As the saying goes, we should usually avoid the topics of politics and religion. Yet these are the two topics I find most interesting. After my very active stay at River Expeditions in WV (horseback riding, class 5 rafting, & ATV'ing) I was looking forward to my Kentucky stop. Passport America had a participating campground in Ravenna, KY, with full hook ups, for only $12, at just about the right location along my route south. The cg is a Methodist Revival camp and the pastor/director actually has my same last name spelled the same way (Cohn). I was looking forward to some interesting discussion over meals and exploring a mutual family heritage with the pastor. My expectations were heightened when the cg called me back to confirm my reservation and mentioned that the pastor was also looking forward to my arrival. My problems began when the cg directions brought me up to an 11' 2" train trestle (my rig is 12' 8") and I'm not ready to turn my RV into a convertible (lol). Making a "U" turn on a two lane road pulling a fifth wheel, even with the shoulders, doesn't count as one of my most fun experiences! The round about river road I then took was so narrow it required total concentration and didn't allow me to enjoy the mountain foliage. The left turn onto the camp road from the mountain road was a very sharp turn that, while I made it, I doubt I could make the right turn upon leaving. The cg road was about as bumpy and rutted as any I'd previously been on. The actually site has a short, concrete pad which looked good. It looked good until I went to back in. Both sides of the pad were mud pits about 6" to 8" deep. The rig was backing in fine until the trucks rear wheels hit the mud. I was stuck and spinning my tires. I tried rocking back and forth but only got my self deeper in the mud and almost jack knifed the rig. Another camper came over and then got the pastor who had a winch on the front of his F150. It took a little while and three different positioning's of the winch until I was finally able to get my rig situated. It was an auspicious way to meet the pastor and most of the seven other campers.
The other campers turned out to be from a group called NOMADS. They work for mostly Methodist causes, building and repairing whatever needs to be done all over the country. I set up, chatted a bit with a few of the NOMADS, and walked up to the office to check in. The camp is just that, a camp which hosts kids in the summer and religious retreats the rest of the year. The grounds are within the Daniel Boone National Forest and on land that was once the town of Fitchburg. In the 1880's this was a thriving town of over 2,000. They operated the largest coal burning furnace in the world and one of the top 25 dry stone masonry structure in the world. When better quality coal was found elsewhere, the furnace operations went bankrupt and the town disappeared. There are lots of trails now maintained by the camp and old structures throughout the property and surrounding woods. I strolled around the camp till dinner and then joined the NOMADS and a group of pastors here on a retreat for a pulled pork meal. All the conversation was about RV's and the NOMAD organization. The camp doesn't have any meals on weekends so this was my only meal with them. The NOMADS seemed tired from their weeks work so I walked the camp trails the next few days with very little conversation. While the trails and old structures were interesting, it wasn't why I had chosen to stay here. The pastor never came by and I left early on my departure date, very disappointed.
The Tennessee cg was a very pleasant surprise. This is the former Cordell Hull Army Corp of Engineer location whom Guy & Jean Harden were able to obtain a permanent lease from. Apparently the location had fallen into disrepair and the Harden's proposed to renovate and run it. They had help obtaining the lease from Al Gore (yes, the former VP) who has a house on the lake. While Jean Harden runs the cg, her husband Guy sings and sponsors karaoke on Friday nights. He was a regular on the Ralph Emory TV show and formally toured with Alabama, Jim Reeves, and many others to numerous to list. The site I took had been vacated earlier that day by some regulars you may have heard of, Amy Grant and her husband Vince Gill. The cg is very well kept with a pretty beach & boat launch area. They even have row & paddle boats for rent. Several seasonals were already putting up elaborate Halloween displays. At $13/night (Passport rate) I heartily recommend this little jewel of a park to all you RV'ers.
The morning I left TN I broke camp in a light rain. The drive began pretty easy with nice back roads leading to I-40 towards Nashville and then I-65, south towards Birmingham, AL. The rain cleared and the day turned pretty, thankfully for what happened later. A rest stop magically appeared just about the time I was looking to take a stretch break. I-65 through Birmingham was a rough road with the typical big city congestion. I found some inexpensive gas when I was less than 30 miles from the cg. The fun began only a couple of miles after getting back on I-65. I was felling great, realizing I would arrive a little before 2pm with plenty of time to set up and go out exploring, the day was sunny and in the mid-60's, just beautiful. Suddenly, a loud "BANG" quickly took me out of my day dream. I grabbed the wheel with both hands and gently slowed, trying to figure out what happened. The truck wasn't pulling left or right, didn't feel like a tire went. I stuck my head out the window a little and quickly realized a trailer tire had blown. I was able to move onto a wide shoulder, stop and check. Sure enough, one of the two remaining original trailer tires had blown, but no other damage was apparent. I've heard of trailer tires taking out huge pieces of the RV when they blow. I was standing on the side of I-65 almost feeling lucky. This is a chance to find out just how good my Good Sam roadside assistance plan really is. They answered on the second ring, were very polite and sympathetic, and knew my exact location from the phone GPS. They both gave me the name & phone number of the company who would be responding and texted the info as well. In a little over 30 minutes a truck pulls up and the two young kids merrily jack up the 12,000 lb rig, change my tire, confirm that no damage is visible, and give me the name of a local tire store. From my initial call to Good Sam till I was on the road again was barely an hour, amazing! Good Sam has me for a lifetime customer. I got off the next exit, found the tire store, and had two new, upgraded tires put on the axle with my spare replaced and the blown tire, along with the remaining original tossed. I arrived at the cg two hours later than I originally thought, none the worse for wear.
The cg was old, with tight sites. In fact I couldn't open my slides all the way without hitting a pole, or tree, or electric box. I set up and began to walk the park, immediately meeting a couple from Oklahoma. We walked the park together, along with their two little schnauzers. The park does have a pretty little lake with a nice big deck overlooking it. The owner, William, is an interesting guy. He's in his early 60's, must weigh easily 400 lbs, and at 5' 8" is very round. He has almost shoulder length, pure white hair, but none on the front half of his head, He also has a pure white beard and a very jolly face. It's not a difficult guess how he dresses around Christmas time. He went to college for law, didn't like it, and so got his masters in theology. He didn't like full time ministering and so bought the cg, although he still preaches part time for free at a couple of the poorer local churches. Interesting guy!
Fairly easy ride to Marianna in the Florida Panhandle. The park is a little old but nice enough with a site that was perfectly level and the sat. dish got reception. As I strolled the park, checking the road to head out in a few days I met a couple plated out of Alaska. Joe and Judy live in Wasilla, are new to RV'ing, hanging out here for a month to visit their kids. Both recently retired from hospital work, Judy as a nurse and Joe from managing a lab. Joe served in Viet Nam as a recon sergeant, pretty close to my ranger activities and was there the same year as me, 1968. We hung out all afternoon chatting about Alaska, health care, Viet Nam, and life in general. Next day we also spent sitting around chatting. The time passed very quickly and pleasantly. On to Jacksonville and a couple of months with lots of get togethers.
Parking in the Trees
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Heading South Yet Again
The drive to Lake George was a peaceful one. No hurry's, no worries! I had registered very early at the campground, before they worked out the bugs for the Loners on Wheels negotiated rally rates. I knew they had overcharged me but wasn't concerned and figured we would work it out when I got here. They surprised me by having the appropriate credit waiting for me when I arrived. A few of to LoW campers were already here. They had apparently come early for a Good Sam rally and simply stayed on. The site was tight but it was a pull through and pretty level so it was a quick set up. After several hugs and hello's I was asked to drive to a rental place and pick up five 8' folding tables. Mo came with me to pay for the tables from the Yankee LoW funds. The guy at the rental place helped load them. When we got back to the campground there weren't any other men able to help so I unloaded them by myself, dang they were heavy (lol). The rental place let me drop them off on Sunday even though they were closed. Roger Smith came with me, helped unload them and leave them stacked behind the rental building. Over the week of the rally I: walked around town with Barbara Smith once and the SE-LoW's another time (Bobbi Harden, Linda Kendall, Daryl Spoonseller, Roger, and Martin Smith (no relation)). Wow, there were so many Smiths it could have been a family reunion. The Smiths included: Barbara, Carolyn, Marge, Martin, and Roger (I think that's all). There weren't as many attendees as we originally hoped for but with about 35 it was a nice gtg. I managed to unload lots of stuff by donating them as door prizes and/or for the Chinese auction. I'll bet I lightened the rigs load by quite a bit. Among the stuff I gave away were: an unopened 5 gal jug of anti-freeze, an unopened 5 lb box of fire starters, a set f heavy gauge jumper cables, two boxes of Christmas lights, a full box of Christmas cards, two laundry bags, an unopened set of levels, an unused 1 lb citronella pail, a hand painted glass jar I'd won on a Murder Mystery train ride, and a few more miscellaneous items I hadn't used in almost three years on the road (lol). Other than some electrical problems at the pavilion where the rally set up for our meals I think the gtg went well. The main entertainment was a guy who billed himself as the human jukebox. He was very good and even seemed to look like some of the singers he mimicked like Tony Bennett and Dean Martin. The second entertainment of line dancing didn't seem to go over as well, possibly because it had gotten a little cold. The "Human Jukebox" and I chatted a bit and before he left he gave me a free CD of his songs, very nice of him. About 20 of us took the two hour cruise on Lake George. Prior to the cruise about six of us walked around a bit and had some lunch. Since we sat at two adjoining tables they agreed to give us two checks but wouldn't give us individual checks. A bunch of us had gone out to lunch earlier in the week and sat at one large, round table. That restaurant wouldn't give anything but a single bill. It reminded me when I had munch with Barbara that third restaurant wouldn't provide separate checks either. Must be a Lake George thing (lol).
A funny thing happened late one evening on my way back to my rig. As I neared my RV a deep, gruff voice yelled at me "hey, you, get over here"! I stopped and yelled back in the dark in an annoyed voice "you talking to me"? As I responded the deep voices wife very politely and meekly said "no, no, he doesn't mean anything, could you please come over here for a minute". As I walked over to their rig I saw an older couple and the husband appeared barely able to walk. He asked if I owned the truck with the various army stickers. Turns out he was in Viet Nam the same time as me and even went through airborne school about the same time I did. He gave me a bracelet made of parachute rig cord and we chatted a while.
I took off early for my longest day's drive of almost 400 miles. It's the end of another year of RV'ing and I took my rig into the dealer in PA. I stayed at the dealer over night and spent the next week in a hotel in Edison, NJ about half way between my two sons Alex and Zack (Hi guys!). Over the week the RV was in for maintenance I: spent an afternoon with each of my sons, they also each stayed over at the hotel with me one night, I also had breakfast with my friend John and with my friend Randy. I managed to pick up my mail and even traded in my phone for a new one and a tablet. The hotel had a full breakfast each morning. They also had a pool and hot tub. It was a restful week and it was great to see and spend some time with Alex and Zack.
The RV didn't have any particular problems and it's good to know the brakes are repacked and bearings greased, the roof is sealed well and all systems checked out fine. I stayed over at the dealer one night which gave me time to reload the refrigerator and double check everything. It was a long but easy ride to western PA. I had a full hook up and was able to catch up with my laundry. While walking around the cg I met Doug & Becky out of OH in a cute little Scamp and Ray & Mary, local seasonals. Doug & Becky seemed to enjoy showing all the details of their little Scamp. I thought living full time in my 30' fifth wheel is being a minimalist but it's not even close to two people in a 13' trailer. Ray and Mary invited me to a local, family style restaurant. We spent almost two hours on the very topics most people avoid, religion and politics. It was a very pleasant evening. The drive to WV was very pretty with the Fall foliage in almost full bloom. It was also interesting with the many hills. There were two very steep hills where vehicles over 5 tons (I weigh in at 9 tons) had to get into an extreme right lane, come to a full stop, go into 1st gear while descending and not exceed 10 mph. There were also a few hills where I barely made 20 mph going up! The expedition cg has got to be the single worst cg I've stayed in so far. A narrow, winding road leading up to the entrance, a sharp turn on a steep hill that I barely made, a steep decent followed by a steep ascent to get to the actual site. The site was so sloped I was not able to level the rig even using all of my blocks plus a couple I found in the cg. All week I felt like I was going to roll out of bed. I was expecting a full hook up and there was no sewer, not even a dump station in the cg. The activities I'd booked were fun. I spent one day horseback riding through the WV hills. Really pretty foliage! Another day was spent going down 25 miles of class 5 rapids in a six person raft. The water was in the mid 50's and the air was about 60 degrees. A few people dumped into the Gauley River, but no one from my raft. I was soaked, but not really cold. It was a great day. A third day was spent ATV'ing along the Hatfield-McCoy trail. I thought I was an "experienced" ATV'er having done it once before with my friends in Maine. Wow, was this ever different! The trails were narrow with lots of steep ascents and descents. I did okay, almost lost it only once, got quite muddy, and had lots of fun. The fall foliage was great and I saw some wildlife including: turkeys, deer, a fox, and even a fair sized bobcat. While in WV I also managed to bring the truck in for its normal 5k service. Life is good. My next stop in Kentucky should be interesting but more on that when I next update this blog.
