve been thinking about this next bit for a while… how can I adequately describe Niagara to those that haven’t been? Well. It’s Big. Very Big. (those A’s at GCSE’s were fully deserved don’t you think?!).

Seriously, it’s not the biggest in the world, but it is pretty amazing. We approached from the Canadian side, the famed horseshoe falls being on their side of the river and I really annoyed Dan by going ‘Oooo! Look!’ ‘Wow, that’s amazing’ ‘Nooooooooo WAY (in my best American accent)’ as he was attempting to negotiate the traffic. We parked pretty easily in the Canadian state park and the best thing about the falls is both the American and Canadian sides are protected along the edge, so at least the hotels and tacky shops are kept back to a semi-respectable distance. I’m never going to be able to describe what they were like and as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words so:
'Disco Rob' @ Niagara:


We also went on the Maid-of-the-Mist tour in a boat to the bottom of the falls. Wow! Lol! Basically, you’re taken to the bottom past the American Falls being given a commentary about the more interesting aspects of the history and they they ‘park’ right in the middle of the horseshoe! Now, the boats pretty busy and we were on the top deck (it would have been rude not too!) with nothing to hold on too… Simon our sea-faring friend may have been right at home but that boat doesn’t half get buffeted! Still, it’s more than worth it and again, will have to go down as one of the most amazing experiences of my life. When you’re in the spray (which reaches up about 170m from the surface) looking up at the 52m high horseshoe it feels like the suns gone out and it’s *proper* raining, needless to say we both came out drenched but grinning like loons. It was the perfect solution to the 33 degree temps that day. Here are some pics from the boat, they may be rubbish but it’s a hard situation to take a photo in!


When we’d had our fill of making ‘Oo’ noises at the waterfall we decided to head off and find a campsite. We crossed back into America with no problems, the Customs & Immigration guy was quite fascinated by what we were up to, but let us in so that’s fine. The campsite we found was about 12m from the falls and a ‘KOA’ campsite, we’d seen quite a few of these already and decided we should check it out as it was already 6pm. It turns out they are a network of family campsites in America and Canada… think Butlins on a Campsite with yellow t-shirts instead of red coats! lol! Actually, that’s a bit unfair, it’s not that bad, but you get the idea. They worked out cheaper than the other private sites we’d stayed at and for $16 we joined up getting us a 10% discount each time we use a site. We’d both prefer to use the State Parks where possible, but it’s not always, so this will offer a cheap, clean, safe and modern alternative (and most have wireless internet ;) ).

The guy at the sign in desk was well up with his local knowledge as you would expect and told us about the free fireworks at the falls every Wednesday night… Me and free fireworks are a good combination! So we had a hasty dinner and headed back to the American side this time to see the show. The American side means you don’t get that picture postcard view of the horseshoe, but you can get very close to the edge of the American Falls. We watched the show from between the American Falls and the ‘Bridal Veil’ Falls, with the lights on the falls it was a whole alternative experience, and I’d certainly recommend going back at night if you ever visit. One more pic, I like this one:

We finally made it... BEN & JERRYS!

Well, today’s the day that Jen has spent her whole life waiting for… It’s BEN & JERRY’s Day!
We awoke this morning to rain… and lots of it. The campsite was awash and our lovely view of the lake was somewhat obscured by mist. But hey, it was still a view nonetheless.
We finally managed to get packed up as the rain died off for 10 mins and headed off to B&J’s just up the road… It rained some more. We arrived and were directed to park by the raincoat clad employees right outside the “Flavour Graveyard”. This is where all the flavours that don’t sell too well go when they stop making them… quite touching!
We legged it to the factory and got our tickets fro the tour… a whole $3 each (about £1.50). It’s only a half hour tour but its worth it as you get some free ice cream of a flavour they haven’t released yet at the end. You get to see all the stages in aking the ice cream from a room above the factory floor. The tour also gives you some of the history of B&J’s… did you know, for instance, that Ben & Jerry decided to make ice cream because the ice cream machine was cheaper than a Pretzel maker and they learnt how to do it through a $5 correspondence course! They aren’t really business minded blokes at all. Anyway at the end of the tour we had cinnabon flavour ice cream 


