THIS IS THE END OF OUR JOURNEY OF 2012

Will we travel again in a house on wheels?

REFLECTIONS

After being home for several days roaming around this enormous house,I sit stretched out in my favorite chair quite comfortably, to say the least. I am really enjoying the extra space, and I am sure Norman feels the same. Having driven (ridden) nearly 6150 miles in the motorhome, plus an additional 4500 miles in the car for “short“ side trips, I thought this might be a good time to reflect on our adventure over the last 90 days.

We saw many large car carriers such as this. Intimidating!

About a month back I finally began to totally relax and trust Norm’s very capable driving, and over the past few days have really marveled at his ability to maneuver this large land-yacht through work zones and around very intimidating 18 wheeler's hauling all sorts of interesting paraphernalia.  They were carrying houses, giant windmill blades ( boy those are big up close ) bridge trusses,not to mention the seemingly endless parade of new car haulers (I thought there was a recession?) and we can not forget the four legged creatures darting out into the road.  Nothing like a moving hazard to get your heart rate up!   Plus, I swear the other drivers try to jump right out and cut us off intentionally! ( They warned us of that in RV driving school ).

Norman has enjoyed long distance driving throughout his life and he finds driving our RV not much different than driving a large SUV. There is a much better visual perspective of our surroundings this high up and the large span of windows afford incredible views you just would not be able to have in a much lower automobile.  Since Norm loves driving, and is so good at it, I just sat back and let him drive.  Next year, however, I really do need to get behind the wheel more.  After driving horse trailers for years, I would hate to become timid in my old age.

 Listening to Sirius satellite radio certainly heightens the experience.   I, on the other hand, hate to sit for more than a half hour no matter where I am; be it on a plane or on the beach. Thank goodness for this blog. With the computer in my lap I am much more able to cope with sitting for such long periods of time.  I find the seats very comfortable and of course I love the views. I wish I could sleep to pass the time, but I never have been able to do that.

Mobile luxury hotel - how much better can it get?
It's a bit small at 32 feet, but very comfortable

To me, the Motorhome is so phenomenally comfortable to travel in.  Everything - favorite foods, sporting goods, clothes for all occasions, games, snacks and footwear are all stored neatly and are available at your fingertips. We are fortunate to have an extremely comfortable bed to sleep in every night without the worries of bedbugs and other “creepy crawlers”.  Showers are clean as are the floors. (Most of the time). You would never find that consistency going hotel to hotel, not to mention the inconceivable inconvenience of packing and unpacking all the time.  We cannot forget the fact that the bathroom is always only 10 feet away.

We feel there are, however, just a few negatives.

The biggest one, of course, is the “campsites” that these large vehicles are often relegated to.  They usually are crowded, treeless, and afford little, if any, privacy.  We no longer feel like we are “camping“ but parked sometimes even on cement, in a lovely little hotel room.  Prior to this purchase we looked for the most remote of tent sites (that our car could drive to) that we could find.  This is very different, believe me. But to be perfectly honest, there were many, many days or nights that the weather was horrendous and the fact that we were nestled in our warm and dry “tent” using all the modern conveniences made our mode of travel much better. We were also able to “stay put” and wait for the weather to pass. Had we been in a tent, everything would be, at the least, damp and gross until you dried them out. Yuck!  Been there, done that!

A sea of campers

I also would not be completely honest if I did not confess that spending 90 days in such tight confines with ANYONE, even if you love them dearly, can sometimes be, let’s say, “Close”.  We all need our personal space once in a while – if only to watch a few minutes of TV, or to call a friend, right?  But all in all, it was wonderful.  We met dozens of couples that have sold their homes and now RV full time.  I can certainly see the appeal.  Just one small “home” to worry about. No lawn care, etc.  Just pick up and go, moving to where the weather is best. Our lives have become much too complicated managing all our “stuff”.

Yikes! This is costing HOW MUCH?

The gas, of course, is a negative.  You may be able to travel a long time between fill ups, but when we do it is really painful.  Not just the dollar amount, but the gas stations, for some reason, put a limit on the dollar amount they allow you to charge on a particular credit card. They obviously are not “Gas Hog“ friendly. We often had to use three different cards to fill the tank!

The other negative which comes with the RV territory, is the exhaustive preparation it requires to travel each time we want to move on.  Norm washes the windows, performs the disgusting chore of emptying the tanks, sometimes (not nearly often enough for my “safety maintenance addiction”) checks the tire pressures, puts away any outdoor carpets, grills, chairs, etc.)

Dumping the sewer tanks is the worst part of RV chores

While I am inside stowing away everything, doing the morning dishes, and getting everything ready to leave including hooking up the car and installing the brake system. We pull in the slides; lift up the jacks, etc. This ultimately takes a lot longer than merely packing up a suitcase and heading out the door.  We never, however, have to take time to stop at restaurants for meals and usually are not disappointed in what is served.