A funny thing happened late one evening on my way back to my rig. As I neared my RV a deep, gruff voice yelled at me "hey, you, get over here"! I stopped and yelled back in the dark in an annoyed voice "you talking to me"? As I responded the deep voices wife very politely and meekly said "no, no, he doesn't mean anything, could you please come over here for a minute". As I walked over to their rig I saw an older couple and the husband appeared barely able to walk. He asked if I owned the truck with the various army stickers. Turns out he was in Viet Nam the same time as me and even went through airborne school about the same time I did. He gave me a bracelet made of parachute rig cord and we chatted a while.
I took off early for my longest day's drive of almost 400 miles. It's the end of another year of RV'ing and I took my rig into the dealer in PA. I stayed at the dealer over night and spent the next week in a hotel in Edison, NJ about half way between my two sons Alex and Zack (Hi guys!). Over the week the RV was in for maintenance I: spent an afternoon with each of my sons, they also each stayed over at the hotel with me one night, I also had breakfast with my friend John and with my friend Randy. I managed to pick up my mail and even traded in my phone for a new one and a tablet. The hotel had a full breakfast each morning. They also had a pool and hot tub. It was a restful week and it was great to see and spend some time with Alex and Zack.
The RV didn't have any particular problems and it's good to know the brakes are repacked and bearings greased, the roof is sealed well and all systems checked out fine. I stayed over at the dealer one night which gave me time to reload the refrigerator and double check everything. It was a long but easy ride to western PA. I had a full hook up and was able to catch up with my laundry. While walking around the cg I met Doug & Becky out of OH in a cute little Scamp and Ray & Mary, local seasonals. Doug & Becky seemed to enjoy showing all the details of their little Scamp. I thought living full time in my 30' fifth wheel is being a minimalist but it's not even close to two people in a 13' trailer. Ray and Mary invited me to a local, family style restaurant. We spent almost two hours on the very topics most people avoid, religion and politics. It was a very pleasant evening. The drive to WV was very pretty with the Fall foliage in almost full bloom. It was also interesting with the many hills. There were two very steep hills where vehicles over 5 tons (I weigh in at 9 tons) had to get into an extreme right lane, come to a full stop, go into 1st gear while descending and not exceed 10 mph. There were also a few hills where I barely made 20 mph going up! The expedition cg has got to be the single worst cg I've stayed in so far. A narrow, winding road leading up to the entrance, a sharp turn on a steep hill that I barely made, a steep decent followed by a steep ascent to get to the actual site. The site was so sloped I was not able to level the rig even using all of my blocks plus a couple I found in the cg. All week I felt like I was going to roll out of bed. I was expecting a full hook up and there was no sewer, not even a dump station in the cg. The activities I'd booked were fun. I spent one day horseback riding through the WV hills. Really pretty foliage! Another day was spent going down 25 miles of class 5 rapids in a six person raft. The water was in the mid 50's and the air was about 60 degrees. A few people dumped into the Gauley River, but no one from my raft. I was soaked, but not really cold. It was a great day. A third day was spent ATV'ing along the Hatfield-McCoy trail. I thought I was an "experienced" ATV'er having done it once before with my friends in Maine. Wow, was this ever different! The trails were narrow with lots of steep ascents and descents. I did okay, almost lost it only once, got quite muddy, and had lots of fun. The fall foliage was great and I saw some wildlife including: turkeys, deer, a fox, and even a fair sized bobcat. While in WV I also managed to bring the truck in for its normal 5k service. Life is good. My next stop in Kentucky should be interesting but more on that when I next update this blog.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Leaving New England, heading South
Palmyra, Maine to Hancock, New Hampshire was about my longest single day ride pulling the RV, over 5 hours. I've met lots of RV'ers who regularly drive 5 to 6 hours and think nothing of it. I seem to have fallen in the habit of driving between 2 and three hours at most and then stopping for about a week to explore the new area. When I stay in a single place for over two weeks I get itchy to move on. I wonder how long I'll continue this habit?
Hancock, NH is a little town in the Monadnock Valley of Southern NH. It's a very pretty area with several quaint little towns. Over the next few days nine LoW's arrived. I knew all but two of them from prior get togethers. Marge Smith (full timing a few months longer than me) stays in this camp ground a lot and knows the area. She, I, and Anne (celebrating her 80th birthday) went to Harlows pub and listened to some sort of folk music. It's hard to characterize the town of Peterborough. It's not exactly a college town and not exactly an artsy town. It's sort of a combination of the two with some talented people and a great audience who clapped and hooted for every performer. About six or seven of us went to Sarah's Hat Box in Hancock. They had some incredible boxes in many shapes, sizes, and purposes limited by imagination only. A very colorful place. Four of us went to a play at the Peterborough Players called Laughing Stock. It was a farce on producing a play, kind of funny but way to long. Between morning coffee, happy hour, pot luck dinner, a golf round with Nancy Brown, and a couple of "outings" the days went quick. Marge and I went to a farmers market in Keane, NH, walked around a bit and had a late lunch at a most interesting place called Pickity Place in Mason, NH. They grow their own herbs, vegetables, and eatable flowers. The five course ratatouille meal was delicious including the big yellow flower. I went to another play, "Absurd Person Singular". This was a British comedy which bordered on slapstick. It too was much to long and barely funny. The Peterborough Playhouse is nice and most of the actors were pretty good. Perhaps it was their choice of plays or the direction but I'll probably skip future shows here. I found a lecture on climate change in the nearby town of Jaffrey, NH. Marge expressed interest and joined me for a most interesting evening. The lecture by Dr. James McCarthy a professor of biological oceanography at Harvard was held by the Amos Fortune Forum in the historic Jaffrey Meeting House. We arrived about a half hour early and strolled the cemetery, finding the graves of Amos Fortune and Willa Cather. Amos Fortune was a slave who bought his freedom at age 60, settled in Jaffrey and became a successful tanner. He left much of his estate to support the town and schoolhouse meeting place. Willa Cather was a Pulitzer prize winning author, born in Nebraska, lived and died in New York City, but loved this area and wanted to be buried here. While strolling the cemetery we met a couple doing the same and who were the descendants of the original founder of the church meeting house in the mid-1700's. They showed us the graves of some of their ancestries along with Amos Fortune & Willa Cather. The lecture hall was filled to overflowing with standing room only. It was very interesting and the reception afterward was delightful. My last day at Seven Maples required some choices. There were three events and no way to do all three. There was a string quartet playing in the nearby town of Temple at 3pm, a pulled pork roast at the campground at 5pm, and a music festival celebrating Thoreau just down the road in Peterborough. Marge opted for the quartet and music celebrating Thoreau. The quartet, comprised of two violins, a viola, and a cello was delightful. The program celebrating Thoreau was strange and much to long. Their choice of music was torture! They had a good pianist play a very long, discordant piece by Ives. Looking around the room about half the attendees were twitching in their seats and constantly looking at the time. I think of Thoreau as calm and peaceful, certainly not loud and brash. We should have enjoyed the pulled pork at the camp ground (lol).
My few days in Bernardston, MA were a great diversion before the larger get together in Vermont. With a full hook up I was able to catch up on laundry and rig cleaning. I took a couple of short trips; one around Brattleboro, VT and the other back to Shelbourne Falls, MA. The Bridge of Flowers is still there (lol)! About an hour to Horseshoe Acres in Andover, VT. At first they didn't want to honor the special discount always given to us Loners. The owner said their costs were constantly going up and they don't make anything at $10 per night. I certainly understand but still, the rate was quoted me when I made the reservation. I offered to help out a little and they gave me the rate for my entire three week stay. This is an okay camp ground but it is tough with absolutely no Verizon service in the area. The sat. dish is picking up and the campground has a WiFi but only near the office. I paid all my bills for next month before getting here so I can do without a secure WiFi. Still, I have to drive about 10 miles each way, once or twice a week to make any phone calls.
On Friday of the Labor Day weekend my quiet little site was suddenly surrounded by a group of nine rigs with about 20 kids, all from the same group of friends. About the time I was thinking of either moving or going to a hotel for the long weekend I said "hi" to a few of them. They were the usual friendly RV'ers with well behaved kids. I joined them for several of their "buffet style family" dinners, morning coffee, and afternoon drinks. Chatting around their huge camp fire was most enjoyable. About the time the NASCAR race started the campground power went out. Several of the guys and a couple of the kids came into my rig to watch the race. With the solar inverter on, the a/c blowing, TV on and a few chips and drinks life was good! Went to the Weston Playhouse and saw a great dramatic play, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The 12 year old girl in the lead was fantastic but every time I looked at the lead actor all I saw was Gregory Peck (who had the lead in the movie, lol). Five Loners came on Thursday. It was nice to have some folks I know to chat with. We had our usual coffee in the mornings and happy hour around 4pm. We took our usual trip to the Weston Country Store where we sort of "graze" on the chips & dips (lol). There was an exhibit of life in the 1800's going on at the museums. Very interesting demonstration of the water turbine, tin smithing, basket weaving, and a loom. We went out to dinner one night and before you knew it, they were gone. Marge and Gail stayed one extra day. A pleasant four days. One of my last days at Horseshoe Acres I drove to Bellows Falls for the "Bonnie & Clyde Train". Over the past few years I've taken a few of these themed train rides and they're always fun. As I was boarding I began talking with Cindy & Jim from Long Island, NY. We kidded each other on our New York accents and sat together on the train. Cindy is sort of an ex-biker who rode around the country with her first husband before he passed away. She also loves horses and has a couple back in Long Island. We talked a lot about places we've been on motorcycles. The train took us up to Chester, VT, laid over for about 20 minutes and then returned to Bellows Falls. During the ride a young guy and gal, who claimed to be Bonnie & Clyde, packing plastic guns, yelled at all us passengers to place our valuables in a sack they totted. Most of the passengers laughed and put the beads and play money we had been given into the bag. Cindy, Jim, and I put our beads in but held out on the cash. This caused a lengthy discussion with the robbers and Jim & I telling them they'd never make it as gunmen in NYC. As we chatted with the robbers I recognized Bonnie from a train ride I took last year. Bonnie and her mother did a murder mystery train ride I was on. Jim, Cindy, Bonnie, and Clyde couldn't believe I actually recognized someone from over a year ago who barely strolled past me and in two different costumes. Of course I can't remember what I ate for breakfast this morning (lol). Horseshoe Acres campground is mostly quiet, peaceful, and pretty on the mountain in VT. However, after three weeks with having to drive 15 miles round trip for cell service and only intermittent sat. reception I am very glad to be heading out. I guess I am a bit of a wanderer and get itchy to leave most places after a week or so.
Hancock, NH is a little town in the Monadnock Valley of Southern NH. It's a very pretty area with several quaint little towns. Over the next few days nine LoW's arrived. I knew all but two of them from prior get togethers. Marge Smith (full timing a few months longer than me) stays in this camp ground a lot and knows the area. She, I, and Anne (celebrating her 80th birthday) went to Harlows pub and listened to some sort of folk music. It's hard to characterize the town of Peterborough. It's not exactly a college town and not exactly an artsy town. It's sort of a combination of the two with some talented people and a great audience who clapped and hooted for every performer. About six or seven of us went to Sarah's Hat Box in Hancock. They had some incredible boxes in many shapes, sizes, and purposes limited by imagination only. A very colorful place. Four of us went to a play at the Peterborough Players called Laughing Stock. It was a farce on producing a play, kind of funny but way to long. Between morning coffee, happy hour, pot luck dinner, a golf round with Nancy Brown, and a couple of "outings" the days went quick. Marge and I went to a farmers market in Keane, NH, walked around a bit and had a late lunch at a most interesting place called Pickity Place in Mason, NH. They grow their own herbs, vegetables, and eatable flowers. The five course ratatouille meal was delicious including the big yellow flower. I went to another play, "Absurd Person Singular". This was a British comedy which bordered on slapstick. It too was much to long and barely funny. The Peterborough Playhouse is nice and most of the actors were pretty good. Perhaps it was their choice of plays or the direction but I'll probably skip future shows here. I found a lecture on climate change in the nearby town of Jaffrey, NH. Marge expressed interest and joined me for a most interesting evening. The lecture by Dr. James McCarthy a professor of biological oceanography at Harvard was held by the Amos Fortune Forum in the historic Jaffrey Meeting House. We arrived about a half hour early and strolled the cemetery, finding the graves of Amos Fortune and Willa Cather. Amos Fortune was a slave who bought his freedom at age 60, settled in Jaffrey and became a successful tanner. He left much of his estate to support the town and schoolhouse meeting place. Willa Cather was a Pulitzer prize winning author, born in Nebraska, lived and died in New York City, but loved this area and wanted to be buried here. While strolling the cemetery we met a couple doing the same and who were the descendants of the original founder of the church meeting house in the mid-1700's. They showed us the graves of some of their ancestries along with Amos Fortune & Willa Cather. The lecture hall was filled to overflowing with standing room only. It was very interesting and the reception afterward was delightful. My last day at Seven Maples required some choices. There were three events and no way to do all three. There was a string quartet playing in the nearby town of Temple at 3pm, a pulled pork roast at the campground at 5pm, and a music festival celebrating Thoreau just down the road in Peterborough. Marge opted for the quartet and music celebrating Thoreau. The quartet, comprised of two violins, a viola, and a cello was delightful. The program celebrating Thoreau was strange and much to long. Their choice of music was torture! They had a good pianist play a very long, discordant piece by Ives. Looking around the room about half the attendees were twitching in their seats and constantly looking at the time. I think of Thoreau as calm and peaceful, certainly not loud and brash. We should have enjoyed the pulled pork at the camp ground (lol).
