2010 Christmas List

This year, my list is not about what I want, it's about the gifts I've already received:

1.  Thank you God for another year with my husband.  And thanks for giving him back his hair this year.

2.  Thank you God for my family.  Mom and step-dad, step-mom, sisters and brother, nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, mother in law, sisters in law and  brothers in law...it's great to have a big family.  They are all special in their own way and I am blessed to have each and every one of them.

3.  Thank you God for my job.  I love going to work every day (although some days are better than others).  But in this time of uncertainty for so many people, I am grateful for my work.

4.  Thank you God for the roof over my head and the food I have to eat.  I think about this almost daily and especially when I run into Mike, the homeless vet near Briarwood.  Thank you for Mike, as he is my constant reminder to practice gratitude.

5.  Thank you God for my friends.  Although I see only a few them face to face on a regular basis, they are always in my thoughts and prayers.

Merry Christmas and guide us with your Grace.

Looking Out for the Other Guy

(The following is an article I wrote for some local newspapers regarding a donation to a Christmas program.)

When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me that it was important to "look out for the other guy".  I can remember looking at him and wondering "What does he mean by that?”  The older I got and the more I watched him, it finally dawned on me what he was trying to tell me. 

When I moved to Saline, the first thing I did was look for other people who were "looking out for the other guy".  I didn't have to look far.  I found the local organization Saline Area Social Service (SASS).  They bring worthwhile programs like a food pantry, prescription drug assistance, back-to-school clothing, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets and a Holiday Adopt-a-Family program, to name a few, to Saline and  residents of the Saline Area School District.

SASS depends on the generosity of the community to fund these programs.  Time and time again, the citizens of Saline demonstrate just how bighearted they are.  This year, SASS received a generous donation from the American Legion of Saline and the Sons of the American Legion.

The local American Legion Post 322 was established in 1924.  Back then, they only had a few members.  Today, they have approximately 640 members who gather regularly at their post near the corner of W. Michigan Ave. and Mills Rd.  I recently met with Post Commander Louis Worley who told me "Our mission is to be of service to the community while keeping alive the traditions of those who have served our country during times of war.  Our American Legion members, our members of the Sons of the American Legion and our members of the American

Legion Auxiliary help the community in a number of ways."

"We do a summer cookout for the residents of Mill Pond Manor, we have a Halloween party for children, we participate in Christmas in Action by providing a breakfast for the volunteers, we have corn and hotdogs for all after the Community Fair Parade, we give scholarships to area seniors, we send local youth to the Boys State and Girls State programs (educational programs sponsored by the American Legion Departments across the country to help young men and women learn about government and how it works) and of course, the Saline Memorial Day parade, including a pot-luck dinner afterwards."

Sons of the American Legion member, Charlie Frey, said "Because our sauerkraut suppers were so successful this year, both the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion have made a donation to SASS for the Holiday Adopt-A-Family program."

Left to right, Post Commander Louis Worley, Jerry Berger, Charlie Frey, John Lopez, Brett Fry, Gloria Near and Dorothy Vogel

As I sat with Lou and Charlie, I knew that Saline will always have someone "who looks out for the other guy".

Happy Halloween!

Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays.  Until last year, I always dressed in costume at work.  If Halloween was on a work day, that's the day I would dress up.  If Halloween was on the weekend, then I would dress up on Friday.  But last year, it seemed like the fun was blown out of my sails.

My husband had spent the summer doing chemo and radiation for his Stage IIIa non-small cell lung cancer.  At the end of August, 2009, we took off for "out west" wondering if it was our last big trip.  We didn't know then (and we still don't know) what to expect.  The word cancer still scares the bejesus out of me.  It's about the unknown, the waiting, the trepidation, the fear, the anxiety.  His cancer is in remission right now, but he still has to have CT scans and follow ups every 3 months.  We just got results this week and he's still in remission.  No new cancers. That's good news and we celebrated by making a big batch of Paula Deen's mac and cheese.

But still my joy comes and goes.  Halloween used to be the one day when I could still be a kid - pretend, make believe and play dress up.  I just can't get into the swing of it again this year.  I did buy a pumpkin ... a small white one.  Instead of carving it, I took his drill motor to it and made a face on each side.

I've been burning a candle in it every night.  The pumpkin goes into the refrigerator before going to bed and I've managed to use it for 2 weeks now.  The candle makes me hopeful.  And I guess that's all I need right now.

