Category: Adventure Reports

Quebec

Crossing the border into Canada – Montreal, Quebec

Post author By Jess
Post date August 25, 2018

Travel Dates: August 6-7, 2018

Montreal was on our route for two reasons: 1) we could visit the Montreal Quebec Temple, and 2) Rachel is learning French and this way WAY closer than the city with the Eiffel Tower.

Quebec is the only Canadian province who’s primary language is French. New Brunswick is bi-lingual and the rest are English with some French mixed in at the national park sites. It was obvious from the street signs, to the stores, and the conversations around us that we were no longer in Kansas.

Side note: The Canadian Costco’s only accept Mastercard. Luckily our business card qualifies but we didn’t expect to not be able to use our Costco Visa!

“When Rachel started learning French, see decided that a Montreal visit was in order. Without her push, we wouldn’t have spent a few nights in a city of 1.7 million, surrounded by people who spoke a different language.

We’ve spent enjoyable time in Canada before, but never in Quebec. Immediately upon arriving, we found ourselves in Costco for some shopping, and the culture shock was immediate. Even in familiar store, I felt completely crippled by my inability to even pronounce French words, let alone understand their meaning. We stumbled through a food order (Costco has poutine!) and then I felt totally helpless as I stared at the error being displayed on the payment terminal.

The people we met were wonderful and patient, but the experience gave me an enlightening view into what the life of an emigrant or refugee must be like. I was uncomfortable, and I felt stupid and that I didn’t belong. After the initial shock wore off (and we headed for less populated slices of Canada) I’ve relaxed and have been enjoying exploring unfamiliar places in spite of my obvious language deficiencies.

Also, the cycling infrastructure in Montreal is 👌. Our city visit was a learning experience for all.” – @telegramsam

Tuesday morning I took the kids to the science center in downtown Montreal. Our ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers) pass gets us into reciprical centers around the US and Canada (and a few other countries, actually) so entrance was free.

We soon realized, however, that all science centers are similar and this one wasn’t super engaging. Also, there were a gazillion kids as part of summer camps. We all about died. After a brief pow-wow we decided to pay $5/person to gain access to the special DreamWorks animation exhibit.

It was SO worth it! We had fun looking at all the models, watching “making of” videos and admiring the art work.

The following morning we planned to ride our bikes part way into town and somehow decided to just keep going all the way into Old Town. It was a good 10 miles but the kids were champs! Once there we walked around the historic section before taking the ferry back to our campground.

“Rode our bikes from the campground to Old Town Montreal this morning. Loved that it was bike lanes the whole way. Totally reduces stress when kids are involved!

We locked our bikes up and then walked around town for a bit before taking the ferry back to our campsite. Total win on adventure planning!

In other news, I’m not sure I want to ever do Europe. I feel like I hear about so many amazing cities and honestly they are just not our thing. Backpack through a few countries, sure, but we’d probably all drive each other nuts after one day of city exploring! 😂😁 Tell me I’m not alone?!” -@currentlywandering

And then we decided to leave a day early and find someplace not quite so populated.

Vermont

Ice Cream & Mountain Biking in Stowe, Vermont

Post author By Jess
Post date August 23, 2018

Travel Dates: August 2-5, 2018

We invented a card game. No, it hasn’t hit national acclaim (yet!) but as its a travel based card game, we needed to do some research on east coast destinations. And that’s when I found the town of Stowe, VT. For some reason it stuck with me ever since and I knew that’s where we wanted to check Vermont off the list.

Stowe is a small town, especially compared to nearby Burlington, but as we are small town people it fit. We found a family run campground (all the state parks don’t have a electric service, and I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned how I feel about the humidity out here a time or two) and we ended up on a grassy knoll across from a playground. Plus they had a pool and were 10 minutes from the local mountain biking trail system. Sold.