My few days in Bernardston, MA were a great diversion before the larger get together in Vermont. With a full hook up I was able to catch up on laundry and rig cleaning. I took a couple of short trips; one around Brattleboro, VT and the other back to Shelbourne Falls, MA. The Bridge of Flowers is still there (lol)! About an hour to Horseshoe Acres in Andover, VT. At first they didn't want to honor the special discount always given to us Loners. The owner said their costs were constantly going up and they don't make anything at $10 per night. I certainly understand but still, the rate was quoted me when I made the reservation. I offered to help out a little and they gave me the rate for my entire three week stay. This is an okay camp ground but it is tough with absolutely no Verizon service in the area. The sat. dish is picking up and the campground has a WiFi but only near the office. I paid all my bills for next month before getting here so I can do without a secure WiFi. Still, I have to drive about 10 miles each way, once or twice a week to make any phone calls.
On Friday of the Labor Day weekend my quiet little site was suddenly surrounded by a group of nine rigs with about 20 kids, all from the same group of friends. About the time I was thinking of either moving or going to a hotel for the long weekend I said "hi" to a few of them. They were the usual friendly RV'ers with well behaved kids. I joined them for several of their "buffet style family" dinners, morning coffee, and afternoon drinks. Chatting around their huge camp fire was most enjoyable. About the time the NASCAR race started the campground power went out. Several of the guys and a couple of the kids came into my rig to watch the race. With the solar inverter on, the a/c blowing, TV on and a few chips and drinks life was good! Went to the Weston Playhouse and saw a great dramatic play, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The 12 year old girl in the lead was fantastic but every time I looked at the lead actor all I saw was Gregory Peck (who had the lead in the movie, lol). Five Loners came on Thursday. It was nice to have some folks I know to chat with. We had our usual coffee in the mornings and happy hour around 4pm. We took our usual trip to the Weston Country Store where we sort of "graze" on the chips & dips (lol). There was an exhibit of life in the 1800's going on at the museums. Very interesting demonstration of the water turbine, tin smithing, basket weaving, and a loom. We went out to dinner one night and before you knew it, they were gone. Marge and Gail stayed one extra day. A pleasant four days. One of my last days at Horseshoe Acres I drove to Bellows Falls for the "Bonnie & Clyde Train". Over the past few years I've taken a few of these themed train rides and they're always fun. As I was boarding I began talking with Cindy & Jim from Long Island, NY. We kidded each other on our New York accents and sat together on the train. Cindy is sort of an ex-biker who rode around the country with her first husband before he passed away. She also loves horses and has a couple back in Long Island. We talked a lot about places we've been on motorcycles. The train took us up to Chester, VT, laid over for about 20 minutes and then returned to Bellows Falls. During the ride a young guy and gal, who claimed to be Bonnie & Clyde, packing plastic guns, yelled at all us passengers to place our valuables in a sack they totted. Most of the passengers laughed and put the beads and play money we had been given into the bag. Cindy, Jim, and I put our beads in but held out on the cash. This caused a lengthy discussion with the robbers and Jim & I telling them they'd never make it as gunmen in NYC. As we chatted with the robbers I recognized Bonnie from a train ride I took last year. Bonnie and her mother did a murder mystery train ride I was on. Jim, Cindy, Bonnie, and Clyde couldn't believe I actually recognized someone from over a year ago who barely strolled past me and in two different costumes. Of course I can't remember what I ate for breakfast this morning (lol). Horseshoe Acres campground is mostly quiet, peaceful, and pretty on the mountain in VT. However, after three weeks with having to drive 15 miles round trip for cell service and only intermittent sat. reception I am very glad to be heading out. I guess I am a bit of a wanderer and get itchy to leave most places after a week or so.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Maine & Canada 2013
Crossing over the Piscataquis River bridge and entering Kittery Maine I could almost taste the lobster. The Indian River cg is old and a half mile down a heavily rutted dirt road. Still, it's on the river with some nice views, real quiet, and a short ride from route 95. Also, at $17.50 a night for a full hook up the price is sure right. I met Rick, Nancy, and Joe at one of my favorite restaurants, Warrens in Kittery. My first lobster of the year, yum!! Rick called in the morning. We hung out at his place for a little while. We went to a place Nancy had recommended called "When Pigs Fly". Strange name for an incredible bakery and sort of bar restaurant. The homemade breads are incredible! I only hope I have room in my freezer for all the loafs I bought. Rick and I shared a homemade pizza and a beer sampler of seven varieties. A friendly waitress helped make it a very pleasant afternoon. Nancy cooked a great chicken dish for dinner and we enjoyed chatting, watching a porcupine waddle around from the back porch. Sunday, Rick, Joe, his friend Ian, and I hung out at a driving range for a while before Rick had to head back to Rhode Island. I strolled around the Kittery Trading Post and confirmed that they do allow RV'ers to park for free. In fact, they even allow RV'ers to stay multiple nights for free which is very unusual.
The ride from Kittery to Palmyra is a very easy one, a couple of hours almost entirely on route 95. The owner, Rick (not to be confused with my cousin Rick above), had told me he wouldn't be at the cg until later in the week and I should just take any site I liked in the "B" row other than B1. Roland & Sharon are work campers who stay at B1. They live in Greenville, about 1 1/2 hours away, but stay the whole summer at this cg. Roland & Sharon had arrived earlier in the day. We remembered each other from last year and chatted awhile. Getting set up was a whole lot easier than last year. I pulled a little past the site, backed in most of the way, straighten out a bit, pulled in and dropped the rig perfectly level. Last year it had rained a lot and the grass was wet. Every time the trucks rear wheels hit the grass I sat and spun them, digging holes in the grass. It must have taken me 20 minutes to pull into a beautiful, open site. This is definitely one of the prettiest cg's I've been to in over two years. Rick, Linda, and their son Brian keep the golf course and camp ground immaculate!
With it being early in the season and not much going on in the area, I offered to help out at the cg. There had been a couple of storms over the winter so I cleaned up the debris on the 100 sites. Rick gave me a gizmo that checked the power on the 120, 30amp, and 50amp outlets which gave me yet another excuse to walk around a little. While checking the sites I noticed that many of the light detectors were broken so I got some electric tape and repaired them. Finally, I went around the cg after dark and made a list of all the site lights that were out. Rick didn't want to charge me for my site in exchange for the work. It didn't seem fair for only taking a few strolls around the pretty park and I wouldn't hear of a free site. We settled on my paying the discounted Passport America rate for a month, splitting the month into a few weeks in May and a few more weeks in July, and Rick treating me to dinner. These are very nice people and a very comfortable cg to stay at. Over the two weeks at Palmyra Golf & RV cg I: helped a little getting the park ready for their season, saw "Around the World in 80 Days" at the Penobscot Theater in Bangor, enjoyed another lobster dinner, enjoyed an evening at the Bangor Discovery Museum (more below), finally finished one of my RV projects (more below), had dinner with Rick & Linda, and even hit a bucket of golf balls. The evening at the Discovery Museum was a serendipitous event. The tickets I got to the play were apparently for supporters of the Penobscot Theater. As a supporter I was invited to a special event at the museum across the street. They had several presentations on art related topics along with lots of free food & wine, an interesting evening. As for my RV projects, I had two. One was to create storage space under my bed and the other was to attach doors to the front of the cabinet holding my washer/dryer. The bed project ended quickly when I discovered that the slide mechanism takes up almost all the space under the bed. That was an easy project. The second project sort of escalated a little on me. When I had the washer/dryer installed the mechanics took two doors off a cabinet, along with some shelving, in order to fit the washer/dryer in. Once in, the washer/dryer stuck out about an inch so the doors wouldn't close. They left the doors with me and I'd been wanting to figure out a way to put them back on. It seemed easy enough, just put some furring stripes around the edge and attach the doors to them. Well, I measured the sizes of furring, had them cut at Home Depot, sanded them a little and stained them to match. They looked great and fit fine. My first problem came when I went to take some left over screws out of the doors. They required some kind of square screw driver which I don't have. Rick laughed and shared with me that the square screw is apparently fairly common on RV's. He lent me the correct tool. My second problem came when I went to attach the doors and discovered a four inch gap between them. I realized that before the washer/dryer there must have been a center strip on the prior wardrobe cabinet. I couldn't put a center strip on since I wouldn't be able to open the wash/dryer. I went back to Home Depot and got a strip of wood I could attach to the inside of one of the cabinet doors. This way it would open with the door and not block the washer/dryer. Of course now this strip had to be stained and attached. My next problem came when my shortest screw driver wouldn't fit in the small opening between the door and the water pipes. Anyhow, after borrowing a short screw driver my project was finally completed. It really does look good.
The drive to the Bethel cg was pretty easy, straight down route #2 from Palmyra to Bethel. The rain even cooperated. I think the time of my drive was the longest stretch in a week that it didn't rain (lol)! The only problem came when my gps thought the cg was about 1/4 mile past where the entrance is and I didn't see the entrance until it was to late to stop. I got lucky with a gas station just past the cg that had enough room for me to make a "U" turn. The Bethel Outdoor Adventure & RV Park seems mostly geared to kayak'ers and canoe'ers. There are only a few sites and the cg is right on route #2 with some truck noise even during the night. The cg gave me a pretty site backing right up on the river. Unfortunately, there were a couple of trees that blocked my sat. dish. The site I switched to was a double width site and a clear view for the sat. dish. I managed to take several walks/hikes in between lots of rain. There are two pretty little walking paths each going in a different direction along the river. My stroll to and around town was about 3+ miles. Bethel is a cute little mountain town. I found a bike shop and took mine in. The bike has been bouncing around in the bed of the truck for about two years. The chain has gotten pretty rusty and the brake & gear levers are almost frozen. The shop did a nice job cleaning it up and replacing the cables & chain. Sunday was very relaxing. Walked to town and picked up a couple of newspapers, hung out in the rain reading and watching some news shows. I really am a news junkie (lol)! Two Mainely-LoW'ers showed up Monday afternoon and stayed until Wednesday morning. The rain continued the whole time but we did manage to walk a little and go out to dinner one day.
After the LoW's left I met Ernie & Mike. They're work campers who have been coming to this cg for many years. They've known each other since grade school and both served in the Navy. Ernie's wife is still in Florida, finishing up some medical issues and Mike's wife helps out in the office. We got to know each other pretty quick on Saturday night. Mike knocked on my door a few minutes before 10pm informing me that the county sheriff called to inform the cg that a stage 1 alert had been announced. He told me this means that water will be released from the upstream dam at Shelbourne around midnight. It's been raining almost steady for 8 days and they need to release some of the water behind the dam. Mike told me the last time they did this the entire cg flooded. I needed to move my truck and rig to higher ground. In the pouring rain it took me about 20 minutes to get dressed, I was in my pj's, hook up and move near the cg entrance which is about 30 feet higher. In the time it took me to move I was soaked. Being completely wet anyway I walked back to help the others. A third work camper, Cindy was alone. Her husband was off visiting friends and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. I took down her staked RV awning, helped her move all her outdoor stuff into a shelter and drove her towed car to the higher ground. I also helped Mike load and move two trailer loads of kayaks and canoes to the higher ground. I was wet and tired and slept great from about 1am to 6am. Peeking out the window, all looked fine, no flooding. I had my usual breakfast, dressed and went to help moving everything back. Since my truck was already hooked up I took the RV with me to fill up the gas tank & get my Sunday newspapers. By 10am I was back at a camp site, all hooked up with an interesting experience behind me.
The drive to Greenville and Moosehead Lake was pretty. Lots of back Maine countryside, no main roads. The site at Lily Bay SP was a little tight to back into but real pretty view right on a lake cove. Over the few days I finally saw a moose, a small female. The more exciting event was the bull moose those in the campground heard on several mornings and evenings. It rained every day but I managed to hike around the park. There was one trail 1.6 miles from my end of the cg to the other, Lots of pretty views. I tried to take a float plane ride but they wouldn't go up with only one passenger. Met Dick & Ellen, owners of a bookstore. We chatted for awhile. Later, when I was getting a haircut, the barber knew Dick & Ellen and we chatted like old friends. When I was in the local outfitter store, they also knew Dick & Ellen. Small towns sure are interesting.