Happy Halloween, watch out for the goblins and don't eat too much candy.  As for me, I'm going to eat a bit of candy with a large cup of coffee.  Chocolate and coffee go together, right?

Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island

On Oct 8, we headed north on Friday morning with my middle sister and her husband for a weekend of leaf peeping.  Doug and I hadn't been to The Bridge for quite awhile.  On the way up north, we stopped at Pinconning to visit the cheese store.  We picked up 4 different kinds of cheese curds, some sesame sticks and some chocolate covered banana chips.  If you've never had cheese curds, you don't know what you're missing.  They are little bite size, irregular shaped pieces of cheese that are so yummy.

Here's what they look like:

This was the first trip in the motor home where I didn't sit in the cab.  It was fun to sit at the table with my sister, watch the landscape change and just gab.  When we arrived at Mackinaw City, we headed to the lighthouse to stretch our legs and take a look at the bridge.  Here's the lighthouse at Mackinaw City:

The lighthouse was built in 1892.  In 2000, a restoration was started to bring the lighthouse back to its appearance circa 1910.  It is well preserved and is a beautiful building.


There's a great view of the bridge from the park:

We then headed back to I 75 to cross the bridge.  The Bridge connects the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan.  From shoreline to shoreline, it is 5 miles long.  It is the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere.  Most folks think of the Golden Gate Bridge when they think of big bridges, but this is Michigan's pride and joy.  After crossing the Bridge, we drove through the town of St. Ignace and then headed out of town aways to park and have lunch.  Here's the view from our lunch spot:

We headed back across the Bridge to Mackinaw City to find our spot at the campground.  We stayed at the Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground.  It's a beautiful place with about 600 campsites and dozens of cabins. We had never stayed here, but they told us that in the summertime, the place is packed all the time.  There were other folks camped here with us, but we were able to get a lake front site and it was beautiful.  Here's some pictures from our site:

Doug took a nap, so Gloria, Ralph, the dogs and I headed to the beach for a walk:

 

On Saturday morning, we took the ferry over to Mackinac Island.  I hadn't been there in so long, I had forgotten how peaceful it is with no motorized trafffic, just the clip clop of horse hooves and the whir of bicycle tires.  So peaceful.

Horse and wagon

Famous May's candy and fudge

Old hotel, owned by the mayor

Grand Hotel horse and carriage taxi

Grand Hotel

Ralph and Doug in carriage taxi back to downtown

Kite flying

When we got back from the island, my sister and I decided to head to the casino in St. Ignace owned and run by the the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.  The casino tells us that the driver will pick us up at the entrance to the campground which is about a half mile from our campsite....no exaggeration....maybe a bit more than a half mile.  We walk up front and wait for the man.  The shuttle picks us up, stops at a few hotels in Mackinaw City to pick up some more people, including a man from Indianapolis who has driven a bus load of couples on a weekend retreat.  Small world, huh?  We get to the casino and the driver says, he will leave to go back to Mackinaw City at 8:00...be outside or the next shuttle is at 11:00.  Because we got there about 6:15, 8:00 gives us just enough time for a little fun (my sister ends up down about $2 and I end up winning a bit).  A couple of free pops and cups of coffee.  The coffee wasn't half bad.  Free makes it taste better, right?

We meet the group outside and of course by now it's dark.  New driver (the one on the way to the casino was such a friendly, polite man) and he asks for all the campground/hotel names.  You can tell right off the bat, this driver is a little impatient, and not a friendly type.  We ask if he can take us back last (we are the farthest out of town) because we want to get him to take us back to our site, not just drop us off out front.  "No can do, ladies.  I'm going to do it in this order".  Okay, we're good with that, we'll just wait until we get to the campground to see if he'll take us all the way to the site if we offer to tip him $10.

When we pull in, my sister says "Sir, I have this air cast on my foot because I had foot surgery in July that didn't heal right, it's awfully dark out and our site is way back in there by the lake.  Can you possibly take us to our site instead of dropping us here?".  He says "they generally won't let me do that...I will see if they will let me do that, but why don't they have a golf cart up here to take you to your site?"  (Well now come on buddy, how should we know why they don't offer front gate to front door golf cart service?  Do we look like the answer women?)

He comes back to the shuttle bus with a CG map.  The rest of it goes like this:

Shuttle Driver (SD): "They say okay, but how is the map going to help me?"

Me:   "I'll tell you where to turn to get us back there.  Take your first left."

