Learning the Art of Wandering
.....Or Not Knowing Where The Hell You're Going Next
We left Rangeley, ME on Friday June 30 with no clear itinerary for the rest of the summer other than to be back in Mesquite in early September. We did have plans to visit Amy Jo’s childhood best friend in Ontario, NY for a few days over the 4th of July, but no fixed plans otherwise. For me, this is the appeal of van life. Having everthing you need in a 22 foot vehicle that can go anywhere allows you to very flexible and spontaneous in your travel. Like it here? Stay a while! Don’t like it or the weather is bad? Hit the road! Contrary to my attitude in my former professional life, my kind of plan is somewhat focused for the next day or two, getting more vague every day after that.
We decided to do a little driving our first day back on the road, arriving at 4 Maples Vineyard in Champlain, NY for our first Harvest Host stay heading west.
The owners were very welcoming and even prepared a charcuterie board to go with our wine tasting!
We moved into the Adirondack Mountains, specifically near Lake Placid, NY. We hiked to the summit of Haystack Mountain where the smoke from the Canadian wildfires finally found us.
We set out to explore Lake Placid as I had not been there since childhood and pre 1980 Winter Olympic games. We visited Big Slide Brewery & Public House, then proceeded to downtown Lake Placid and Great Adirondack Brewing Co along with a walking tour of downtown.
We started the next day with Ontario, NY as the final destination for a few days stay with Amy Jo’s childhood best friend. We were passing through Saranac Lake, NY and noticed an event taking place at the lakefront park that warranted further investigation.
Continuing on, we made a stop at Raquette River Brewing (nothing like a couple of crafties on a Sunday morning!) and Junco Brewing Co later in the afternoon. We really prefer to travel the non highway route when possible and see more local flavor. In this case, we were trying to hug the shoreline of Lake Ontario as much as possible. Takes longer, but is a lot more fun.
This particular brewery was literally a farm barn in the middle of nowhere.
We arrived later that evening at the home of Jane, Amy Jo’s childhood best friend, and her husband Dan. Easily our best “host” so far, we spent 4 nights (including 4th of July) enjoying the hospitality of Dan and Jane, their wonderful neighbors and the beautiful shore of Lake Ontario.
We were able to hike Turning Point Park Trail along the river in Rochester, NY out to Lake Ontario and back. We visited Genesee Brew House, Irondequoit Beer Co and Knucklehead Craft Brewing while exploring. All great choices for rehydration!
The van developed a problem where the 4WD wouldn’t engage and a number of the safety systems were inoperable. Major shoutout to Mercedes Benz of Rochester and, in particular, our service advisor Hannah for getting us in for a diagnosis, getting the needed part overnighted and the problem corrected in 2 days over the 4th of July holiday. Much appreciated!
Once again, many thanks to Dan and Jane for their hospitality! I see that I can buy Joel Gott Wines by the case at Costco, so we’ll expect to see you in Mesquite soon.
With the van ready to go by lunchtime, we headed south to Geneseo, NY and Strange Design Public House, our Harvest Host campsite for the night. Great beer, great conversation, a burger plus a pint for $15 special and a super interesting building history.
The next day, we visited Letchworth State Park and hiked in the rain along the gorge on the Lower Falls via Portage Bridge trail. For the record, I think we saw all the falls.
We continued southwest to Ellicottville, NY, a vacation/ski town where we sampled Ellicottville Brewing Co and 12 Gates of EVL before moving on to our final destination, Southern Tier Brewing Co in Lakewood, NY. Southern Tier is a favorite of Amy Jo’s due to their Choklat which, to her horror, they no longer brew. All is not lost, however. They have a great outdoor area with live music. A few beers at one of the outdoor bars, an order of nachos, a quick conversation with the brewery manager and……voila! We are permitted to camp in the parking lot. Keep those beers coming!
We moved into Pennsylvania and hiked the Hickory Creek Wilderness Trail. We had intended to hike a portion of it, but ended up doing the whole thing. Lots of fallen trees made navigation a challenge and we ended up camping in the trailhead parking lot. Truly in the middle of nowhere.
We exited PA with a quick stop in Youngstown, OH for my quarterly blood draw. We continued on to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, located between Akron, OH and Cleveland, OH. Forgive me a short rant here. Some national parks simply are not worthy of the designation. In some cases, they are the result of political horse trading in Washington, D.C. and would be much better suited as a state park. This and the next national park we visited are prime examples.
We hiked the Cuyahoga Valley Ledges Trail, Stanford House to Brandywine Falls Trail and one more not worth mentioning.
One day here will more than cover it. We moved into Ft. Wayne, IN and sampled Gnometown Brewing OTL as well as Hop River Brewing before continuing on. Just in case you thought our adventures are all gorgeous scenery, craft breweries and wild camping locations, I give you this:
We continued on to South Bend, IN to get a look at the University of Notre Dame campus. It really is a beautiful place and I highly recommend a visit. Unfortunately, it was a particularly rainy day and that limited us somewhat.
On the way out of town, we stopped at Studebaker Brewing Co. The brewery and a restaurant are housed in the Studebaker mansion, Tippecanoe Place. We were invited to tour the mansion on our own and very much enjoyed it.
Moving on to Chapter 2 of unworthy national parks, we arrived at Indiana Dunes National Park. I’d like to soften my criticism here a bit by saying that we had a great time here. It’s just my opinion that, if you have a United States Steel mill in the middle of your park, you’re not a national park.
We hiked a majority of the trails in the park, which were interesting but not mind blowing. I will say that the beaches were fantastic and the swimming was awesome!
Breweries in the area were good as we visited The Chesterton Brewery, Hunters Brewery and 18th Street Brewery.
Many thanks as well to Bass Pro Shops for a couple of nights of hassle free camping.
We moved on to Chicago, IL and parked at the Lincoln Park Zoo. From there, we were able to bike along the lakefront and take in the sights including an awesome dog beach.
From there, we moved north along the lakeshore to our Harvest Host campsite, 1 of Us Brewing, in Mt. Pleasant, WI.
As you’re well aware, I struggle to keep up with this blog. I write this entry, taking a zero day, sitting in the public library in West Yellowstone, MT. Fortunately, we have less than a month left on this trip and I hope to have more time to catch up. Until next time, stay tuned!