Summary –

We saw hundreds and hundreds of miles of incredible scenery and took quite a few great hikes, and a few terrific bike rides, all the while enjoying exceptionally good weather. We had hoped to kayak a few times, but the best place to do that was in Nova Scotia, which we will thoroughly explore next year. We met some very interesting people and learned about different cultures, history, and of course, lots about geology. We ate in restaurants only about 10-12 times, but when we did, they were fantastic culinary experiences.

Bake Apple ( a native berry )  and a jar of Blueberry Jam

We did a little bit of shopping, but were unable
to find anything really worth purchasing.  We ended up getting a few small items that we can add to our very small Christmas tree.  All the "ornaments" are mementos from each vacation.  Often you can't find an actual ornament, so we use refrigerator magnets, key chains, etc. and put ribbons on them.  We also were wild and crazy and bought a couple of jars of native jam from a Newfoundland shop called Dark Tickle.   How many of you can go on a three month vacation and are able to put all your moments  in the palm of your hand?

We were incredibly fortunate to visit nearly all of our families, saw all of our closest friends up in the Boston area and in North Bay, Ontario, as well (that seems so long ago).

We love our Motorhome purchase!  We are now an hour from home, and so far, so good.  We had issues with the jacks for a few days, and during that period, trouble “leveling”, but they seemed to have worked themselves out.  No accidents, no dents. We have a few drawers that need new glides, but hey- this is a rolling house that is constantly being twisted, shaken and bumped.

 I find the size quite adequate although Norm would like a bigger bathroom.  Both a washer and dryer would be a REAL nice addition.  This was a very nice purchase.  I can’t wait to go again and am planning more short trips throughout the winter, focusing on Florida State Parks (more primitive). We will be taking another not-so-big trip to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick next June after Norm’s daughter’s wedding in Vermont, in order to spend more time to see and do everything of interest there.  

I hated laundry days

Another positive note:   no bodily accidents (other than my dropping a heavy metal three hole punch on Norm’s bald head, making him bleed and cutting him early on) but no illness, broken bones, food or water poisoning! That’s a first for me! (Especially with a month of “boil water” notices)!

We had a fabulous trip, and look forward to more adventures.  We have a pretty long list of places we would like to see, many right here in the southeast US. 

Norm getting brochures for our the planning of our next trip

Note:  During most of Norm’s life, being Canadian, Newfoundlanders were the butt end of jokes, but now he has an appreciation for the hardships they have endured and how truly friendly, hardworking, and generous a people they are.

Last Leg - Massachusetts to Florida

Massachusetts to Florida –

Our first stop was in an area around Harrisburg, Pa.  It was difficult finding a campsite that appeared to be near the highway, but far enough away not to keep us up all night with a lot of road noise.  We found a 4 ½ star KOA that seemed to do the trick.  We drove a long time today and thought the restaurant they had on the property would be perfect.

Party is over.  Heading home.

 

Well, the place was pretty much shut down for the season.  They charged the full amount, but they had no facilities open, and hardly any staff.  The girl at the counter was probably the most unmotivated employee I have seen in a long time.  There are soooo many people that are out of work, I don’t know how some of these lazy people keep their jobs.  They would be quickly fired if they worked for me! 

Most of the sites here were extremely sloped.  Several motorhomes had their front tires about a foot off the ground, with all their weight forward on their jacks! That could not be a good thing!  Luckily ours was probably one of the most level sites we had been in.  We watched the news, and the biggest headline was the weather.

A front was coming through the eastern states, with tornado watches in our area for the next day.  They predicted 50mph winds with driving rain.  We (actually Norman) decided it was best to stay right there and not be on the roads.  No accidents so far and it would be a shame to end with one.

The next day the forecast was still for a high probability of tornadoes  and we were sitting on a large, open hillside.  Not the best of places to be in an RV!  My Girl Scout preparedness training kicked in, so I began preparing for the worst.

 I went out in the rain and unhooked the car, and brought it around close to the door and left the keys in the ignition in case a tornado was seen and we could jump in and get out of there.  Next I called the front desk and asked what procedures were in place in the case of a tornado. Here’s how the conversation went.

“Hi, this is Alison up on site 20A, and as you know there is a tornado watch.  Could you tell me where we should go if the weather gets really bad?”

“I dun-know”

“You don’t know where your campers should go in a tornado?  Did they give you a procedural hand-book or something during your training?” I asked incredulously.

“No.”

“Could you find out?” I pressed.  She put me on hold for quite a while and replied “they say to just come to the office/recreation center and if it is bad enough we will all go to the bath house with the cement walls.”

Well, this is going well, I thought.  I just pictured the show “Storm Chasers” and our driving a considerable distance to the office (which looked like a cheap aluminum building) and have these idiots either 1) have left already or 2) trusting them to make the appropriate call.

I must sadly admit, at this point my tone was not all that pleasant when I asked “Could you tell me where this safe bathroom is so we could just go there if it really is scary out there? “

“I dun know where it is “.  A long pause. “Well, could you find out?  You really should know this if you work here, for heaven’s sake.“ (Did I really say “heaven”)?