My sister (MS):  "No, that's not right."

He slams on the brakes..

Me: "MS, it's the first left"

MS: "No, that's not right"

He backs up.

Me: "Okay, take the next left"

Dark, unlit winding CG road.

SD: "Are you sure this is right?""

Me:  "Yes...turn left here....okay, next right...okay, left here"

MS:  "Are you sure this is right?"

Elbowed MS and shushed her.  Really dark out, can't remember the last time I saw this many stars.  Hmmm....what are those cabins doing there where that's where the MH should be?

SD:  "How will I ever find my way out of here?"

MS:  "It's easy to get out, just follow the exit arrows"

MS:  "We passed it"

SD slams on brakes.

Me: "Okay, this is good...we can walk from here"

SD:  "These aren't campsites, these are cabins"

MS:  "That's okay, we can walk from here."

I still gave him $10 even though he was the biggest crabby patty I had seen in a long time.  The lady who was sitting in front of us says "There's no way you ladies could have walked this in the dark by yourselves" and she's only partially right.  We could have done it, it just would have taken forever.  SD takes off, we realize we're only a short way from MH, but MAN is it DARK outside.  We slow walked our way back trying to stay on the pavement (thank God the road in that part of the CG was paved).  We're falling over each other laughing and can hear the dogs barking ever so lightly.  I couldn't believe that they could hear my voice that far away.

We're still giggling as we walk in the MH.  Doug asked what was so funny and we told him that not only can I get us lost on the by-ways of small town America, I can also get lost in a campground.

A big thanks to my sister for taking the great photos.  She took so many, it was hard to choose.  Love ya sis!

The Green Grass of Home

We got home on Thursday, 9/24, after an easy drive from Niagara Falls.  My captain asked me to drive for a bit (I failed to mention that we were only about 40 miles from Toledo) and I said "Sure!".  He promptly falls asleep and I can't hear the GPS.  Sooo...from memory, I decide to take the I-75 exit (too soon, should have taken the next one) and promptly end up in a nasty road construction area, some how in the far left lane, speed limit 45 (which of course was the speed I was driving) when the captain wakes up and says "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?".

I calmly explained that because he was asleep, I did my best to remember which exit to take off of the toll road, obviously picked the wrong one and could he please help me get out of this lane.  I didn't dare take my eyes off the road as there were curves, 18 wheelers to my right (who kept crossing the white line into my lane) and I had my turn signal on for about a mile and couldn't get back over.  He'd say, go, you're clear now, no, wait and then a car behind me would get over and pass me on the right.  Okay, go now, no wait, a car's there now.  This happened time and time again.

Whatever happened to courtesy on the road?  When I see someone with their blinker on (whether it's a small car, a 36' motor home or an 18 wheeler), I let them over if I can safely do it.  I also never pass anyone on the right.  That's the way I was taught to drive.  Weren't you?  Aggressive driving is dangerous and what's the big hurry anyways?  These people are going to get to their destination 30 seconds earlier/later than if they let someone over?  Sheeesh!

Well, finally I get over and said my thank you to the Patron Saint of RV'ers, St. Sara  (well, technically she's the Patron Saint of Gypsies, but I figure RV'ers are Gypsies at heart, hence she is the Patron Saint of RV'ers).  I didn't swear off driving the MH,.  I mean, I have to do my share of driving (even though I think my captain prefers to do the driving himself), but I sure was glad to relinquish the driver's seat.

The dogs love travelling.  They ride well (mostly sleep) and adapt well at different campgrounds.  Towards the end of the trip, they were getting much better with the "quiet" command, particularly if I gave it before they saw the person or other dog that I knew would make them bark.  It's much harder to "quiet" them once they start barking,  That being said, they are very happy to be home.  They couldn't wait to get in the house and then they immediately wanted out in the back yard.

That's when I noticed how green the grass was.  While we were gone, we saw plenty of grass, but none of it looks like it does at home.  They say the grass is greener on the other side, but I don't think so, not literally and not figuratively. Home is sweet,  home is green,  home is where the heart is...and it's right here.

It's 7:30....it's not too late for a cup of coffee is it?

Niagara Falls

Today we drove from Verona, NY to Niagara Falls.  Other than a lot of road work, it was an easy drive (yeah, easy for me to say...I wasn't the one driving through all that road construction).  We have seen so much road and bridge construction this trip.  At least the road workers and the assembly line workers at Caterpillar are working.  Now if we can just come up with a plan for the rest of the 14.9 million workers who need jobs.