We then went to the souvenir shop and Jen spent our entire holiday budget of a load of bits’n’bobs! Actually some of it is quite cool so I’m not complaining.
We then made tracks and headed to Canada. Jen was really worried about us getting into Canada with the Camel, me, I just played it cool ;-) As it happened the border crossing was a doddle although they chappy did have to make a phone call to check up about a UK registered car. We whooped and cheered our way past the people who were being searched (attracting a lot of unnecessary attention to ourselves) and made our merry way into Canada. This place really messes with your mind! There are still all the American things all over the place, big trucks, stupidly huge pick up trucks, clap board houses with porches and rocking chair, but… everything is in French… and the landscape even looks a bit like Northern France… but you know its not!
We’re starting to notice the week that we lost waiting for the Camel already, so we’ve decided we need to make up some of that lost time. We are just outside Montreal at the mo, and rather than going back to spend a day there we are going to peg it down to Toronto instead and try to get a Motel/B&B near town so we can have a wander round tomorrow evening. At least that’s the plan! By Wednesday we hope to be at Niagara Falls.

Mountain Bike Mayhem

Today we got up really early… about 8:30am which is mighty impressive. Our plan today was to be on the road by 9. Hahaaaaa! About 10:30 we rolled out of the campsite.
We headed out to Attitash. This, we had been assured, had some more interesting biking trails. What a place. During the winter months it is a ski resort. When the snow melts they use the ski lifts to transport bikes and riders to the top of the slopes so they can get their fix of adrenaline. We asked at the bike shop and were told that the routes were all either hard-intermediate, extreme, or double or triple X-treme! YOIKS! So after all the ‘mountain bike’ trails we’d been on that turned out to be paved roads, off we went thinking that the hard-intermediate would be a good level for us. HA! Within the first 2 minutes of riding I’d gone over the handlebars and Jen had managed to graze her leg. This was more like it! We’d been told that it was possible to get to the bottom of the route we chose in around 15 mins! We did it in about 40…. LOL… And I went over the handlebars again. It’s worth noting here as you all think that we took ages, a lot of the intermediate routes could only be accessed by riding through XX sections, I love American planning!
I decided to have another go and this time managed to get all the way to the bottom without falling off, but I REALLY need to get the brakes swapped over, cos they are all american and back to front at the mo.
We then had a go on the sled things… a bit like bobsleigh, but with wheels… very cool.
After a massive pizza over the road at Matty B's, we headed north west and checked into the Little River state park campsite in Vermont… Another cheap and cheerful with good amenities and a magnificent view from the rooftent. The reason for being here is that we are about 2 miles from the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory near Montpelier. I don’t know what Jen is gonna do with herself once we’ve been there, it’s all she’s been lookin forward to!
As the night drew in the stars came out… WOW… it’s a lovely clear night and you can see more stars than you could ever hope to see at home. Steve’s telescope would have been handy, but eyesight is good enough… within 5 minutes I had spotted a load of satellites going over.

Wow... I'm touched.. There have been so many emails and comments from people, kinda make ya go all squiffy! So in answer to some of the many comments:
Blippie... It did rain here too...once! ;-) But apparently we are in for a big storm tonight.
Margery... Smarty pants... the brakes on my bike are hydraulic. At the moment I have no idea how to bleed bike brakes, it's probably the same principal as Landy brake, but at the mo they work... if I mess with them, well, who knows!
Dave, my bikin buddy!... Yeah, got a new bikin jacket, some padded shorts and all sorts... its so cheap over here.
Dad...Did you shut the windows when you left? ;-)
Mum... Yep, Jen is here with me, she's live and kickin! She very rarely lets me take pics of her :-( But heres one, taken tonight at the camp site in New Hampshite, in a town called Conway. We splashed out tonight and got an expensive camp pitch with our own access to the river and everything!


