Camping in Moreau State Park review

One of American favorite summer activities is camping. It's fun, cheap and good family bounding. There are many camping spots in upstate New York. Though there are many but advance booking are advise.

Our initial plan was to find a camping site which allows one night but there was hardly any, which was within an hour drive from our place.. They only allow 3 days in advance booking for one night which is a big no no plus we don't get to choose good camp spot only left overs. No thanks

Most of the camp site have a minimum stay of 2 nights. So we tried camping for 2 nights. Surprisingly it's not too bad for few of our friends who were camping virgins

for camping newbie ( i'm no pro but i would like to share what i know so far)

Basic things to bring ---->

1.   tent (duh!)

2.   air bed, warm blanket(it will be cold in the evening and morning), pillows, air bed pumps ( make         sure to buy one which battery operates)

3.   flash light (handy when u go for toilet break in the night), battery

4.   bucket (handy for washing, don't have to walk back and forth to the water pipe)

5.   mosquito repellent (a must, unless you want to be eaten alive by the bug)

6.   folding chairs

7.   sun block

8.   drinking waters for 3 days

9.   portable stove if anyone has it, and other necessary utensil

10. food

11. cooler

12. ropes to hang towels and wet clothes

13. grill racks (sometimes they don't have it or it's really dirty and rusty), dish detergent

14. paper cups and plates

15. heater if you are camping early spring or in autumn

16. Garbage bags( there are no trash can, you bring your own trash out, usually there are dump site at      the exit of the camping area)

our camp site. Every camp site can only be occupied 6 person max but there is no restriction on how many tents you can use. The camp site was a little disappointing, it was rather small compare to the one we went last year at Saranac Lake

every camp site, equip with a picnic bench and a brick bbq area. This bbq area was disappointing too, it doesn't come with a bbq metal rack but luckily we brought our own grill rack

one thing i hate about camping is the toilet. Don't get me wrong, it's really clean, well maintain, power outlet for hair dryer and shower with warm water but sometimes it's just far away from one's camp site and i pee alot at night. imagine walking in the forest all by yourself in darkness even with flash light i wonder whats lurking out there in the dark. Luckily i was so darn tired and 'had to go really bad' to be scared

Tip: always booked your campsite near to a bathroom. that is was early booking is crucial

This time ours was about 1 minute walk away, which was not that bad 

well not really jungle path they do have tar road :P

There are also few water pipes location for easy access to water rather walking all the way to the toilet

morning and evening time temperature can drop like crazy even during summer time

this year we had 6 family on 3 campsite, it was so much fun

everyone bring they own specialty, we had Malaysian, Singaporean, China, India, Philippines, French, Italian and American food  and everything was delicious

everybody helping out, good co operation is really important

at night we would eat, chat and sing....yes everyone has to sing and i sang 'Negaraku' (Malaysia's national anthem) well not because i'm very patriotic but that is the only song i remember the full lyric

the left over food are better to be place is the cooler or in the car not only to prevent it from getting bad but to avoid being eaten by the wild animal, we had raccoon, squirrels and a porcupine mess around with our trash, yup the whole snow white wild animal 

there is a no noise after 10pm rule,  the ranger will make round

so no hanky panky after 10

during the day time we drive to the lake which is on the other side from the camp site (another point that i don't like) but it's not really far just a 5 minutes drive

there we rented a rowing boat for 2 hours which fit 4 person, cost $20 and a $10 deposit which you get back. One can also rent for 4 hours but the lake is quite small so 2 hours is more then enough to make you tired. oh ya there are also kayaks for rent.

or just lazy around the beach

we move our lunch area to the lake, so we don't have to go back and forth so many time

playing board games after a heavy lunch

then went back to our campsite for a badminton match and dinner

our 2015 camping buddy!!! and we are going to plan for another camping trip next year, i'm pretty sure it's going to be an annual thing ;)

good company + good food + fun activities = awesome camping trip

photos by My friend Iris, Ling and myself

till next adventure

~ bye ~

Weekend trip to Arcadia National Park and Bar Harbour, Maine

I finally finish blogging about our last year's trip OMG that really takes forever. Anyway I finally can blog about something we did this year....hurrah! Our 1st road trip for this year to Maine,this was in May, Well in February we actually made a 2 months trip back home so that is why everything just kept piling up.

Since gas was cheap, we though hey why not a road trip?From our place to Acadia takes about 8 hours drive, which is a little far away but still within our comfort zone. On our way we made multiple stops well just to stretch our legs. our 1st stop ( after driving for 4 hours) was at Cape Elizabeth Portland Maine. It was totally on the way.

it's really beautiful

there is a nice lighthouse and one can visit it, cost about $4 i think 

it was freakishly windy and cold when we were there. we hangout for a bit and there was a small trail that we walked along the coast and just enjoy the view

me and the lighthouse

we then drove another 2 hours to a restaurant which is also on the way but a slightly far distance, i can't remember the name the food was ok but that amazing so I'm not going to even try to remember it.

continue our journey for another 2 hours we reached our destination ...our hotel!

it\s nice that our room was on the ground floor, so walking out to this view was pretty awesome

but then we were hungry again, What do people come to eat in Maine? Lobster

we went to this place called Trenton Bridge. nice place not too far from our hotel about 15 minutes drive

it's not exactly very cheap, last year price chopper(a supermarket) here in NY sold only 4,99 / lbs

this year some how the lowest price for lobster is 7.99 or was it 6.99

anyway we came here for 2 days in a row for lobster.

the 1st day we had 1 3lbs loster to share. they said the best lobster size would be 2 lbs. i think it's true because the 3lbs was a little tough

so the next day we order 2lobster 2lbs each which was better, the lobster are tender

the lobster are cooked in sea water so you can really taste the sea water saltiness.

this lobster place was always crowded when we were there.