The French high wire walker, Didier Pasquette,  is scheduled to walk tomorrow night in Buffalo.  It is to celebrate the opening of a new art gallery.  He's going to walk between the two Statues of Liberty on top of (what else?) the Liberty Building.  Too bad we will be gone.  Bummer...I love stuff like that.  One of the local TV stations will stream it live, so if you're interested, tune at 6:30 pm Thursday.  The TV station can be found at http://www.wgrz.com/default.aspx.  Here's a photo of Monsieur Pasquette:

Now, for the Falls.  Even though this was our third time here, I never get tired of it.  The water is so clear and powerful.  It was a cloudy, misty day, but there were still plenty of tourists here.  Here are two photos - flowers and flags:

Here's a picture of Doug and I with our new friend, Al from Long Island.  He and his wife asked us to take a photo of them and we did, and then we asked his wife to take ours as well.  We also asked for one with Al who was a very nice man.  We told him he would be famous on our travel blog!

I asked them if they knew Mary Occhino, the psychic with a radio show called "Angels on Call", but they didn't know her.  I thought everyone on Long Island knew Mary O.

Here's a great shot of the Falls that Doug took:

When we left the Falls, we drove a short way to the Seneca Niagara Casino, owned and operated by the Seneca Nation of Indians.  Doug and the dogs napped while I went inside to check out the free coffee (oh, and a few slots, of course).  I gave them a little bit of what I had won in Verona, but still ended up for two casino visits.  Pretty good results.

This is our last night on the road.  We are staying at a KOA which is okay...free WIFI, full hook-ups, but not the most scenic of places,  Maybe I just have the "Last Night Blues".  I always get this way at the end of a trip.  Sad to see it end.  It sure doesn't seem like we've been gone 3 weeks.  Feels like I'm just getting into the swing of things.

I was going through the cupboards earlier for something to snack on and couldn't believe how many snacks are left.  Crackers, an un-opened can of cashews, candy galore, an un-opened bag of trail mix, an un-opened bag of banana chips, two Key Lime Yoplait Whips in the freezer (same two I packed when we left home that I planned on eating on a hot night in Myrtle Beach as a substitute for ice cream), an apple and some un-opened cookies (of course I've been eating bakery cookies along the way, probably why the Pepperidge Farms ones are un-opened).  With less snacking and more walking (gotta keep the doggies busy and happy), my clothes are loose on me.  No idea what I weigh, but when the clothes are loose, it usually means a weight loss.

You know, we have a full tank of fuel, still have plenty of cash and food - can't we extend this trip a little bit?  One more week?  What's that you say, Captain?  Quit dreaming and pick up my book and pour a fresh cup of coffee?  Okay...if you insist.

Lake George to Vernona, NY

We left Lake George this morning for a short drive west to Verona.  We are staying at Turning Stone Resort, which is owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation.  There are 4 hotels, 4 golf courses, 10 restaurants, a day spa, a casino and an RV Park.

The RV Park is very nice.  The sites are wide and long, full hook-ups, free WIFI and the price is very reasonable.  We would definitely stay here again.  They have a free shuttle service to the golf courses and the casino.

Our site faces one of the fishing ponds.  It's stocked with bass.  The sign says 2 fish limit per day, but they prefer you catch and release.  Here's a view of the pond:

When I got back from a short trip to the casino, Doug was eating popcorn.  The dogs were being vigilant in case he dropped a piece or two:

The casino works differently than any other one I've ever been in.  You give cash to the cashier, who loads that amount onto a card.  You put your card in the machine, enter your 4-digit PIN and then play.    Your winnings are automatically added to your card.  When you're done, you cash in your card.  It's kind of a cool way to play because it's easy to determine if and how much you are up/down.  No paper slips, no cash.  I hit a few jackpots and I'm up!

They also have the state's largest bingo hall and it's rated one of the top 10 bingo halls in the country.  The shuttle driver told me that this whole resort was started with the bingo hall.  Must be profitable when you look at everything this place now has.

My captain has a bad back tonight, so I guess I'm going to have to head back over there by myself and see if there are any jackpots left in the machines.  Besides, the coffee is free and I'm ready for a cup...

Heading West

We left Vermont this morning for a very short drive across the border to Lake George, NY.  After 2 nights at sufferable campgrounds - one in New Hampshire and one in Vermont - we are at a beautiful park.  Actually, a resort style setting.