At this point, I got in the car and drove to the office so they could show me a map of exactly where this bathroom is.  I paid to stay another day, and noticed that the roads to leave were washing out already, and the storm had not really hit yet.  My mental emergency plans were firing all pistons at this point. I told Norm that when the wind and rain start really driving, we should pull in the slides so the rain would not get in past the gaskets (I read that somewhere). Norm just thought I was nuts, but agreed.  It would get pretty close in there with the slides in.

About ten minutes after I returned we lost power and internet.  We waited awhile and tried to call the office, but since they didn't answer (I hoped they didn't know something we didn't and had run to the safe area without us) we assumed they just lost power as well.

The road erosion was getting worse and I was afraid if this kept up, we would not be able to get off this site at all, so with some serious pleading, Norman agreed to drive 15-20 minutes up the road to a Comfort Suites where we could have power, a solid building around us, and the motorhome could be parked tightly closed up.  We got our money back (I hope, I must check to verify now that I think of it) and spent the rest of the day at the hotel, and by dinner time the storm was over. 

The next day we made it all the way to Virginia, and after going to one campground that ended up being right up against a major freeway, we drove to another which was extremely quiet. We met a lot of very friendly people there, and learned about this incredible mountain bike rail trail called the “Virginia Creeper,” but I could not, however, convince Norm to stay another day and do it. We had an appointment in Clearwater (which is a two hour drive in each direction) on Monday and we both hated the idea of having only one day home before we had to drive a long distance again.  I could also understand because we were in the “going home mode.”  The weather was perfect, and with the storm two days before, the waterfalls and rapids, we were told, were just amazing.  I really wanted one last “hurrah” before we got home. We will try to hit it next year and hope the conditions will be as good then.

Thursday, September 20^th

Today we drove to the southern section of South Carolina.  Got gas for the last time and the drive was pretty long but uneventful.  This campsite was one that we would not return to. Not an ideal way to end the trip.  I really give Norm a lot of credit for his driving abilities.  These sites were so tight to maneuver in, yet he managed to not only get it into one site, but to squeeze between many trees, cars and motorhomes, into an alternate site after we discovered  we could not hook up the sewer lines where they were located in the first one! Wow!

Friday, September 21st

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we figured would be our last day of vacation. We packed up our clothes and what we would immediately need when we got back home, and got ready to leave.  It was already later than we wanted when I had the bright idea to start up the HHR tow car to give it an extra charge for the drive home.  The supplemental braking system in the car uses up battery power, and they say not to go more than 6 hours without turning it on and letting the alternator charge up the battery. I had forgotten to do this the night before. 

I discovered that the battery was dead as a door-nail.  After six thousand miles, and months of travel, go figure the very last leg of the trip we have a dead battery.  We replaced it back in Nova Scotia in July, so we were a little surprised.

 I looked around for a fellow camper whose vehicle was not attached to the Motorhome  and looked preferably for a pick-up truck. (Pick-up truck owners usually are mechanically superior to those pulling a Cadillac, I thought).  I fortunately found a very amicable fellow who could help us out.  We quickly jump started the car, waited about 20 minutes for it to charge, and finally we were on our way about close to 11AM!

"Are we there yet"?

Traveling through the southern end of Georgia, we will soon be entering back into Florida.  The signs are all there.... Heat, humidity, sporadic rain and the beautiful tropical landscape and of course the dreaded Love Bugs smashed upon our windshield.

Finally back to our spot in the RV covered storage facility

Traffic was light and we managed to get back to our storage facility about 4PM.  We threw everything into the car that we needed that night plus whatever else would fit and finally, at long last, arrived home.

Home Sweet Home!

Things looked good, although we must have had a voltage surge because the Direct TV system was damaged and some circuit breakers were thrown. When we turned the power back on, the smoke detectors started” beeping” because the batteries had died. Poor, tired Norm had to immediately deal with climbing up on a ladder (which we had to borrow from a neighbor because ours was still on the RV )and replacing them. We later discovered the wine cooler was also damaged. We had hired a house-sitter; however we were not surprised these things were not discovered.  Thank God the refrigerator and its contents were on one of the few electrical circuits that did not trip!

Heading South - Days 72-86

Monday, September 3^rd, Labor Day

Last night I almost called Kate (the lady we continuously were bumping into across Newfoundland) to see where she was, but since it was raining so hard I thought it improbable that she would want to drive to our campground for dinner or to just visit.  Well, as we were pulling out of our site the next morning, guess what!  Yep, there she was - standing there only two sites down! Again we meet!  What a shame I didn’t place that call!  It would have been lovely to visit with her and her daughter.  Since she will be staying there for four days, I am sure that this is the LAST time we will meet.  Rather sad.  I will miss her.

US Customs - It's Labor Day - Where is everyone?

It was time to cross the border again, this time to the “good ole USA “.  It was the Monday of the Labor Day weekend, so there was great potential for a huge delay with hundreds of cars, but we were thrilled to see only one car in front of us! For some reason I am always nervous, although I had nothing to hide (pretty much).  With a few questions and a very cursory examination of our refrigerator and a glance into the bathroom, we were on our way.  Now, on a personal level, I was glad of the expedient manner of which we entered the country but it certainly did not make me feel confident in our procedures to keep our borders safe and secure!

