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RV Refrigerator Replacement – How an RV Warranty Saved Our Bacon!

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We’ve been reporting on whether or not an RV warranty is a good investment for RVers, and this page — the second of four installments — presents our latest findings.
(Hint: the answer is a resounding YES!)

Ten days ago, after a fabulous two weeks in Maysville, Kentucky, and a long day of driving, we set up camp, grabbed a beer, and kicked back to enjoy a cold one. But to our dismay, the beer was kinda warm. We ratcheted the RV refrigerator up a notch and went about our business. After dinner and a movie in our RV, we decided to have a bowl of ice cream. When Mark lifted the lid on the Haagen Dazs, what he found inside could only be described as cool chocolate soup.

Oh no! Our 8 year old RV refrigerator had died.

RV extended warranty repair RV refrigerator replacement

Do something quick! We’re going to lose everything in the fridge and freezer!!

As the clock neared midnight, we began a frantic search for RV repair shops in the area. We put together a list of them, went to bed quite distressed, and first thing the next morning we started making phone calls. Mark threw bags of ice in the fridge and freezer and we didn’t dare open either door after that. We lamented sadly that all our frozen meats — all those nice burgers and steaks, and even our bacon, darn it — were quickly defrosting.

After about 15 phone calls, we were still nowhere. Everyone told us it would be a two week wait to get a fridge and that it would probably cost upwards of $1,500. Finally, we called Camping World just south of Indianapolis. They had an identical unit in stock and they could squeeze us in for service the next morning. They told us they always try to make an extra effort for desperate travelers passing through.

Well, we weren’t exactly passing through. We were in Kentucky driving west towards Tennessee, and they were 150 miles to the north in the totally wrong direction. But what can you do? We were absolutely thrilled to find an RV repair facility that had an RV refrigerator in stock and could install it quickly, so a 150 mile detour was not a problem!

This would be our second major repair in just over a month. We had just had our 36′ fifth wheel trailer axle replaced. What’s worse, we were actually on our way to an RV repair appointment in Kansas to fix a leak in our fresh water tank. What kind of luck was that?

As it turns out, Lady Luck was following us very closely. Our RV extended warranty had covered the bulk of the trailer axle repair, and we were pretty sure it would cover this one too.

Where we stood on our trailer warranty at this point was the following:


We were 11 months into a 4 year RV extended warranty
Cost of RV warranty: $1,904
Reimbursements (less deductibles) to date: $1,036
Remaining Reimbursements to Break Even: $868

You can see the current status of our warranty HERE.

It looked like this RV warranty repair would not only bring our total reimbursements to the point of covering the original cost of the RV extended warranty but would go well beyond that.

18 hours after we’d discovered our fridge was dead, Camping World service manager Rick Helvey was in our trailer examining its hulking carcass. He told us that propane RV refrigerators typically last only 10 years.

What??!!

It was no surprise to him that our 8 year old unit had kicked the bucket. He opened the fridge vent on the outside of the trailer and showed us the telltale signs of a dying RV refrigerator: greenish or yellowish dust.

The presence of this dust meant the ammonia was leaking out and the cooling unit had given up the ghost. The crazy thing is that the price of a cooling unit is nearly the same as the price of a new RV refrigerator — Not Cheap!

RV warranty repair on a refrigerator - inside the vent

Yellowish dust in the fridge vent area is proof positive that the fridge is dying.

RV warranty repair RV refrigerator installation

Here is a closer look at the greenish – yellowish dust.

He called our warranty provider, Portfolio Protection, to get approval to proceed with the repair the next morning. To his astonishment (and ours), they said they wouldn’t reimburse us for a replacement refrigerator. They would reimburse us only for the replacement of the cooling unit to save themselves a little money. Here’s the breakdown:

Install New RV Refrigerator Parts: $1,389.99
Labor: $267.00
Tax: $97.00
Total: $1,753.99
Replace Cooling Unit Only Parts: $1,049.00
Labor: $356.00
Tax: $73.43
Shipping: $100.00
Total: $1,578.43

DIFFERENCE IN OVERALL COST: $175.56

This was a problem — for us and for Camping World!!

If we got our refrigerator replaced, we would be in and out of Camping World in 3 hours the next morning and they could go back to business as usual with their local customers. If we had to have the cooling unit replaced, we would have to wait a week or two for the part to come in and Camping World would have to reshuffle their appointments the next morning, once again, because our appointment was already on the books. We had all assumed the approval of a replacement refrigerator would be a slam-dunk.

New RV fridge ready for installation

Our new refrigerator is ready and waiting — all we need is approval to install it!

What to do?

Well, here’s one reason we are becoming more and more enamored of our RV extended warranty through Wholesale Warranties. Unlike most warranty brokers who wash their hands of the deal once you’ve purchased the contract and signed on the dotted line, they are willing to go to bat for you if the warranty reimbursement process isn’t going as smoothly as it should.

We called Wholesale Warranties and told them what was going on. The difference in cost between repairing and replacing was not astronomical. Couldn’t the warranty company allow us to go ahead with the refrigerator replacement?

Within an hour they had called our warranty company, Portfolio Protection, explained to them why it made more sense for everyone involved to install the new fridge Camping World had in stock and, magically, our refrigerator replacement had been approved. We were floored that Wholesale Warranties would do this and that they could be such effective facilitators. Yet it turns out that making these calls is business-as-usual and is routine customer support for them.

Early the next morning we parked the fifth wheel in front of Camping World, and service technician Raymond and his assistant José got started on it right away. Unfortunately, our old refrigerator was 1/4″ too wide and could not fit through our front door. RV refrigerators are installed at the factory before the doors and windows are in place!

RV warranty repair Removing RV refrigerator from fifth wheel trailer

Good heavens, the old fridge can’t go out the front door!

So, the dining room window had to come out!

RV extended warranty Removing an RV window from fifth wheel trailer

The dining room window has to be removed
so the refrigerators can be hoisted in and out.

RV extended warranty repair RV window removed

It would have been so much easier if the refrigerators could have gone through the door!

RV warranty refrigerator replacement gets through window

The new fridge is ready for some strong person to pick it up!

A forklift was used to remove the old fridge and hoist up the new one. It was at this point that I realized just what a challenging DIY project this would have been for Mark!

RV warranty refrigerator replacement New RV fridge on forklift

Thank goodness for fork lifts! This is not an easy DIY installation for one guy!

Then the new RV refrigerator was put in place.

RV warranty repair New RV refrigerator installed in fifth wheel trailer

Raymond settles the new refrigerator into place.

The pretty oak panels from our old refrigerator were slipped into place on the new door.

Under warranty Oak panel installed on RV refrigerator door

Our oak panels from the old fridge slide neatly into place.

Then Raymond ran around back to hook everything up in the refrigerator vent.

RV extended warranty repair new RV refrigerator installation

The back of the new fridge is exposed in the vent area where Raymond hooks it all up.

Meanwhile, his assistant José removed the silicone remnants from the wall around the window opening using a scraper and wiping the wall down with Acrysol

Removing silicone seal on RV window

José scrapes the old silicone sealant off the outside wall
around the window opening.

Removing silicone from RV window

The wall has to be completely clean for a good seal on the window.

Raymond lifted the window into place, and he and José screwed it in place.

RV warranty refrigerator replacement Installing RV window

Raymond puts the window back in place.

Installing RV window on fifth wheel trailer

The guys work together to get the window screwed into place.

Then they remounted the window valence and reinstalled the day-night shades.

Installing valence on RV window

The window valences are reinstalled over the windows.

Installing day-night shades on RV window

The day-night shades are reinstalled on both windows.

Raymond gave us instructions not to put a bead of silicone around the window frame for about a week because he had used caulk tape that would ooze a little for the next few days.

We were impressed with how quickly these guys worked and got the job done, and we were really grateful to Rick for making an opening for us. In just 36 hours from the time we had soup for ice cream, we had a brand new RV refrigerator up and running. Now we just had to wait for it to cool down (about 9 hours).

In the meantime, our frozen meats had fully defrosted but were still cold. We couldn’t re-freeze any of them when the refrigerator finally cooled down. Arghhh!