The drive to Freeport seemed familiar. The first part of the drive I had taken last year when I came up north from Palmyra, albeit without the RV behind me. The second part of my drive was on I-95 & I-295. You've seen one highway you've seen them all (lol). The Desert of Maine cg was easy to get to, but then the fun started. While the ride to the cg was easy and I arrived early about 12:30, it was in the 90's, I was hot and tired. They said the person who spoke with me on the phone had given the wrong info on rates. I almost lost my cool but managed to work out an okay compromise. The fun continued when the first site electric couldn't keep my a/c going. The owner seemed apologetic and had the circuit breaker changed. That didn't help. I tried another site which also had poor electric. The owner suggested a third site which my RV wouldn't fit in, too long. The fourth site finally worked but didn't have a sewer connection. It took a little over three hours to drive here and about five hours to get settled in :=(! I was totally drenched from the heat and ready to collapse. I took a quick shower and went out for dinner. The lobster pound on the South Freeport wharf was perfect. Typical Maine, place your order, take a number, and enjoy the best lobster ever. Sitting at a picnic table overlooking the marina, light breeze, wow, great evening. Over the next week I strolled around the desert, about a mile around, took the jeep/tram tour, had a great day sailing on a schooner out of Portland harbor, saw the play "Dream Girls" at the Pickard Theater on Bowdoin University campus, hiked all 7.5 miles of Wolf's Neck Park. The town of Freeport has a website of hiking trails, "Freeportconservationtrust.org". There are over 20 miles of trails with the longest only about 5 miles. I hiked all but the Florida Lake trail, not 'cause of the gators (lol), it was just way to muddy. Lots of pretty views of Casco Bay, the town and surrounding areas. The campground let me help out with their butterfly house when they received a new shipment. It's amazing the way the breeder ships these delicate creatures. They overnight about 100 of them, two to an envelope, folded in half, carefully. I sprayed some sugar water on the plants and flowers then carefully opened the envelopes. It was enjoyable to watch as the butterfly's stretched their wings and took off.
A hobby of mine for the past 15 years or so has been genealogy research. I had a quick success in locating first cousins I didn't even know I had (hi Bobbie, Betty, and Rick). The quick success has turned into a periodic diversion. If you've ever tried genealogy research it's a lot of tedious searching and record keeping. Well, this past week I had two new finds, one on my fathers side and one on my mothers. My mother had an older sister who just disappeared around 1920. I "found" her living as a patient in a Colorado hospital in 1930. Back then people went to western hospitals for emphysema and tuberculosis. Along with my Aunt Bessie, I also found an uncle, my mother's brother, living and working in the same hospital. I had met my uncle a few times before he passed away in 1977. The family story about my Uncle Abe was him getting mixed up with a group called "Murder Incorporated" and being forced to leave Brooklyn. When he passed away he was fairly well off so it's interesting to see him working as a porter/waiter in a hospital. On my father's side I finally located the 1900 census record of my great-grandparents. I knew they had a son Samuel, my grand-father, and a daughter Annie, who there is a whole story about. I'd heard a rumor from my new cousins that there was another son, Saul. On the census record I confirmed the older son Sol (corrected spelling) and "found" two more sons, Sidney and Aaron. Armed with this new info along with their dates of birth, I have lots of new "stuff" to research. The Freeport, Maine library has a subscription to genealogy software so, with all the rain, I spent a day inside doing research.
When leaving Freeport I had my second shortest drive to the campground on the Casco Bay, only 26 miles. The shortest drive was in November 2011 when I drove from one park in Bushnell, Florida to another in the same town, about 2 miles. This drive was easy until the last 5 or 6 miles. Even the dirt roads I've driven on had less ruts and pot holes than the roads leading to the cg. I drove well below the 25 and 30 mile limits and still thought the truck and RV would have parts falling off. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. I didn't have high expectations for this campgrounds since both the workcamper who took my reservation and the owner who got involved were extremely rude. If I wasn't going to meet the Mainely-LoW camping group I never would have continued with my reservation. Now, upon checking in, this workcamper was very friendly. Her husband let me reach into a tank and pick my own lobster. The site was easy to get into, a full hookup, with great sat. dish reception. The lobster dinner was ready exactly when promised and really delicious, boiled lobster, baked potato, grilled corn on the cob, yum, yum!! Yet another workcamper let me pick a movie to be shown in the rec. hall this evening. I just arrived and I'm enjoying this place already. Between no hook ups at all at the State Park by Moosehead Lake and no sewer hook up for the past two weeks, I have lots of laundry loads to do. Got two loads in the first evening and a third started before I left on Saturday morning. I went to the Maine Maritime Museum only about 5 miles from the campground. It was interesting. The tour guide seemed to go on and on, repeating himself several times. It was painful to listen. He eventually shared with our group that this was his first time doing the tour on his own. Oh well! I guess if I were more into ship building the museum would have been more interesting. The lobster history exhibit was nice. I then went to the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, about 10 to 15 minutes from the Maritime Museum. This museum is an absolute wonder. I found it magical!! The owner and I immediately hit it off. He got no more than about three of four sentences from his mouth when I asked him what city in Brazil he came from. Paolo looked at me in amazement and asked how I knew he was from Brazil. I shared with him something of my many trips throughout Brazil before I retired. It turns out he was born in Spain, grew up in Brazil, and went to school in England. We chatted for quite a while about our various travels and the cultures around the world we've enjoyed. The tour of his music box exhibits was absolutely astounding! I highly recommend visiting this jewel of a place just off Route #1 in Wiscasset, Maine. The variety of music boxes is far beyond anything I'd ever imagined. One of the oldest boxes is from the 1600's. It has a small drum, several bells, castanets, and two dolls dancing to the wonderful music. The detail and creativity is unbelievable. I had wanted to have lunch of a lobster roll at a great place in Wiscasset. However, I spent so much time in the music box museum and it would interfere with dinner. So, on to Boothbay Harbor to stroll around and have dinner. It was about a half hour to the harbor. Finding parking in this tourist mecca was surprisingly easy. It was a nice afternoon to stroll. Boothbay Harbor is a cute village full of what I call "junk stores". While a cute town, it is totally geared for tourists. Still, it has a lovely harbor and I enjoyed a beer with some chowder on a wharf overlooking the marina.
The Mainely-LoW's should be arriving today (Monday). I walked around the cg and saw a rig from TX that looked familiar. Lo and behold, there on the dash it says Marge Smith (hi Marge). I knocked on the door, nobody home. I found Marge, Carolyn, Heidi, and two Joyce's sitting by another rig. We chatted awhile and one Joyce left. Marge and I enjoyed a lobster dinner at the cg. The other Joyce and Carolyn had some chowder. The five of us hung out, played a dice game, and chatted between the periodic rain. On Thursday I brought my truck in for a regular maintenance. Carolyn, Joyce, and Heidi left on Wednesday. Marge met me at the dealership. We strolled around the Bowdoin College campus, went to the Perry-MacMillan Arctic Museum and had a light lunch on Maine Street.
Another short ride, about an hour to Thomaston and the Saltwater Farm cg. The cg is right on the St. George River. It goes from a mud flat where people clam to about 13 feet deep in minutes. Thomaston is at the southern end of several pretty towns. I've been coming to this area for almost 40 years. An old neighbor who sold antiques in New Jersey would come to this area of Maine each summer on buying trips. I visited them several times in the early 1970's. After all these years I did discover something new and very unique, elephants! The Hope Elephant project in Hope, ME. Olga and Rossie (the 43 year old elephants) are sisters who were rescued from a circus and very well cared for. In the past couple of years over 4,000 children have come to see them and the conservation program their rescuers support. On one of the few days the forecast was for a sunny day I took the ferry to Islesboro to bike around the island. It was sunny all right, all the way into the mid-90's with barely a breeze! During my approximate 25 mile bike ride I went through the 16 ounces of water I brought plus 32 ounces more! I was drenched! Dang, it's tough being a fat, old, man! It was about an hours drive back to Bath, ME, the Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus, but it was well worth the trip. Les Miserables was great, I think way better than when I saw it on Broadway. There were several strong players who did great jobs with the songs. The scenery and scene changes were incredible. Spending time in the Chamberlain Museum and doing the walking tour was very timely. I had just finished reading "The Last Full Measure", a book about the end of the Civil War. General Chamberlain was a professor from Maine who played several important roles during the Civil War. Fascinating stuff!
The Saltwater Farm cg had great views but strange sites and poor electric connections. I lost power several times. The day before I left, the power went off yet again and it wouldn't reset. I left it off and the rig on the inverter. Between the raindrops I unhooked and closed up. Good thing since the day I was leaving it came down in buckets. It rained the entire ride to Palmyra. I got lucky and was able to set up in only a light drizzle, lol. I really like the Palmyra Golf & RV Resort. The owners, Rick & Linda are simply nice people who will do whatever it takes to have their "company", us RV'ers, enjoy our stay. The campground and golf course are immaculate! It's a pretty place to stay and stroll around. July 4th was very nice. The Bangor Band played great patriotic music to a nice crowd of about 100. Most of us then strolled to the riverfront where we listened to more music and watched fireworks. From the river we could see the fireworks of the towns of Hebron, Brewer, and Bangor. At times they seemed to be having a contest with each other. The most incredible sight was when a huge bald eagle swooped over the band, right on cue to their playing America the Beautiful. The entire audience let out lots of ooohs and aaahs! Magnificent!! I hung out with a group of old vets, like me. It was a great evening. Between the rain and heat spells I still enjoyed my stay. Between the Bangor Band weekly free concerts, the Bangor library weekly free music, and the weekly farmers markets, there was plenty to do. I even got in a few dips in the pool and a few rounds of golf.
While at Bar Harbor the weather finally turned great. Clear, sunny days in the low 80's. Lots of hiking, a 4 hour sea kayak tour, strolling around the Oceanerium exhibits and marsh walk. I met a lovely family camped next to me and hung out with them for a few days. Mark is a retired NH state trooper and his wife Janice is a retired school teacher. They were camped in the largest truck camper I've seen, travelling with Mark's dad and one of their grandsons. Next to them was his son Chris, his wife, Heather and their two kids Logan and Emma, camping in a pop up. We shared coffee each morning and some dinner each evening. Nice people. While at Bar Harbor I also toured the Atlantic Brewery and even bought a few of their heavy malt brews. The Southwest Harbor is a cute town on the Arcadia peninsular that many people miss. Nearby is an interesting Auto Museum that celebrates the brass era of cars. They have several autos that are absolutely works of art. The Abbe Indian Museum in Bar Harbor was okay but seemed to have lots of plaques talking about the native Indians and few actual artifacts. The trolley tour was nice with at least a breeze flowing. My short hike around the top of Cadillac Mountain had incredible views.
Not a bad ride up the coast to my friends in Whiting, just north of Machias (hi Anne & Stephen). When they first moved from New York to northern Maine I honestly thought they were nuts! This area defines why Maine is called vacationland! They live at the end of the paved road, over three miles off route #1 and over a mile from their mailbox, across from Gardner Lake which at over 3,800 acres is huge. Over the few days I parked by their beautiful home we went out fishing and did some ATV'ing. There is no way to describe AVT'ing in the Maine woods to anyone who hasn't seen these forests. Imagine a forest almost half the size of the State of New Jersey with 1/2 of 1% of the population!!! We drove the ATV's for over 20 miles and never crossed a road or saw another person.
The next couple of weeks were spent in Canada, roaming around the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick and onto Prince Edward Island. The Bay of Fundy Provincial Park is quite large. Lots of hiking trails and beautiful views. I hiked a couple of short trails in between the rain. The change in the height of the bay from high tide to low is incredible. It goes from a mud flat to about 52 feet deep in minutes and reverses back to a mud flat when the tide goes out. This is not a place you'd want to get caught walking the beach as the tide comes in! A little past the park along the shore is the Flower Pot Park. The in and out of the tide formed these giant rock columns with trees and plants on top. They really do look like flower pots, weird!
Prince Edward Island (PEI) is an absolutely enchanting place. I hadn't been here in over 30 years. Back then I took the ferry across and poked around on my motorcycle a little. This time I drove over the bridge, about 9 miles long. You wouldn't see much driving over in a car but with the height of the truck the views from the bridge are great. During the summer months there is music most everywhere you go. Travelling around the shore there are lots of quaint little fishing villages. On the north shore there were huge sand dunes, the south shore has red sand from the heavy iron content. The Islanders claim it's the iron that gives their produce its great taste. How many of you have read the story "Anne of Green Gables"? My guess is most of the women and none of the men, lol! The story and its author, Lucy Maude Montgomery, have become part of the enchantment of PEI. The Green Gable museum was interesting but the Montgomery house & museum was fascinating. Running this little known stop was Robert Montgomery, a first cousin of Lucy Maude's. He is an absolute character!! About 6'3", long grey, disheveled hair down to his shoulders, a face with tons of "character", and gnarled hands that I doubt have ever been washed (lol). I was the only one there and his stories continued almost without end. I felt obligated to pick up a copy of the book. It's definitely a little girlie story but so sweet it brings a smile and at times a tear. If you've got a soft spot it's worth the read. I went to the famous "Dinner Feast" in Charlottetown. The play was called "Good Golly Miss Molly"! The buffet dinner was excellent and the show fantastic. One LoW camper came by for a few days from her home in Nova Scotia, Penny King. We went to two other plays together, "Anne & Gilbert", and "Anne of Green Gables". Both plays were incredible. It is amazing the talent on this island, the smallest and least populated of the ten Canadian provinces. Penny and I also took what is called a Hippo Tour. This is a combination tram and boat, which drove around Charlottetown, providing a running tour, then driving into the harbor and continuing the tour from the water. We also went to the "famous" St. Anne's Church dinner. Many of the church's sell dinners as a means of raising funds for their community. St. Anne's apparently has one of the longest running dinners. The food was good and we were stuffed. Both before Penny arrived and after she had left I explored a little of the three counties; Prince in the west, Queens in the center, and Kings in the east. PEI is a beautiful place!