Now, I don't really require pools, game rooms, hot tubs, tennis courts, etc., but I really do like having a clean campground with decent size, level (or almost level) sites, a decent WIFI connection (free is best, but I'll gladly pay if the signal is strong and the speed is fast) and a laundry.  A good cable line-up is a plus, but we can do without the cable for awhile if we can get a local TV station on the old antenna to catch some news.  Needless to say, I am a happy camper again.

We stopped in Queensbury at a Hannaford grocery for a few items before heading to the campground.  (Yes, we got lost when we left the grocery...GPS unlogic again.)  Man, I love Hannaford and wish we had them back home.  They are an east coast chain and I have looked for them when we've searched for a grocery out here.  Great selection and their produce, meat and seafood departments are first-rate.  Today, I couldn't resist buying these cookies:

I mean, cookies from the Luna Rossa Bake Shop in Staten Island, NY, with the Italian flag on the package?   I had to buy them!  Luna Rossa means "red moon" in Italian and when I looked closer at the label, I finally noticed the red moon - a quarter moon at that - my favorite moon phase.  The cookies are very good.

Tonight we had a campfire and grilled some really delicious steaks.  Here are Doug and the dogs with the campfire:

The Tigers are on ESPN, Doug has a bag of roasted peanuts in his lap, and me...I'm ready for another cup of coffee...

New Hampshire to Vermont

Even though we were only 8 miles from the NASCAR track at Louden, NH and the campground had many race fans there, it was a quiet night.  Mostly middle aged folks, no rabble-rousers were around so it was peaceful.  We sat outside around a campfire for about an hour and then settled in for the night.

We got a fairly early start today and headed west across NH.  Here's a view from a parking area we were in for a break:

The leaves are starting to turn and it was a beautiful drive.  We drove into Vermont to find Sugarbush  Farm.  As advertised on their website, "At the end of a scenic Vermont road lies a cheese lover's paradise".   Being new to having a motor home, we didn't think about calling ahead to see if it is reachable in a big rig.  As the roads kept getting narrower and going from paved to dirt, my husband turned to me and said "Now what have you gotten us into?".  Here's a view of the road near the farm:

 

Almost, but not quite a 2-tracker.  We drove slow as did the on-coming traffic (just a few cars, thankfully no MH headed the opposite way) so that one or the other of us could pull over and let the other one by.  

Sugarbush is a 550 acre hillside farm in central Vermont a few miles off of US 4 near Woodstock.  They make cheese, maple syrup, jams, jellies and lots of other great stuff.  They have a cheese and syrup tasting room right where they are busy packing up goodies to ship.  I tried their mild cheddar, aged extra sharp cheddar, the hickory and maple smoked cheddar and the aged cheddar with horseradish.  My two favorites were the aged extra sharp and the one with horseradish.  We bought some cheese, raspberry jam and 2 home made dog biscuits.  Jesse and Jackie were pleased.  Here's one of the barns at Sugarbush:

We left the farm to head back to US 4.  Because we were headed west, the GPS takes us a different way than when we came in (gotta love the GPS logic).  We get a stone's throw from US 4 and voila! - we have to cross the river through a covered bridge with only 10' clearance.

Now, my memory isn't always the best and I can't immediately recall if we can clear it, but it looks like we can't so we err on the side of safety and turn right instead of going through the bridge.  Of course, the GPS doesn't know that we are travelling in a 36' MH, so it tries to take us on roads that are narrower than we drove to Sugarbush and voila! - we get lost.  Yes, it's that pattern again, but we haven't been lost in a few days, it's beautiful outside and we don't have far to go until our next camground, so, no problem.

OOOPS...big problem!  All of a sudden we are at a dead end road.  There is a narrow private road that also dead ends, so my captain politely requests that I get out of the MH to help direct him so that he can do an 8 point turn to get us out of this mess I got us into.  With fine driving by my captain, we get turned around.  I promptly put in a way point in the GPS that is east so that it will take us out the same way we came in.  Finally, we got back to US 4 and headed west.

Our planned stop for 2 nights is on Lake Bomoseen in VT.  Suffice it to say, that it's not at all like described in Woodall's nor on the campground's website, so we will only stay one night and get on the road again in the morning.

Cheddar cheese goes with coffee, right?  Time to pour a cup...