As we hitched up the fifth wheel, I noticed Mark had a twinkle in his eye as he drove it around to the back lot. He hopped out and instantly set up the barbecue, right there in the Camping World parking lot. He happily began grilling burgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken and brats.

“We can’t let all this good meat go to waste!” He said to me as he handed me the bacon and sent me inside to fry it up.

It turned out he’d invited the service guys to come on over to our place for a barbecue lunch, and when the yummy smells from our grill began to waft across the Camping World parking lot, they quickly showed up in a golf cart and began chowing down.

The crew enjoys a barbecue lunch

The Camping World service team stops by for an impromptu barbecue. Thank you guys for a super job!

At last it was time to settle up the bill with the service manager, Rick. Our RV warranty deductible was $100. Indiana charges sales tax on deductibles, so our total out of pocket cost for this phenomenal repair was only $107. Wow!!

Our RV warranty (less our $107 deductible + tax) covered $1,647 on this one repair alone — that is nearly the cost of the entire four year RV extended warranty itself!

Shockingly, this RV refrigerator replacement was just one of a slew of major repairs our trailer needed in a four month period in 2015:

Here's a summary of what our four year RV warranty through Wholesale Warranties cost, what our repairs WOULD HAVE cost, and what our warranty reimbursements have been to date:

Cost of Warranty $1,904
Total Cost of Repairs we've had done $7,834
Total Out of Pocket Costs for those repairs $1,145
Repair Reimbursements:
Trailer Axle Replacement $1,036
RV Refrigerator Replacement $1,647
Plumbing Issues & Window Leak $1,142
Suspension Replacement $2,550
RV Toilet Replacement $314
Total Repair Reimbursements $6,689

Our trailer warranty has paid for itself 3.5 times over!
Confused about the nitty gritty fine print buried in RV Extended Warranties? Here's an excellent detailed explanation!!

Are we happy with our extended trailer warranty? OMG Yes!!

Having suffered four major repairs in four months, we have come to the conclusion that anyone with an RV older than four or five years should seriously consider getting an RV extended warranty, especially if they don’t like unexpected financial surprises.

What a shock it was to find out that RV refrigerators are expected to fail by their tenth year of service. All you need is that one repair plus another one or two (air conditioner, water heater, furnace, slide-out mechanism, hydraulic leveling system, etc.) to cover the cost of a four year warranty and even wind up ahead.

Do I sound enthusiastic and excited about our trailer warranty? I am!! I was hugely skeptical about RV warranties before our trailer axle and RV refrigerator replacements, and all I can say is that this has been an amazing process!!

If you want to find out what a warranty would cost for your rig, Wholesale Warranties is offering a $50 discount to our readers. Call our contact, Missi Emmett at (800) 939-2806 or email her at missi@wholesalewarranties.com. Or go to this link:

Wholesale Warranties Quote Form

The discount comes off of the quoted price at the time of purchase — just be sure to ask!

To learn how RV warranties work and how they differ from RV insurance, see this article:

What Is An RV Warranty and Is It A Good Investment?

If propane RV refrigerators are so prone to failure, why don’t we have a residential refrigerator? — It takes a huge solar panel array and big (heavy) battery bank to power a residential refrigerator along with everything else in an RV. See the following:

Can a Residential Refrigerator Run on Solar Power in an RV?

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Maysville, Kentucky – Come for the History, Stay for the People!

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September 2015 – After a delightful two weeks in the New York Finger Lakes, our RV travels took us south through Pennsylvania and Ohio until we found ourselves on the shores of the Ohio River, staring at a very cute town on the opposite river bank in Kentucky. There were church steeples and old brick buildings, and it looked very appealing. What was this place?

Maysville Kentucky seen from Aberdeen Ohio on the Ohio River

Looking across the Ohio River from Aberdeen. The town on the other side sure looks cute!

As night fell, the town on the other side became even more alluring. The suspension bridge that spanned the Ohio River was lit up, and the city lights from the town across the way were reflected in the water.

Maysville Kentucky on the Ohio River at Night

Wow!

Maysville Kentucky at Night Ohio River reflections

That town over there sure is cool, day or night!

The next morning we just had to go check this place out, so we headed across the bridge.

Driving over the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge Maysville KY

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We had looked the place up on the map and found out it was Maysville, Kentucky, a town loaded with history. As we looked out over it now the town seemed to sparkle in the morning sun.

Maysville Kentucky sparkles in the morning sun

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We hopped out of the truck and were soon prowling around town down by the river. We came across a huge sign painted on a towering concrete wall welcoming us to Maysville. This wasn’t just any old ordinary “Welcome to Town” sign. For one thing, it was enormous. For another, it had an orange butterfly in the corner. We would soon discover that this cheerful little guy was much like the spirit of Maysville.

Welcome to Maysville

What a warm welcome.

As we walked back up into town and looked around we were charmed. We seemed to have landed in the heart of the historic district of Maysville, and everywhere we turned the buildings were all different colors.

Streets of Maysville Kentucky and Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge

Multi-colored buildings stand against the ever-present backdrop of the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge.

We wandered up Market Street where there was a fountain bubbling in the middle of the street.

Maysville Kentucky Market Street

The center of Market Street boasts a pretty fountain.

Down at our feet we found cool wavy patterns of brick.

Brick streets Maysville Kentucky

The streets are brick — how fun!

The buildings around us were downright jaunty. No two were alike. Tall, short, wide, skinny, they all stood together, wonderfully mismatched yet cozy and congenial.

Historic buildings Market Street Maysville KY

The pretty buildings are all different colors AND all different sizes!

Looking more closely at one building, we noticed that even the windows were free spirited and jovial. None of the lines were square and each window stood at an angle.

Angled windows

The angles of the windows make quizzical expressions!

There had to be stories behind these wonderful buildings, we thought. Fun stories and unusual stories. If only those old storefronts and upstairs apartments could talk!

Market Street Maysville Kentucky

Ornate buildings on Market Street.

We wandered up and down the streets, marveling at the elaborate detail on the building fronts. One building had a fabulous rounded turret with a peaked top worthy of Rapunzel.

Turret building Maysville Kentucky

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!

Wrought iron and fancy carved woodwork adorned another, and next door to it the sun peaked through a wrought iron gate.

Historic Market Street Buildings Maysville Kentucky

Morning sun shines through a wrought iron gate and windows.

Roses were blooming in front of a series of white houses, and a handsome church steeple pierced the sky. We later found out these row houses date back to 1816 and are called “Mechanics Row.”

Row houses Maysville Kentucky

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This place was just plain cool!

Picnic area

Come sit for a spell…

The town was very quiet during the morning hours, and we almost felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Doorway Maysville Kentucky

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But what we were soon to discover is that these buildings are home to one of the liveliest, warmest and friendliest communities of people we’ve ever met anywhere.

Historic downtown Maysville Kentucky

The architecture is wonderful,
but the people here are even better!

It’s not the buildings that make a place lovable. As delightful as the architecture is in the town of Maysville — and some of the most appealing buildings in town are the seven adorable red brick “days of the week” row houses that run up a hill bearing names from Sunday to Saturday — it is the people that make a community come alive.

Row houses days of the week Maysville Kentucky

These row houses are named after the days of the week!

On our first night in town we stopped in at O’Rourke’s Neighborhood Pub and soon found ourselves swept up in energetic conversation, laughter, and rapidly growing friendships, immersed in the local scene as if we had lived in Maysville all our lives. It felt as if we had suddenly taken off our jackets that had the word “Tourists” emblazoned on them and had put on the Maysville team jersey instead.

O'Rourke's Pub Maysville Kentucky

O’Rourke’s Neighborhood Pub
“Where everyone knows your name,” even if you’re from out of town!

This little pub was the kind of place where everyone knew who the out-of-town folks were, but rather than keeping the outsiders at a distance, they asked us to pull up a chair and join their big groups at the tables.

On the next night, the bar owner, Norbert, sat with us, and between telling us tales of the town’s history, he introduced us to one person after another as they came in. From local attorneys to workers in the nearby limestone mine and power plant, we met one new friend after another, and they all openly shared tidbits of their lives and stories with us.