Back at my friends Anne & Stephen again, and some more fishing & ATV'ing for a few days. Stephen cooked some moose burgers, my first taste of moose. They were good and reminded me of bison, pretty near zero fat. Stephen also cooked some mackerel he caught, yum, yum. A friend of Stephen's had given me some moose stew but Anne didn't want to hear about it cooked in her house so I took it with me. My last stop in Maine was back in Palmyra. While in Palmyra I went to two concerts a week in Bangor; the library and Bangor Bands. One day was spent at the Skowhegan State Fair. I watched two really exciting tractor pull events (yawn, lol). The fair had a grizzly bear show which really impressed upon me that I don't want to see a grizzly to close. The bear in the show was a cub and only 7 feet tall. They said the largest have been recorded at over 12 feet and about 2,000 lbs! These are huge animals!! Carolyn Smith from Mainly-LoW same by with her daughter. We went to dinner with Vern and his wife Linda who were camped next to me. I enjoyed my last Maine lobster of this year. I finally bought a CB radio and which I'll play with a bit. I found a guy who tuned it up to about 40 watts, ten times the standard 4 watts they come with. I'll play with my new toy as I go down the roads, "breaker, breaker" (lol). I also cooked the moose stew. It was pretty good with a strong after taste. I probably won't have any more but now I can say I have eaten moose, lol.
The ride from Kittery to Palmyra is a very easy one, a couple of hours almost entirely on route 95. The owner, Rick (not to be confused with my cousin Rick above), had told me he wouldn't be at the cg until later in the week and I should just take any site I liked in the "B" row other than B1. Roland & Sharon are work campers who stay at B1. They live in Greenville, about 1 1/2 hours away, but stay the whole summer at this cg. Roland & Sharon had arrived earlier in the day. We remembered each other from last year and chatted awhile. Getting set up was a whole lot easier than last year. I pulled a little past the site, backed in most of the way, straighten out a bit, pulled in and dropped the rig perfectly level. Last year it had rained a lot and the grass was wet. Every time the trucks rear wheels hit the grass I sat and spun them, digging holes in the grass. It must have taken me 20 minutes to pull into a beautiful, open site. This is definitely one of the prettiest cg's I've been to in over two years. Rick, Linda, and their son Brian keep the golf course and camp ground immaculate!
With it being early in the season and not much going on in the area, I offered to help out at the cg. There had been a couple of storms over the winter so I cleaned up the debris on the 100 sites. Rick gave me a gizmo that checked the power on the 120, 30amp, and 50amp outlets which gave me yet another excuse to walk around a little. While checking the sites I noticed that many of the light detectors were broken so I got some electric tape and repaired them. Finally, I went around the cg after dark and made a list of all the site lights that were out. Rick didn't want to charge me for my site in exchange for the work. It didn't seem fair for only taking a few strolls around the pretty park and I wouldn't hear of a free site. We settled on my paying the discounted Passport America rate for a month, splitting the month into a few weeks in May and a few more weeks in July, and Rick treating me to dinner. These are very nice people and a very comfortable cg to stay at. Over the two weeks at Palmyra Golf & RV cg I: helped a little getting the park ready for their season, saw "Around the World in 80 Days" at the Penobscot Theater in Bangor, enjoyed another lobster dinner, enjoyed an evening at the Bangor Discovery Museum (more below), finally finished one of my RV projects (more below), had dinner with Rick & Linda, and even hit a bucket of golf balls. The evening at the Discovery Museum was a serendipitous event. The tickets I got to the play were apparently for supporters of the Penobscot Theater. As a supporter I was invited to a special event at the museum across the street. They had several presentations on art related topics along with lots of free food & wine, an interesting evening. As for my RV projects, I had two. One was to create storage space under my bed and the other was to attach doors to the front of the cabinet holding my washer/dryer. The bed project ended quickly when I discovered that the slide mechanism takes up almost all the space under the bed. That was an easy project. The second project sort of escalated a little on me. When I had the washer/dryer installed the mechanics took two doors off a cabinet, along with some shelving, in order to fit the washer/dryer in. Once in, the washer/dryer stuck out about an inch so the doors wouldn't close. They left the doors with me and I'd been wanting to figure out a way to put them back on. It seemed easy enough, just put some furring stripes around the edge and attach the doors to them. Well, I measured the sizes of furring, had them cut at Home Depot, sanded them a little and stained them to match. They looked great and fit fine. My first problem came when I went to take some left over screws out of the doors. They required some kind of square screw driver which I don't have. Rick laughed and shared with me that the square screw is apparently fairly common on RV's. He lent me the correct tool. My second problem came when I went to attach the doors and discovered a four inch gap between them. I realized that before the washer/dryer there must have been a center strip on the prior wardrobe cabinet. I couldn't put a center strip on since I wouldn't be able to open the wash/dryer. I went back to Home Depot and got a strip of wood I could attach to the inside of one of the cabinet doors. This way it would open with the door and not block the washer/dryer. Of course now this strip had to be stained and attached. My next problem came when my shortest screw driver wouldn't fit in the small opening between the door and the water pipes. Anyhow, after borrowing a short screw driver my project was finally completed. It really does look good.
The drive to the Bethel cg was pretty easy, straight down route #2 from Palmyra to Bethel. The rain even cooperated. I think the time of my drive was the longest stretch in a week that it didn't rain (lol)! The only problem came when my gps thought the cg was about 1/4 mile past where the entrance is and I didn't see the entrance until it was to late to stop. I got lucky with a gas station just past the cg that had enough room for me to make a "U" turn. The Bethel Outdoor Adventure & RV Park seems mostly geared to kayak'ers and canoe'ers. There are only a few sites and the cg is right on route #2 with some truck noise even during the night. The cg gave me a pretty site backing right up on the river. Unfortunately, there were a couple of trees that blocked my sat. dish. The site I switched to was a double width site and a clear view for the sat. dish. I managed to take several walks/hikes in between lots of rain. There are two pretty little walking paths each going in a different direction along the river. My stroll to and around town was about 3+ miles. Bethel is a cute little mountain town. I found a bike shop and took mine in. The bike has been bouncing around in the bed of the truck for about two years. The chain has gotten pretty rusty and the brake & gear levers are almost frozen. The shop did a nice job cleaning it up and replacing the cables & chain. Sunday was very relaxing. Walked to town and picked up a couple of newspapers, hung out in the rain reading and watching some news shows. I really am a news junkie (lol)! Two Mainely-LoW'ers showed up Monday afternoon and stayed until Wednesday morning. The rain continued the whole time but we did manage to walk a little and go out to dinner one day.
After the LoW's left I met Ernie & Mike. They're work campers who have been coming to this cg for many years. They've known each other since grade school and both served in the Navy. Ernie's wife is still in Florida, finishing up some medical issues and Mike's wife helps out in the office. We got to know each other pretty quick on Saturday night. Mike knocked on my door a few minutes before 10pm informing me that the county sheriff called to inform the cg that a stage 1 alert had been announced. He told me this means that water will be released from the upstream dam at Shelbourne around midnight. It's been raining almost steady for 8 days and they need to release some of the water behind the dam. Mike told me the last time they did this the entire cg flooded. I needed to move my truck and rig to higher ground. In the pouring rain it took me about 20 minutes to get dressed, I was in my pj's, hook up and move near the cg entrance which is about 30 feet higher. In the time it took me to move I was soaked. Being completely wet anyway I walked back to help the others. A third work camper, Cindy was alone. Her husband was off visiting friends and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. I took down her staked RV awning, helped her move all her outdoor stuff into a shelter and drove her towed car to the higher ground. I also helped Mike load and move two trailer loads of kayaks and canoes to the higher ground. I was wet and tired and slept great from about 1am to 6am. Peeking out the window, all looked fine, no flooding. I had my usual breakfast, dressed and went to help moving everything back. Since my truck was already hooked up I took the RV with me to fill up the gas tank & get my Sunday newspapers. By 10am I was back at a camp site, all hooked up with an interesting experience behind me.
The drive to Greenville and Moosehead Lake was pretty. Lots of back Maine countryside, no main roads. The site at Lily Bay SP was a little tight to back into but real pretty view right on a lake cove. Over the few days I finally saw a moose, a small female. The more exciting event was the bull moose those in the campground heard on several mornings and evenings. It rained every day but I managed to hike around the park. There was one trail 1.6 miles from my end of the cg to the other, Lots of pretty views. I tried to take a float plane ride but they wouldn't go up with only one passenger. Met Dick & Ellen, owners of a bookstore. We chatted for awhile. Later, when I was getting a haircut, the barber knew Dick & Ellen and we chatted like old friends. When I was in the local outfitter store, they also knew Dick & Ellen. Small towns sure are interesting.
The drive to Freeport seemed familiar. The first part of the drive I had taken last year when I came up north from Palmyra, albeit without the RV behind me. The second part of my drive was on I-95 & I-295. You've seen one highway you've seen them all (lol). The Desert of Maine cg was easy to get to, but then the fun started. While the ride to the cg was easy and I arrived early about 12:30, it was in the 90's, I was hot and tired. They said the person who spoke with me on the phone had given the wrong info on rates. I almost lost my cool but managed to work out an okay compromise. The fun continued when the first site electric couldn't keep my a/c going. The owner seemed apologetic and had the circuit breaker changed. That didn't help. I tried another site which also had poor electric. The owner suggested a third site which my RV wouldn't fit in, too long. The fourth site finally worked but didn't have a sewer connection. It took a little over three hours to drive here and about five hours to get settled in :=(! I was totally drenched from the heat and ready to collapse. I took a quick shower and went out for dinner. The lobster pound on the South Freeport wharf was perfect. Typical Maine, place your order, take a number, and enjoy the best lobster ever. Sitting at a picnic table overlooking the marina, light breeze, wow, great evening. Over the next week I strolled around the desert, about a mile around, took the jeep/tram tour, had a great day sailing on a schooner out of Portland harbor, saw the play "Dream Girls" at the Pickard Theater on Bowdoin University campus, hiked all 7.5 miles of Wolf's Neck Park. The town of Freeport has a website of hiking trails, "Freeportconservationtrust.org". There are over 20 miles of trails with the longest only about 5 miles. I hiked all but the Florida Lake trail, not 'cause of the gators (lol), it was just way to muddy. Lots of pretty views of Casco Bay, the town and surrounding areas. The campground let me help out with their butterfly house when they received a new shipment. It's amazing the way the breeder ships these delicate creatures. They overnight about 100 of them, two to an envelope, folded in half, carefully. I sprayed some sugar water on the plants and flowers then carefully opened the envelopes. It was enjoyable to watch as the butterfly's stretched their wings and took off.
A hobby of mine for the past 15 years or so has been genealogy research. I had a quick success in locating first cousins I didn't even know I had (hi Bobbie, Betty, and Rick). The quick success has turned into a periodic diversion. If you've ever tried genealogy research it's a lot of tedious searching and record keeping. Well, this past week I had two new finds, one on my fathers side and one on my mothers. My mother had an older sister who just disappeared around 1920. I "found" her living as a patient in a Colorado hospital in 1930. Back then people went to western hospitals for emphysema and tuberculosis. Along with my Aunt Bessie, I also found an uncle, my mother's brother, living and working in the same hospital. I had met my uncle a few times before he passed away in 1977. The family story about my Uncle Abe was him getting mixed up with a group called "Murder Incorporated" and being forced to leave Brooklyn. When he passed away he was fairly well off so it's interesting to see him working as a porter/waiter in a hospital. On my father's side I finally located the 1900 census record of my great-grandparents. I knew they had a son Samuel, my grand-father, and a daughter Annie, who there is a whole story about. I'd heard a rumor from my new cousins that there was another son, Saul. On the census record I confirmed the older son Sol (corrected spelling) and "found" two more sons, Sidney and Aaron. Armed with this new info along with their dates of birth, I have lots of new "stuff" to research. The Freeport, Maine library has a subscription to genealogy software so, with all the rain, I spent a day inside doing research.