We traveled on a few more hours to Bangor Maine and met my brother Steve and his friend. The Pumpkin Patch campground was really very nice.  Big, wide sites and they had a lovely little restaurant that we all had dinner at.  Very convenient, and it was great not to have to unhitch the car.

My brother came with a very generous cooler filled with his homemade organic blueberry products.  Jams, blueberry wines both sweet and dry, and blueberry champagne along with bags and bags of frozen blueberries!  It’s a good thing we have a large freezer!  So far everything has been delicious!

Tuesday, September 4^th

In case you have not come to the conclusion already in my prior accounting of our RV life, I am a “maintenance Nazi “.  It had not been since the RV was purchased that the RV had been thoroughly checked for cracks in the gaskets or caulking on the roof (and now knowing the quality of the dealer’s work, perhaps not even then). I had examined and repaired the main body myself before we left for this trip. The weather report said we were heading into a lot of rain so before we left the Bangor area Norman humored me and we found a nearby RV repair facility to get it checked out professionally. They found a few areas that needed care and took care of it, and gave it a good washing.  Hurray!  I felt much better, and we continued to our Massachusetts destination of Salisbury Beach, which is north of Boston.

We stayed at Beach Rose Campground.  It was pretty nice albeit narrow sites and they ran a very tight ship with lots of rules and regulations.  There were no children the days we were there, so it was very quiet.

We quickly showered our tired bodies and headed off on the 45 minute drive to have dinner with my daughter Laura and meet her boyfriend Mike; we had a terrific evening.

Many times that night we woke up with a “start” due to the biggest acorns we have ever seen falling off the tall trees above us and exploding on the roof!  I worried it was causing damage and planned to go on the roof in the morning to check it out.  (I found everything was ok, and after talking with the fellow next to us that was more of a maintenance freak than me, learned that although it wrecks your sleep, they don’t hurt the roof, which is weird because they dent cars).

Wednesday, September 5^th

It poured throughout the night and was still pretty gloomy in the morning.  I did some laundry and Norm and I took off and did a little shopping to restock the refrigerator.

Even if she is a motorcycle instructor, I do worry !

That night my daughter and her boyfriend came to check out our new “home” and stayed for dinner and cards.  It is so wonderful to spend time with her and Mike.  I missed her.

Thursday, September 6th - Sunday Sept 17th

Today we would have loved to go mountain biking at my old favorite spot, but we were able to get an appointment for deep tissue massages with a fellow I have seen on and off for about 15 years. (He usually is booked out 3 weeks or more)  Hmmmmm  choices: beat up the body a little more…… Or fix our already really hurting muscles……….  Repair won out.

 

After enduring our painful but effective treatments, we went to visit our old friends, Sue and Jerry.

Jerry's Award Winning plant!  Wow!
Can you believe he keeps this in his bathroom?

We learned the fascinating history of Jerry’s one and only orchid that received a Certificate of Cultural Merit from the American Orchid Society. The prerequisites are not only the robust condition of the plant, but the amount of inflorescences ( spikes ) of which he had seven, the plant must be well flowered ( he had 150 ) and score between 80 and 89 out of a perfect 100 score.   What is really noteworthy is,  that by receiving this award he was able to add an additional name to his Cymbidium Pauwelsii.  He chose the name 'Kessander' (combination of his name, “Kessler”, his now wife Sue’s name, “Anderson”)  Thus, the name Cymbidium Pauwelsii 'Kessander', CCM/AOS will continue on as the orchid is split and cultivated by other  orchid enthusiasts.  How cool is that!

This all started 20 years ago, when Sue  purchased an orchid backbulb and proceeded to give it to Jerry, who never having had one before, obviously learned all he needed to know to grow this AWARD WINNING plant!

We did a lot of “catching up” and enjoyed a very delicious dinner.  We are so fortunate our friends are such great cooks!   

Friday, September 7^th

Time to move again to a campground in Foxboro, Mass where Norm will be centrally located so he can do a few days’ work next week.  Norm moved the RV to this location while I stayed up in the North Shore and re-connected with a cousin that I realized that over the years the only times we saw or spoke with each other was at family funerals.  We had a terrific visit, and I am sure we will continue to stay more in touch- hopefully not at another tragic family gathering.

This new campground, Normandy Farms, is unlike any we have stayed at to date.  It is huge - holding about 500 motorhomes, a few tents, cute little cabins and fully furnished yurts.  It is rated 5 stars, and we are told the Travel Channel  touted it as  “one of the premier campgrounds of the world“ .

We now consider this a really nice site
Normandy Farms, Foxboro Massachusetts

There are 3 pools, a fitness center, movie room, places to eat, disc golf, bocce, etc.  The sites are really very spacious with room for 4 cars.  Norm worked out in the fitness room while he awaited my return. Other than that we unfortunately did not take advantage of all these amenities

Saturday, Sept 8^th to Sunday Sept 16th

Oh, I am so behind in writing this blog!  We did not do anything too exciting to read about.  Over the next week Norman worked three of the days and then in the evenings we had many of our friends and family wanting to see the motorhome, so on separate occasions, we had them over for dinner, a campfire, and a lot of chatting.

