Cape Cod and Rhode Is

Sep 30 – We left the Boston area and drove to Rhode Island but not before checking out Cape Cod. We had heard many things about it and wanted to see for ourselves. The weather wasn’t the best. We had quite a bit of fog: you can see it in the photo of the lighthouse. They have a great museum there with history and info on how the peninsula was formed and all that stuff. We had lunch at a neat little place called the Optimist Café; wonderful food and cute old house to boot.

After that we spent a day in Providence. There are some super old buildings there. There is a street called Benefit Street that has the largest accumulation of colonial homes in America. They were from the 1700s and up; unbelievable. We got a little turned around and got lost. While trying to find our way back I stopped to ask a policeman how to get back to the downtown area. He asked me what the heck we were doing in that neighborhood. I told him we were lost and he said “you’re in the ghetto now and you’d better get out quick”. I asked him if it was dangerous and he said yeah they’d had several shootings lately even in the daytime so we had better leave ASAP. He told us how to get back downtown and we promptly left.

We also spent some time in Newport, across the harbor from Providence. They have a street that is full of the largest and most gorgeous mansions you’ve ever seen. We took a photo of one place that had its own private harbor where they moored their boat and set lobster traps. It wasn’t one of the bigger places but it was right on the coast. Val and Maggie viewed a wonderful topiary garden; I stayed in the car.

After Newport we left and drove further south, down the coast and are now in New Jersey and plan on spending the next few days touring the Big Apple, New York City. Will write more later.

We're in Bo Austin, Mass

Sep 26 – We arrived in the Boston area last Wednesday the 22nd. We’re staying in the campground at Hanscom AFB. We needed to have access to electricity for a while to recharge our coach batteries. Prior to arriving in Maine we would drive almost all day then stay for a night or two and leave again. Once we arrived at the coast of Maine there’s been so much to see we’ve been staying 3-4 days then driving an hour or two to the next location. It hasn’t been enough to fully re-charge the coach batteries.

The weather here has been nice, in the upper 80s most days. The trees still haven't changed much. I guess they're waiting for colder weather.

We took the subway into the city (Who in his/her right mind wants to drive or find parking in Boston?) and did the tourist thing. We took a trolley to most of the top sights. There are several companies here that offer trolley tours. We went to Cheers, the USS Constitution, Paul Revere’s house, had a great lunch in little Italy and thoroughly enjoyed walking around the old buildings. They have a graveyard with several of our founding fathers buried there. Tons of history here.

They also have some great parks. The person that designed New York’s Central Park did these. The area known as Boston Common’s is nice as well as the park across the street. They have an unusual statue of a bunch of ducks walking on a sidewalk. We had to take a picture of that; it was so cute.

We plan on leaving tomorrow morning and stopping in the area of Providence, Rhode Island next.

Still More Maine

Sep 20 – Boothbay Harbor was really nice but it wasn’t Cabot Cove. They had more tall mast wooden ships there. They sure are something to look at. We visited lots of touristy shops selling the same things. They’re all starting to look the same. We walked over a long foot bridge over the harbor and ate at a small seafood restaurant on the docks. On the way back we came across a couple walking to a church across the street. It was the father and bride and bride’s maids in a line being led by a guy in kilts playing bagpipes. They had just gotten off a boat. These lobster men really know how to live.

There was a small diner (A-1) in a nearby town that Guy Fieri, the Diner’s Drive-in and Dive’s host, had visited. It was an old train car. Kind of cool. On the way there Maggie’s car started running rough and the “Check Engine” light came on. Luckily we were just a few miles from a dealer so we turned around. They checked it out and found out that the coil was faulty. After a couple of hours we were back on the road. A little lighter in the wallet but you’ve got to get it fixed so. . . .

Monday morning we left and drove to Portland. It is a large shipping port, nothing like the things we’ve been seeing. We took a narrated trolley ride through the old port area and then a cruise on a boat of the harbor and neighboring lighthouses. Kind of windy and cold but nice to see all the stuff we don’t have in Texas.