Fiery sky over church steeple

We enjoyed Maysville so much we stayed
for nearly two weeks!

What’s more, they all had wonderful recommendations of things we really must see and do during our stay in town. Suddenly, we couldn’t leave. There was just too much to do here! How blessed we felt to have the time to be able stay and relish this precious place.

In our travels we’ve found it is really rare to be able to visit somewhere and truly become an integral part of it and enjoy it from the inside rather that remaining on the outside looking in. Our days in Maysville will forever stand out in our memories because the people we met let us bridge that gap and become locals for a while.

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Coast to Coast Magazine Cover Photo & Feature – Colorful Colorado!

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Coast to Coast Magazine Cover Fal 2015 Issue by Emily Fagan

Coast to Coast Magazine Issue: Fall 2015
Cover Photo: Emily Fagan
Feature Story: Riding the Rockies in Colorful Colorado

The Fall 2015 issue of Coast to Coast magazine is featuring our article called “Riding the Rockies in Colorful Colorado” about the spectacular fall foliage in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.

Autumn colors are gorgeous everywhere, but we have been absolutely smitten by the golden hues that blanket Colorado’s San Juan mountains in late September.

The area around Ouray, Ridgway, Silverton and Telluride is ablaze with vivid yellow and orange hues in the last 10 days of September, and the Million Dollar Highway — Route 550 between Ouray and Silverton — is knock-your-socks-off stunning.

Not only is this area filled with vivid colors and jagged peaks, but the tiny mountain towns nestled between the summits are utterly charming.

An old narrow gauge train takes visitors from Durango up one side of the mountains while the jaw-dropping Million Dollar Highway takes drivers up the other side from Ouray. Both meet in the hamlet of Silverton where echoes of the wild west can be heard and felt in the antique miners’ buildings around town.

Coast to Coast is the magazine for Coast to Coast Resorts, a campground membership program of over 400 RV parks that gives RVers a way to invest in their future travels and enjoy resort style RV living for a nominal nightly cost.

The editors of Coast to Coast have been kind enough to allow me to share the article here.

We have spent two glorious fall seasons in this area. All of our pics and stories from our RV travels amid Colorado’s flaming autumn colors can be seen at these links:

Where is this part of Colorado? – Google Maps
Other Magazine Cover Photos and Feature Articles – Our portfolio of commercially published work

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An Amish Farmer’s Auction in the NY Finger Lakes

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August 2015 – During our stay in the Finger Lakes of New York we were fascinated by the comings and goings of the Amish. We saw them all over the place and were fortunate enough to meet a few Amish people and even see some Amish farms at work.

Amish open horse and carriage Ovid New York

A stylish Amish buggy rolls by in the FInger Lakes of NY

Their horse buggies are intriguing. They have enclosed family-style buggies and open air two-seaters that look like a lot of fun.

Horse and buggy Amish New York

These fun buggies were everpresent.

One young man showed us his two-seater open-air buggy up close. Rubber does not meet the road on these vehicles. They have steel tires! They also have well crafted drum brakes. Mark joked that soon he’d be upgrading to disc brakes like we did on our trailer!!

I asked him what a buggy like his cost, and he said around $3,000. As for a horse, he said it depends on whether you want a fast one or a slow one. Sound familiar?! The fast ones are more expensive, on the order ot $3,000 or more. A slow one can be found for around $2,000 or maybe less.

As he described what it takes for a young adult to buy a horse and buggy, his sparkling eyes and fresh faced good looks were no different than those of any other kid dreaming of a set of wheels. That youthful longing for the freedom that comes with keys (or reins) to your own personal ride is a truly universal teenage quest!

Amish open buggy and closed carriage

An open air two-seater and an enclosed family buggy side by side
The two seater, favored by young men for courting, costs around $3,000.

The Amish are hard workers, and we caught glimpses of them working in their yards and fields. Everything is done without the aid of gasoline powered engines and electricity, but their houses were big and tidy, and their lawns were neatly mowed.

Mowing the lawn in Amish country

A young Amish woman mows the grass with little kids in tow

Out in the farm fields they use teams of horses for plowing. Our friend Ralph, who is neighbors and friends with several Amish families that live nearby, and who grew up on a farm himself, commented that the Amish are always careful not to overwork their horses. “They use twice as many horses as we would have for the same job!” he said at one point.

Amish Farming Lodi New York

The land is tilled by a team of horses

What a contrast it was to attend the Empire Farm Days trade show and festival in Seneca Falls. Human sized farm equipment went out in the 1950’s, and the machinery that is used today is truly gargantuan.

Massive Farm Equipment at Empire Farm Days Seneca Falls New York

Modern farm equipment dwarfs the driver inside

Empire Farm Days Seneca Falls New York

Empire Farm Days in Seneca Falls. This machinery cultivates plants!

Empire Farm Days tractors Seneca Falls New York

A little different than the small Amish family farms scattered around the trade show.

We walked around the fair grounds wide eyed with wonder at the size and scale of the machinery. We noticed a few future farmers playing with some tractors in a sandbox. Those little kids probably can’t wait to drive a combine for real.

Future farmers Finger Lakes New York

Future farmers dream of driving big tractors

Meanwhile, back in the world of the Amish, a different kind of farm gathering was taking place. We attended the Seneca Produce Auction in Romulus and were blown away by this event that is at the heart of Amish farming culture in the area.

Outside, the horses and buggies were all lined up while the farmers took their wares inside to auction them off.

Amish horses and buggies tied up_

Amish horses and buggies line up at the Seneca Produce Auction.

Amish horses and carriages lined up

A one horse power engine — parked and resting.

Inside, huge boxes of beautiful, ripe melons and corn and cucumbers and peaches and tomatoes were all lined up.

Produce at Seneca Produce Auction Finger Lakes New York

Huge cardboard boxes of produce filled the auction hall.

Amish men and women were dressed in black and royal blue. The men wore straw hats with a ribbon and the women wore white bonnets. It was summer, and the kids were barefoot. They all milled around, watching the proceedings.

Amish man at farm auction Finger Lakes New York

Bearded Amish men and women in white bonnets, all wearing black and royal blue, went about their tasks at the auction.

An auctioneer moved from one box of produce to the next, singing in a totally unintelligible patter, selling off this wonderful produce to buyers from the nearby markets. Next to him, an assistant scribbled furiously on a clipboard.

The auctioneer’s fabulous song rang out off the walls of this building, but we could not make heads or tails of his words. Try as we might, it was impossible to know what he was selling or to whom or for how much!

Amish at the Seneca Produce Auction

Surrounded by a crowd, the auctioneer sang out the ads and closed the sales in a lightning speed patter
that we couldn’t understand at all!

He moved quickly, and the crowd shuffled along with him, inching from one box to the next. Obviously the folks right around him knew exactly what was going on, and a raised eyebrow or wave of a finger probably bought them a crate of cantaloupes. So there wasn’t a lot of random arm waving going on!

Both Amish and non-Amish men moved the boxes from the auction hall out onto waiting horse drawn carts with forklifts. It wasn’t clear to me how the forklifts were propelled, but the Amish were careful not to drive or operate any machinery that wasn’t within their code. Non-Amish mingled with the Amish freely throughout the auction hall, some buying produce that got loaded into their trucks and some just watching the fantastic goings-on.

Tomatoes at Seneca Farm Auction Finger Lakes New York

The produce was beautifully ripe and ready.

It was a wonderful scene, and probably not too far different than one that would have been typical at the turn of the last century in farm towns across the country.

Amish at the Seneca Produce Auction

Simple white caps and black aprons over long dresses.

I had been amazed to discover earlier on that the Amish speak German at home first and then learn English in school (which they attend through the eighth grade). They call their everyday German dialect “Pennsylvania Dutch,” but they conduct their church services in High German. I asked one woman if she could converse easily with Germans travelers who visited the area, and she said they could, even though many words are different.

How intriguing it is that they are all essentially bilingual. Besides first generation immigrants, there aren’t too many communities in America that deliberately raise their children to speak two languages fluently, especially that choose to teach English as a second language.