Our extended family-to-be

such a nice yard to play games in

Jackie in her new home

On Saturday we were able to see Norm’s daughter Jackie and her fiancé Joel’s gorgeous new home in Medfield, not far from the campground. We were going to go mountain biking behind their house, but after the torrential rain the night before, we thought it judicious to stay out of the potentially slippery woods. We don’t want to get hurt at this point of the trip. (and if Norm got hurt, I might have to drive all the way home – it would take us weeks with me driving)!  We spent the afternoon and evening with them and Joel’s lovely parents and extended family during a clambake at their new home.

Laura

Side note:
 My father at one time was a commercial “clammer” and we enjoyed frequent clambakes during my youth, but unfortunately, had not had a single clam in over a decade.  Boy, I love them!

 Jackie and Joel have a passion for games, so we played Flag Toss out in the yard, then a game of dice later inside, losing $2.00 in the process. They plan a destination wedding in Vermont next summer which will encompass an entire weekend.  I know they are planning lots of games, so Norm and I will have to practice a lot in order to beat them!  I don't care if they are the bride and groom- they are going down! We will have to start "training" soon.

I was able to spend an extra day with my daughter, and Norm met with his younger daughter Nicole for a lovely lunch.  Her schedule was so crazy that unfortunately more time could not be spent with her.  Hopefully she will be able to come to Florida soon so we spend more quality time with her.

It is so great to get out with friends!

We played a round of golf with friends at the same course that we had actually met them at probably 6-8 years ago.  It was the most incredible day, and we walked the course giving us some much needed exercise.

 Earlier in our trip we had been doing lots of physical activities but for the last 3 weeks – nothing.  It felt great to finally get out and move.  I was hoping we would have been hiking and biking right up until we arrived back in The Villages so I could immediately join the bike club, pickleball, etc., but time, location and weather just did not allow it. Hopefully I didn’t lose too much of that hard earned fitness I developed.

Sunday, Sept 16th 
                                                                                                    

This was our last day here in Massachusetts, and the weather is phenomenal!  A bit cool in the morning, (downright cold at 42 degrees to be truthful), but warmed up quickly to hit about 75 – 80 at noon.  We spent the morning looking at the other potential campgrounds in the area. The place where we are now is lovely, but the road noise at night has been keeping us awake, and frankly, the off season rate of $59 a night during the week and $69 a night weekends just seems crazy to us for a “parking space” with electric, water, and sewer hook-up.

 Oh, we are so glad we did because you just can’t tell looking on line.  I think they often take a picture for the internet with campers spaced two or even three sites apart.  One place was Canoe Rive Campground in Mansfield. Someone said in a review that it was “white trash at its best “and we both, after going there, thought that person was being kind!  Let’s put it this way, when we stepped out of the car to check it out, we made sure the doors were locked!  There were so many seasonal campers (they stay right at the site for the entire season) that looked like they had not been moved, or even cleaned in years.  Moss, mold, and junk all around- you know, that “Sanford and Son” look! Yuck!

The only other place anywhere near our family and friends was at Circle CG Farm in Bellingham, Mass.  This place was a little better, but most sites were under pine trees, and the potential for dripping sap a negative.  Many sites were too tight or sloped.  With site maps we obtained from each office, we drove around and noted which sites might be suitable. We came to the conclusion that where we are currently is by far the best spot around. Hence the 5 stars, I guess.

Lobster heaven!

We stopped and got a bunch of lobsters at the wonderful price of $4.99 a pound to make some incredible lobster salad sandwiches that I have been dreaming about. We quickly returned home so Norm could watch the Patriots football game on TV, which was actually playing live about 2 miles up the street at Gillette Stadium; somehow we avoided the traffic jams.

That evening we picked up, had probably our last campfire and sadly got ready to leave our friends and family.

   

Day 69- Highland Links Golf Course ( by Norman)

 Friday August 31st

Highland Links Golf Course – Ingonish Nova Scotia

(Built in 1936 by renowned golf course designer Stanley Thompson.  Ranked by several writers as being in the top 100 courses in the world.  The layout of the course was intended by Thompson to replicate several classic holes of various Scottish courses.)

With this as the background information I had found, I was eagerly waiting to play this course.  Last week I had played with a couple who had just played here and they were disappointed because it was not a true “links style” course as advertised.  Well – I’ve only played a links course once in my life, so this aspect was of no particular importance to me.

The weather called for 30% chance of rain with moderate wind.  Alison dropped me off and I checked in to see who I would be paired with.  Good news.  A couple of locals, one with his wife.  I was told they would probably be walking, so I arranged for a pull cart.  Soon enough they showed up to play.  The wife was driving in a cart but her husband and the other guy would be walking.  Serious golfers!  Turns out they are members here.  I discovered later in the round that they are both retired professors.  One was from Ohio but spent his academic career as a psychology professor in Maryland.  The other guy was a history professor.  But not just a run of the mill history professor.  He was the foremost expert on all things Nova Scotia.  His roots went back to the 1600’s and several generations of his family once lived on the very grounds where we were playing this round. Additionally, he was the senior historian for Fortress Louisburg which we had visited early on in our trip.  Alison & I were overwhelmed with the degree to which they had recreated life back in the 1700’s at this major reconstruction venue.  Turns out this guy had an office at the site for several years while they were pouring through over 750,000 documents to gather the relevant information for the rebuilding of the fort.