Searsport Maine

We arrived at Searsport on Wednesday afternoon and stayed at Searsport Shores campground.  It is right on the water and we were lucky to get an ocean front site.  No cable TV and our antenna picked up only 2 stations in Bangor...ABC and Fox.  They have WIFI, but in order to get a signal at our site, we had to put the lap-top on the dashboard passenger side and if a car drove by, it interrupted the signal and I'd have to connect all over again.  We did have 25 mph winds and a lot of rain on Thursday afternoon and night, but thankfully nothing like they had in NYC yesterday

That being said, it was the best view of any campsite so far on this trip.  This is the view from our site:

When the tide was fully out on Thursday morning, I took the dogs for a walk along the rocky bottom that was exposed.  They had a great time smelling everything from sea weed to the mussel shells that the seagulls would open by flying with them in their mouths and then dropping them on the rocks to break them open.

This is a view of our site from the rocky shore:

A couple owns this campground and the wife was a very creative type.  She had wool for sale to make into yarn, art projects for kids and very natural plantings.  You can check out her photo gallery on their website for more photos (http://www.campocean.com/), but here are a couple of my favorites I found there.  The first is a flower weaving.  How creative because you could change the flowers depending on what was in bloom:

The next one is a weaving made from something that aqua farmers use in cultivating mussels.  The husband tried to explain its original purpose to me, but I didn't quite get it except to understand that this is just one piece that makes a circle and then they drop ropes off of it for the mussels to attach to:

The husband told me that the items that are woven in were done by campers this summer, mostly children.  I think this is a great way to re-use something.

We left there this morning and headed south to catch 202 over to New Hampshire.  While we didn't get lost, I did pick another campground that's only 10 miles from Louden, NH where the NASCAR race is this weekend.  This is the 2nd time this trip I managed to do this  (last weekend it was Richmond, VA).   When we realized it, we called ahead to the campground and they told us they had a site for us.  Because it's race weekend, we had to pay a premium price so we will only stay here one night and move on.  The WIFI signal is strong, fast and free!  

The nights are getting cooler and the fresh air is great.  It was only around 60 for a high here today, but it feels good to wear socks, jeans and a light sweater.

Doug just made me a fresh pot of coffee and I'm ready for a cup....

Southern Maine

We arrived in Old Orchard Beach, ME yesterday.  We reserved a rental car for today so that we could make our way up and down about a 20 mile stretch of US 1 to go to the beach and hit some antique stores.  We had a great day.  We headed into town to get a peek at the ocean here.  Very typical Maine beach...some sand....some rocks...beautiful.

It was nice to see the sun today as it had been cloudy for the last 3 days.  The sun felt so warm.  The breeze was strong and refreshing.  It was warm enough for shorts, but cool enough for long sleeves...a perfect day.

We hit a few antique stores between here and Wells.  I found a few treasures.  A great print of poppies in a cool frame, a pyrographic box with painted cherries to add to my collection and a pair of toleware square bowls:

We headed out to Wells Beach for a late lunch.  We ate at Billy's Chowder House.  Clam chowder and a fish sandwich.  The sandwich was so big we could have shared a plate.

I brought Doug and the dogs back to the campground so that I could go back to town to a grocery store for a few items before we leave tomorrow to head further north.  I couldn't resist buying some mini cannoli and a small apple/blueberry crumble pie.  When I got back, new neighbors had moved in and the peace we were enjoying is gone.  They are kind of a rowdy bunch, but hey, we'll be out of here tomorrow, so no worries.

Now for that cup of coffee...

On The Road Again

After 2 relaxing nights, we left Mystic this morning and headed north...ultimate destination Maine.  This was our 11th day on the road and the Captain of this ship had yet to stop at an IBEW Local to buy a shirt.  That being said, he thought it would be a great idea to stop at Boston.  UGH!  Interstate 95 does this great thing and loops to the west around Boston, but to go to the Union Hall, we have to take 93 in towards the city.  If you know my husband even a little bit, you know that he wears an IBEW shirt 99% of the time.  So who was I to say "no"?  My only caveat is that when we leave the Hall, we turn around, head south again on 93 and pick up 95 again.  No problem.

We easily find the Hall and he buys 3 shirts.  As usual, at any IBEW Union Hall we have ever stopped at, the employees are friendly, polite and helpful.  I swear, the IBEW has the greatest people working for them where ever we go!