I was charmed by their accent when they speak English. It is essentially a standard American accent, but a few words here and there caught my ear as sounding a little different.

Amish farmers Finger Lakes produce auction

Working on the crates of melons up front, the row of peaches will be next.

As the produce auction progressed, the row of horses and buggies outside the auction hall grew smaller as people left with their boxes of watermelons and tomatoes in tow.

Amish horse and wagon with plastic chairs

Hauling produce away in an Amish flatbed trailer, complete with plastic chairs for driving.

The horses pulled flatbed wagons, quite different than the buggies we had been seeing around town until now. A few horses were even set up for a triple tow, pulling the family buggy with a flatbed trailer hitched up behind.

Triple tow Amish horse and buggy and wagon

Some Amish even triple tow with a horse, family buggy, and flatbed full of fruits and veggies hitched behind!

What a heartwarming delight it was to be able to brush shoulders with the Amish a little bit during our travels and to learn about their way of life and see them in their daily tasks. We really cherished our time spent in their company and left wanting more. The Amish community is growing rapidly, benefiting hugely from the decrease in infant and childhood mortality nowadays, and their numbers are increasing at around 5% a year. Much to our surprise, we learned that their population doubled between 1991 and 2010.

The New York Finger Lakes are a wonderful area for an RV road trip. From quiet country roads, to encounters with the Amish, to the absolutely breathtaking beauty of Watkins Glen, is it a place well worth making a detour to go see!

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Watkins Glen State Park NY – Absolutely Breathtaking!

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August 2015 — During our stay in the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York we enjoyed several weeks of thrills in August.

Photographing Hector Falls Finger Lakes New York

Glorious Hector Falls in the Finger Lakes of New York

We enjoyed watching the Amish families in their horses and buggies and we discovered lots of waterfalls at the south end of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.

One day we decided to set off and see the mother lode of them all at Watkins Glen State Park. On our way there, we both noticed a waterfall out of the corner of our eye as we zipped by. It was Hector Falls, and Mark brought the truck to a screeching halt so we could see it up close.

Hector Falls Finger Lakes New York

Hector Falls is a wide waterfall that slips under the highway…

What a beautiful waterfall. It is right by the side of the road, and it even slips underneath the highway below a bridge where it stair steps down a series of wide, flat shelves.

Hector Falls stair stepping cascade Finger Lakes New York

Stair steps of waterfalls beneath the highway at Hector Falls.

Mark spotted a beautiful flower growing in the underbrush too.

Flower

What a unique flower!

When we got to Watkins Glen State Park, the skies began to threaten. But we forged ahead anyway, walking along the Gorge Trail that follows the carvings made by Glen Creek in the soft sedimentary rock. Almost immediately, we found ourselves in a fabulous canyon filled with a pretty waterfall with a stone bridge crossing the creek.

Bridge Watkins Glen Ithaca New York

We were rewarded with a fantastic waterfall
and stone bridge right off the bat!

The heavens decided not to spare anyone on the trail that day, and a deluge soon fell. Savvy New Yorkers had come with their umbrellas. They know how unpredictable the weather can be. We had our ponchos, but they were hardly enough, so we hunted for rock overhangs here and there, crowding in with other hikers to find whatever protection we could as the rain fell in buckets.

Watkins Glen stone stairs and bridge New York

The heavens opened up repeatedly during our hike.

Now and then the rain subsided and we could make our way further down the trail. The canyon walls fell away for a while and the creek flattened out into a beautiful mirror that reflected the thick green foliage around it.

Stream in Watkins Glen State Park New York

The views in Watkins Glen are ever-changing
and truly stunning.

There were waterfalls everywhere, big and small.

Waterfall Watkins Glen Gorge Trail New York

Water spills over the rocks.

The waterfall at Cavern Cascade was tall and straight. This one was lots of fun because the trail went behind it!

Cavern Cascade Waterfall Watkins Glen Gorge Trail New York

Cavern Cascade is a dramatic vertical drop!

Cavern Cascade Watkins Glen Waterfalls Gorge New York

The Gorge Trail scoots behind Cavern Cascade and goes
behind several other waterfalls too!

The lush foliage and flat creek lured us forward until the rains came again.

Watkins Glen State Park Finger Lakes New York

Serenity between the wild falls.

This time it was quite a downpour, but somehow we found a spot to hide and stay relatively dry. Mark looked up and saw some berries hanging on a branch and got the most creative image of them with the rain streaming down behind them.

Rain on berries Watkins Glen State Park New York

Looking out from our hiding spot along the rock wall, Mark sees a wonderful photo op!

Once the rains released us — and all the other hikers that had been tucked against the sheer rock walls with us — we followed the trail as it snaked along the most spectacular curves of a narrow canyon.

The Narrows Watkins Glen Gorge Finger Lakes New York

The Narrows was carved over millennia
by patient Glen Creek.

The rocks had been expertly cut by the creek over millions of years, and small waterfalls fell into crystal pools right next to our path.

Waterfalls at Watkins Glen State Park New York

The waterfalls fell in cascades.

If we had been frustrated by the rain two minutes before, we were imminently grateful for it now, because there was no sunshine to make hotspots of light on the rocks.

Watkins Glen State Park cascades and waterfalls New York

We were so fortunate to have a day with brooding skies, rain and all!

The dull, flat light created by the black skies was absolutely perfect for our photos.

Rainbow Falls Watkins Glen Gorge New York

Rainbow Falls let loose a fine stream of diamonds up top.

The heavy downpours made the water run faster too. At Rainbow Falls the thin strand of diamonds falling from the highest rocks was absolutely stunning. We were in awe that Watkins Glen was such a jewel in the Finger Lakes, and my jaw dropped as I saw the photos taking shape on the back of my camera.

Rainbow Falls Watkins Glen State Park Gorge Trail New York

I couldn’t believe my eyes when this appeared
on the back of my camera!

Afterwards, flushed with excitement, we stopped for an ice cream cone at the Snack Shack. The rain was still falling, but a little cupola near the state park entrance was a perfect hideaway. We ate our cones in utter contentment. What a special place — and what a special day!

Snack Shack Watkins Glen State Park New York

Wet, tired and incredibly happy, we capped a perfect day with an ice cream cone.

The New York Finger Lakes are a wonderful area for an RV road trip, and Watkins Glen State Park is truly a “must see” destination while you’re there. For RVers headed that way, our links below might help you plan your travels.

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OMG – We Made The Front Page!

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We went out for a walk this morning around the very cool town of Maysville, Kentucky, where we’ve spent the glorious past few days, and what a shock it was to see our faces peeking out from the front page of the paper inside the newspaper box.

Maysville Kentucky Ledger independent Newspaper

Hey… That’s our picture on the front page!

No, we’re not wanted. At least, not yet.

We’re just having a blast! And we’ve gotten swept up in the happy vibe that fills the air of this small town.

Maysville Kentucky Ledger Independent Newspaper

Mark beams as I get a mug shot of him early this morning
in front of the Maysville Kentucky Ledger Independent newspaper building

Where exactly are we? We’re in Maysville, Kentucky, a little town on the banks of the Ohio River, right on the northern border of Kentucky. We’re in the heart of tobacco country on one of early America’s most important shipping routes that shaped our country’s history.

You can see the location here on Google Maps (you can zoom in and out on the map for directions).

And what makes Maysville so special? Well, first of all, it’s so darned cute!

Maysville Kentucky Flood Wall Mural Art

The way Maysville looked years ago — painted on a huge mural on the town’s flood wall!

There is loads of history in this town, and the downtown streets have been renovated to show off the utterly charming architecture of a precious but long gone era.

To protect themselves from the Mighty Ohio River, this spirited town built an enormous flood wall. And rather than leave the concrete on the city side of the wall drab and dreary, they decided to paint a series of wonderful murals that depict the history of the area!

Maysville Kentucky Flood Wall Mural History

Marquis de LaFayette arrives in town in 1825

But more than the architecture, the fun murals, and the wonderfully walkable streets that are amazingly free of traffic, it is the warm and friendly spirit of this place that has totally captivated us.

