It was a short, easy drive from Tip Tam to the Alps Family cg just east of Albany. The owners, Ron & Sherry, are very friendly. Over the week I stayed, every time we saw each other they'd stop whatever they were doing and chat. The cg was small but had a quiet little lake with easy walking in the woods around it. On one day trip I explored south western VT. I took a road tour, driving over five covered bridges. It was a tight fit and I barely made the load limits, but it was fun & pretty. I also walked around Bennington, VT. It's a cute town. On a second road trip I explored north western MA. The tour of the Shaker Village was very interesting. This unique sect of the English Quakers were very industrious, hard working folks. They lived a commune type of life long before the hippies of the 1960's. Near as I could tell they had only one major flaw which eventually led to their demise. It's hard to grow a community either through future generations or new converts when a core value is celibacy! A third road trip took me into Albany. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed walking around the central capital mall area, exploring several museums and outdoor exhibits. Having just gone to the Vietnam Veterans memorial in DC with Alex & Zack, I somehow felt a need to see the one specifically for fallen NY'ers. It was the first time I ever looked directly at the names. There, staring at me was my best friend growing up. He was always "Howie" and it seemed strange to see his name spelled "Howard". I won't go into details here but it did bring back lots of memories and had me in an extreme introspective mood the rest of the day.
It was an easy, pretty drive through southern VT and into NH. Passed through a couple of small towns but mostly magnificent peaks of the southern Green & White Mountains, lots of little lakes and peaceful streams. The owner, Bob, helped guide me into a pretty little wooded site. He waited to make sure my sat. dish worked, which it did. He and his long time worker Jim are cleaning up for the cg opening next week. Bill, the wagon master for the NH Good Sam group arrived a few hours after me. He's kind of quiet, taking care of his elderly mom who was travelling with him. He did tell me that in addition to the groups usual pot luck dinner on Saturday they were also having a pot luck brunch and a brown bag raffle. For the raffle everyone puts something into a brown bag and we bid on the bags site unseen. The raffle raises funds for the chapter.
I took the half hour drive to Concord, NH, checked it out. I bought some food-stuff, picked up a neat little compass for the brown bag, and a few pounds of breakfast sausage for the brunch, along with fruit for my usual pot luck salad bowl. I didn't have high expectations for the Good Sam gtg based on the Samboree I had attended in FL. Wow, was I wrong! There were 15 rigs and all nice people. They were very welcoming of this wanderer visiting their chapter. I went out to dinner with two different groups and learned some new card games. One couple expressed interest in joining me on my 2014 Alaskan adventure. A 2nd couple, who live near the shore by Portsmouth, NH asked that I call them when I get nearby and they'll join me at one of my favorite restaurants in Kittery, ME, Warrens. A third couple had an almost identical rig to mine. We spent time in each others RV picking out all the little differences. They live in Concord and I joined them for dinner and drinks the day after the gtg broke up. It was a very enjoyable gtg.
Over the next couple of weeks I explored the area taking in several attractions. There is an interesting discovery center in Concord, mostly focused on astronomy, dedicated to Christa McAuliffe, the NH teacher who died in the space shuttle Challenger. I toured the museum and went to three planetarium shows. One was about the night sky and a second was about Black Holes, both interesting. The third show has me doing more research, it was about fractal equations and the graphics they produce, extremely interesting. On another trip I attended the NH Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester, NH. It was an incredible evening. A 17 year old violinist, Sirena Huang, received three standing ovations. I was sitting in the front row, about 10 to 15 feet from her playing her on-loan Stradivarius. It seemed the entire audience stopped breathing during her performance. If you ever get a chance to see her play, do it! I also did some hiking in Bear Brook SP, billed as the largest in NH. The woods were really pretty after the brief rain and several waterfalls were flowing nice from the recent run off. I spent an enjoyable few hours at a local Indian museum. I've always had an interest in American Indians. I think it's left over from my Cub Scout days when we all received Indian names. I still remember mine, Spotted Deer ;=) lol! The museum had lots of artifacts from tribes throughout North America. They provided a self guided tour which included several video presentations. On their 10 acres of grounds they established a traditional Indian farm and herb gardens. I really enjoyed strolling through the wooded area with many flowers, shrubs, herbs, and trees named and explained. It was a delightful afternoon. Another interesting day trip which turned out to be a little expensive was to a buffalo farm. The owner Dave was friendly and talkative and I was the only one there that afternoon. Watching the "buffalo roam" was nice and I ended up buying a lot of fresh meat, cheese, and homemade marinades. The meats included a pork chop that's about an inch and a half thick with zero fat, some lamb, elk, and of course buffalo. I also took a drive up to Laconia, NH and Lake Winnipesaukee to attend the theater presentation of Man of La Mancha. It is definitely one of my favorite plays and I love the songs. I walked the cg almost everyday, strolling along the lake front and sitting in a swing by the lake reading and enjoying the view.
It was a short and easy drive to Shelburne Falls, MA. The cg is on the Mohawk Trail in the middle of ten quaint Berkshire Mountain towns. I had reserved a site with water & electric but no sewer. I asked to upgrade but was told the cg was booked solid over Memorial Day. For now I was the only rig on a field of about 100 sites. The field sloped and I had to buy four additional leveling blocks. Even with eight blocks my rig still wasn't completely level. During the next few days I explored several towns and events including:
The Bridge of Flowers - An original foot bridge connecting the villages of Shelburne and Buckland which after being replaced for road traffic has been planted from end to end with flowers and maintained by the local women's club.
