Monthly Archives: September 2012

We drove for 6 hours on US 2, a two lane road, to get to Bangor and a really nice RV Park called Pumpkin Patch.  The first thing I noticed was we were next to a Prevost that looked like a train.  It has to be 45 feet long and I noticed this morning they trailer a car behind them as well.  I can’t imagine!

Pumpkin Patch Campground, Bangor, ME

Anyway, we got here at around 3 pm yesterday, got hooked up and went into Bangor.  We were told about a very good restaurant on the Penobsco River and went for a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate our arrival in Maine.  I had very good lobster bisque and Jim had a crab and havarti sandwich while we watched the scenery on the river.  Bangor looks like many larger cities and does not have the charm we saw in Montpelier.

Sea Dog Restaurant on Penobsco River

The 46 degree night-time lows have caused the trees to begin their leaf changes and every so often we see a beautiful yellow, reddish-orange tree in the midst of lots of green.  If it continues, this should be a beautiful fall season filled unforgettable vista and sights.  We only have 3 hours to drive today to get to Lubec, Maine which is the eastern most city in the U.S. and we are anticipating some spectacular sun rises.  Because we are so much farther east than in Ocala, sunrise here this morning was just after 6 am.  Lubec may be even earlier.  We’ll see.

We have seen this plant all through this area (VT to ME) can anyone identify it for us?  We have been too lazy to ask the locals.

With all this non-stop traveling and sight seeing, we decided we needed a day with no real plans.  The weather has been really nice with 43 degree nights and 70 degree days and sunny.  Yesterday we found a small Church of Christ congregation in Montpelier to worship with.  It certainly is different to go from a 300+ congregation to less than 50.  After church we went to this little shop we found on Saturday that serves crepes of all kinds made from local Vermont produce.  They had a Sunday morning special of Eggs Benedict Crepes which Jim loved and I had an Egg Fetatastic Crepe filled with all kinds of Greek tasting things.  It was fabulous.

We spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs around the RV, reading, and Jim took more pictures.  If you haven’t seen them, posted later yesterday under gallery are some additional pictures of the area.

Today we pack up and leave for Maine.  There are no Interstate Highways to get you there, only two lane roads so we don’t know how long it will take.  By the way, Happy Birthday Faye Johnson!

What a fun day!  The weather started off crisp but sunny which was perfect for the list of things we wanted to see in the area.  First we stopped by the local cemetery because we were told this area is noted for its granite.  Years ago there were many Italian artisans who would make elaborate markers using the granite and it would be worth going to see.  Based on these pictures, you decide if it was worth stopping there.

Then we went to the Cabot Cooperative Creamery.  Back in the early 1900s the area dairy farmers decided it would be better if they formed a cooperative rather than each try to sell their products individually.  Over the years they have grown into a 1,200 farmer coop and a creamery making 84,000 pounds of cheese and cheese products a day.  They ship down the east coast as far south as Florida with some products and have just started shipping into Texas.  Of course the best part was the samples and the market where we added to the local economy.

Then we went to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.

Think Sound of Music and the Von Trapp Family.  After they left their home and all their possessions in Austria in 1937, they travelled all over singing and entertaining until they bought property in Stowe Vermont and built a home where they would entertain their friends and family.  It ultimately grew into the resort that welcomes visitors from all over the world.  I was looking at a painting in the lobby that looked like it was the hills in Austria.  Suddenly a woman started talking to me in a foreign language telling me all about the painting.  Like any red blooded American, I just nodded and smiled and pretended to understand what she was saying.  Based on the photos I saw in the lobby, Maria was no Julie Andrews.

From there we went to the Morse Maple Farm where we saw how they tapped the maple trees and the process for converting the sap into syrup and other maple products.  It was amazing to find out you have to boil down 40 gallons of sap to one gallon of syrup.  In the tasting room and gift shop we again added to the local economy, including a wonderful find for myself maple kettle corn.  Now that is good snacking.