Beginning with a city worker who took time out of his day to explain to us the workings of the flood wall that protects the town and to describe the major floods of the 1880’s, 1937 and 1997 that were truly frightening in their proportion, everyone in town has welcomed with open arms.

Maysville Kentucky Flood Wall

Terry shows us just how high the flood waters have reached.

This is a town that has roots going way back, and almost everyone, it seems, has lived here their whole lives. It’s a tight knit community, and one that you’d expect to be hard to penetrate.

Brick streets historic architecture Maysville Kentucky

Historic architecture lines the pretty brick streets
in downtown Maysville, Kentucky

Yet, as simple tourists off the street, we have found ourselves not only shaking hands with the mayor at the local neighborhood pub, but sitting in his car as he took us on a personal tour of the sights around town!

How many places can boast friendliness like that?

Charming architecture Maysville Kentucky

This place oozes charm and is filled with pretty buildings.

“It’s just southern hospitality,” Mary Kearns told us when she dropped by our trailer to interview us for the local paper last night.

It’s a lot more than that. When the town turned out for a 5k run on Saturday afternoon, the city streets naturally shut down and turned into a huge block party. A mobile DJ played great tunes well into the night, and the town kids suddenly jumped up on a picnic table to give the crowd an impromptu dance show.

Maysville Kentucky kids dance on a picnic table

After the 5k run, some kids burned off their excess energy dancing on a picnic table in the town streets!

Unlike many small towns we’ve visited, however, where the visitors centers are right out front and center, loading folks up with tourist literature and tourist activities, we had to go hunting to find the visitors center here!

It’s up on the second floor of the incredible Cox Building! And rather than filling our arms with reading material, the town’s very enthusiastic Director of Tourism, Suzie, took us on an in-depth guided tour of the building, revealing some astonishing secrets and mysteries that her dogged sleuthing had uncovered during the building’s renovation a few years ago.

Maysville Kentucky Cox Building and Masonic Lodge

The Maysville Visitors Center is in the 2nd floor of the Cox Building. But far more interesting than any tourist lit could ever be was the tour Suzie gave us of this mysterious building itself!

Lovely and fascinating as the beautiful buildings of this town are, however, the heart of any community lies with its people, and that is true in Maysville more-so than in any town we’ve ever visited.

The hub of downtown is inside O’Rourke’s Neighborhood Pub and in the flurry of action that always spills out around it. The owner, Norbert, took us under his wing on our first day in town, and drove us on an all day tour into the hinterlands where a few remaining fields of tobacco are just now being cut and harvested.

Those gently waving leaves of tobacco gave this area a magic carpet ride for a long time, but that ride has ended. The miracle to us is that even though the rug was pulled out from under this community, something that would have left many other towns devastated forever, this town has decided to have none of that and is thriving today with a spirit and joy that is hard to find anywhere.

O'Rourke's Neighborhood Pub Maysville Kentucky

O’Rourke’s Neighborhood Pub is where everyone gathers in Maysville to spend time with friends and catch up on the local news. Many nights the party spills out into the streets!

Does it sound like we’ve been given the keys to this city? We sure have! And not for any reason other than we rolled into town and started talking to the friendly people on the streets.

We’ll be telling the rest of our tales from Maysville soon, but for right now, we want to get back out on the streets of town to enjoy all it has to offer!

The newspaper story about us is online HERE

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A Peek Inside the Amish Farms of the NY Finger Lakes

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August 2015 – During our stay in the Finger Lakes of New York, we got very accustomed to hearing the clip-clop of horses’ hooves as the Amish made their way across the countryside on the back roads. These sleepy lanes are ideal for their old fashioned way of getting around, and we saw them everywhere.

Amish carriages pass each other in Finger Lakes New York

Two Amish buggies pass and wave at each other on the country lanes of New York’s Finger Lakes

Amish horse and carriage Finger Lakes New York

The heartwarming sound of the horses grew familiar during our stay

Amish horse and buggy trotting Ovid New York

These guys move right along

The Amish live very simply, farming modest plots of land, traveling by horse and buggy, wearing hand sewn dark clothes and avoiding anything driven by a gasoline engine or electricity. These choices seem a little odd, but the nice benefit for the people who live near them is that they are preserving a way of life and use of the land that is a unique throwback to the America of 100 years ago.

Amish farm near Seneca Lake New York

Amish farms filled the countryside

We loved driving down the roads between the Finger Lakes and seeing one small farm after another. Without the Amish this land might be just ordinary house lots or huge commercial operations like everywhere else.

Amish farm Upstate New York

A classic scene from another era

Some of the lifestyle choices that the Amish make are to avoid dependence on society at large. So, living without electricity, a cell phone, TV, computers or car means they don’t have to purchase all those services or depend on the non-Amish people who provide them. It also means they live a lot more cheaply than most people!

They do, however, carry mortgages, pay taxes and buy things, so they need a way to earn a living. Many sell produce and livestock they raise on their farm or manufacture things they can sell.

Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

The Amish are entrepreneurial and sell their goods to outsiders as well as each other.

Our special friends who live in the Finger Lakes area have befriended their Amish neighbors, and during our visit they took us to meet several Amish families so we could see the inner workings of their daily lives. Just down the street, Toby operates a chicken farm

Cage free hens Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

Happy hens wander around outside on a summer afternoon.

He has 5,000 hens who lay 4,700 eggs every day. These are “free range” chickens who can come and go from their coop as much as they want. He said they tend to all go outside at dawn and dusk when the weather is good, although there are always a few stragglers who prefer to stay inside.

Chickens inside the chicken coop

Things were a little more chaotic inside the coop.

He has one rooster, a big white fellow that has a room of his own at one end of the chicken coop. His door is always open, so hens can visit him and he can mingle with his female friends. I assumed he was there to help the hens get in the mood for laying, but Toby said they will lay whether a rooster is present or not. He just keeps the rooster because he likes to hear him crowing in the morning!

Down along both sides of the chicken coop there are little boxes where the hens can go in to lay. Most of them get their laying done before the afternoon, and the eggs gently roll out the backside of the box. These are then collected by hand. An automated conveyor system brings the eggs to the front of the building where they are put into cardboard egg cartons.

Egg collection Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

Eggs roll down for easy collection.

Toby knew the production of his flock right down to the egg and tabulated it on a clipboard each day. Recently he had seen a dramatic and scary drop in production — down to just 3,900 eggs a day. The veterinarian could not explain it. Toby suddenly got the idea it might be a bad batch of feed and exchanged all his feed for another batch from the feed company. Sure enough the egg production began climbing again, and it was just getting back to his usual 4,700 eggs a day when we visited!

Hen on Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

Toby doesn’t know his hens individually, but he knows exactly how they are doing as a flock.

Perhaps what floored me most was that he had bought this flock as chicks and they had all grown up together. So, they lived as a group their whole lives. He would keep the flock for just 14 to 16 months, and then, when their production began to fall off below 4,500 eggs a day, he would retire them and sell them off to buy a new flock of chicks. Sadly, their next step after retirement would be a trasnformation into chicken nuggets.

Amish grocery store Seneca Falls NY

Hollow Creek Groceries in Seneca Falls

We stopped at Hollow Creek Groceries to see what a small Amish grocery store was like. Since they do all their own cooking and make all their baked goods from scratch, the store carried many different types of flour. Cake flour, pie pastry flour, in both white and whole wheat varieties, and bread flour of several different types. It was amazing how important flour is to the Amish kitchen, considering how many modern kitchens don’t have any flour in them at all these days.

Hollow Creek Groceries Store Finger Lakes NY

I’ve never seen so many different varieties of flour.

We also discovered that the Amish in the Finger Lakes area power their homes and businesses with piped in gas. At night their houses are as well lit as any electric house, but the lights are all propane based.

We were very fortunate one afternoon when an Amish mother and daughter stopped in to visit us in our fifth wheel trailer. They were fascinated to see our little home on wheels. As we showed them all our appliances and how they work, we found we all had a lot in common with them. Just like us, their refrigerator, range, oven and hot water heater ran on propane.

They don’t use solar power, however, which surprised me. I would think they could maintain their independence from outside society with solar power, but it isn’t something their culture has embraced, at least not in the Finger Lakes.