1st your order your lobster how big you want it and then they;ll give u a sheet of paper with a list of side dishes and drinks to order then you queue to pay and wait for your order number to be called. It was chaotic they mix up our order and gave us extra side dishes which was lucky us...hehe. Surprisingly the salads were really nice, i really did expect it to be on the sweet side but it was perfectly season. i got to say the lobster goes well with the potato salad....yum

after dinner we headed down to Bar Harbor direction and went for a walked at the Bar Island.

It's only accessible during low tide. we walked for 10 minutes we had to leave because it was too freaking cold and windy. i was shaking to my bones

early morning the next day after breakfast we headed to the National Park which was like 5 minutes away from our hotel. we visited the Information center which is also the place where you can buy the entrance fee ticket also the starting point for the free shuttle bus

along the way we saw alot of these stones staking like this, it's called Cairn Builder, according to this small sign. "Around 1900 , Waldron bates pioneered the style cairn, His crew build many miles of trails and hundreds of cairns to point the way

after getting our map at the information center we drove up to Cadillac mountain. Along the way there were few stops to enjoy the majestic view

it was windy as predicted and cold, well it is really high up 

takes about 10 minutes drive up (minus few stops along the way) Cadillac mountain

this here are granitic rock formed millions of years ago when a very hot liquid cooled deep below the Earth's surface 

trapped in a magma chamber more than 2 miles deep, the 1652`F / 900`C liquid crystallized into the mineral rich, pink Cadillac Mountain granite. hey i'm no expert....i just read this on a sign there...hehe

according to them, eventually erosion and glacier scoured and removed the soft, overlaying rock, revealing the harder, more resistant granite

pink granite,,,wow would be a nice kitchen counter top :P

very from the stop

view of bar island from Cadillac Mountain

resting

one of many Cairn Builder we saw while wandering the hiking area 

view in the national park

after coming down from Cadillac mountain we visited the wild Garden of Acadia, the parking area is rather small so finding a parking space can be a hassle

it's a small one but there are many hiking trails around the area which is a nice place if you have time

a small information center around the area

the hiking path was not too bad

i like Jesup path, the scenery is really beautiful, i think it make a nice wedding photo shot area

last winter was long and cold. This was in mid May that the leaves of the tree starts to grown

the beauty of nature

we only did half way of the path 

wish we had more time to explore ever corner

along the way we saw a pond with beaver's lodge....too bad it was on the other side of the pond

Sand Beach, we follow the one way, park loop road, a entrance fee is required, it's $20/car but we have our annual National Pass, just hang your card on the front of the car. there is a car holder that got from the information center. One can also purchase then entrance ticket there. 

the water was so blue but it's just too damn cold, 

maybe late summer would be better

there were alot of weird looking sea weed sticking on the rocks

parking is really an issue here

it's just nice to walk along the trail and enjoy the soft sea breeze, afternoon the weather was much better, not so freezing cold anymore

amazing view of the deep blue Atlantic ocean

mini sea world

another main attraction here is the thunder hole

i guess when the tide is high and the waves are strong this hole, too bad there was not strong waves 

not sure what this rock hill is called but it does seem dangerous 

random shot of nature

a small souvenir shop at thunder hole parking lot, at this point we were so hungry but the snacks here just too expensive, so went back to our car and found 2 expired granola bars (that i remember putting in the car for emergency during winter storm) and we ate it...hahaha, and No we didn't had food poisoning.

tip: should have bough some snacks at Hannaford at Bar Harbor the day before

otter cliff 

trying to do yoga

trying too hard to do yoga

some random stop, not sure what it's called

last stop Jordan Pond. There a restaurant here also, but the line was sooooo long. i guess it's the only restaurant in the national park

Jordan Pond is a glacier form small mountain lake with a max water depth  of 150ft. The water is really clear

ah beng with Jordan Pond

trail

wish to take a dip but swimming is not allowed.

after this last stop we headed out for a lobster meal by that time it was already 4pm. i  was so damn hungry

after our tummy was satisfied, we headed down town, Bar Harbor

they are proud of their lobster,

they even have lobster ice cream, and NO i didn't try.....lol no way

Bar Harbor is quite a charming town, it was nice walking around window shopping

and chill by the park and just people watching while surrounding by be beautiful scenery

we were watching and laughing at people canoeing, we are bad that way

that couple really struggle with peddling....hehehe

after our stroll, we went to Hannaford and bought some local blueberry beer and headed back to our hotel and enjoy the rest of the evening watching the sunset from our hotel room while sipping beer

overall was a nice relaxing weekend trip, we even had a short stop at the Kittery Outlets on the way back. A good way to end a trip is shopping :)

till our next adventure

~ bye~