For those of you who are like me and not smarter than a 4^th grader, I didn’t realize Montpelier was the capital of Vermont until we got here.  It is a beautiful state capitol and the Capitol building now standing is the third building in that spot constructed in 1859 after the previous two buildings were destroyed by fire.  Look at this building and the landscaping in the front.

We walked all around town and ended up at Sarducci Restaurant overlooking a water way on the edge of the city.  The weather was getting serious about raining but we still got a table on the porch with big windows looking out.  It was perfect until it started to rain.  We closed the windows, but looking out was still a better option than sitting inside.

The end of a perfect day.

We actually drove for 7 hours yesterday and it was SUNNY all the way.  We managed to stay on major roads most of the way and basically stay out of trouble.  I did have a serious senior moment and forgot to fasten the refrigerator .  Yup!  We stopped to get a snack and when I opened the door, there were things from inside the refrigerator sitting on the floor and the door was wide open.  Fortunately it wasn’t that long after we started and nothing really messy fell out.  Hopefully this experience will help me to remember to ALWAYS fasten those doors and it won’t happen again.

We arrived at our new RV home around 4 pm.  There was no one in the office and just a note that said, “If I’m not here just pick your site and I will see you in the morning.  So that’s what we did exactly what the note said and picked a nice spot away from other campers.  Within 10 minutes in came three other rigs and we were immediately surrounded.

This morning when we got up, I heard some tinkering noises coming from behind us so I looked out the window.  I was blown away by what I saw.  There were two people getting breakfast and packing up their camper parked right behind us.  Not too unusual since this is an RV Park.  The unusual part was the size of the people and the size of the camper.  These were two large people in the smallest camper I have ever seen.  I waited until they were all packed up and pulling away and then I took a picture from inside for you to see.  The picture looks fuzzy because of the screen, but I thought you would get the idea.  Is that not the smallest camper you have ever seen?

The compartment in the back is where they have a propane stove and they sleep inside.  In the front is a storage space.  How amazing is that.

Today we plan to take in the sights surrounding Montpelier.

We spend most of yesterday with Jim’s sister Carol and her family.  We even got to know her youngest granddaughter.  She is just about one year old and we hadn’t seen her since soon after she was born.  We haven’t been back to Pennsylvania since my father-in-law’s passing in January.  Talking on the phone or texting is really only the bare minimum of relationship building.  Nothing can take the place of in person visits.

Today is one of those “getting from point A to point B days and we are hoping we can do it without a lot of rain or fog.  We are headed to East Montpelier, Vermont for three days.

By the way, the night before last we switched from air conditioning to heat.  No matter what the calendar says, for me that makes it officially Fall.

I am so tired of Isaac!  This storm has followed us all the way to Pennsylvania and is making our driving more difficult every day.  Yesterday we met our friends in Manhattan at the Cloisters which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  There was a section of the drive just before we went over the George Washington Bridge where the rain was horrific.  It’s bad enough to drive in unfamiliar NY traffic but adding a significant rain event keeps your knuckles white, whether or not you are actually doing the driving.

Once we got there and met our friends we had a great time.  The Cloisters is a building constructed with funds from John Rockefeller Jr. to house artifacts from churches and cathedrals all over the world and preserve them for future generations.  It’s very interesting the way the exhibits are constructed because they are actually incorporated into the building.  Some of the doorways are arches from old monasteries and cathedrals.  In one room, they actually had the most ornate hand-carved staircase and doorway I have ever seen from the 12 century.  No flash photography allowed or I would have taken a picture for you.  We did take a picture in the garden, though.

Of course all this history was punctuated by our friends who have been a part of my life for over 50 years.  Louise and I were friends back in high school and because of her efforts we have remained friends all these years.   I am reminded of a song I was taught in Girl Scouts years ago:

“Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other gold.”

To all our “golden” friends reading this blog and keeping track of us, we love you and miss you very much.