All the adults made it out on a therapy ride (working on the road and managing kids is a full time gig) Friday and the kids had fun in the pool that afternoon. Saturday morning we went back to the trails with the kids and everyone got a ride in. These are probably the best trails we’ve found so far in the east! Lots of smooth, fun single track that it made it super fun!

“The rain held off Saturday morning just long enough to get the kids out on the trail. All the adults had a therapy ride on Friday, so it was easy to just relax and and go at a slower pace. @alyssakerickson and I hung out with the youngest two and they totally rocked these trails.

I’ve seen a huge shift in Cara’s riding since she had her lesson up at @grandtargheeresort. She’s more confident on the downhill and I can call out “ready position” and she immediately shifts into a more stable feet flat, up off the saddle stance. It’s really fun to watch!” -@currentlywandering

Now that they’d worked hard to earn it, we spent the afternoon at the Ben & Jerry’s original factory just a short 15 minutes down the road in Waterbury, VT. Went on a quick tour ($4 per adult, kids are free), ate a sample, bought a kidney’s worth of ice cream and explored the flavor graveyard.

“When in Rome…er…Vermont.

I’m not sure my kids knew Ben & Jerry’s was an ice cream brand, but of course they were in for a visit once they found out. Tour is short but interesting and naturally we sold a kidney to buy everyone an ice cream cone afterwards. 😂😆” – @currentlywandering

Leaving Stowe, we split from our friends for about a week. We were headed up to Montreal while they went farther into Vermont and New Hampshire. We decided to take the scenic route north through a place called “Smuggler’s Notch”. In hindsight, it was probably not our wisest decision. #lessonlearned

“Pulling out of the campground in Stowe, we considered our options: the mostly freeway route that we had already seen, or a sure to be scenic route going north that we hadn’t researched very well?

We chose Adventure, perhaps unwisely. Adventure led us to tow a 27 foot Airstream up crazy tight switchbacks on a no-centerline road, through the crazy tight road squiggle between two huge rocks that likely comprises Smuggler’s Notch itself, and down the 14 percent grades on the other side.

We shouldn’t have done this, and you shouldn’t either. No pictures were captured as we barely escaped this particular Adventure. We stopped further down the hill for some Maple soft serve known as a creemee here in Vermont.
And a change of underwear.” – @telegramsam

New York On the Water

Running the Hudson River Gorge with Adirondac Rafting Co.

Post author By Jess
Post date August 13, 2018
1 Comment on Running the Hudson River Gorge with Adirondac Rafting Co.

We loved our stay in Lake Placid, NY and as we were talking about where to go next I noticed that @adirondacraftco followed us on Instagram. Wait, what? There’s whitewater rafting!? Sign us up! After a brief conversation over Instagram we found out they still had availability, worked a deal for a discounted trip for the 10 of us (still hanging out with Kid Project), packed up and were on our way!

When We Went: August 2, 2018

Ages of Kids: 12, 10, & 8 (8+ is the minimum age during the summer, 16+ in April, 10+ in May)

We love whitewater rafting and have somehow managed to squeeze in a trip every year. Two years ago we ran the Snake River in Jackson, WY and last summer we spontaneously jumped on a trip in Jasper, Alberta. The kids especially were incredibly excited to tackle a third river this year!

Although we’ve run rivers before our friends, the Erickson’s had not. Super fun to get them on their first river and we picked a great one!

The Upper Hudson River Gorge is located near Indian Lake, New York. Its a super small town and most of the adventure seeking guests drive in from Lake Placid – in fact many of the guides for Adirondac Rafting Co. also live in Lake Placid and drive down for work. Not too shabby.

After talking with the guides we found out the smaller Indian River (where we put in) and the larger Hudson river are controlled with a dam release. Four times a week the dam releases enough water for the multiple companies in town to run whitewater trips. Its called “The Bubble” as the increase of water moves down the river, raising the levels as it goes. Because of the timed release all the companies put in roughly around 10am and ride the bubble down the river.

So, yes. We surfed the dam river bubble.

