New York - Montreal Trek Cruises Into Vermont

On a cloudy, breezy, but rain-free day, our second New York - Montreal Trek opted to take a ferry across Lake Champlain to get to Vermont, very much enjoying the views along the waterway.  On the way to their campsite, they discovered a farm with a roadside store, where they had a snack of cider, apples, and -- because you can't be completely healthy all the time! -- homemade donuts.

They set up camp at Button Bay State Park and met another group of traveling teens.  The two groups spent the afternoon playing football and volleyball, and then our Trekkers had a tasty dinner of "potsagna," lasagna made, as the name suggests, in a big pot and cooked over a camp stove.

They're now headed to hip, friendly Burlington.

Canada at Last for New York-Montreal (NYM A5)

The New York -Montreal Trekkers were excited to cross the border into Quebec, Canada only one day away from Montreal.  On the way they rode a ferry and stopped to pick fresh corn.

Lake Ontario Trek makes it to Chimney Bluffs and Beyond!

Lake Ontario continues to travel around the lake.  Over the weekend, the group made it to Chimney Bluffs State Park, where they had a great hike along the Lake and naturally spiked points, and to the college town of Oswego, NY, which introduced the group to Lake Oswego.  Here are some photos

Leaving Wolfe Island

Doing there best not to smile and look centuries old...

 

Chimney Bliffs State Park is an awesome hiking spot.

 

Oswego area

 Today the group will be in Webster, New York by way or a relaxing route past the Erie Canal.

Lake Ontario Trek Back in New York State

The Lake Ontario Trekkers have had a great few days.  Here's what the Leaders had to say:

Before crossing into New York State, the group enjoyed a day in Kingston, Ontario.  Kingston is a big lakeside town along the Thousand Islands, full of pretty architecture, tree lined streets and boats.  The group enjoyed the city by having the Canadian's much loved Tim Horton's donuts and sandwiches for breakfast and checking out a penitentiary museum. 

Take your pick at the much loved coffee and donut hotspot, Tim Horton's

Kingston's town center waterfront area

Ice cream: a daily requirement.

Yesterday (Thursday), they caught the ferry to Wolfe Island, the largest among the Thousand Islands.  On the Ferry, Laura (Leader) got chatting to a man who had taken an interest in the group of bikers.  Later on, the man surprised the Trekkers with an offer to stay at his island home, which they kindly accepted.  The group has been surprised and impressed by the unexpected kindness and generosity of strangers so far, and particularly enjoys seeing the differences in lakeside lifestyles.  The group explored all 8 miles of Wolfe Island, which is flat with a wind farm, farms, stables and boat docks.

Thousand Islands

Welcome to Wolfe Island!

Prepping dinner in their host's kitchen with farm fresh veggies.

 As of this morning (Friday) the group left the Island by ferry, entered New York, and are biking one of their high mile days of about 42 miles.  The Trek is having a ball and are enjoying the towns, laid back living and random shops/attractions/parks that they find daily.  The sun is out, the weather is good and today's destination is Henderson, NY.

New England Shore on Block Island, by Jonah

The group has accomplished some great mileage with the reward of hanging out on Rhode Island's Block Island!

As Jonah shares:
"After traveling by ferry to the Island, we got to the campsite and had a good night's sleep. We all were excited to go to the beach and have fun on our first day off.  We all went swimming and hung out at the beach, then some of us went and explored the main town, New Shoreham.  My friend Daniel and I (Jonah) also went on a bike ride around the island with Cliff (Teen Treks Director), who was visiting the group for a few hours.  In the evening we went to an outdoor blues concert and ate burgers.  It was a really fun day."

Beach bound!

European Phantom Taking Ferry from the Netherlands to England

The European Phantom Trekkers are on board for a night at sea as they float over to the rural town of Harwich, England. The group has spent the last few days cycling and going to the Dutch's variety of museums:windmills, houses, galleries-they've sampled it all!  Today the group explored Den Hague and took a short ride to the ferry port in Hook van Holland.

Tiny Trekkers next to the windmill

On the grain scale inside the windmill

Den Hague mixes modern and traditional Dutch life well, and is seen as a welcoming place to live

The Het Binnenhof functions as the central government building

The MC Escher Museum

Today the group enjoyed the M.C. Escher Museum located in the very modern city of Den Haag (also functions as the city of Dutch government), and after an overload of the graphic designer's work, they grabbed some frozen yogurt-still somewhat of a new treat to the Dutch compared to its popularity in North America.

Summer in Den Hague

Catching some early zzz's on a canal boat.

So, what does the group think of the Netherlands?  They have enjoyed the vast diversity of the country-everyone adored Amsterdam although they conclude that the rest of the country has a different personality (in a good way).  The Dutch have offered them more culture and history than anticipated, and when combined with the good eats and endless bike paths, it has been a great visit.  Still undecided if it beats the groups' beloved Belgium...

Farewell to Holland (this is as serious as this bunch of goof balls get)!

The Trekkers are pooped from all of the sightseeing and looking forward to spending time without lines and tourist crowds.  The group will get just that for the next few days as they bike through the villages, farms and estates of Essex and Cambridgeshire, with a stop to visit the picturesque town of Cambridge. 

Harwich, located in the coastal county of Essex and used as a port for cruise ships, ferries and fisherman.

Trekkers are looking forward to thatched roofs, rolling farm land and sheep for the next few days