Gas powered lamp at Amish store Finger Lakes New York

The Amish rely on gas power for many appliances, including lights.

We also visited an Amish dairy farm. We arrived right at milking time, and not knowing anything about farms or cows, it was quite a surprise to see the cows being hooked up to milking machines. I had expected to see the Amish do it by hand, sitting on little stools.

They laughed out loud when I told them that, and then showed us some very sophisticated stainless steel refrigerated milk tanks that kept the milk at a precise temperatures. This particular dairy farm sells all their milk and cream to an organic yogurt company.

Cows on Amish dairy farm Finger Lakes New York

Cows lined up for milking.

The farmers at this dairy loved cats and had quite a few farm cats running around. One black cat was particularly fond of the cows and had struck up quite a friendship with one of them. She rubbed her head all over the cow’s nose, and the cow gave her a gentle licking. I was so struck by this sweet relationship, I reached out and patted the cat as she passed me. Ooooh – her head was all gooey!!

Cat and cow on Amish Farm Finger Lakes New York

This little black farm cat had a touching relationship with this cow.

There was a little calf out back that was in a pen by itself. It was still nursing age but drank eagerly from a bottle.

Calf on Amish dairy farm Finger Lakes New York

A calf is being bottle fed.

There is something fascinating and heartwarming about how the Amish choose to live, even though it is a hard life and a lot of their rules don’t necessarily make sense. The directives they follow are set by the local bishop, so the list of things they can and can’t do varies from region to region.

One central commonality among them all is that they worship in each others’ homes, not in formal churches. So, they make an impact on the world around them by their style of dress, the way they get from place to place, and their many farms and the goods they sell. But you won’t see a big community church or imposing Amish steeple anywhere.

Amish horse and buggy in Ovid New York

We thoroughly enjoyed this little glimpse of Amish life.

We loved our RV travels to the Finger Lakes and were fortunate to be able to get a glimpse of the Amish in their daily lives. Perhaps the most special thing about the Amish in the Finger Lakes is that their presence is not marketed by the local tourism boards as an attraction the way it is in other places. This makes them blend into the landscape as being an unusual facet of the surrounding communities rather than standing out as strange museum pieces.

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Waterfalls, Wildlife & Wineries in New York’s Finger Lakes

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August 2015 – The Finger Lakes region in New York really surprised us with its serenity and beauty. Not only did we find a really fun town in Seneca Falls where boaters pull in and tie up on the along the river, but we were enchanted by the pretty scenery along Seneca and Cayuga Lakes themselves.

Seneca Lake New York at Sunset

Beautiful view of Seneca Lake

At one time the Finger Lakes were a rural escape for downstate New Yorkers that wanted to get out into the countryside upstate. There are some lovely old mansions along the edge of Seneca Lake and our friends took us on some wonderful back roads to see them.

Finger Lakes New York summer mansion

There are many beautiful old mansions near the lakes

Finger Lakes NY mansion of yesteryear_

Not a bad place to get away from the city!

As we were admiring the mansions, we suddenly noticed some deer in a field. Looking closer, we realized they were two spotted fawns and a red fox, walking slowly, all together! What total luck!!

Mark and I jumped into action hoping they wouldn’t bolt. We were absolutely amazed when they calmly stopped (the fox even sat down!) and turned to look right at us for a minute or two, all three of them! Then they moseyed on their way across the field and into the woods, still together.

Fawns and fox Finger Lakes New York

We were astonished as this trio stopped to look at us and then slowly walked on — together!

We moseyed on our way too. Just a few minutes later we glanced over at a meadow and saw a doe and her pure white fawn staring at us.

White deer fawn and its mother Finger Lakes New York

Our jaws still hanging open from seeing the fawns and the fox, we spotted a mama deer with her pure white baby.

These Seneca White Deer are not albinos, and they are unique to this area. We could not believe our eyes and our good luck at seeing one up close! Somehow, the calmness of this region seems to apply to the wildlife too, and the white fawn looked right at us for a long time. Then it turned and, together with mama, bounded off into the woods.

White deer of the Finger Lakes New York

A Seneca White Deer!

What a place!

Sunset and sailboat Finger Lakes New York

We were captivated by the peacefulness of this area.

This is a very rural area, and small farms owned by both Amish and Mennonite familes dot the landscape. I just loved the wide sweeping fields with the little barns and silos and farm houses tucked into the corners between them.

Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

There are small Amish and Mennonite farms everywhere.

Farm homestead FInger Lakes New York

Driving the countryside gave us a flavor of what rural America was like once up on a time.

Cows and Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

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These small farms raise livestock and corn and soy, but a new crop that is quicly sweeping through the region is grapes. There is a rapidly growing wine industry in the Finger Lakes, and there is a beautiful winery every half mile or so on just about every road. For wine enthusiasts, you could spend an entire season out here getting to know all the different growers and their products.

We visited the Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery. It is unique because there is a Winery side of the business and a Brewery side. So, whether you want to sample fine wines or microbrews, it’s just a matter of going in the right door!

Wagner Winery and Brewery Seneca Lake New York

Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery AND Wagner Valley Brewery — two for one!

Out back there is a wonderful grassy lawn filled with picnic benches as well as a huge shaded deck overlooking the lawn and Seneca Lake. We kicked back with a tasty brew and savored the late afternoon.

Grape vines Wagner Winery Seneca Lake New York

There is a fantastic shaded deck behind the winery/brewery overlooking picnic tables and Seneca Lake

We discovered that this is a very popular area for Bachelorette parties. Not for Bachelor parties — those guys seem to have something different in mind when they want to get wild, so they go to other kinds of establishments — but local bachelorettes just love to rent a stretch limousine and take a tour of the Finger Lakes vineyards.

How fun it was to look over and see a crew of beautiful young women lined up for a photo. It turned out this was the second stop on their tour — we had seen the limo driver napping in the limo in the parking lot when we came in — and these young beauties were really living it up.

They were wearing matching tank tops, with the bride in white (there was no mistaking her — her shirt said “Bride” right on it). The bridesmaids wore navy blue, each with her role in the wedding printed on the front too.

Bride and bridesmaids Bachelorette party Finger Lakes New York

These gals were having way too much fun!

I sighed watching them, wishing I had been there, and done that, and had the shirt!!

We carried on, with images of beautiful weddings floating around in my brain, and we found there are cute towns all around the Finger Lakes regions.

Waterloo New York Main Street

Waterloo

Waterloo and Ovid both have pretty main streets.

Ovid New York Main Street

Ovid (pronounced “Oh Vid” not “Ah Vid”)

And in Ovid’s town square there are three brick buildings in a row that each have four white columns out front. These historic government buildings are fondly called the Three Bears by the locals!

Three bears Ovid New York

The Three Bears

The Finger Lakes are also known for their beautiful waterfalls, and there is quite a selection to see. The Taughannock Falls are very tall.

Taughannock Falls with people Ithaca New York

Taughannock Falls – Wow!

Right across from the falls is a viewing area where you can get a good closeup look.

Taughannock Falls Finger Lakes New York

A closer view…

Over in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, there is a beautiful waterfall in the Ithaca Natural Area. We got lost on our way there, driving the tiny roads between all the fraternities and going up and down some steep roads. But it was worth all the wrong turns once we got there.

Unfortunately, we had run out of steam by the time we finished playing there, and we never got to the more famous Triphammer waterfall that is right in the middle of the Cornell campus, apparently at the intersection of University and East avenues. Oh well, next time!!

Ithaca Falls Natural Area New York Finger Lakes

Ithaca Falls Natural Area – a great spot to clear your head after finals at Cornell!

The Finger Lakes are a charming place for an RV roadtrip, offering not only waterfalls and wineries but a glimpse of America’s quiet and rural past that is very hard to find.

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Finger Lakes, New York – Seneca Falls & The Amish!

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August 2015 – After our incredibly fun ride on the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, we zipped west across the tops of New Hampshire and Vermont. As we went around Lake Champlain, beautiful summer thunderstorms descended on us, and we found ourselves sitting under a rainbow in a scenic pullout in the middle of the lake.

