Our Last Christmas in Owego

This is our last Christmas in our house in Owego, New York. We will be moving back to Fort Worth, Texas next year. We bought a cut Christmas tree from the Christmas tree lot at the Big Dipper. Harry from the house next door helped us put the tree in the stand. It is a white Christmas this year as is normal for Owego.

Back to Owego Again

We travelled back to Owego, New York today and made it back home late in the evening. Liz had the drive the last 100 miles or so. It was a fun filled trip to Maine and our last RV trip for 2009.

Bar Harbor Adventures

We travelled up the coast a bit via the Bar Harbor Suttle and eat lunch on the wharf at a seafood place. The fish was really fresh and the food was great. We watched some of the fishing boats out in the harbor fishing and saw others still tied to their piers. Later on, we visited some old historic buildings in Bar Harbor along with a couple inside the park. One of them houses the main park Gift Shop, always a favorite stop for Liz!

Acadia National Park Shoreline

We are now in Acadia National Park are have been driving around and taking pictures for the past couple of days. It has been a bit chilly at night but we have had a campfire. There are a couple of people outside the park that sell firewood on an honor basis and we have been buying our firewood from them.

Traveling to Bar Harbor, Maine

We left Owego, New York early this morning for Bar Harbor, Maine and Acadia National Park. We stopped at the Desert Dunes Campground in Freeport, Maine for the night. Freeport, as we all know or should know, is the home to LL Bean and we could not resist visiting the flagship store in downtown Freeport. The Desert Dunes Campground is an interesting place, if you have kids, because it has sand dunes and dune buggies for rent along with statues of desert animals. It is billed as the "Sahara of Maine".

Great Smoky Mountains

We are now in Gatlinburg, Tn at the River's Edge motel for our anniversary. We decided to stay in Gatlinburg this time instead of camping in the Park. We spent a lot of time shopping and eating out instead of driving around the park. Our stay at he motel was not without incident. Liz got stuck in the motel elevator and the Gatlinburg Fire Department had to get her out!

Sandal's Royal Caribbean Resort

We are spending the next eight days at Sandal's Royal Caribbean Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We have been upgraded to a "river" room because of our Signature Guest status. This is our second trip to a Sandal's Resort.

Wolf Rock Trail

Liz came to visit me for a couple of days here in the Owens Creek Campground. We spent the day hiking up to Chimney and Wolf Rock and then visited the Catoctin Mountain Park Vistor Center.

Brown's Farm and Hog Rock Vista

Today, I hiked to the ruins of the old Brown's farm site in the Owens Creek area. It was only about half a mile. Then, I drove to the Hog Rock trailhead and made the hike to the Rock Rock vista. This hike was a bit uphill and about a mile in length.

Owens Creek Campground

I left for my campground host position at Owens Creek Campground on Thursday and arrived at the campground about 3PM. I had to call for a ranger to let me in because the campground didn't open until Friday.

There were a couple of campers waiting for the campground to open Friday morning. I had three campers on Friday night and 11 on Saturday night. The campground has 50 sites, so it was far from full which is to be expected. Plus, it has rained every day thus far.

Binghamton Mets Opening Game

We went to opening day of the Binghamton Mets last night. There was a "tailgate party" outside the stadium before the game sponsored by some local radio and TV stations. Wouldn't you know it, the TV reporter covering opening day decided to interview Liz for the local news!

I got the call a couple of days ago from the NPS that I was selected for the campground host position at Owens Creek campground in Catoctin Mountain National Park. I will be leaving to go there on April 30 and will be camping at Owens Creek for the month of May. It is in western Maryland and is only about 200 miles from here.

I drove back from my mother's home in Loveland, Ohio to Owego. The weather was really good the entire 600 miles, unlike the trip out. The traffic was generally light but the road construction zones are beginning to be set up for the summer.

Little Miami River Bike Path

This afternoon I rode the Little Miami Scenic Trail from Loveland to the Train Depot Tavern. The Train Depot is typically a biker bar with live music during the summer. It took me about an hour to find a place to park because there was a children's Easter Egg Hunt going on.

Loveland

I took my bicycle to the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail and rode from Loveland to about Milford and back. This was a little over 14 miles roundtrip and was a bit further than I had planned to bike. The temperature was about 65 degrees which is almost perfect weather for biking or running. It is warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt yet cool enough so you won't dehydrate quickly like in the summer.

I left Owego, New York and travelled to Loveland, Ohio to spent about two weeks with my mother. It is about 600 miles and during the first 200 miles I had to drive through fog until I passed Jamestown, NY which is a few miles before the PA border. The next 400 miles was sunny and dry. I had dinner at the Cracker Barrel before going to my mother's home.