Around the Boston Area Days 9-12

Thursday June 20 to Monday the 28th, 2013

The famous Man at the Wheel Memorial.  Honoring
all the Gloucester Fisherman lost at sea

The next few days will be spent with family and running a few errands and driving the car - a lot.

On Thursday we brought the RV back to the Truck center for them to look at the ABS braking system, and figure out why the light is on.

We left it while we proceeded to drive to Kingston ( well over an hour away ) to pick up my spare clarinet I was having refurbished. Hopefully I will have the discipline to practice while we are away.  The New Horizon Band in The Villages had reached 159 members, and needed to divide into two groups .I will be playing in the group with a new conductor.   Rehearsals start the end of August, so I don't want to begin all rusty. ( I hope to "wow" the new conductor with capabilities surpassing a 5th grader ) If any of you wonder if it is just like riding a bike?  The answer is no.  At least not for me. The aging of your body goes beyond the obvious increase in girth size, the horrible giggling of skin under you arm as you wave to your friend, or the unwelcomed wrinkles in our faces. Our muscles.  They weaken unless you work them - even those in your face.  Playing a wind instrument takes a lot of facial muscles, and, like all others, "use it or loose it."  As you know, those tiny little strands of muscular fiber, don't respond like they did in our vibrant youth.  Five years ago when I first put together my clarinet after a 35 year sabbatical, my fingers remembered what thousands of hours of practice ingrained in my head.  It was my body that failed me. Just a couple of weeks without putting reed to lips, and I notice a difference.  After a couple of months, I am back to where I started.

Gazebo at low tide next to our reserved RV parking
 space at Winter Island Park, Salem Ma

 Well, when we returned to the service station at 4PM it was not even looked at!  Aggravating, to say the least.  We declined the offer to try again the next day, and decided to hope it will resolve itself.  If not, there is a huge RV repair facility in Halifax Nova Scotia we can take it to, since we will be there re-installing the TV antenna.  It's installation was more difficult than we thought, and involved the roof, so we will pay someone that hopefully, knows what they are doing ( and has the right equipment ) so we don't develop any leaks.



Friday was a very busy day.  First we went to check out a potential campground on Winter Island in Salem Ma.  This was certainly a different kind of place.  It really is a public park with a boat ramp.  They very cleverly decided to make some extra income, and turned the perimeter parking lot into RV spots which enjoys a marvelous ocean view with it's ensuing breezes.  I have made mention many times about the "RV Parking Lots".  Well, this LITERALLY is a PARKING LOT!   But there also were a few very nice tent sites, and a field which allowed more RV's to park very tightly together.  Because of the delightful ocean view, we decided to book one of the very few available spots for Labor Day Weekend.

Site #12 for Labor Day.  Site is pretty ugly,
but the view can not be beat!

 We are not sure if we will be around at that time, but their cancellation policy is quite good, and it will be nice to know there is a place to go on that otherwise very busy weekend.

We met a woman back in Virginia, who was inquiring about this small campground.  I promised her I would check it out and send her photos and the info.  We also wanted to see for ourselves, since the spot is only a few miles from my daughter. This is not the type of atmosphere we typically enjoy, but is definitely a step up from Wal-mart ( which we have not yet tried ), and convenient to all the places I miss on Cape Ann.

These plaques list the names and dates of the
Gloucester Fisherman lost at sea

We then went to the City of Gloucester, Ma.  Gloucester is noted as the nation's very first fishing village, first inhabited in 1623.  It is said that Gloucester's deep and protected harbor made it an ideal place for a few folks to leave Plymouth and settle here.   I showed Norm a few of the city's highlights, one being the statue of" The Man at the Wheel" statue.  It is a well recognized icon of the courage and fortitude of Gloucester Fisherman, and a reminder that fishing is considered our country's most dangerous occupation.  Inscribed on the statue is a verse from the 107th Psalm: "They that went down to the sea in ships ". They recently erected plaques with the names and dates of men that were lost. In now includes 5300 men to date

The men aboard the Andrea Gail  that was
tragically lost in 1991

If you remember, this is the town that the book and movie with George Clooney titled " The Perfect Storm " was written about.  The owner of the boat " Andrea Gail " was, in fact, my immediate neighbor back in 1991 when the ship actually went down.  It was a very emotional and sad time for those of us in Gloucester who knew the men lost.

 I lived across the street from the Man at the Wheel back in 1975.

This statue honors the wives of
the Gloucester Fisherman

After I got my hair done from my old hairdresser of years gone by, we then went to check out Cape Ann Campsite,which is owned and operated by a family I knew as my kids were growing up. I was their daughter's Girl Scout Leader oh, so long ago.
When I road the school bus as a child I would pass this campground but never really appreciated just how huge it was.

They have quite a few nice spots for big rigs, and many sites that are nicely wooded but the roads are very narrow and rutted, so it's better suited for tents, or smaller rigs.  This campground is only minutes from Wingarsheek Beach where it is notoriously noted as child friendly for its warmer, protected waters. I took the girls there many a time when they were very little.

We probably won't return to Cape Ann Campsite  because we just are not ones to linger on a beach, and the extremely winding road ( I know from experience) can be a nightmare with beach traffic.It would be worth it for someone who wants to experience a unique area, and loves the beach.

Note: If you are there around July, bring Avon's Skin So Soft or another strong bug repellant, because the Greenheads ( biting flies with a green head and teeth like a Piranha ) can be really terrible during this time of year.

See those teeth?  Yes, Greenheads do hurt that much!

Cape Ann Campsite's big rig section
West Gloucester, Ma

We then proceeded to my daughter's house for a backyard B-B-Q, and to meet her boyfriend's parents.  It was a great night.  The food was  good, weather perfect, and a huge moon to top it off! I really hated to leave, but with an hour drive back to the RV, at 11:00PM I very reluctantly left.