We made it to Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania without a hitch.  For those of you not familiar with the area, think Pocono Mountains.  Leaving West Virginia and most of the day we rode up and down steep mountain roads.  I’m not sure which worried me more; going up or going down.  Think about it.  We are traveling with about 12,000 pounds behind us.  Each time our Ford truck performed perfectly.  It had the power to pull us up with ease and the transmission down shifted automatically when we were coming down.  Don’t I sound like a Ford commercial?  To make the up and down more fun, we experienced the same kind of fog we had yesterday leaving North Carolina.  The good thing was this time it didn’t last long.

We arrived at our new home around 3pm and found this charming campground with each site nestled in the trees.  I was blown away how expertly Jim backed right into the spot on the first try.  We set up camp including all the amenities of cable TV, outdoor floor mat, and awning since we are staying for four days and three nights.

Tomorrow we are meeting my friend from high school and her husband in Manhattan to a fun day.  The forecast is for rain, but that won’t dampen our fun (pun indented)!

We made it to South Carolina in plenty of time to take in a movie and dinner after setting up for the night.  We are getting pretty good at setting up in about 15 minutes without the sewer hookup and 20-25 minutes with a full hookup of sewer and cable.   It’s been much hotter in the Carolinas than in Florida.  We have seen temperatures between 95 and 98 each day and humidity off the charts. After one night we moved on to North Carolina thinking it might cool off some but it was hot there too.  In the spirit of bipartisanship, Charlotte is offering the Democrats the same humidity experience that Tampa offered the Republicans.

Sunday was a very nice day.  We were able to worship and visit with our friends Jack and Beverly at their church.  From everything we experienced, Concord Church of Christ is a very friendly, warm church family who really care about each other.

We left on Monday morning for West Virginia which is only a one night stay.  This is the worst part of the trip because it’s just getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible with nothing fun along the way.  To make the drive even worse, we immediately ran into some of the thickest fog I have ever seen.  All those semis and cars racing into this thick fog made me think of the I-75 accident at Paynes Prairie last year.  If only we had gotten a truck with a brake pedal on the passenger side, in addition to the pedal on the driver’s side!  Once the fog lifted, we started to see the beautiful vistas several people had told us about on I-81.  We actually saw some of the trees beginning their fall color changes with just a hint of red hues and some yellowing leaves.  This should be spectacular on our way back south after we leave Maine.

Just when it seemed like we were finally making some progress, in came the remnants of Isaac with heavy rain so intimidating that experienced truck drivers were traveling slowly with their emergency flashers on.  And through it all, Jim was calm and careful.  You would have thought he did this every day.

We arrived at our overnight stay to a surprising sight.  Except for a single pop-up trailer, we were the only campers in the park.

The owner indicated all the Labor Day campers had left earlier in the day and the campground was getting ready to set up for this coming weekend’s festivities.  It seems next weekend is the 6^th annual BBQ and Bluegrass Festival which is a statewide event held here at Lazy A Campground.  It sounds like it could be fun if not just unique to experience.  We are sorry we will miss it but we need to get on with our main trip.  Leaving this early will get us into Pennsylvania by 2 or 3 pm for a three day stay.

We left our driveway at 9:15 this morning after going through multiple checklists and last minute additions.  Think about being away from your home for over four months and trying not to let it overwhelm you.  I have a new appreciation for what Snow Birds go through just to invade the South each year.  They must really want to be here because it ain’t easy!

By 4 pm we were pulling into our designed camp site and analyzing the various connections that needed to be made.  I have to say that after our Alabama experience on August 13^th, I found myself holding my breath while waiting to see what this RV Park would look like even though we are only staying one night.  We are staying in St George, South Carolina tonight and making our way to Linwood, North Carolina (near Lexington) and stay over Labor Day.  We have some church friends up there we can worship with on Sunday and just stay off the road for the holiday.  This park meets my minimum requirement of gravel or concrete pad, water, sewer and grass mowed within the past week.

Jim is outside now washing love bugs off the front of the RV and truck.  It never occurred to me they were this far north.  This will be a quiet night and leisurely drive to North Carolina tomorrow.