When leaving Freeport I had my second shortest drive to the campground on the Casco Bay, only 26 miles. The shortest drive was in November 2011 when I drove from one park in Bushnell, Florida to another in the same town, about 2 miles. This drive was easy until the last 5 or 6 miles. Even the dirt roads I've driven on had less ruts and pot holes than the roads leading to the cg. I drove well below the 25 and 30 mile limits and still thought the truck and RV would have parts falling off. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. I didn't have high expectations for this campgrounds since both the workcamper who took my reservation and the owner who got involved were extremely rude. If I wasn't going to meet the Mainely-LoW camping group I never would have continued with my reservation. Now, upon checking in, this workcamper was very friendly. Her husband let me reach into a tank and pick my own lobster. The site was easy to get into, a full hookup, with great sat. dish reception. The lobster dinner was ready exactly when promised and really delicious, boiled lobster, baked potato, grilled corn on the cob, yum, yum!! Yet another workcamper let me pick a movie to be shown in the rec. hall this evening. I just arrived and I'm enjoying this place already. Between no hook ups at all at the State Park by Moosehead Lake and no sewer hook up for the past two weeks, I have lots of laundry loads to do. Got two loads in the first evening and a third started before I left on Saturday morning. I went to the Maine Maritime Museum only about 5 miles from the campground. It was interesting. The tour guide seemed to go on and on, repeating himself several times. It was painful to listen. He eventually shared with our group that this was his first time doing the tour on his own. Oh well! I guess if I were more into ship building the museum would have been more interesting. The lobster history exhibit was nice. I then went to the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, about 10 to 15 minutes from the Maritime Museum. This museum is an absolute wonder. I found it magical!! The owner and I immediately hit it off. He got no more than about three of four sentences from his mouth when I asked him what city in Brazil he came from. Paolo looked at me in amazement and asked how I knew he was from Brazil. I shared with him something of my many trips throughout Brazil before I retired. It turns out he was born in Spain, grew up in Brazil, and went to school in England. We chatted for quite a while about our various travels and the cultures around the world we've enjoyed. The tour of his music box exhibits was absolutely astounding! I highly recommend visiting this jewel of a place just off Route #1 in Wiscasset, Maine. The variety of music boxes is far beyond anything I'd ever imagined. One of the oldest boxes is from the 1600's. It has a small drum, several bells, castanets, and two dolls dancing to the wonderful music. The detail and creativity is unbelievable. I had wanted to have lunch of a lobster roll at a great place in Wiscasset. However, I spent so much time in the music box museum and it would interfere with dinner. So, on to Boothbay Harbor to stroll around and have dinner. It was about a half hour to the harbor. Finding parking in this tourist mecca was surprisingly easy. It was a nice afternoon to stroll. Boothbay Harbor is a cute village full of what I call "junk stores". While a cute town, it is totally geared for tourists. Still, it has a lovely harbor and I enjoyed a beer with some chowder on a wharf overlooking the marina.
The Mainely-LoW's should be arriving today (Monday). I walked around the cg and saw a rig from TX that looked familiar. Lo and behold, there on the dash it says Marge Smith (hi Marge). I knocked on the door, nobody home. I found Marge, Carolyn, Heidi, and two Joyce's sitting by another rig. We chatted awhile and one Joyce left. Marge and I enjoyed a lobster dinner at the cg. The other Joyce and Carolyn had some chowder. The five of us hung out, played a dice game, and chatted between the periodic rain. On Thursday I brought my truck in for a regular maintenance. Carolyn, Joyce, and Heidi left on Wednesday. Marge met me at the dealership. We strolled around the Bowdoin College campus, went to the Perry-MacMillan Arctic Museum and had a light lunch on Maine Street.
Another short ride, about an hour to Thomaston and the Saltwater Farm cg. The cg is right on the St. George River. It goes from a mud flat where people clam to about 13 feet deep in minutes. Thomaston is at the southern end of several pretty towns. I've been coming to this area for almost 40 years. An old neighbor who sold antiques in New Jersey would come to this area of Maine each summer on buying trips. I visited them several times in the early 1970's. After all these years I did discover something new and very unique, elephants! The Hope Elephant project in Hope, ME. Olga and Rossie (the 43 year old elephants) are sisters who were rescued from a circus and very well cared for. In the past couple of years over 4,000 children have come to see them and the conservation program their rescuers support. On one of the few days the forecast was for a sunny day I took the ferry to Islesboro to bike around the island. It was sunny all right, all the way into the mid-90's with barely a breeze! During my approximate 25 mile bike ride I went through the 16 ounces of water I brought plus 32 ounces more! I was drenched! Dang, it's tough being a fat, old, man! It was about an hours drive back to Bath, ME, the Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus, but it was well worth the trip. Les Miserables was great, I think way better than when I saw it on Broadway. There were several strong players who did great jobs with the songs. The scenery and scene changes were incredible. Spending time in the Chamberlain Museum and doing the walking tour was very timely. I had just finished reading "The Last Full Measure", a book about the end of the Civil War. General Chamberlain was a professor from Maine who played several important roles during the Civil War. Fascinating stuff!
The Saltwater Farm cg had great views but strange sites and poor electric connections. I lost power several times. The day before I left, the power went off yet again and it wouldn't reset. I left it off and the rig on the inverter. Between the raindrops I unhooked and closed up. Good thing since the day I was leaving it came down in buckets. It rained the entire ride to Palmyra. I got lucky and was able to set up in only a light drizzle, lol. I really like the Palmyra Golf & RV Resort. The owners, Rick & Linda are simply nice people who will do whatever it takes to have their "company", us RV'ers, enjoy our stay. The campground and golf course are immaculate! It's a pretty place to stay and stroll around. July 4th was very nice. The Bangor Band played great patriotic music to a nice crowd of about 100. Most of us then strolled to the riverfront where we listened to more music and watched fireworks. From the river we could see the fireworks of the towns of Hebron, Brewer, and Bangor. At times they seemed to be having a contest with each other. The most incredible sight was when a huge bald eagle swooped over the band, right on cue to their playing America the Beautiful. The entire audience let out lots of ooohs and aaahs! Magnificent!! I hung out with a group of old vets, like me. It was a great evening. Between the rain and heat spells I still enjoyed my stay. Between the Bangor Band weekly free concerts, the Bangor library weekly free music, and the weekly farmers markets, there was plenty to do. I even got in a few dips in the pool and a few rounds of golf.
While at Bar Harbor the weather finally turned great. Clear, sunny days in the low 80's. Lots of hiking, a 4 hour sea kayak tour, strolling around the Oceanerium exhibits and marsh walk. I met a lovely family camped next to me and hung out with them for a few days. Mark is a retired NH state trooper and his wife Janice is a retired school teacher. They were camped in the largest truck camper I've seen, travelling with Mark's dad and one of their grandsons. Next to them was his son Chris, his wife, Heather and their two kids Logan and Emma, camping in a pop up. We shared coffee each morning and some dinner each evening. Nice people. While at Bar Harbor I also toured the Atlantic Brewery and even bought a few of their heavy malt brews. The Southwest Harbor is a cute town on the Arcadia peninsular that many people miss. Nearby is an interesting Auto Museum that celebrates the brass era of cars. They have several autos that are absolutely works of art. The Abbe Indian Museum in Bar Harbor was okay but seemed to have lots of plaques talking about the native Indians and few actual artifacts. The trolley tour was nice with at least a breeze flowing. My short hike around the top of Cadillac Mountain had incredible views.
Not a bad ride up the coast to my friends in Whiting, just north of Machias (hi Anne & Stephen). When they first moved from New York to northern Maine I honestly thought they were nuts! This area defines why Maine is called vacationland! They live at the end of the paved road, over three miles off route #1 and over a mile from their mailbox, across from Gardner Lake which at over 3,800 acres is huge. Over the few days I parked by their beautiful home we went out fishing and did some ATV'ing. There is no way to describe AVT'ing in the Maine woods to anyone who hasn't seen these forests. Imagine a forest almost half the size of the State of New Jersey with 1/2 of 1% of the population!!! We drove the ATV's for over 20 miles and never crossed a road or saw another person.
The next couple of weeks were spent in Canada, roaming around the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick and onto Prince Edward Island. The Bay of Fundy Provincial Park is quite large. Lots of hiking trails and beautiful views. I hiked a couple of short trails in between the rain. The change in the height of the bay from high tide to low is incredible. It goes from a mud flat to about 52 feet deep in minutes and reverses back to a mud flat when the tide goes out. This is not a place you'd want to get caught walking the beach as the tide comes in! A little past the park along the shore is the Flower Pot Park. The in and out of the tide formed these giant rock columns with trees and plants on top. They really do look like flower pots, weird!
Prince Edward Island (PEI) is an absolutely enchanting place. I hadn't been here in over 30 years. Back then I took the ferry across and poked around on my motorcycle a little. This time I drove over the bridge, about 9 miles long. You wouldn't see much driving over in a car but with the height of the truck the views from the bridge are great. During the summer months there is music most everywhere you go. Travelling around the shore there are lots of quaint little fishing villages. On the north shore there were huge sand dunes, the south shore has red sand from the heavy iron content. The Islanders claim it's the iron that gives their produce its great taste. How many of you have read the story "Anne of Green Gables"? My guess is most of the women and none of the men, lol! The story and its author, Lucy Maude Montgomery, have become part of the enchantment of PEI. The Green Gable museum was interesting but the Montgomery house & museum was fascinating. Running this little known stop was Robert Montgomery, a first cousin of Lucy Maude's. He is an absolute character!! About 6'3", long grey, disheveled hair down to his shoulders, a face with tons of "character", and gnarled hands that I doubt have ever been washed (lol). I was the only one there and his stories continued almost without end. I felt obligated to pick up a copy of the book. It's definitely a little girlie story but so sweet it brings a smile and at times a tear. If you've got a soft spot it's worth the read. I went to the famous "Dinner Feast" in Charlottetown. The play was called "Good Golly Miss Molly"! The buffet dinner was excellent and the show fantastic. One LoW camper came by for a few days from her home in Nova Scotia, Penny King. We went to two other plays together, "Anne & Gilbert", and "Anne of Green Gables". Both plays were incredible. It is amazing the talent on this island, the smallest and least populated of the ten Canadian provinces. Penny and I also took what is called a Hippo Tour. This is a combination tram and boat, which drove around Charlottetown, providing a running tour, then driving into the harbor and continuing the tour from the water. We also went to the "famous" St. Anne's Church dinner. Many of the church's sell dinners as a means of raising funds for their community. St. Anne's apparently has one of the longest running dinners. The food was good and we were stuffed. Both before Penny arrived and after she had left I explored a little of the three counties; Prince in the west, Queens in the center, and Kings in the east. PEI is a beautiful place!
Back at my friends Anne & Stephen again, and some more fishing & ATV'ing for a few days. Stephen cooked some moose burgers, my first taste of moose. They were good and reminded me of bison, pretty near zero fat. Stephen also cooked some mackerel he caught, yum, yum. A friend of Stephen's had given me some moose stew but Anne didn't want to hear about it cooked in her house so I took it with me. My last stop in Maine was back in Palmyra. While in Palmyra I went to two concerts a week in Bangor; the library and Bangor Bands. One day was spent at the Skowhegan State Fair. I watched two really exciting tractor pull events (yawn, lol). The fair had a grizzly bear show which really impressed upon me that I don't want to see a grizzly to close. The bear in the show was a cub and only 7 feet tall. They said the largest have been recorded at over 12 feet and about 2,000 lbs! These are huge animals!! Carolyn Smith from Mainly-LoW same by with her daughter. We went to dinner with Vern and his wife Linda who were camped next to me. I enjoyed my last Maine lobster of this year. I finally bought a CB radio and which I'll play with a bit. I found a guy who tuned it up to about 40 watts, ten times the standard 4 watts they come with. I'll play with my new toy as I go down the roads, "breaker, breaker" (lol). I also cooked the moose stew. It was pretty good with a strong after taste. I probably won't have any more but now I can say I have eaten moose, lol.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
North into New England
It's been so comfortable at Tip Tam cg I'm almost hesitant to leave, almost! At my annual physical I must have failed some exams 'cause the VA seemed to add more than a few extra tests. I finally got a clean bill of health, but it delayed my leaving by a couple of weeks.
February and March sure aren't the best months to spend in NJ. Still, I feel like I accomplished a lot. I cleaned out my mini-storage unit and now really only have my RV and truck. Tax season started with lots of problems, some with the IRS electronic filing process and some with the software. Once the difficulties cleared up the rest of tax season went fine. I also got to see my sons, take some mini-trips with them and have some fun. We spent a couple of weekends in Jim Thorpe, PA running around paintball fields. One of the days it was barely in the teens and had snowed a few days before. This fat, old man is getting a bit old to be running around the woods from 9am till near 5pm (lol). I must admit I did have fun. We also went into NYC for a few days. Saw the play "The Jersey Boys". The story of the Four Seasons with lots of their music. Wow, did this bring back memories for me. It's a great show if you get a chance to see it. We went up the Empire State Building which I hadn't done in decades. My son kept asking where this and that was and I kept pointing out various landmarks. Next thing I knew three couples were following us around asking where things were. I had become a tour guide (lol). My son, who is in a business program at Seton Hall University, found a two hour walking tour of the Wall Street area. Other than being cold it was fun and very informative. We even went to Great Adventure for a day. I still can't believe I was talked into going on those wild, crazy roller coasters. The ten weeks sure went by fast.