Alison's daughter Laura and her boyfriend Mike

Saturday, June 22,2013 - Day 11

Today we slept late and took the time to do the laundry.  The facilities were very nice here, so we took advantage of them.  I was thrilled to find no one else was using the washers, and proceeded to use 4 of them!  Time management at its best!  25 minutes to wash 4 loads, and then dry.  Pretty quick, considering the pile of clothes we had!




We went to our good friend's Margaret and Jack Whelan's for a lovely lunch, and visited for a few hours.  At 3:00 PM we then proceed about a quarter mile down the street to Norm's newlywed daughter, Jackie. I do mean " newly wed".

Norm's daughter Jackie and husband Joel during their beautiful
wedding at Mountain Top Inn, Chittenden, Vt.

She and Joel got married in Vermont on June 1st, and had just returned from their
honeymoon.  Joel's parents, Jeanne and Peter were there and we enjoyed another great B-B-Q.

We played "Cornhole" ( an outdoor beanbag toss game ) and after dinner the guys watched the Bruins unfortunately lose. Another evening flew by, and with another hour drive, we once again felt like truant college students sneaking back into our dorms.  These late nights are killing me.  It's tough being an old fart.

Sunday, June 23rd - Day 12

Welcome to rural living!
Jackie nearly stepped on this snake that suddenly appreared
on their porch!

Thank Goodness we decided not to play golf.  We slept in very late ( a record at 9:00 AM ).  We wanted to  " relax " for just one day.  It has been non-stop since we left The Villages.

We took the time to finalize some details of our next destinations, and wasted a couple of hours trying to find where the heck the file for all my trip-notes went!  We are talking weeks worth of research, here.   Norm finally found the file, of all places, in my computer waste basket.  Boy, am I glad I am not good at emptying that.  I think perhaps maybe I never will!

We found, quite by accident, a great supermarket with a huge variety of organic foods. We were so excited! Filling our basket with such nice, fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables for the next week.  All of a sudden it occurred to me that we have one day of travel before we cross the Canadian Border!  UGH!  No fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc.  Oh, yeah.  No tobacco products, or GUNS!
Darn!  I very reluctantly put everything back except for a couple of apples and a few grapes.

We sat outside and researched our destinations on line, enjoyed a fire, had dinner and finished up the evening with a great movie called "The Departed " that we borrowed at the main office.  What a place!

Day 13 - Oh no - MORE troubles?
Monday, June 24th,2013

This morning we were so proud of ourselves for being all ready to leave at 9:00 AM.  We even took the time to top off the propane tank.  Since the parking lot was pretty tight and too sloped to easily hook up the car, we decided to drive down the road where Norm had remembered a church parking lot.

Why is it that mechanics and plumbers uniforms
are so baggy subjecting us to the exposure of
"male cleavage"? Is it part of their Union contracts?

As we were hitching the car up ( and someone from the church yelled at us for being there ) I went through my normal safety precaution routine of checking all brake and indicator lights.  You got it!
Brake lights on the RV were not working.  I KNOW they were working a couple of days ago, because I was driving behind him! Now this little problem is not something we can ignore.

This time I used our new and fancy not-very-accurate GPS to see where the nearest truck repair facility was.  We did not want to drive south 1/2 hour to the one we had spent too many hours at already in the last few days.  We found one, called, and took off in hopes that 1) no one will rear-end us on the way 2) they know what they are doing and 3)they will not "hose" us with a huge bill.

Another wonderful surprise!  These guys were very professional ( I could tell by the way they literally had grease up to their elbows ), knew what they were doing, and what really continues to amaze me is that they were not in the least bit lazy!  This service center, like the last, went the extra mile to do things the proper way.  I just am not used to that having lived in Florida, where if you asked a worker  if they have ever heard of "work ethic" they might answer " no, is that a movie? Who played in it? " Makes me yearn to move back North.

The fellow ( my hero ) determined the light problem was due to a broken wire in the connecting cable between the car and the RV.  The ground fell off ( because someone never installed it correctly )  and shorted the fuse in the RV, and blew the light in the tail light of the car.  The owner tried his fancy computer gizmo to see what the problem with the ABS brakes were, but his computer was not really the right one for our chassis. In the meantime, we will have brakes, just not ABS. We will have to brake the old fashioned way.  Old School.  No problem.
A mere $80 more out of pocket, and at noon, were finally on our way.

Purgatory? I bet there are not too many people
wanting to check this place out! Can't wait to see what's further south

I called Winnebago ( perhaps I should put their number on my speed dial?) and they said to go to an authorized Winnebago dealer for the hydraulic jack problem ( of which the closest to Nova Scotia was Rhode Island ) and a Workhorse dealer for the ABS.  Sure. Neither of these problems are life-threatening, so we will play it by ear.  There just is no where to take it.  We will, however, get the TV antenna replaced so we can at least stop lugging it around in the car.

As were were driving the 4 hour drive to Bangor, the ABS light had not come on, just the engine light now.  I love this coach, but as I idly flip through" Motorcoach Magazine", I have visions of a new one dancing in my head. Just a fantasy, because buying a new one, and not a slightly used one does not make financial sense.It also does not mean it is trouble free.  Let someone else take the hit on value. Plus, new ones have a lot of formaldehyde in them from the new insulation, which really bothers me.  I need a couple of year's worth of "airing out".   It's fun to dream.  We just can not believe all the little pain-in-the-ass stuff that has been going on this trip.  Well, they said " 4 years is the magic number to trade it " and we didn't want to because of  it's incredible reliability.