We stopped by King Arthur Baking Company in Norwich, Vermont for a brief visit, snack, and shopping.
Nice outdoor seating options:
The cafe:
The store:
Our swag:
Just a quick visit.
food
A sampling of interesting restaurants.
Travel from Richfield Springs, New York to White River Junction, Vermont
We drove our coach 261 miles, about five hours of driving, from Richfield Springs, New York to White River Junction, Vermont.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast — not the most direct route, but the easiest, sticking with interstates, instead of twisty highways:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned; we went through Massachusetts, but didn’t stop, so that doesn’t count as a visited state — but we’ll get it in a few weeks time, so that’s fine:
A short video of engaging the tow bar and doing a pull test to ensure the truck wheels turn as we prepare to leave:
Narrow road:
US-20:
Exit to I-88 East:
Exit to I-90 East:
Tolls:
Rest area:
Starbucks for lunch:
South to I-87:
Exit to I-90 East:
Narrow roadworks:
Narrow bridge:
Fuel stop:
Massachusetts Welcomes You:
Steep Grade Next 6 Miles:
Exit to I-91:
Narrow roadworks:
Exit to I-91 North:
Welcome to Vermont:
Rest area:
5% grade:
Exit to I-89 North:
Exit to US-4:
Arriving at campground:
Following coach up steep narrow curvy road:
Cooperstown
We visited Cooperstown, New York to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame (see tomorrow’s post), but before that we wandered through the town, and had lunch.
Downtown:
Doubleday Field:
We had lunch at the HardBall Cafe:
BLTs, fries, mozzarella sticks:
More of the town:
A cute town, but very touristy, unsurprisingly.
Donatello’s
We ate at Donatello’s in Niagara Falls, New York.
A rather large white pizza (yes, there was lots of leftovers):
Jenn also wanted some wings (also lots of leftovers):
Baseball: Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies
We attended a game of the Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies, playing at the Blue Jay’s ballpark, Rogers Centre, the only MLB team in Canada.
Jenn’s game summary:
Our first domed stadium. They can open the roof, but it was closed due to drizzle and maybe wildfire smoke. A lovely park with excellent food and a vibrant atmosphere. The Blue Jays came out for four runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings each to make total cream cheese of the Phillies, who only scraped together one run. Bassitt recorded his 1100th career strikeout, and Bo Bichette hit his 8th home run of the year. It was a fun game with a bit of local color—they sang a song called “OK Blue Jays” before “Take Me Out To the Ballgame,” and everyone knew the words and gestures, creating a great community vibe.
An interactive map of the ballpark environs:
This ballpark was a little more difficult to get to, as we had to cross an international border into Canada:
Toronto:
CN Tower:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Team store:
Mary Brown’s Chicken:
Poutine (of course) and chicken tenders:
Selfie from our seats in Section 119, Row 12, Seats 13 & 14:
Closed dome:
Ace, the Blue Jays mascot:
Cheerleaders:
Play ball:
Hotel rooms overlooking the field:
A run scores:
Two more runs:
The mascot “helping” the grounds crew:
Exploring the ballpark:
Chungchun rice hot dogs:
Gamsung hot dog covered in potato, and half mozzarella hot dog:
Cheerleader:
Blue Jays win:
Travel from Newbury, Ohio to Youngstown, New York
We drove our coach 213 miles, about four hours of driving, from Newbury, Ohio to Youngstown, New York.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Rain pouring off slide topper:
Needed to return the laminated parking pass:
Road near Newbury, Ohio:
I-90 East:
Fuel stop:
BK for lunch:
Paladin on the dash when we returned to our coach:
Toe beans:
Paladin on the dash when underway:
Welcome to Pennsylvania:
A truck took the curve too fast, and rolled over; that’s going to take a while to clean up:
Welcome to New York:
New York Tollway:
Service plaza parking:
Not something you see on a trailer every day:
Text stop parking area; a good idea:
Buffalo:
Tonawanda bridge:
Welcome to the City of Niagara Falls; we avoided the Niagara Scenic Parkway due to the 12’ 0” height restriction (we are 11’ 7”, rather close):
And definitely avoided accidentally heading to Canada:
Arriving at Four Mile Creek State Park:
Our site:
Our coach:
Little did we know we’d be here a little longer than expected….
Baseball: Cleveland Guardians vs Los Angeles Angels
We attended a game of the Cleveland Guardians vs the Los Angeles Angels, playing at the Guardians’ ballpark, Progressive Field.
Jenn’s game summary:
A fun game with some interesting scoring stuff I’d never seen before, including a single that was also an E7 and then an “OAD 3-6-5” with the batter thrown out at third. Also, a delayed HBP call on a final out, so guys were back in the dugout and had to get back out to continue. The Angels struck first with back-to-back homers in the third (just after the above wacky play). Mike Trout got a couple singles and an RBI double, but the Guardians got three homers of their own (José Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Carlos Santana) with some other hits mixed in to eventually win it 7-5. The food was pretty terrible (dogs were both soggy & burnt?!) but really good nachos and ice cream saved the day.
An interactive map of the ballpark:
Progressive Field:
Long line for the team store:
Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water:
More edible mozzarella sticks and tots:
Angels vs Guardians:
Cheerleader:
Seat selfie:
The view from our seats in Section 136, Row Y, Seats 1 & 2:
Play ball:
This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball:
Heritage park:
Bullpens:
Exploring the ballpark:
Nice nachos:
Home run:
Perry’s ice cream:
Churro sundae:
Play under review:
Scores:
Guardians win:
Mangia! Mangia!
We had dinner at Mangia! Mangia!, self-described as “A Really Good Italian Restaurant”… and we have to admit, they weren’t lying.
The large parking lot was packed, but we managed to snag one of a couple empty spots. We were worried that they’d be too busy, but were seated straight away.
The menu:
Jenn’s veal parmigana & noodles:
My lasagna:
I also had a baked spud side:
Dessert menu:
We shared a cannoli:
Everything was delicious. We can see why it’s a popular place.
Travel from Shipshewana, Indiana to Newbury, Ohio
We drove our coach 238 miles, about five hours of driving, from Shipshewana, Indiana to Newbury, Ohio.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Departing; we cut through the empty site in front of us for an easier exit:
Amish rush hour:
Angola roundabout column:
“Welcome to Ohio, the heart of it all”:
Ohio Turnpike:
The Ohio Turnpike service plazas have RV hookups, with 20, 30, and 50 amp electricity, and nearby potable water and dump station, for only $20. Though limited to 40 feet; we could only fit if we disconnected our truck and parked it elsewhere:
Huge truck parking area:
Tiffin River Service Plaza — notable for us as we have a Tiffin motorhome:
BK for lunch:
Plus Starbucks coffee:
Back to our coach:
Back on the Ohio Turnpike, aka I-80 and I-90:
Covered pile in a maintenance area, I guess sand or salt for snow:
Another Ohio Turnpike toll plaza:
Another large service plaza:
Rough road:
They weren’t kidding:
Yet another large service plaza:
Exiting the turnpike:
I-480 East:
Big geodesic dome over the world HQ of ASM International:
Punderson State Park:
Camping check-in station:
Our site… once again, not entirely level:
The Omlette Shoppe
We had breakfast at The Omelette Shoppe in Traverse City, Michigan.
Cinnamon roll:
Eggs Benedict and hash browns:
German omelette:
Also pancakes:
Tasty stuff.