Within a few minutes of starting to play, the skies opened up.  There was no reaction from these guys so I asked what they thought the rest of the day would be like.  They just chuckled and said this was routine weather for them and that it would likely come and go all day.  They hit it dead on – sporadic light showers for the first several holes and then the clouds were gone.  I guess the wife was just along for the ride; she stopped playing after about 5 holes.  I think she felt uncomfortable that I had joined them.

The course itself was a bit of a disappointment because I had intentionally been picking courses for their scenic beauty. Although there were nice mountains in the background, there was none of the seascapes or wild rivers that I had enjoyed at earlier courses.  Each hole had a lot of character though.  Lots of twists and turns, up and over hills to blind greens.  Fairways and greens were in great condition.  If you hit off of the fairway – good luck!  Several feet of foot tall grasses lead right into thick brush and trees.  The first 6 holes were played straight into the wind.  I managed to squeak out 6 pars but this was more than offset by some challenging holes.  One in particular had my approach shot go into a deep greenside bunker.  Four attempts later, I was on the green and a foot from the hole.  Oh well.

Overall, I was glad to have played this course even at what I consider an overpriced rate of $102.  Many of the more difficult courses are not necessarily the most scenic.  This is the first time I had walked a course in a couple of years and I was beat.  It seemed as though almost every hole had significant elevation changes and many tee boxes were quite a distance from the last green.  One in particular was ¼ mile walk along a river bank that is purportedly the most scenic walk from a green to the next tee box of any course in the world.  A nice walk, but I wasn’t that impressed.  I guess I was getting too tired of walking at that point.

Days 68-71 Traveling the Cabot Trail

Thursday August 30th - Sunday Sept 2nd

We woke up and left the motorhome at Cabot Trail RV campground in Baddeck (where we had arrived last night) and headed up the Cabot Trail to Highland Links Golf Club in Ingonish, NS; we planned to spend the night at what looked like on the internet a lovely cottage at Seascape Coastal Retreat 15 minutes from the golf course.

The Cable Ferry 

The GPS directed us to a shorter route around the Cabot Trail and to Norm's golf course that included this short little " cable ferry " trip.  It was really interesting.  It was a small ferry that was attached from one side of the peninsula to the other by a cable due to the incredibly strong currents.  As it approached the land, the current would whip it almost sideways, then the cable would straighten it out.  The cost was a mere $5.00 and it ran every few minutes back and forth.  Such a hoot! 

 

I am sure Norm will write about his game in a separate post.

View I found while waiting for Norm

After I dropped Norm off to play golf, (I didn’t play because I don’t enjoy golf enough anymore to justify the high green fees for this course) I went up to the very exclusive and well known Keltic Lodge to hang out in the “sitting room”,  visit with people and work on the computer. It had started to pour so I stayed close by in case he called me to come pick him up.

After a couple of hours I decided to check out some local craft shops, still looking for a souvenir.  They were all miles apart and had the same exact inventory, so after browsing a few shops I gave up and went to check in at our cottage.  

I found Seascape Coastal Retreat on Trip Advisor, and it was ranked #1 B&B in Ingonish about a month ago.  It sounded fantastic, but last week, when we finally knew our dates, it was booked.  I was so disappointed.  We booked the only other place in town with availability for the long weekend, and it did not sound very appealing.  Now this is only 1 night of 3 we were planning to “hotel it“, so I really wanted it to be a great place.  I called Seascape again and asked if there were any cancellations (I am so persistent) and there were!  In the deluxe ocean side cottages!  Expensive, but look how much I saved on golf fees!

Life's simple pleasures! Ahhhhhh......

It was beautiful.  It had a huge bathtub with Jacuzzi (hey, look no more- I was in heaven), a separate bedroom and a cute kitchenette with a little living area. It had nice luxuries such as TV with cable (we hadn’t watched any news in months) and a giant picture window and porch overlooking the ocean! We heard on the news that there were frost advisories issued not far from us. (it really is time to return to sunny Florida).  We had been running from the heat, now we must run from the cold.

 At 5:00 they brought over delicious smoked salmon appetizers (one was gluten free made especially for me) then I luxuriated in a nice, hot Jacuzzi bath!  Since I used to sell these tubs, I knew not to use the jets in a hotel room.  The reason is because most tubs’ jet hoses drain backwards, leaving dirty bath water in the jet-line.  It sits there, God knows how long, and then shoots it out into the water when you go to use it the next time! Yuck!  So after I pampered myself I got out, hit the jets, ran them and drained the tub so Norm could use it with the jets.  One problem. I used all the hot water.  So sorry, Norm.  He waited as long as he could for it to recover then took a hot shower before we had to leave for the resort’s dining room reservation at 7:00.

