Historical Montgomery Alabama…

Like the last time we visited Montgomery Alabama, the capital city of the State of Alabama, we took a stroll around the downtown area to once again absorb the history Montgomery is known for.

What began as a settlement of the Alabama and Coushatta Indians who lived on opposite sides of the Alabama River, Montgomery became the second largest city in Alabama as it is today. It has a storied past and in the 1860’s when the Confederate States of America were formed Montgomery was named the first capital of the nation and Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as its President. 

This historical house he and his family lived in is still standing today. Montgomery went through a lot after the Union finally came through town. Good times were had until the 1950-s and 1960’s when Montgomery became a hotbed of the civil rights movement.

What started as a seemingly innocuous event on December 1, 1955 when a young lady named Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and was immediately arrested, became the catalyst for another well known civil rights event, the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Also in the town of Montgomery a young charismatic man known as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., then pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, helped organize the boycott. Shortly after, in the summer of 1956, the US District Court ruled that Montgomery's bus racial segregation was unconstitutional… and so began a legion of cultural changes to the way of life in Montgomery as well as the entire USA..

Several years later in 1965 Martin Luther King returned to Montgomery  where he and other civil rights leaders helped organize the March to Montgomery Capitol Building to petition then Governor George Wallace to allow free voter registration. This event led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (back when Congress worked!) which enforced the rights of African Americans and other minorities to vote.

On our walk to Montgomery's Capitol Building we saw historical markers of not only the events of the Confederate inauguration of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate White House he and his family lived in, the church in which they prayed but in addition a flash forward in history to the location where Rosa Parks waited for the bus, the parking lot for the gathering of the bus boycott and past the church where Martin Luther King once preached. We also learned Montgomery became the state’s capitol in 1847. We had an incredible walk through the history of Montgomery.

We ended our day at Mellow Mushroom, a regional pizza chain, where there always is a nice happy hour. After all that walking we needed a little pick me up!

A Visit to Concord and Manchester New Hampshire…

Our drive from Vermont into Hew Hampshire went without a hitch which is just the way we like it. When driving in the northeast on the smaller state routes we never know for sure what we'll encounter. We meticulously check for low bridges, drive our route using google earth and when in any small town we always use the middle lane if available because many of these towns are notorious for having low branches and/or leaning telephones poles on mostly narrow roads.

Speaking of narrow… when we pulled into our next park at Saddleback Campground we encountered the truly narrow. As we pulled up a steep dirt entry road we were positioned into a parking spot by the owner for check-in. Afterwards he waved me to pull forward in between two buildings on each side of the dirt road leading to our assigned site. I mean I had no more than 6 inches of clearance on each side… if that!!! Whew, at least the exit won't pass back that way.

After squeezing through with both mirrors intact we pulled into our site for the next several days. Thankfully our site was a very easy pull through with our porch facing over the small pond in the campground. This is a cozy campground where all of the sites surround a pond. Situated in the middle of the woods with leaves beginning to change overlooking the pond made this a nice stay despite the big squeeze coming in the park.

We added a day as the weather was predicting rain for the most of our planned three day stay. We were able to sneak out for a few excursions between rain events. One excursion took us over to Concord New Hampshire to explore the small town which is home to the state’s capitol. Again the capitol building was closed so we were not able to tour inside but it was quite scenic even though it is the smallest capitol building we remember seeing. We did like the town of Concord as it was clean and pristine though we found it odd that most of the buildings all looked alike.

Another day we slipped over to the city of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city. Parking was inexpensive at 75 cents an hour allowing us to take plenty of time for an urban hike around town and around a small lake in one of the town’s parks . Manchester is a very walkable city and we stopped in at a local tavern for lunch and a brew. The Thirsty Moose Taphouse was a lucky stop for us as it has a great lunch happy hour on Tuesday with half priced appetizers and buck off beers. We opted for some local favorites called Moose Rolls and Naughty Tots. Both were a splurge for us as they are both fried foods which we don’t often eat but every now and then a little naughtiness adds some fun to the day…

The Moose Rolls were coleslaw and BBQ pulled pork wrapped up in a crispy egg roll shell, served with a tangy soy BBQ dipping sauce. The Naughty Tots were golden fried Cajun crusted parmesan tots served with a spicy sausage, green chili & tomato queso sauce with a hint of a flavorful IPA. Both were very tasty and decadent. The food was a real road treat!