There also seems to be an abundence of exceedingly large camper vans here... I mean, check this puppy out...
I mean, this just ain't camping, is it. That thing has gotta have its own zip code (post code to you lot!) and more square footage than my entire house!

Heavy day of biking tomorrow (hopefully), thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming.

Nighty night ;-)

Hersey's Shocker!

I couldn't believe it! I found some Cadbury's Dairy Milk!!! ...but no. It was made by Hersey's! What mean and evil fate was that?! Luckily, I checked the back after a bad encounter with some Rolo's. I am sad, but my waistline is not ;) :D

From 'old' to New Hampshire...

Well, it's been a busy few days!

As rightly deserved though, the first paragraph of this blog will be dedicated to 'Stumpy'. I can do that as I've got the laptop. Hahahaa. Stumpy is a most excellent (in true Bill 'n Ted style) mountain bike that I happened to have purchased with all my hard earnt overtime money :) For those who know about these things and to bore those who don't here are a few facts: He's an M5 Alloy Hardtail, Fox F90 Front shocks (with lockout), Avid SD-5R cantilever brakes (will upgrade this having tried Dan's), SRAM X-9 rear derailleur and X-7 Gear levers ...and now Dan's nagging me for getting geeky, so here's a link: My bike

And a piccie from Cape Ann :) (yes, I know the saddles horrible and I've already changed the peddles as I'm too much of a wimp to ride with clips!)


We left Cape Cod on ...er.. I've no idea as I'm on holiday! A few days ago anyway, and headed up the coast a little to north of Boston. We'd heard the Whale watching was fantasic in this area of the world, so decided to spend a couple of nights in Gloucester (isn't it just enough to make you feel at home :) ) next to Manchester (on-sea lol). We had a couple of jobs to do on Charlie Camel, namely checking all the oils and changing the rear brake pads as we'd forgotten to do them before we left home. We could combine this with the Whale Watching and not have to rush off to find a site afterwards. As it was we found a lovely site on Cape Ann with our own little wooded area adn campfire facilites - toasted Marshmallows all 'round :)

The Whale watching was, quite simply, amazing :) We weren't expecting to see an awful lot as we thought it was probably quite hard to find them, but the trip consited of (from memory..) 9 Humpbacks, 3 Fins (the 2nd biggest animal in the world) and 4 Minke's. Wow. The first lot we saw we pulled in close and it was a Humpback 'tail slapping', apparenlty the marine experts are still unsure why they do this, but in this case it looked like communication as there was another doing the same thing about 300m away and another even further in the distance. Later on, we saw these four together which is apparently also unusal! The trip consisted of tail slapping, water spurts, feeding and waving! lol! That's something I don't think we'll ever forget.
Tail Slapping:

For a little perspective!:

Feeding:


Today we rose bright and early (nothing to do with the quarrying and explosives going on down the road... and headed for New Hampshire and Maine. Maine is somewhere I'd always wanted to go as due to my sick facination for easy-reading horror I wanted to visit some of the sites from the Steven King books! (yeah, I know, but it's my holiday!) Ogunquit proved the closest and from one of my favourite books - The Stand (as I know some of you reading this will know) the 'home' of Fran Goldsmith and Harold Lauder. The Rough Guide also said it was a beautiful town with a 3 mile sand spit for a beach... and it certainly was :) Typical New England boarded houses, temps of 98 degrees white sand and crystal water, it was a hard afternoon ;) :)

After that we were itching for some of the true Land Rover type holiday stuff, so I now find myself writing this blog in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (and hoping there is not a big black bear behind me...). We spent this afternoon stocking up and tomorrow we'll be heading off into the National Park for a few days of 'proper' camping, trail finding and Mountain biking. If we don't get eaten by bears hopefully I'll be updating this in a few days! ;) :)

A quick thanks to everyone who's sent comments, it's great to hear from you all :) And for your info Mum, ok, it wasn't 98p in the Nike shop, but I still got 3x pair of trousers for less than £20! :) And for everyone to whom I promised postcards, they are written (in some cases like JW's there's several!) I just can't find a post office :( Will send asap.

Jen