This section of river has 12 named rapids and ranges from a Class IV in the spring to more of a II-III in the sumer months. Total distances is about 15 miles which is the longest section we’ve ever done!

Check in time was 9am and went super smoothly. We signed a waiver and then got suited up with a life jacket, helmet and paddle. After a brief safety talk we loaded on to the Tiger bus for the short 10 minute ride to the put in.

There’s a bit of a jockeying at the put in with eight different companies running multiple boats. Our guide were awesome – they got us in line and in the water with no problems. It looked that most of the guides between companies were friendly enough but I was especially impressed with the experience level and professionalism of the guides with Adirondack Rafting. We later found out that our guide, Brad, has been down this river about 700 times!

Our first section on the Indian River was immediately fun! My favorite thing about this river is that I felt it was ripply and exciting most of the way. While sections weren’t necessarily classified as “rapids” they were still whitewater fun and kept us entertained.

Around 12:30pm we started looking for a lunch pull out. The trip includes lunch and it was delicious! Turkey sandwiches, chips, oranges, lemonade and cookies. After a few hours on the river everyone was hungry so we gobbled up our food while perched on some rocks with a pretty sweet view. Adirondack Rafting company has also partnered with a local food bank to help feed families in need. For every meal they give out on the river, a donation is provided to the Regional Food Bank of N.EN.Y to feed local families in need. How cool is that?

Back on the river! Some of our favorite rapids were after lunch. The kids took turns moving around the rafting and alternating who got to ride in the front or the middle. At one point Brad handed the guide paddle to Sam and stuck him in the back to steer! It was super fun to have Sam at the helm and he did a great job navigating a few of the smaller rapids.

We had plenty of time to play and swim in the water as well. We jumped off Elephant Rock and were also able to surf some of the rapids! Something I’ve never seen or done before. We basically tucked into the overspray of a rock and the kids thought it was hilarious that our boat entirely filled up with water. It was a blast!

We pulled off the river around 3:30pm and helped load the rafts back onto the bus which was quite exciting as we basically had to throw them up there. As the kids settled back into their seats for the 20 minute drive back to Indian Lake I could see their eyes start to droop. They had an amazing time but 5 hours on the river for young kids is pretty intense!

We are so happy we made the trip down to Indian Lake to river raft. If you are ever in the Adirondack/Lake Placid area its totally worth looking these guys up! I guided some rafting a bit in college and I know there are certain ways to hit rapids for the best ride. Sometimes you go in sideways, sometimes backwards (eek!), sometimes you paddle up river and I love that these guides really know their stuff. I could tell they loved their job and truly enjoy providing an amazing experience for their guests.

Disclosure: Adirondac Rafting Company provided us a 50% discount in exchange for social media posts and a blog post. We are super grateful we got to work with them and highly recommend them as a company. All opinions are our own!

Tags adirondack, rafting

Hiking New York On the Water WanderLog

Upstate NY, Lake Placid, & The Adirondacks

Post author By Jess
Post date August 8, 2018

Travel Dates: July 24-August 1, 2018

Our time in upstate New York ended up being one of our favorites. We finally caught up with our friends, the Erickson’s, at Delta Lake State Park outside of Rome (not Italy). Mostly we just needed a place that wasn’t too far of a drive where we could all hang out for a few days. This totally qualified.

We arrived late in the evening and all the kids were incredibly excited to see each other! Even Kai, the dog, got in on the action. Once we were parked and leveled (and this was the hardest level I think we’d EVER done in the last 4 years) we stayed up way too late talking and catching up.

The next morning, the dads needed to work so Alyssa and I dodged rain storms and scrammed with the kids to the nearby Fort Stanwix for a little road schooling field trip.

We managed to make it back to camp just before it started a downpour. Luckily games are much more fun with friends and no one got too bored. It was actually nice to have a down day and an excuse to stay inside and relax.

We recently purchased Splendor, which is a super fun 4 player game. I think Anibel and Rachel have now played it over and over and they are ready for the expansion!