We also enjoyed chatting with the bartender who told of us a story about one day when the town was snowed in during a raging Winter Storm and they were the only place in town open. Making the day interesting was the fact that they also decided to serve dollar Stella Beer all that day. She said it was a very crazy day and super busy! Too funny…

We have one more day in Northwood, NH then it is off to Maine for awhile as we keep an eye on Irma watching where it will eventually end up and deciding how it will affect our travel plans....…

NOTE: We Move on over to Maine today as we have a planned stop in Saco for a few nights and then over to the Hampton Beach area of New Hampshire while still keeping an eye on  Hurricane Irma’s path…

Visiting Cabot, Ben and Jerry’s and Montpelier VT…

Morning came and our next planned stop would be in Barre, Vermont. After turning off  Interstate 89 our route took us for a climb on a pretty steep hill (it was not marked but we think it was 10% grade or more!). Atop the hill is Lazy Lions Campgrounds, our home for the Labor Day weekend. It is a cozy, well-appointed park. Although their rate is more than I like to spend we were happy to find availability to hide out for the busy holiday.

We knew some weather was coming in and it was going to be chilly a few nights then raining on Sunday so Saturday we headed out for a long (over 100 mile) loop drive to cram in all things we wanted to see and do in the area in one day. Then we could simply sit around on the rainy Sunday and not feel as if we were missing anything.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Hope Cemetery. We don't often visit cemeteries but we read that some of the headstones are quite unique. Descriptive words won't be needed as the photos best illustrate the uniqueness.

The next stop was a bit further down the road as we drove to Cabot, VT to visit the Cabot Cheese Factory. This is the east coast’s version of Tillamook out west in Oregon. There were lots and lots of cheese samples to try with our favorites being the Habanero Cheese and the Orne Meadows Cheddar, so of course we bought one of each to take with us.

After Cabot we continued on our loop through the scenic hills of Vermont. There were lots of trees giving us sneak previews of the Fall colors to come as some trees are already bright red while others were just beginning to change. We passed by an old railroad track covered bridge we had to stop at to admire and photograph as we love seeing the old covered bridges in this state.

As we approached the ski basin between Burlington and Montpelier we entered Smuggler’s Gap. This is notorious for eating semi trucks even though there are ample signs warning them not to take this road. There is about a five stretch that is very narrow with boulders on each side and tight turns. Compound that with the loads of cars parked alongside the road on Labor Day weekend it was even tough for us to get through it in our CRV. Very scenic though…

As we approached Montpelier, Vermont’s state capitol, we stopped at the famed Ben and Jerry’s for a tour. We stood in line for a bit but since the line was immensely long we opted to buy a pint from the gift shop. As we tried to eat it we found it was too frozen and needed to soften a bit so we left and headed on into the city of Montpelier.

We had hoped to tour the State’s Capitol building but it was closed for the holiday so we did the second best thing. We sat on the capitol steps to eat our Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Chocolate fudge ice cream. What a perfect ending to our perfect day in Vermont!

NOTE: With Labor Day behind us we moved on over to Northwood New Hampshire and then possibly into Maine. Plans will be made now based on where Hurricane Irma decides to cause havoc…

Another State Capitol, Helena MT…

We packed up our stuff in Livingston Montana and hit the road west again for about 2.5 hours (126 miles).  It was a little windy on the drive today but with all the beautiful mountain scenery it went by pretty fast. We pulled into the Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds and asked about camping. We paid for two nights ($20 per night) and drove around back to the RV park.

Man what a cool site we discovered here! This is the best campground we have ever stayed at in a fairgrounds. There is electricity only (including some 50 amp service) and nothing else… no frills. However, this campground is laid out more like a state park with beautiful scenery all around. We set up and simply relaxed to admire the view of Mount Helena.