It's mid-April and I'm heading up the coast of New England with stops in CT and RI while on my way to ME and the Canadian Maritimes. First stop is in central CT. I'm stopping in CT 'cause it's one of only two East Coast states I missed camping at last year and to visit a cousin I haven't seen in a few years. I drove about an hour to visit the Mystic Aquarium. The trip was a real bust. The parking lot was so full we were directed across the street to a village lot. I managed to find parking and walked back to the aquarium entrance. The line was over 90 minutes long, full of families and little kids. Definitely not for me! I walked around the very touristy village, but it was crowded also. One shop was so full people were standing on line waiting for others to leave the shop. I did stroll into a few shops but everything was geared for tourists and very overpriced. Turns out CT schools were out this week. Go figure!
Had a great visit with cousin David. He looks great (you really do David). We seemed to be chatting away non-stop. Lots to catch up with. Another day David's son Josh came by the campground. He's no longer a kid and I doubt I'd have recognized him if we passed on a street. How could he have grown so much when I'm still the same? (lol). It was great hearing that Josh and his brother Jeremy have grown into men and are doing well. From CT I had a very long drive, about an hour (lol) to a RI state park. The park had been recommended by Don & Sherry who I met at a MA state park last year. The park had a pretty lake and some hiking trails. No hookups at all. I came in with sufficient fresh water and the gray & black tanks empty. Dang, it was cold the first few nights! First night I toughed it out with the inside temperature about 50 (brrrr). The second night, I woke up to 42 degrees inside the rig! Enough is enough, the heat went on and to heck with electric or propane usage!!! Cousin Rick drove over from Providence the first evening. We chatted a bit and went out for a bite. It was great to catch up with ya Rick. On Sunday, Don & Sherry came over with their little pup Ginger. We walked around the park, caught up a bit, as they selected their site for Memorial Day weekend. Over the week spent at the RI park I: explored the historic town of Chepachet including the tavern famous for the Dorr Rebellion and several antique shops, the town of Putnam I guess famous for the K-Mart (lol), and took several rides to Providence. In Providence, my tour guide cousin Rick had lots of stuff planned including tooling around, wearing fedoras, in his 1936 Dodge, "V cool". Providence is a neat little city with a lot of history. It'll be even nicer if they ever finish all the construction (lol). Off to Maine, several LoW gtg's, and lots of lobster!
February and March sure aren't the best months to spend in NJ. Still, I feel like I accomplished a lot. I cleaned out my mini-storage unit and now really only have my RV and truck. Tax season started with lots of problems, some with the IRS electronic filing process and some with the software. Once the difficulties cleared up the rest of tax season went fine. I also got to see my sons, take some mini-trips with them and have some fun. We spent a couple of weekends in Jim Thorpe, PA running around paintball fields. One of the days it was barely in the teens and had snowed a few days before. This fat, old man is getting a bit old to be running around the woods from 9am till near 5pm (lol). I must admit I did have fun. We also went into NYC for a few days. Saw the play "The Jersey Boys". The story of the Four Seasons with lots of their music. Wow, did this bring back memories for me. It's a great show if you get a chance to see it. We went up the Empire State Building which I hadn't done in decades. My son kept asking where this and that was and I kept pointing out various landmarks. Next thing I knew three couples were following us around asking where things were. I had become a tour guide (lol). My son, who is in a business program at Seton Hall University, found a two hour walking tour of the Wall Street area. Other than being cold it was fun and very informative. We even went to Great Adventure for a day. I still can't believe I was talked into going on those wild, crazy roller coasters. The ten weeks sure went by fast.
It's mid-April and I'm heading up the coast of New England with stops in CT and RI while on my way to ME and the Canadian Maritimes. First stop is in central CT. I'm stopping in CT 'cause it's one of only two East Coast states I missed camping at last year and to visit a cousin I haven't seen in a few years. I drove about an hour to visit the Mystic Aquarium. The trip was a real bust. The parking lot was so full we were directed across the street to a village lot. I managed to find parking and walked back to the aquarium entrance. The line was over 90 minutes long, full of families and little kids. Definitely not for me! I walked around the very touristy village, but it was crowded also. One shop was so full people were standing on line waiting for others to leave the shop. I did stroll into a few shops but everything was geared for tourists and very overpriced. Turns out CT schools were out this week. Go figure!
Had a great visit with cousin David. He looks great (you really do David). We seemed to be chatting away non-stop. Lots to catch up with. Another day David's son Josh came by the campground. He's no longer a kid and I doubt I'd have recognized him if we passed on a street. How could he have grown so much when I'm still the same? (lol). It was great hearing that Josh and his brother Jeremy have grown into men and are doing well. From CT I had a very long drive, about an hour (lol) to a RI state park. The park had been recommended by Don & Sherry who I met at a MA state park last year. The park had a pretty lake and some hiking trails. No hookups at all. I came in with sufficient fresh water and the gray & black tanks empty. Dang, it was cold the first few nights! First night I toughed it out with the inside temperature about 50 (brrrr). The second night, I woke up to 42 degrees inside the rig! Enough is enough, the heat went on and to heck with electric or propane usage!!! Cousin Rick drove over from Providence the first evening. We chatted a bit and went out for a bite. It was great to catch up with ya Rick. On Sunday, Don & Sherry came over with their little pup Ginger. We walked around the park, caught up a bit, as they selected their site for Memorial Day weekend. Over the week spent at the RI park I: explored the historic town of Chepachet including the tavern famous for the Dorr Rebellion and several antique shops, the town of Putnam I guess famous for the K-Mart (lol), and took several rides to Providence. In Providence, my tour guide cousin Rick had lots of stuff planned including tooling around, wearing fedoras, in his 1936 Dodge, "V cool". Providence is a neat little city with a lot of history. It'll be even nicer if they ever finish all the construction (lol). Off to Maine, several LoW gtg's, and lots of lobster!
Friday, February 8, 2013
North to NJ 2013
My first stop on the way to NJ was a short ride to Jacksonville. Leaving Marvin's in mid-afternoon, it was late when I arrived and it was starting to drizzle. I managed to get set-up, pick up some Chinese take out, some fresh fruits & vegies, and get back just as it started raining. A TV movie and an early night. It looks like it'll be raining on and off for the next couple of days and there are a few movies I've wanted to see anyway, so... I think I've read every one of the "Jack Reacher" books so a movie starring Tom Cruise sounds good. The movie was ok, not great and not bad. In the books Jack Reacher is about 6'5" and Tom Cruise is just over 5'6", at least the numbers are the same (lol). The second movie I saw was the Promised Land, starring Matt Damon. Another movie star I like and another movie that was ok.
I stopped in Jacksonville to attend my cousin Bobbi's after New Years party and see a show at the Alhambra Dinner Theater with her and her friends. Bobbi, your party was great, the food was fantastic and your friends and neighbors are very nice. I enjoyed meeting them. The show we saw was "Ring of Fire", the Johnny Cash story. I liked that they didn't try to mimic Johnny Cash, but rather had some talented people sing his songs and play guitar as a tribute to him. The show was very enjoyable.
In the next morning I'm off for a long drive to the Charleston, SC area. Jolly Acres was a friendly place to stay last year. It was great when the owners and work campers all remembered me. A couple staying again at the cg also remembered me, Bud & Pat. We sat out chatting a few evenings in the beautiful weather, warm for mid-January. It was restaurant week in Charleston and many of the restaurants had special menus. The salmon frittata accompanied by a Bloody Mary was a perfect brunch. Charleston is one of my three favorite southern cities, the others being; Savannah and St. Augustine. You're able to walk these cities and there always seems to be something going on in addition to great food and attractions. I also saw yet another movie on one rainy day, "Guilt Trip" with Barbra Streisand. This is really one cute movie that even brought a tear to my eyes at a few points. Then again, it doesn't take much to get my eyes watery.
Another long ride to Wilson, NC. I'll stay only a few days. Not much doing around here besides a really great barbecue place. I did check out the North Carolina Baseball Museum. The docent was a real chatty guy and the place is packed with memorabilia. They could easily fill a building twice this size. I was amazed at the number of famous ballplayers who have had some contact with North Carolina, lots of people from Ted Williams to Catfish Hunter. An original program from the 1956 world series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Yankees brought a tear to my eyes. I'm sure I held an identical program. It was the last year for my Dodgers before they deserted me :=( I loved baseball as a kid and played all through High School. I even played in a few adult leagues right up to becoming a single parent not that many years ago. I just stood by the field remembering such great times. The walking tour of Wilson, NC was kind of depressing. There are 23 stops on the published tour of about a 1 1/2 mile cool walk around town (cool 'cause it was in the 40's). Many of the stops are nothing more than boarded up buildings. Even the docent in the visitor center warned me to be careful walking down some of the streets. There are several old buildings with some interesting architecture but they're in such disrepair it didn't look like they would stand up to a stiff breeze.
Newport News Municipal cg was the second place I stayed at when I started RV'ing in 2011. It's in a great location, close to lots of "stuff". It's also one of the few cg's in the area open this time of year. It's cold! Today is the warmest day and it's only in the mid-40's. The rest of the week has the day's forecasted in the 30's and the nights in the teens. I left my water line in rather than deal with a long popsicle (lol). I went to the Living Museum on the warmer day since it's mostly outside. Pretty interesting place. In a relatively small area they have several outdoor habitats with; wolfs, fox, turkeys, deer, bobcat, bald eagles, beaver, otters, coyote. They set up a large outdoor aviary that you walk through which has lots of local birds including brown pelicans. As large as these birds are, the aviary is big enough to allow them to fly a little. I was happy to look around the indoor portion of the museum to warm up (lol). I'm parked directly across from the park showers and this is one of the few cg's in my travels that I've enjoyed using their showers. Especially for a public park the showers are well maintained, clean, hot, with lots of pressure. As cold as it is this will save my on board water until I get to a cg's where I can deploy my heated hose. RV'ing is lots of fun, but I'll be glad when I no longer need to deal with camping in the cold.
Wow, what a surprise, what a great museum! I almost didn't go to the Mariners' Museum. I'm ex-Army, not Navy, and, while I enjoy the ocean, I don't have any experience with ships and such. Still, I'd seen and enjoyed the Hunley Museum in Charleston and the Mariners' Museum has the relics from the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack). There was so much more than just "stuff" from the Monitor & Merrimack! There is a section dedicated to the Titanic with lots of artifacts. They have an entire room of incredible miniature ship models with details that are seen with magnifying glasses. I'm still fussing with my little craved manatee I started in the woodworking class I took while in Bradenton, FL (lol). I was really fascinated by the number of artifacts on navigation; books, and instruments from hundreds of years ago. If you're in the area you wouldn't be disappointed strolling through this museum. I also went to the Virginia War Museum and the US Army Transportation Museum located at Ft. Eustis. The war museum traced the US military, with separate rooms of displays, from the Revolution, to the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American, right through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the current wars in the Middle East. Isn't it sad how much of our history is traced through conflict? The US Army Transportation Museum was interesting. When I was in the Army I don't remember thinking about transportation much. Our resupplies were mostly prearranged. If we needed something urgent or special I put in the request via radio. Like magic, our supplies would appear and usually be dropped out of a helicopter at a prearranged time and place. I spent most of my work career in a field called project management. Over the years I got a much better appreciation for the planning and logistics to coordinate and move people and materials. The Army Transportation motto is "Nothing happens until something moves!". Think about what it takes to move hundreds of thousands of military personnel, with all the thousands of tons of needed equipment, all around the world. These are massive projects!
It remained cold but the rain and snow held off. I wasn't looking forward to the drive around the DC beltway but all turned out fine. The drive was long, over 4 hours, but sunny and easy. The Gettysburg cg left a list of available sites for me to chose from. The entire cg was covered with snow. I pulled in with no problems and hooked up my heated water hose. The water worked fine at night but I had a long popsicle in the morning with a frozen hose. Turns out the 120v outlet didn't work (lol). When I checked in on Monday morning, Sue, the manager, lent me a 50amp adapter for the 120v outlet. A few hours later the water was running fine. The one day it was sunny and in the 50 's I walked the Gettysburg battlefield. It's interesting to actually see what the soldiers saw from the ground. At Gettysburg, from the observation deck, the battlefield seems very flat. Yet, when you walk the fields you realize that the slight rises are enough to completely shield an enemy from just a few hundred yards. The visitor center included a large circular painting of the battle completed a few years after it actually took place. The museum and films presented a pretty balanced view even suggesting that the South came very close to winning. If you're ever in the area be sure to stop into the diorama in town. They have a 30 minute presentation around a scale model of the battle area. Very interesting!.
My final drive to NJ was easy and without event. The son of the cg owner, Darin, immediately remembered me. He drove me around the cg to pick out whatever open space I liked best. It's funny, I've laughed several times to couples setting up their portable sat. dish with the wife yelling out their rv to the husband. "honey, two more feet to the left"! Here I was with Darin listening just outside my rig door, my TV on loud, yelling at me backing up "move it over two feet to the left". I was laughing out loud at the whole scene (lol). Once I finally got situated I headed out to food shop. When I returned, Darin had set up and connected PVC to my sewer line and reinsulated my heated water hose. If anyone ever wants a cg in NJ I heartily recommend Tip Tam. The owners will do whatever they can to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Guess I'm settled in till April.