Cunnington Fair - A typical local fair. Lots of music, food, & crafts. I had a free general checkup from a mobile health van; 20/20 vision, perfect hearing & blood pressure, and no glaucoma.
Film Festival - A quaint movie theater in Shelburne Falls had a "Three Stooge's" film festival. I arrived early and offered to help Fred, the caretaker setup. We chatted awhile. I enjoyed some popcorn, the guitarist before the films and the festival.
Butterfly Village - In a neighboring town of Greenfield I enjoyed a magnificent butterfly celebration. An airplane hanger sized building filled with butterfly's, soft music, and lots of man-made waterfalls. Very tranquil.
Two different candle & craft stores - Great smells, peaceful strolls thru the little towns and shops.
The Ledges - I took about a four hour hike, including about 1/2 mile of an uphill scramble I wasn't sure I was going to make. The Ledges is an animal sanctuary with fairly well marked trails. It was a beautiful afternoon.
The "Harmanics" - Three guys playing the most interesting harmonicas I've ever scene. They played in a local discovery center in Turners Falls. The town also had a lovely park which overlooked rushing falls, more quaint little shops.
Fine Arts Center at Amherst - The theater rivalled Lincoln Center in size and beauty. The evening performance was titled Peace and War. Several moving orchestra pieces including one called Belshazzar's Feast by William Walton. The piece was performed by two complete symphonic orchestra and a 200 person choral group, a total of 325 people on stage, incredible!
I had a fortuitous call about someone wanting to purchase the last of my apartments in NJ. The LoW camping group won't arrive until Thursday so I have a few days to complete the sale. I took the almost 300 mile drive on Sunday without a single stop. I went immediately to my mini-storage facility and took all the papers needed for the sale and then to a local Marriott. After over a week of quick showers due to no sewer hookup it was great to take a really long, hot one. Monday morning I had breakfast with a friend and spent the rest of the day on the phone and email preparing and completing the sale details. Tuesday I had breakfast with another friend, picked up my mail, did a little shopping and spent the afternoon with Alex & Zack including dinner. Wednesday the sale was completed and I returned immediately to the cg. I was happy to be done with the apartments but totally exhausted.
The LoW group began to arrive Thursday afternoon with Maureen in her B+, Diane in her van, Joan and her mother Hazel in their individual B+'s, Barbara in her truck camper, and Marge in her A. Maureen, as wagon master, made coffee and had continental breakfast for us each morning. I helped her setup each day and we got to talk about her two trips to Alaska. She gave me lots of great suggestions as I shared my building plans and she shared her written daily notes from one of her trips. She's interested in joining my budding trip in 5/2014. Barbara is well over 80 and has travelled the country full time for many years in her Ford Ranger truck camper. I think I'd find it a tight fit for a weekend trip! Amazing! Hazel spent most of the time inside her B+ with two cute Chihuahua's. Marge was tired from a few long, unfortunately eventful days of RV troubles. Maureen, Joan, Barbara, and Diane piled in my truck and we went to the Bridge of Flowers one day, the discovery center in Turners Falls another day, and a Tri-County fair on yet a third day. Walking around Shelburne Falls, seeing the Bridge of Flowers, the Trolley Museum, the Glacial Potholes, and the town, we bumped in Fred!! He and I recognized each other, I introduced him to the ladies who couldn't believe I actually knew someone in this small village. At the discovery center we saw a film on Rachael Carson for her 100th birthday and a local show on Celtic Heals. The Celtic dancers were really good. We had lunch and dinner in Turners Falls, a thoroughly enjoyable day. The tri-county fair was another nice day. Mostly high end crafts which were interesting to look at. I spent two hot afternoons in the solar heated swimming pool. Delicious!
It was a long but easy drive to northern NH. At first I was a little concerned with the cg. It looked small, fairly empty, and was right on the main road with a bit of truck traffic. Janet, the owner is very friendly and we chatted awhile. She and her husband bought the cg 19 years ago and have been very happy raising their three children here. I have a full hook up site with a clear view for my sat. dish. With the full hook up I was able to catch up on my laundry and take long, hot showers. First day I drove to North Conway and walked the town. A cute, tourist town geared toward all the hikers and visitors to the Presidential Mountains. I finally rode the Cog Rail to the top of Mt. Washington, something I'd never done in my dozen or so previous trips to this area. I decided to hike down the mountain. It took about 2 1/2 hours and was a pretty easy hike. No way could I have made it up, too old and too fat (lol). Janet had suggested the Glen Falls hike. It was a very short hike, only about a mile, but really pretty waterfall. It's been raining night and day. I stayed in on Saturday and caught up on cleaning, reading, and a few other things. Sunday I walked in the rain at a local fair. It was at a park made to resemble a logging camp. Most of the exhibits were indoors but you had to walk outside from one house to another. I tried lots of the international food including a Norwegian goulash, Canadian meat pie, Polish Stew, and for dessert a potato candy (strange, sweet, and quite good). It continued to rain on Monday and Tuesday. I took some wet walks in nearby woods and packed up for my Wednesday drive into Maine. I'm looking forward to lots, and lots of lobster.