We made a  plan to hike that mountain before leaving but first things first. We wanted first to tour the state capitol. I don’t know when we decided to start visiting state capitols but I sure wish we had started it from the beginning of our travels. They are such interesting state treasures with history, art and wonderful architecture..... all for free to visit.

Montana’s capital city, Helena. was oddly enough founded by four men from Georgia searching for gold. When word got out they had discovered gold, Helena was born. Another interesting fact is that Helena once had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else on earth! Who would have thought?

The state capitol building was constructed between 1896 and 1902 and the later annexes on either side were added from 1909 to 1912. Constructed of Montana sandstone and granite this stately building is a centerpiece of Helena. Even President Theodore Roosevelt spoke from its steps on the morning of May 27, 1903. Inside the rotunda is fairly elaborate and ornate and it sure was fun taking our self guided tour through this beautiful building.

Afterward we went to the downtown area and took an urban stroll through town. We loved that parking is free in the city and even though the western towns don’t have the history found in eastern towns the architecture was interesting in Helena. We strolled through the pedestrian mall and at the end discovered a brewery named Blackfoot River Brewing Company. We sampled their brews and liked the Scotch Ale so much we departed with a growler of it.

What a great start to our short stay in Helena Montana…

NOTE: We are currently in Kalispell Montana for another 4 weeks…

Valley City and Bismarck North Dakota…

With no hook-ups at the casino it was a breeze to get ready to go. No water to disconnect, no sewer hose to put up and no electric plug to pull. We simply pulled in the slides, raised the jacks and started the engine! One hundred and fifty four miles later we pulled off in the town of Valley City ND and drove eight more miles north to the Mel Rieman Corps of Engineer park.

The drive from Valley City to the park was a pleasant drive through a nice green valley. It was a nice respite from the fields of corn, golden wheat and occasional fields of yellow sunflowers. When we went to check in we noticed someone was still occupying our site. The camp host said they had till 1:00 pm but that another site was open and we could take it. This turned out to be better since the one we reserved would have been a challenge to get into while the one that was open was a paved pull through site. Score!

During our recent travel we drove over a railroad track that was super uneven and as a result we were jarred pretty good. Usually if a track is rough there is a warning sign, but not this time.  Because of the jarring we heard a noise in our bedroom which turned out to be the closet rod collapsing. Therefore we spent one day running into town and buying repair parts to get our closet back into shape. We mainly stayed in the campground taking a few hikes to enjoy the views of the lake. It was very relaxing at this spot even though we spent much of the time repairing the closet.

After two nights we pulled up stakes and drove further west on the dreaded and boring interstate. Another 154 miles (long drives for us) and we pulled into the town of Bismarck ND camping at General Sibley Campground. After setting up we still had time to play the park’s 24 hole disc golf course. It was a scenic and challenging course (2 and 1/2 miles long).  We felt that the campground was fantastic (despite the narrow entry roads to the sites) and the disc course was fabulous as well.

The next day we drove into the capitol city of North Dakota and toured the state capitol. This state capitol is the second one we have visited that wasn’t a domed building. The tall skyscraper styled building was actually built in the 1930’s after the original capitol building had burnt down. The architects decided to build a new building that was inexpensive and space efficient thus resulting in a non-domed structure. Given the USA was on the cusp of a major depression it looks like they made a wise choice even if the architecture is unflattering.

The inside of the capitol (at least on the first and second floor) was beautiful with lodes of Yellowstone Marble along the walls. We happened to be at the capitol on one of the days the house was in session. Amazing considering we read they are in session only 80 days over two years. Wow, what a great job!  We also took the elevator to the observation deck on the top of the building. This 360 panorama was pretty nice and solidified what we have been seeing...... that North Dakota is pretty flat!

After the capitol we strolled over to the Heritage Center. This free museum (donations accepted) is really nice and they have several really good exhibits. Lots of fossils and dinosaur bones are found in North Dakota and their exhibit of those items is really well appointed. After the museum our last stop was at the local Laughing Sun Brewery where we enjoyed our first North Dakota made craft beers. They were quite good even though we thought they were a bit over priced!

NOTE: Next up for us is a visit to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (where we are now) where we will spend a few days to hike and sightsee before moving on to Miles City Montana…