The following day, the skies cleared, the sun came out and we spent the day at the beach. Sam and I were finally able to pull out the new Needle Nose SUP board that Sea Eagle boats sent us to test out. Unfortunately the beach wasn’t very launch friendly so it wasn’t an amazing test but felt good to be back on the water!

Lake Placid, New York

After a few days, it was time to move on. After debating back and forth about whether or not to visit Lake Placid we decided to go for it. Mostly we were concerned about cell signal (have to work) and whether or not we could find an electric site (the humidity has been nuts). Turns out the weather was perfect, we found a great little RV park to stay at and Lake Placid is now one of my favorite places.

“We paid for one night. And then another. And then three more after that. We almost skipped Lake Placid but I’m so grateful we didn’t. The cool night temperatures, mountain air, and relaxing friend time has been exactly what we all needed. Running around barefoot on the grass creating obstacle courses doesn’t hurt too much either.”

Our first order of business was to take a short walk on the Peninsula Trails and jump in Lake Placid. The trails were fairly flat, the humidity bearable, and lake swimming is awesome. Perfect combination.

“There are some days where I look around and think, “What decisions did we make in our lives to land us here at this exact moment? Cause it’s pretty awesome.” Swimming in Lake Placid today was one of those.” – @currentlywandering

Hiking Cascade Mountain

One of our primary goals for the Lake Placid area was to HIKE. It’d been way too long and the Erickson’s, especially, were totally hankering for a good summit. After a bunch of research (mostly done by Alyssa) we settled on Cascade Mountain.

“Trees, rocks, more trees, lots of rocks. Sweat. A lot of sweat. Stair climb for hours and then an audible sigh of relief as the trail opens up near the top.

The kids give a whoop and are off like rockets scrambling their way to the summit.

It feels so good to be back in the mountains. The temperature has cooled down, the humidity is less, we don’t run the a/c all the time and have pulled out hoodies and long pants for the evenings.

We could definitely stay here for a bit.” – @currentlywandering

Starting our hike with a talk on Leave No Trace by the trail volunteers.

“There’s something incredibly disappointing about reaching a summit and having it be tree covered. @alyssakerickson worked hard to find us a rocky summit with a view and this one was pretty spectacular. The tallest peak here is only about 5,000 feet (so less than the town we live in) but what they lack for in height they make up for with vertical feet per mile on the trail. This one was STEEP. Which is killer on the way up AND on the way down.

Our kids were troopers and totally rocked it (literally) with only a few minor meltdowns along the way.” – @currentlywandering

Almost there! Short snack break with a teaser view.

Mountain Biking and ALL the Swimming

Once again it was the mom’s turn to take the kids out while dads got work done. We do this often, mostly so Sam can have peace and quiet and everyone else is entertained but its way more fun with friends! We had kind of an epic afternoon.

Mirror Lake has a FANTASTIC public beach. The water is clear, the sand is good, there’s docks for the older kids to jump off and the boat launch is steps from the beach. All good things when two moms are trying to wrestle six kids.

Everyone liked it so much that the unanimous vote the following day was to return to the beach. Alyssa and I were able to sneak in a trail ride first thing (ALL the roots!) and then we took our paddle boards and played at the beach again for a few hours. We couldn’t have asked for better weather!

“Mirror Lake is a beautiful paddling location. It’s not overly large, and while it would take effort you could paddle across the entire thing. Sure the area is touristy, but not overly so. The weather yesterday was perfect and the water was like glass.

I had my first chance to really take our new @seaeagleboats Needle Nose SUP for a spin and this thing can really MOVE. I felt like it cut through the water with ease, its super stable, and easy to paddle. So excited to keep testing it out as we travel further east!

Thanks @alyssakerickson for standing on the shore and grabbing this shot of me. I love it!”

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We spent some time in downtown Lake Placid (touristy but there are some fun shops. Its super cute!), the adults made it down to Keene for a pie date and then it was time to move on!

