Monday, September 3rd,
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.
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| 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.
Tuesday, September 4th
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
5th
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.
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| Even if she is a motorcycle instructor, I do worry ! |
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.
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| 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 7th
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“ .
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| We now consider this a really nice site Normandy Farms, Foxboro Massachusetts |
Saturday, Sept 8th
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.
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| Our extended family-to-be |
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| such a nice yard to play games in |
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| Jackie in her new home |
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| Laura |
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.
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| It is so great to get out with friends! |
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.
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| Lobster heaven! |
That evening we picked up, had probably our last campfire
and sadly got ready to leave our friends and family.
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