I stopped in Jacksonville to attend my cousin Bobbi's after New Years party and see a show at the Alhambra Dinner Theater with her and her friends. Bobbi, your party was great, the food was fantastic and your friends and neighbors are very nice. I enjoyed meeting them. The show we saw was "Ring of Fire", the Johnny Cash story. I liked that they didn't try to mimic Johnny Cash, but rather had some talented people sing his songs and play guitar as a tribute to him. The show was very enjoyable.
In the next morning I'm off for a long drive to the Charleston, SC area. Jolly Acres was a friendly place to stay last year. It was great when the owners and work campers all remembered me. A couple staying again at the cg also remembered me, Bud & Pat. We sat out chatting a few evenings in the beautiful weather, warm for mid-January. It was restaurant week in Charleston and many of the restaurants had special menus. The salmon frittata accompanied by a Bloody Mary was a perfect brunch. Charleston is one of my three favorite southern cities, the others being; Savannah and St. Augustine. You're able to walk these cities and there always seems to be something going on in addition to great food and attractions. I also saw yet another movie on one rainy day, "Guilt Trip" with Barbra Streisand. This is really one cute movie that even brought a tear to my eyes at a few points. Then again, it doesn't take much to get my eyes watery.
Another long ride to Wilson, NC. I'll stay only a few days. Not much doing around here besides a really great barbecue place. I did check out the North Carolina Baseball Museum. The docent was a real chatty guy and the place is packed with memorabilia. They could easily fill a building twice this size. I was amazed at the number of famous ballplayers who have had some contact with North Carolina, lots of people from Ted Williams to Catfish Hunter. An original program from the 1956 world series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Yankees brought a tear to my eyes. I'm sure I held an identical program. It was the last year for my Dodgers before they deserted me :=( I loved baseball as a kid and played all through High School. I even played in a few adult leagues right up to becoming a single parent not that many years ago. I just stood by the field remembering such great times. The walking tour of Wilson, NC was kind of depressing. There are 23 stops on the published tour of about a 1 1/2 mile cool walk around town (cool 'cause it was in the 40's). Many of the stops are nothing more than boarded up buildings. Even the docent in the visitor center warned me to be careful walking down some of the streets. There are several old buildings with some interesting architecture but they're in such disrepair it didn't look like they would stand up to a stiff breeze.
Newport News Municipal cg was the second place I stayed at when I started RV'ing in 2011. It's in a great location, close to lots of "stuff". It's also one of the few cg's in the area open this time of year. It's cold! Today is the warmest day and it's only in the mid-40's. The rest of the week has the day's forecasted in the 30's and the nights in the teens. I left my water line in rather than deal with a long popsicle (lol). I went to the Living Museum on the warmer day since it's mostly outside. Pretty interesting place. In a relatively small area they have several outdoor habitats with; wolfs, fox, turkeys, deer, bobcat, bald eagles, beaver, otters, coyote. They set up a large outdoor aviary that you walk through which has lots of local birds including brown pelicans. As large as these birds are, the aviary is big enough to allow them to fly a little. I was happy to look around the indoor portion of the museum to warm up (lol). I'm parked directly across from the park showers and this is one of the few cg's in my travels that I've enjoyed using their showers. Especially for a public park the showers are well maintained, clean, hot, with lots of pressure. As cold as it is this will save my on board water until I get to a cg's where I can deploy my heated hose. RV'ing is lots of fun, but I'll be glad when I no longer need to deal with camping in the cold.
Wow, what a surprise, what a great museum! I almost didn't go to the Mariners' Museum. I'm ex-Army, not Navy, and, while I enjoy the ocean, I don't have any experience with ships and such. Still, I'd seen and enjoyed the Hunley Museum in Charleston and the Mariners' Museum has the relics from the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack). There was so much more than just "stuff" from the Monitor & Merrimack! There is a section dedicated to the Titanic with lots of artifacts. They have an entire room of incredible miniature ship models with details that are seen with magnifying glasses. I'm still fussing with my little craved manatee I started in the woodworking class I took while in Bradenton, FL (lol). I was really fascinated by the number of artifacts on navigation; books, and instruments from hundreds of years ago. If you're in the area you wouldn't be disappointed strolling through this museum. I also went to the Virginia War Museum and the US Army Transportation Museum located at Ft. Eustis. The war museum traced the US military, with separate rooms of displays, from the Revolution, to the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American, right through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the current wars in the Middle East. Isn't it sad how much of our history is traced through conflict? The US Army Transportation Museum was interesting. When I was in the Army I don't remember thinking about transportation much. Our resupplies were mostly prearranged. If we needed something urgent or special I put in the request via radio. Like magic, our supplies would appear and usually be dropped out of a helicopter at a prearranged time and place. I spent most of my work career in a field called project management. Over the years I got a much better appreciation for the planning and logistics to coordinate and move people and materials. The Army Transportation motto is "Nothing happens until something moves!". Think about what it takes to move hundreds of thousands of military personnel, with all the thousands of tons of needed equipment, all around the world. These are massive projects!
It remained cold but the rain and snow held off. I wasn't looking forward to the drive around the DC beltway but all turned out fine. The drive was long, over 4 hours, but sunny and easy. The Gettysburg cg left a list of available sites for me to chose from. The entire cg was covered with snow. I pulled in with no problems and hooked up my heated water hose. The water worked fine at night but I had a long popsicle in the morning with a frozen hose. Turns out the 120v outlet didn't work (lol). When I checked in on Monday morning, Sue, the manager, lent me a 50amp adapter for the 120v outlet. A few hours later the water was running fine. The one day it was sunny and in the 50 's I walked the Gettysburg battlefield. It's interesting to actually see what the soldiers saw from the ground. At Gettysburg, from the observation deck, the battlefield seems very flat. Yet, when you walk the fields you realize that the slight rises are enough to completely shield an enemy from just a few hundred yards. The visitor center included a large circular painting of the battle completed a few years after it actually took place. The museum and films presented a pretty balanced view even suggesting that the South came very close to winning. If you're ever in the area be sure to stop into the diorama in town. They have a 30 minute presentation around a scale model of the battle area. Very interesting!.
My final drive to NJ was easy and without event. The son of the cg owner, Darin, immediately remembered me. He drove me around the cg to pick out whatever open space I liked best. It's funny, I've laughed several times to couples setting up their portable sat. dish with the wife yelling out their rv to the husband. "honey, two more feet to the left"! Here I was with Darin listening just outside my rig door, my TV on loud, yelling at me backing up "move it over two feet to the left". I was laughing out loud at the whole scene (lol). Once I finally got situated I headed out to food shop. When I returned, Darin had set up and connected PVC to my sewer line and reinsulated my heated water hose. If anyone ever wants a cg in NJ I heartily recommend Tip Tam. The owners will do whatever they can to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Guess I'm settled in till April.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
New Year's 2012/2013
At heart I guess I am a wanderer. As much as I enjoyed my stay in Bradenton, after three weeks it felt good to go "wheels up"! The drive through the Orlando area was better than last year but still crowded and needed my full driving attention. The drive should have been about 2 1/2 hours but ended up taking over 4 hours with the traffic going though Orlando. In the future, I've got to avoid this I-4 corridor! Heading down Marvin's driveway was most definitely melancholy. It felt great knowing I'll be with lots of folks I know and enjoy. It was sad remembering that last year I pulled in directly behind Bob Lynch who is no longer with us.
Bobbie & Linda arrived yesterday and have already been helping to get things ready. They're expecting about 45 rigs with a total of around 65 people. Ron Henderson called. Apparently, the Walmart he usually stays at on his way to Marvin's no longer allows overnights so he's on his way here a day early. We all chatted a little and then an early evening. I was up early, finished breakfast, some reading, and out the door by 7:30am. The first rigs began pulling in before 9am. Bobbie had me directing the parking. The good news is all the drivers were great and managed to get into the spots I directed with no issues. The bad news is I was on my feet from 7:30am till about 4pm without even a lunch break (lol). I enjoyed helping and got to meet everyone. The four days seem to have flown by. First day we had a great bar-B-Q with all the fixin's. Afterward, Dave Irons set up his karaoke machine, played his guitar, and we sat around singing and chatting.
On New Years Eve morning the food began including: Amish casserole, French toast blueberry casserole, homemade biscuits, coffee, hot chocolate, home made honey & jams, juice, and fruit (yum, yum). We spent the day getting reacquainted, chatting, and strolling around "Pancho's Rancho". For those who don't know Marvin Panch, do a little googling. He's an interesting guy and a great person. As Happy Hour wound down we congregated for hamburgers and hot dogs along with pot luck side dishes. For those who've never experienced a large group "pot luck", just imagine about 45 separate side dishes (one from each rig), and each one is more delicious than the next. At 8pm our celebration continued. Since we hadn't eaten since 5pm, the dinner left overs along with 45 new appetizers appeared. Music began by 9pm and continued until midnight. Kevin (Marvins son-in-law, who is a fantastic cook) created yet another cake master piece. The dancing began by 9am and went until the midnight champagne. With a shortage of men dancing, I did the best I could to dance with every gal there. It's a tough job, but someones got to do it (lol - ;=))!!!
New Years Day we had "breakfast in a bag", same as last year. You drop a couple of cracked eggs in a heavy duty baggie, along with whatever fixings you like; cheese, peppers, bacon, sausage, onion, whatever you like. You then drop the baggie into a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes or so. Presto, chango, breakfast in a bag! Delicious, along with more of Kevin's homemade biscuits, homemade honey and jams. Midday we enjoyed a typical southern New Years good luck meal of collard greens, black eyed peas, and homemade cornbread. Kevin should open a restaurant, delicious! In the afternoon about 50 of us took a 2 hour pontoon boat ride, the Blue Heron River tour. It's incredible the number of birds, turtles, and manatees we saw along this pristine waterway. One strange sight was a fair sized turtle sitting on a log with a small gator using him for a pillow (lol). A guess a pillow is better than being lunch!
The evening brought a delicious pulled pork dinner with all the trimmings and a table full of pot luck desserts. After dinner we enjoyed over two hours of Homer Noodlemen's great humor. His energy level is simply amazing. In the morning the rigs began leaving early as we gathered for coffee, croissants, and most important goodbye hugs. I hung around till mid afternoon to help clean up also enjoyed lunch with Marvin, Bobbie, and Linda.
Bobbie & Linda arrived yesterday and have already been helping to get things ready. They're expecting about 45 rigs with a total of around 65 people. Ron Henderson called. Apparently, the Walmart he usually stays at on his way to Marvin's no longer allows overnights so he's on his way here a day early. We all chatted a little and then an early evening. I was up early, finished breakfast, some reading, and out the door by 7:30am. The first rigs began pulling in before 9am. Bobbie had me directing the parking. The good news is all the drivers were great and managed to get into the spots I directed with no issues. The bad news is I was on my feet from 7:30am till about 4pm without even a lunch break (lol). I enjoyed helping and got to meet everyone. The four days seem to have flown by. First day we had a great bar-B-Q with all the fixin's. Afterward, Dave Irons set up his karaoke machine, played his guitar, and we sat around singing and chatting.
On New Years Eve morning the food began including: Amish casserole, French toast blueberry casserole, homemade biscuits, coffee, hot chocolate, home made honey & jams, juice, and fruit (yum, yum). We spent the day getting reacquainted, chatting, and strolling around "Pancho's Rancho". For those who don't know Marvin Panch, do a little googling. He's an interesting guy and a great person. As Happy Hour wound down we congregated for hamburgers and hot dogs along with pot luck side dishes. For those who've never experienced a large group "pot luck", just imagine about 45 separate side dishes (one from each rig), and each one is more delicious than the next. At 8pm our celebration continued. Since we hadn't eaten since 5pm, the dinner left overs along with 45 new appetizers appeared. Music began by 9pm and continued until midnight. Kevin (Marvins son-in-law, who is a fantastic cook) created yet another cake master piece. The dancing began by 9am and went until the midnight champagne. With a shortage of men dancing, I did the best I could to dance with every gal there. It's a tough job, but someones got to do it (lol - ;=))!!!
New Years Day we had "breakfast in a bag", same as last year. You drop a couple of cracked eggs in a heavy duty baggie, along with whatever fixings you like; cheese, peppers, bacon, sausage, onion, whatever you like. You then drop the baggie into a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes or so. Presto, chango, breakfast in a bag! Delicious, along with more of Kevin's homemade biscuits, homemade honey and jams. Midday we enjoyed a typical southern New Years good luck meal of collard greens, black eyed peas, and homemade cornbread. Kevin should open a restaurant, delicious! In the afternoon about 50 of us took a 2 hour pontoon boat ride, the Blue Heron River tour. It's incredible the number of birds, turtles, and manatees we saw along this pristine waterway. One strange sight was a fair sized turtle sitting on a log with a small gator using him for a pillow (lol). A guess a pillow is better than being lunch!
The evening brought a delicious pulled pork dinner with all the trimmings and a table full of pot luck desserts. After dinner we enjoyed over two hours of Homer Noodlemen's great humor. His energy level is simply amazing. In the morning the rigs began leaving early as we gathered for coffee, croissants, and most important goodbye hugs. I hung around till mid afternoon to help clean up also enjoyed lunch with Marvin, Bobbie, and Linda.
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