Rainbow over fifth wheel trailer New York

Our buggy tucks in under a rainbow!

Looking for photo ops, we caught the rainbow’s reflection in the back window of our fifth wheel.

Rainbow on fifth wheel trailer

We even caught the rainbow’s reflection off the back of the rig!

Crossing into New York state, we dropped down through the Adirondacks to the Finger Lakes region. What a fabulous area. Pulling into Seneca Falls at the north end of Seneca Lake, we were enchanted by the boats lined up on the back side of the main street of downtown.

Boats moored on docks at Seneca Falls New York

Boats tie up on the backside of Seneca Falls – what fun!

Boats of all kinds were moored along the two sides of the canal.

Boats moored in Seneca Falls New York

This canal connects the north ends of Seneca Lake (to the west) and Cayuga Lake (to the east)

Seneca Falls Docks and boats New York

What a cool barge – with bikes on deck!

We instantly began talking about what fun it would be to spend a summer on a powerboat exploring all the lakes in this part of the world. Maybe someday!

Powerboats in Seneca Falls New York

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The town of Seneca Falls is very pretty. The main street is lined with old brick storefronts. Mark even found an elaborate mural of a storefront painted on the side of one of these buildings.

Mural Seneca Falls New York

I think they’re open…try the door!

Back in 1848, Seneca Falls was the birthplace of feminism. The concept didn’t have a name then, of course, but 300 men and women got together for two days for the first “Woman’s Rights Convention.” They drew up a document of resolutions — the “Declaration of Sentiments” — and 68 women and 32 men signed it. A wonderful statue commemorates the occasion on the banks of the canal, and there is a Women’s Rights Museum in town run by the National Park Service as well.

Woman's Rights Convention Site 1848 Seneca Falls New York

The first Woman’s Rights Convention was held here in 1848

Across the canal behind this statue stands the beautiful Trinity Episcopal Church. What a great setting, right on the banks of the canal that connects the north ends of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.

Trinity Episcopal Church Seneca Falls New York

Elegant Trinity Episcopal Church.

The Finger Lakes area is filled with small family farms, and we were thrilled to see one pretty farm homestead after another as we drove along the extraordinarily quiet rural roads.

Amish farm Finger Lakes New York

Small family farms dot the landscape between the lakes.

The Amish live in this area, and we soon saw signs giving away their whereabouts.

Amish horse and buggy sign

There are Amish here!

There is something very romantic about horses and buggies and living simply. Seeing a buggy parked outside a barn was a thrill.

Amish buggy parked in front of barn

An Amish buggy waits to be hitched up.

Stopping by the town of Ovid, we were delighted to see many more going by. First you’d hear the clip clop of the horses hooves on the pavement. Then the buggy would pull into view.

Amish horse and buggy Ovid New York

Wow! There’s an Amish horse and buggy going by!

There are open air buggies that the younger men use for courting, and there are covered family carriages.

Amish horse and carriage Finger Lakes New York

Some buggies are open air two-seaters and others are covered and have more seats

What was amazing to me was that these horses move at quite a clip, trotting along very fast. Looking at my photos later, in many of them all four of the horse’s hooves were in the air!!

Ovid New York Amish horse and buggy

The clip-clop of horses’ hooves is a common sound in these parts.

Did I mention how quiet the roads are out here? This is ideal cycling country for anyone that likes to ride a bike, and there is a peace and quiet in the air that is utterly refreshing and rejuvenating.

Sunset on farm roads in Finger Lakes New York

Sunrise on a peaceful road.

We are lucky enough to have very special friends who live in the area, and we settled in to stay for a while.

Fifth wheel RV in snazzy colors

Our own buggy, jazzed up a bit.
There are 350 horses under that hood!

The New York Finger Lakes area is a wonderful place to take your RV. The driving is easy, the lakes are lovely, there is a winery every mile, and life is lived at a gentler pace. A pleasant RV park near Cayuga lake is Sned-Acres Family Campground. They have grassy sites set high on rolling hills for smaller rigs and a beautiful, new section with spacious pull-through sites for big rigs. The new section wasn’t quite open when we stopped by, but it will be open imminently.

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Mt. Washington Cog Railway – The Little Engine That Could!

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July 2015 – One of the most well known landmarks in New Hampshire is Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the northeast. And on this mountain rides one of the best excursions you can find anywhere: The Mt. Washington Cog Railway.

Ammonoosuc Train The Cog Railway Mt Washington New Hampshire

The Mt. Washington Cog Railway — what fun!

The brainchild of Sylvester Marsh, an inventor and grain merchant who made a fortune designing machinery for the grain industry in the mid 1800’s, the Cog Railway is a fantastic train ride that crawls straight up the side of the mountain. No switchbacks needed!

Coal fired steam engine Cog Railway Mt Washington

The coal fired steam engine burns a lot of coal and blows off a lot of steam on the way up the mountain!

Back in the 1860’s, after retiring from the grain industry, Sylvester hiked up Mt. Washington with a friend. On the way, he encountered the typically brutal weather that this particular mountain likes to dish out. Other hikers had died on the mountain just prior to his hike, and he and his friend were grateful to make it to the Tip Top House, a hiker’s hut at the top.

Ticket booth The Cog Railway Mt Washington New Hampshire

Folks come early to get tickets or confirm reservations.

He was astonished the next morning when the storm subsided and the views unfolded all around him. Most folks of that time never got to see much beyond their farm fields, and he wanted to share this incredible beauty with everyone living at sea level yet make it easier and safer for them to get to the top.

He set about designing a train that would use not just normal railroad tracks but a third rail in the middle that was made of chain links like a bicycle chain. A cog on the bottom of the train would turn and claw its way up the mountain using this third rail to inch along.

Life Magazine cover Mt Washington Cog Railway New Hampshire

The Cog Railway has graced a lot of magazine covers. This Life cover is from 1958, 89 years after the railway opened!

It was a clever idea, but the big railroad barons of the day openly laughed at him. He was a grain guy, after all. What could he possibly know about trains? Well, he was a man with a vision, and he opened the railway to the public on July 19, 1869.

It has been a huge hit with visitors to New Hampshire’s White Mountains ever since.

Mt Washington Cog Railway coal fired steam train engine

Sylvester Marsh patented his design for this unusual cog rail train

The construction wasn’t easy, and everyday the construction crew rode a cog train up to the end of the line, wherever the previous day’s construction had left off. At the end of the day, they each rode cog sleds down the mountain. These sleds had brakes, but still, what a wild ride that must have been!

Riding the cog railway down on sleds

When the tracks were being built, the construction workers would slide down the mountain on sleds at the end of the work day!

We got caught up in watching the outsanding PBS documentary video about the history of the Cog Railway in the museum before our ride. We gawked at the magazine covers and old photos and mock-ups of the train that were on display. Suddenly, a train whistle pierced the air, and we ran outside to see the bright red train chugging up the hill from its overnight storage spot in a cloud of steam and smoke. What a thrill!

Mt Washington Cog Rail train chugs uphill

Our train, Engine #2, comes up the hill to pick us all up.

The coal fired steam engine runs just once each day, at 9:15 in the morning. And it is the real deal — authentic 1875 technology at work!

The Cog Railway actually has five other trains and coaches that run up and down the mountain all day long. They operate on biodiesel and make the journey a bit more quickly.

Biodiesel trains at the Cog Railway on Mt Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Biodiesel trains make the trek up the mountain after the steam engine’s early morning run.

The 3 mile ride is a one hour trip on the steam train, but it’s about 20 minutes less on its biodiesel sisters.

The Cog Railway train car arrives at the station

This is a ride that’s fun for all ages.

Before we hopped aboard, our Engineer, Eggy, showed us the enormous pile of coal that would be shoveled into the fire by the Fireman, Ray, to keep the water boiling. Shoveling the coal is serious work, and Ray would be shoveling as fast as he could go during the steepest part of the climb, a 37.4% grade!

Engineer peeks out window Cog Railway Mt Washington New Hampshire

What a fun job!

Everyone aboard the train was grinning as Eggy blew the whistle. With a lurch, the train started the climb, pushing our coach car ahead of it. The engine car is built on an angle so it sits fairly level as it climbs up the mountain. The coach car isn’t, however, and we were pitched back in our seats and aiming for the sky!