New York

LDS Church History Sites – Kirtland & Palmyra

Post author By Jess
Post date August 6, 2018

One of our goals for this trip was to visit the history sites for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of our early history took place in Missouri, Ohio, and New York and many members will do just “Church history tours” with their kids.

Since we were going to be in the vicinity anyway, we made sure to visit the sites as we went. It meant going backwards in history (which can get kind of confusing with kids) but I think they managed okay!

When we suddenly left Cuyahoga on a Friday night we still had to visit the Kirtland Visitor Center which was about a 45 minute drive. The center doesn’t close until 9pm so arriving around 7:45pm gave us plenty of time for the guided tour from the sister missionaries.

My favorite part about all of these tours are the stories. Stories of the Prophet Joseph, stories of other settlers who were there. I can only imagine what it must have been like in the early days of the church – simultaneously so exciting (new revelations!) and so frightening (all the persecution!) at the same time.

After sleeping in a Wal-Mart parking log in Eerie, PA and visiting Niagara Falls, we arrived in Palmyra just in time to shower, make dinner and attend the last performance of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Having participated in the Manti Pageant two years ago, this was a special treat to see another one!

“The reason we called a crazy audible and suddenly drove accross 3 states was to make the last performance of The Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, NY. The LDS church does 4 pageants: Nauvoo (saw a few years ago), Manti (the one we were in two years ago), Mesa (haven’t seen yet), and this one.

We originally thought there wasn’t a way to make this one happen, but we managed to find a way.

Each pageant is different, but there is some overlap. The scene captured here depicts Christ’s visit to the Americas after his Resurrection in Jerusalem. The Manti Pageant has a similar scene, which we were able to participate in.

It did rain lightly during the performance, but we were prepared with blankets and rain shells, and enjoyed it all the way through.” – @telegramsam

We needed a rest anyway, so we spent both Sunday and Monday in Palmyra visiting church history sites, relaxing, and attending the temple. We loved the service missionaries there and everyone made us feel super welcome!

Joseph Smith’s boyhood home in Palmyra, NY

“We’ve spent the last few days exploring Palmyra, NY. For most people there’s really not much here, but for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this area has incredible importance.

I sat for a moment outside this small log cabin where Joseph Smith lived and just thought if everything that had to come together in order for him to restore Christ’s gospel. It’s incredible. Just a few yards away is the forest where he went to pray, and down the road is the Hill Cumorah where he recovered an ancient set of scriptures.

Believe what you will, but the sacrifice of these early saints for something THEY believed in with their whole souls is inspiring. Some of them gave up everything, including their lives. Do we have that much conviction about anything?

From being nicknamed “Sister Airstream” by the missionary couples in the temple, to seeing the Hill Cumorah pageant, walking through the Sacred Grove, and visiting the Peter Whitmer farm where our church was physically organized, these last few days have been spiritually enriching.

Find something you believe in that feeds your soul.” – @currentlywandering

Hill Cumorah Visitor Center, Palmyra, NY

Tuesday morning we stopped by the Grandin Building in downtown Palmyra. It was fascinating to see the old printing shop and learn about the process to print 5000 initial copies of the Book of Mormon.

We heard such good things about the Peter Whitmer farm from the missionaries in Palmyra that we decided to drive by on our way out of town. I’m so glad we did! We watched the video about what happened there in Palmyra and since we only had a short time we spent most of our time in the re-created home.

After leaving I asked Rachel if I bought the Work and the Glory series would she read it with me? She seemed excited so we grabbed all 9 books (and they are BIG!) off Amazon to read. Having visited many of the places in the books gives me such a great understanding of so many of the sacrifices required of the early Saints. I’m so grateful to them!

While not a huge piece of our eastward journey, I’m so glad we took the time to visit these special places. I’m hoping that as we swing back west we’ll also be able to stop by Far West and Independence for that piece of our history as well!