Breakfast with a rainbow decor and ocean view

We had a terrific dinner sitting beside a huge window again overlooking the water.  They had many gluten free products so I ordered a seafood linguine that was out of this world.  Now perhaps it was because I had not had any pasta since the first of the year, so it was particularly great.  Norm had a strip steak that was also very good.  When I inquired what gluten free products they were using, they happily came out with the packages so I could take a picture of them.  So nice, these people are! When we asked about how they made a side dish, the chef came out and explained it step by step. I quickly went back to the room and typed up the instructions so as not to forget.  I know what I will be serving for our next dinner party!

The next day we went back to the resort’s restaurant for breakfast, (after another bath) sat beside the window and saw multiple fabulous rainbows come and go. I again took advantage of their gluten free availability and ordered the French toast, which I have not had in years.  It was just okay.  Not worth the negative health consequences (processed food plus sugar which I avoid) but it won’t kill me, I guess.

The weather was so weird.  One minute it was glorious, the next it would be torrential rain.  We have seen changeable weather, but this was crazy.  Literally, one minute sun, next minute a downpour and the winds were blowing in the 50-60mph range! I agreed with hesitation to proceed around Cape Bretton’s Cabot Trail but thought next year, should we come back, it might be foggy.  At least in the rain we can see a little something. Note: many people advised us NOT to go if the weather was not really nice.

Very gloomy but nice

The first stop was to a farmer’s market that attracted folks from miles away.  The place was packed, and there were only about five tables with hardly any items!  It must have been more of a social thing, because there was no way it was about buying anything.

 We took an accidental detour that took us about an hour off course, but we were glad it happened.  We saw amazing ocean whitecaps and got some pretty good pictures, I hope.  At one point, it was so rainy we had to pull off the road; another time I could not open the car door due to the wind, and yet another the wind caught the door and pulled me out of the car!  Wow!  I had to be careful not to let it blow me off the cliff when I was taking pictures.

The incredible winds "whipped up" the seas

We drove and drove, noticing the leave are just starting to turn.  I bet it is incredible during the fall here!  The views were great, but on a nice day they would be spectacular.  We checked out a couple of potential campgrounds for next year and actually selected our favorite campsites.  (I am a “planner” so this is of great use to me).  We did find that the areas most northern and north western were the most beautiful and would like to return to these areas and do some serious hiking.  We finally arrived back at the campground about 5:30 overall wishing we had not started that long journey and had saved it for next year. 

Note the crazy roads on the left.  Glad we were not in the motorhome!

While we had left-overs the wind had abated and it was a great, albeit cold evening.  Norm made a campfire and we burnt some of the wood we had to ditch before leaving tomorrow. (we might bring “pests“ to another part of the province so here in Canada they are very particular about people transporting firewood.  I know US Customs won’t let us bring it in, anyway). 

Funny story - up until about a month ago, we were buying bundles of firewood at the different campgrounds.  It would ALWAYS either rain, we got in too late, or too windy to ever light it, so we would have to leave it for the next guy.  Well, way back in PEI (late July ) we decided to go to Walmart and buy some of those 4 hour logs.  Not what we really relished using, but cost effective, and would give us the “ambience” of a fire.  Ever since then, either the campgrounds would not allow fires, they would charge for the fire pits (which we refused to do just in principle) or it was raining or too windy.  We never used any until the other day!  How funny is that?  Same with our lounge chairs we spent so much time finding.  It has been too cool and way to windy to sit out in them.  You just never know.

Sunday September 2

Today we headed for Moncton, New Brunswick about 275 miles, a 4 ½ hour drive, to get a little closer to crossing the border tomorrow and visiting my brother Steve in Bangor tomorrow night. We hit Costco for those items not carried in the US, and hope Customs won’t confiscate them.

We set up camp just in time before it started to pour again.  We spent a quiet evening.

Days 64-67 Gros Morne to Corner Brook to Ferry

Sunday August 26^th to Wednesday August 28^th

We drove over a very mountainous road to our next stop, Kinsmen Prince Edward Park Campground and RV Park in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.  I love saying “Newfoundland” because it feels so exotic, far away, and adventurous.!

These few days, however, were not that exciting.  Norman went to play golf while I tinkered around the “house” (it feels like home after all this time); we did a little shopping, and on Tuesday I went for a much needed massage. Wearing a heavy backpack for hours and looking down at the trail has definitely had its cervical repercussions. Unfortunately, it seems the fellow had not had very good training, and it hardly helped at all.   It is obvious that I have become spoiled with the fellow I go to in Clearwater!

Codroy Valley

Lobsters are messy, but really good

We stopped and finally bought a couple of lobsters and had the supermarket steam them, then we steamed mussels ourselves for a great dinner!

During the past few days, the weather has turned.  We are having more rain than not, and definitely feeling colder.  We have become rather “burnt out“ traveling.  We are finding that we are opting not to do a side road or hike that we would have jumped at earlier in the game.  Time to go home, we think.  We miss our families, home and all our friends back in The Villages.

