Departing our friends house in Ontario we headed South with the goal of passing through the border by Niagara Falls as we have a reservation in New York’s “Letchworth State Park” . First things first we had to stop for an appointment at ” The Hitch House” an RV dealer in Oro-Medonte, ON. We had contacted them a few days ago because of our water leak under the kitchen sink tha Gordon & I were unable to fix. We had shut the water off though needed to have a professional cut the “Pet Pipe”  out and replace with new plumbing to fix the leak.

In todays RV World finding anyone to work on your Motorhome while traveling is nearly impossible. Many dealers won’t work on rigs that weren’t sold by the dealership or they cant fit you in for months. The Hitch House service Team was amazing. They scheduled us first thing in the morning. Had the problem diagnosed and remedied in a few hours and then worked with our extended Warranty company to get us covered. We were so fortunate to find thees guys and they were ultimate professionals. We were fixed and back on the road in about 2.5 hours….

The drive south took us through Toronto which was some of the worst traffic we have ever seen.  We considered stopping at Niagara Falls though have done it before and since we had already had a delay with travel due to our plumbing fix, we opted to drive right thru the border and continue on the our reservation at Lethchworth Falls. We had been driving in heavy rain for most of the day and started seeing some water and wind damage as we got closer to the park.

We arrive at the park about 5:00pm and with the rainy weather it was already getting darker. Unbeknownst to us the GPS took us in an entrance that was at the opposite end of the park form our campsite site. In fact we needed driving aver 20 mile sin the park and then had to cal the ranger station for more detailed directions to the campground.

Letchworth State Park..

Letchworth State Park  is huge and is often refereed to as “The Grand Canyon of the East” it is one of the most magnificent areas in the eastern U.S. The Genesee River runs through the gorge over three major waterfalls between cliffs– which can be as much 600 feet in some places. Even though we both had grown up in upstate New york and also gone to college there neither of us had ever been to this park. Arriving at the park gate we entered, got registered, dumped our tanks and took on water and then proceeded to the campsite. Arriving at the campsite we immediately had concern we would not be able to get level because of the incline of the site. We tried for about an hour and then headed to the ranger station to ask for options given the situation. We went back and forth several times before agreeing to move to a site that would accommodate our rig and allowing us to get level.

After settling in for the night we decided to make plans to do the Lower Falls and Upper Falls Rim hike the next day… Special note -In 2015, Letchworth State Park won the USA TODAY Readers’ Choice Award for Best State Park in the United States! It came out on top of the 19 other state parks nominated for the contest, chosen from more than 6,000 parks across the nation…

An overview of Letchworth State Park and surrounding areas…

We started the day hiking from the Lower Falls to the Middle Falls area. The canyon and cliffs are pretty impressive for sure. We then drove farther up the Vally to hike the Upper Falls area. The trails are extremely well marked and provide many points to view the cliffs, falls , and vistas tha make up this special park.

The Lower Falls…

Views of the Canyon below…

The Middle Falls…

The Upper Falls… Wow!

A pic up the Valley…

We have thouroghly enjoyed our brief stay at Letchworth State Park. Two days is nowhere’s near adequate enough time to explore this part of NYS. We depart both committing to coming back to this area again in the near future…

Driving East across NYS we are headed just East of Albany NY for 2 nights. We are scheduled to stay at another NYS park we have never visited “Schodack Island”. Although we have never been there several others in our family have and we make arrangement to meet Joanne’s sister there fro the 2 nights since they live only 1.5 hours South of the park. Schodack Island State Park is in Rennsalear County and sits right down on the Hudson River. Their are several small towns with narrow roads that lead to the park and the adjacent towns are a considerable climb up form the park on the river when you leave.

Schodack Island State Park…

Connecting with family at Schodack Island SP…

Our second day in the park we take a nice 5 mile walk that includes areas adjacent to th eHudson River and rather dense wooded areas just slightly inland. The park is quite nice and works well for a brief 2 day stay before we head into Massachusetts..

Departing after the weekend at Schodack we start the drive to Massachusetts and a next stay for a week so we can celebrate ur granddaughter Mackenzie’s first birthday on June 22. We had planned on arrived a couple of days before the big day and we were right on schedule. We have driven many rough road over the last few years since having our wood facia repaired in the inside of the slide, so we were especially surprised when a vertical piece trim broke off the wall as we entered Massachusetts. We’ll have together that fixed sometime next week.

Driving the 230 miles we arrived at “Beach Rose RV Park” in Salisbury, MA late afternoon. We have stayed here several times before as it is in a beachside community within easy commuting distance to ur daughter’s place in Charlestown, MA. John & Missy are second generations proprietors of the campground and do a terrific job!

That’s one Happy Gram….

The girls playing at the campsite…

We love staying g at this campground… 1) we get to see our kids and granddaughter, 2) the beach is close, 3) the rail trail/bike trails are excellent, 4) Close proximity to Maine & New Hampshire 5) The New England feel… (Newburyport…) & 6) the Lobster!!!

The Lobster (2 lobster Tuesdays for $14.99 at Wally’s…

So June 22, 2022 was the big day. Al the Dews’ and Nunan’s gathered to celebrate Mackenzie’s first birthday. There is little chance Mackenzie will ever remember this day though all the family will for sure. We are all so blessed to have this little munchkin in our lives…

The Dew’s and Nunan’s celebrating Mac’s 1st Birthday…

Gram with the Birthday Cake…

Mac safe with Mom and some icing…

Packing with
Mac…

Some Happy Grandparents…

So what’s not to love about being back in New England for a few weeks. We always loved our time in this part of the country. I guess that’s why we lived up here most of our adult lives until we headed off in the RV.

Cheers to family, friends, lobsters, chowder, and our granddaughter Mackenzie. Little question why we cherish everyday on this “Revolutionary Journey”….

Cheers from Sea Dog Brewery…