A gorgeous view of the vast green valleys and mountains grew quickly behind us.

Cog Railway Train chugs up Mt Washington New Hampshire

Clouds of steam blanketed the engine as we climbed the mountain

In front of us, the cog rail was clearly visible in the middle of the train track as it snaked its way up the mountain. We crept up the mountain at the pace of a leisurely stroll, and noticed that each railroad tie was numbered. Our Brakeman, Kelly, told us that four people spend all day every day maintaining the tracks!

About halfway up we came to the Halfway House, a building that seems to sit at an impossible angle on the edge of the mountain. Situated at 4500′ elevation, the floor is actually quite level, it’s just that the pitch of the mountain is so steep it looks like the house itself is tilting!

Cog train tracks and halfway house Mt Washington New Hampshire

The “Halfway House” is at 4,500′ elevation

Not long afterwards we stopped for few minutes to get more water for the boiler. The water source at this important spot on the mountain is spring fed, and 300 gallons of water were poured into the tank with a gravity feed.

Then we reached the steepest part of the ride at a trestle called Jacob’s ladder that stands 25′ above a ravine. What does a 37.4% grade feel like in a train? Well, the seats in the front of the coach were 14 feet above the seats in the back of the coach — and the kids just loved struggling up and down the aisle between the seats!!

Jacob's Ladder trestle Mt Washington Cog Railway

Jacob’s Ladder trestle — the steepest part of the railway

As we climbed higher and higher, the views behind us became ever more expansive. Suddenly, we noticed people walking up a trail towards the train, and we realized that these folks had all hiked up from the bottom! The Cog Railway sells one-way tickets too, so undoubtedly some of these hikers would hitch a ride down after getting triumphant pics of themselves at the top.

Hikers coming up Mt. Washington Summit Trail New Hampshire

Hikers coming up the trail from the base of Mt. Washington

There was quite a line of hikers waiting to take selfies with the Mt Washington Summit sign at the top, and who can blame them. It’s quite an accomplishment to hike up. We felt a little soft for having ridden the train, but we had no shame, and we got in line and took pics with the summit sign too!

Mt Washington Summit

Hey, even if I didn’t hike I can still get a pic at the top, can’t I ?

We had about an hour at the summit before our train would start the journey back down the mountain, and we made a bee-line for the Mt. Washington Observatory where we took a tour of the weather station. Our guide, Kaitlyn, showed us the instruments that track the wind speeds and monitor the weather, and we were floored to learn that scientists actually live and work on the top of Mt. Washington year round, manning this station 24/7 in twelve hour shifts.

Kaitlyn Mt. Washington Observatory Weather Station New Hampshire

Mt. Washington has the most fearsome weather in the world, and our guide, Kaitlyn, explains how scientists live and work there, monitoring the instruments 24/7 !

They work for 8 straight days on the mountaintop and then have 6 days off, and they live all together, dormitory style, with a comfy common room, kitchen and bedrooms that reminded me of my college days. Volunteers can participate too, and we got a kick out of seeing two grey haired volunteers coming into the dorm after their shifts. The fun for them, they said, besides the working at the weather station itself, was that they could enjoy the hiking and outdoor activities of the White Mountains all summer long.

Kaitlyn then took us up through a hatch and out onto the roof of the observatory where we saw the wind vanes in action.

Climbing up the Mt. Washington Observatory Weather Station New Hampshire

Mark climbs up towards the roof deck where the wind vanes are mounted.

The highest wind speed ever recorded at a manned weather station occurred right here back on April 12, 1934, when a wind gust hit 231 mph. I had heard a story long ago that the wind vane was blown right off the mountain when that wind gust hit, but we discovered that’s an urban legend.

Four volunteers — the founders of the observatory — were manning the station that day, and they actually retrieved the wind vane from its spot on the roof and verified that it was functioning correctly and that its readings were accurate. Having the instrument blow right off the mountain makes a much better story, though!

Mt Washington Observatory Wind Vanes

The wind vanes on the top of the Mt. Washington Observatory

Since that time, a bigger wind gust was recorded in Australia during Cyclone Olivia in 1996. However, that happened on an unmanned weather station, so, awesome as it was, it doesn’t have quite the same mystique!

Before long, we heard our train whistle blowing again, and it was time to go back down the mountain. Still flushed with excitement from seeing the inner workings of the Mt. Washington Observatory, we quickly got swept up in the incredible marvel of coasting a big train engine and coach full of passengers straight down a mountain without losing control.

Fog shrouds the Cog Rail train at the top of Mt Washington New Hampshire

We had fog at the top, but that didn’t dampen our spirits one bit!

The train and coach are always oriented in the same direction with the train engine located below the coach. On the way up the mountain, the train engine pushes the coach. On the way down, the Engineer in the train engine uses compression brakes to slow the train and the Brakeman in the coach uses disc brakes to keep the coach from bumping into and pushing the train down the hill. It kinda reminded me of the brake action on our truck and trailer going down a mountain!

Our Brakeman, Kelly, worked constantly the entire way down the mountain feathering the brakes. She had two big wheels in front of her, one to make big adjustments and one for fine tuning. We were at such a steep pitch that it looked like she was leaning way back even though she was standing straight!

Brakeman controls the brakes on Mt Washington Cog Railway New Hampshire

Heading back down, our Brakeman, Kelly, feathered the brakes with two huge wheels. She isn’t leaning back, by the way. It’s the coach that’s on an angle!

The noise of the brakes and the shaking in the coach were quite dramatic, and we watched in amazement as Kelly worked at the wheels.

The jobs on this train follow the old tradition: first you become a Brakeman, controling the brakes in the coach, then a Fireman, shoveling coal into the hopper to keep the fire blazing to boil the water, and then you can be an Engineer, driving the whole thing.

Up ahead of us we noticed that two of the biodiesel trains were at the junction area in the middle of the mountain. They were passing each other as one was coming up the mountain and the other was going down.

Two trains pass at Mt Washington Cog Railway switching station New Hampshire

Two trains pass at each other at the switching station

We found out later that the dance of the six Cog Rail trains is a carefully choreographed ballet that is overseen by the director of operations who runs the whole show by radio. Each train leaves its station, going either up or down, at a very precise moment so pairs of trains can meet in the middle where a switching station allows two trains to be side by side and pass each other on parallel tracks.

The Cog Railway Mt Washington New Hampshire

A train climbing up the mountain passes us as we coast down.

Soon we were passing a train that was headed up the mountain. We took pics of them as they passed, and they took pics of us!!

Passenger takes a photo of passing Cog Railway Train Mt Washington New Hampshire

We all got photos of each other!

When we finally reached the bottom and got out, we hung around for a while to admire our little train. It huffed and puffed and made all kinds of noises as the steam spewed out around it. We noticed there was a lot less coal in the hopper than there had been on the way up, and Ray’s and Eggy’s faces and hands were dusted with soot. But their beaming smiles gave away what fun they have with their jobs.

The Cog Railway crew inspects the coal fired steam engine train

The train crew and the team of mechanics tune up the engine every afternoon.

It turns out that their day starts well before the 9:15 ride, because it takes them over an hour to warm up the engine and get the water in the boiler up to temp. After the ride is over, they spend hours going over every part of the train engine, lubing the moving parts and tightening anything that has rattled loose.

Meanwhile, the biodiesel trains were waiting their turns to go up the mountain.

Cog railway trains lined up and ready to go_

Biodiesel cog trains lined up and ready to go

The biodiesel engine trains are much simpler, of course. The engines themselves are 600 horsepower John Deere engines, and the ride is smoother, quicker and a lot less noisy. But there is a romance to the old steam train that enchanted us completely.

Mt Washington Cog Railway train climbs the mountain

What an absolute blast this ride was!

If you find yourself in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a ride on the Cog Railway is an absolute must. This fun little excursion is sure to put a smile on your face!

RV camped in Mt Washington National Forest

The White Mountains are a beautiful area for camping,
and the Cog Railway was a huge highlight during our stay there.

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