A large part of our decision is due to the fact that Norm’s daughter, Jackie, is getting married next June in Vermont, so the opportunity to come back is there.  We could drive up and continue on to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, spend a month or more, and see it all then, when we are “fresh“.  There is so much to do and see in those provinces that we had flown by on the way to Newfoundland.  We knew this might be a possibility when we planned to stay so long, thoroughly enjoying Newfoundland.

During these few rainy days we made our plans and reservations for the next leg which was not an easy task.  We found that the extremely few campgrounds in and around the Boston area are pretty much booked up until the end of September!  What?  Aren’t the kids in school?  Don’t they have homework to do?  Wow!

We wasted a day and a half dealing with our Bank when we found our ATM card not working.  We had not used it until now, and since the last two campgrounds only accepted cash, we had become dangerously short.  After many calls, we finally were told they cancelled our existing card in order to “upgrade” us to another, and they sent us a new card at the end of June!  Wasn’t that nice of them?

You would have thought they might have become concerned when it wasn’t activated these last months, wouldn’t you?  Well, after going back and forth many times with the bank and Western Union, they finally called to say we were all set to pick up our Canadian funds. Well, not only did we have to leave the campground, we are only going to be here another couple of days. We are on the move, won’t be near a Western Union anymore, so at this point it won’t do us much good.  We will have to be very judicious on where we spend our cash.  No “Cows” ice cream for Norm, I guess (unless they take credit cards)

We finally left Corner Brook to stay at a campground close to the ferry, for our morning trip across the water back to Nova Scotia.  Wouldn’t you know it?  Grand Codroy RV Tent Campground was probably the nicest RV park we had been at.   Nice, flat sights, interesting trees and SPACE between sites! 

It rained most of the night, and then we headed out promptly at 8:45 to catch the ferry.

 Thursday August 30^th

As we headed toward the ferry, the sun was starting to shine. The scenery at this bottom corner of Newfoundland was much greener, and more fertile to support the agriculture here, where we hadn’t seen it anywhere else on the island.  The mountains still rose sharply, but were covered by grasses or trees.  It was so pretty. 

I had such mixed emotions!  I was ready to go home, yet not quite ready to leave Newfoundland.  I truly love the people, and the rough beauty of this place.  I really have very simple needs and those tiny homes seem so cozy …. All we would have to do is chop and carry about 10 cord of wood…….. ah… never mind.  My life in Florida is just perfect!



They surely must be following us!

As we were waiting in line for the ferry, we got a knock on our window.  It was Kate and her daughter Julia!  She was behind us in line!  That woman is STILL following us!  This is just so funny because it is not a small island, and they are able to stay at very different campgrounds due to the compact size of their trailer.

We drove onto the ferry and proceeded to spend the next six hours gabbing away with Kate and her daughter, people we met last night, and others.  It was a great time on board.  The waters were fairly calm and we had a nice lunch sitting by a window.

Kate and Julia



We arrived at our next campsite, after being delayed enroute for an hour due to an accident, set up camp, had dinner and published a couple of blog posts.  Internet has been a bit intermittent the last few days. 



They can really pack them tightly inside these ferries

Another Day of Scenic Golf ( by Norm )

Day 65 -  August 27th

Ah yes  - yet another day to contribute some golf balls to those golfers that play behind me. 

 Today’s venue is Humber Valley Golf Resort near Corner Brook, Newfoundland.  Alison was originally going to play but she hasn’t been feeling too well since the last hike so I’m going alone.  I got paired up with a retired couple from Seattle who have golfed in every state in the US and now are starting to golf every province in Canada.  Very nice couple to golf with, but I soon realized that the amount of golf you play does not necessarily translate into you being a better player.  No problem – this is resort golf on the road so we can’t expect much of our scores.
 



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 The goal for me is to have many good shots, lose only a few balls and have an overall good experience.  This course certainly provided all of that.  Course conditions were superb, although the greens were a bit slow.  The rough was a real challenge.  You went from 1” fairways right into 8+” deep rough.  Not a lot of water in play but plenty of bunkers.  The major obstacle was the constant distraction of the beauty around you – a wide river running near the course with a backdrop of a mountain range coupled with severe elevation changes.  The only drawback to this day is that there was a haze in the air all day.   Temperature was in the lower 80’s so once again the locals were complaining about the extreme heat.  If they only knew!

The 10^th hole tee box is elevated 420’ from the fairway below, forest on the right, sloping waste land on the left, with a strong head wind.  Landing area is about 40 yards wide.  First ball went into the forest, second into the left rough but playable.  The next hole had a similar drop from the tee box but not quite as severe.  I hit that one into the right rough and couldn’t find my ball.  Back 9 was off to a bad start.  There were several elevated greens and I had the misfortune of overshooting one of them.  Oh well – it’s only golf – not work.

Finally made it to the par 5 18^th which was a very picturesque “S” starting from an elevated tee box, so you could see the entire fairway right up to the green.  Water along most of the right, steep hill on the left.  Perfect tee shot, followed by a well-placed shot putting me 145’ from the green.  On the green in regulation and two putts in for par.  I love this game.

Alison spent the day fixing the refrigerator, cleaning and doing laundry and had some time to relax as well and enjoyed every minute of it.