Their apprenticeship school has a building opposite the Hall and look what they have:

Also, we couldn't resist taking a photo of the MH in the parking lot:

We head out to get back on 93S and promptly get lost (do you see a pattern here?).  Finally we find our way back to 93 after touring some small side streets, with utility construction.  YIKES, more orange barrels!

We get out of the city, get to northern Mass and decide to get off and have lunch ocean side.  We stopped at Salisbury Beach State Park.  It seems like a nice park and while there's a line for people to get into the campground, it's free parking today at the beach parking lot.    Here's a shot from the beach lot:

We finished lunch and headed back to 95.  We drove to Old Orchard Beach, ME where we are camped at Paradise Park Resort.  At first glance, it doesn't seem like much, but I took the dogs for a walk around the place and it's quite nice.  Only about 10 cable channels, but the WI-FI connection is excellent, the speed is lightning fast and it's free.

We've rented a car for tomorrow to do a little sightseeing and antiquing.  Wells is only about 19 miles south of here and between here and Wells there are at least 17 antique shops.  Also, even though this is our 4th time to Maine, we have never really checked out the main area of Old Orchard Beach, so we will take a look tomorrow.

Now if I can just pour a fresh cup of coffee....

A Day To Relax

Yesterday we drove from the Washington, DC suburbs to Mystic, CT.  Even though it was a Saturday, the traffic was worse than I-94 in southeast Michigan during rush hour.  Where were all those people going to and coming from at 10:00 am on a Saturday?  I'm glad I don't live in one of those major metropolitan areas...too much traffic...too many people.

We needed a few things from the grocery and promptly got lost in Mystic.  We ended up on US 1 (the same one that runs from Maine all the way down to Key West) right through historic downtown Mystic.  This weekend there was a festival called "Taste of Mystic".  Eats and music and lots of people.

Naturally, this being an old seaport in New England, the street was narrow.  The drawbridge came up so that some sailboats could pass through so we turned off the engine and waited.  It was fun to people watch for a few minutes and to see those sideways glances from some folks who must have wondered "Why in the world would you drive such a big rig down this street during the festival?".

We're staying at Seaport Campground in Old Mystic.  It's not on the water, but the campground is quiet and our nearest neighbors are maybe 50 yards away.

Our plan was to stay just one night, but after yesterday's traffic, we decided to stay tonight, too.  A great day to just relax.  I think I will sit and read, watch Doug and the dogs take a nap...

make a fresh pot of coffee and maybe catch up on some laundry.

My mom and step-dad are in Indy this week and they're all getting together today at my sister's house.  I wish I could be there.  I miss you Mom and Bud!

Gratitude

We arrived in the Washington, DC area around noon and found a spot at a campground we had previously stayed at a few years ago - Cherry Hill in College Park, MD.  The Metro bus comes right into the campground and one of the stops is at a Metro subway station, which is just what we needed because we aren't towing a car.

We settled into our site, had a quick lunch and boarded the bus.  We're only here for one night and we've both been to DC a few times.  We knew the commute between the bus and the subway would take at least an hour so we had to pick just one place to go.  We picked Arlington Cemetery.  

There are many famous people buried there - JFK, RFK, EMK, Jackie O, Abner Doubleday, Audie Murphy and Joe Louis, but the most notable are the every day men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom - those who died in combat and those who served in the military.  From the American Civil War to the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.  From 3800 former slaves to 4 star generals.  From memorials to those who died on the USS Maine to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.  Hallowed ground...somber...reverent...peaceful.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers...WW I, WW II, Korea and Viet Nam.  They are there... perpetually guarded since 1937.

If you served our country, thank you.  If you're currently serving, thank you.  We are grateful.

Roughing It

We left the Ocean Lakes Campground today but not before we cruised around to check out some of the beautiful motor homes there.  Some of them are just unbelievable!  These folks are really roughing it.

 All of the staff at the campground were very nice. We met some really nice folks who were camped next to us. There was a young couple from Virginia with their 2 children camped in front of us and they took this photo of us:

We decided to head to Washington, DC so up 95 we go.  Because it was nearly 5:00, we decided to stop about 15 miles north of Richmond, VA and make the rest of the trip tomorrow....oooops....forgot about the fact that the Nascar race is in Richmond this weekend and the campground was full.  The nice lady at the campground told us to go about 10 more miles north to Kings Dominion where there was another campground.  YES...they have a spot.  Finally off the road.  Got set up and made Doug's favorite potato salad.  Now if I can just get a cup of coffee.....