When we were riding the tour trolley the guide told us that Guy Fieri was in town a couple of weeks ago and did a piece on one of their local restaurants, Becky’s. So guess where we had dinner. It too was good. They had a blue lobster in their lobster tank. They are pretty rare. We had never seen one before. They look kind of weird. I wonder what color they turn when you cook them?

We saw something in a magazine about a life size chocolate moose and had to investigate that. We saw it; check out the photos. They had a chocolate mama bear and two cubs too. All of the animals were around a small pond of white chocolate. It was truly amazing. Val wanted to take a bite out of the moose’s antler but the store clerks watched her closely so she didn’t.

We’ll likely stay another day or two in Portland and then keep moving south. Stay in touch.

More of Maine

Sep 16 – Yesterday Maggie and Gary decided to take our inflatable canoe to the Rockport harbor and paddle around a bit and check out the boats. They had a good time except it got pretty windy later in the day and they had to work a little harder than normal to paddle up wind to get back to the docks.

We arrived in Brunswick this afternoon. We had hoped to get a prescription filled at the Naval Station they have here but they closed the medical clinic several months ago. I tell you, this shrinking military stinks. We drove past a small food stand on the side of the road a few miles outside of where we’re staying. It had a line 50 feet long of people waiting for whatever the place was selling. We’re planning on going back there to see what everyone thinks is so hot.

We drove out to the tip of a small chain of islands. The temp was 61 degrees with a strong breeze. We all had our jackets on. Those of you living in San Antonio probably can’t believe it but there are places where it’s not hot all the time. Anyway, we saw several small harbors and lots more coastal cottages.

There is quite a bit to see in this area so we should be here several days. Boothbay Harbor is nearby and is reported to be the place they used for the outdoor scenes of the TV show Mystery She Wrote: the place on TV was called Cabot’s Cove. We’re all looking forward to seeing it for ourselves.

Baa Habba Maine

Sep 13 – We arrived at the coast (near Ellsworth) and have been here for several days. When we got to town we were having difficulty locating the local Wal-Mart. So, we pulled into a small strip mall and were trying to get the GPS to help us out. A small shuttle bus pulled alongside and said “What part of Texas are you folks from?” I told him San Antonio and he said that where he lives too. He comes up here in the summer to escape the hot weather and drives the bus for something to do. He asked if we were having problems. I said no, we were trying to find the local Wal-Mart. He said “Follow me”. The guy actually led us to the Wal-Mart store. Ah that Texas hospitality is great isn’t it?

Talking about Texas, I included a photo I took of Maggie riding a horse she found in a field. You can take the girl out of Texas but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl.

Since we got settled we’ve seen the Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor (which the local pronounce “Ba Habba”) and several other small fishing villages. We’ve seen lots of small harbors, fishing boats and rugged shoreline and are looking forward to seeing much more. I’ve included a couple of pictures of the local sights.

We did the obligatory Lobster, clam eating. We were driving down the road and saw a sign that said “Rats, lobster, clams, cherry stones, turn here”. Our curiosity got the best of us. We didn’t know what cherry stones were and we had to see if this place was selling rats or not. We drove back in the woods about ¾ of a mile and found the place. I asked about the rats and was told it was her husband’s nick name. His name was Robert A. Timmons and everyone called him Rat. So, naturally his stand would be called Rats. We bought a couple of lobsters and she gave us some clams. Boy those lobsters are a mess to eat. Notice the photo of Val dropping the little buggers in the boiling water. Yum.

That’s it for now. We’re off to another port. For the next couple of months we’ll be heading south and I think we’re taking highway one along the coast most of the way, should be scenic. Hope you all are doing well.

The Maine Event

Sep 9 – We’ve spent our first few days in the lovely state of Maine. It’s a lot like Vermont and New Hampshire so far. As I mentioned before the trees are just starting to change so the main attraction is yet to come. I included a couple of photos of a small tree and some ferns that had already changed.

We took a scenic drive through some mountains passing several lakes and rivers. This place is really nice to look at this time of year; very tempting to want a little place on a lake up here. Thinking about snow on the ground 5 months of the year keeps us on track though. Seriously there is a lot of property for sale. It seems like 20% of the places we go by are for sale. Sign of the times I guess.

Maine takes a lot of pride in their lobster heritage. Everything is lobster. We haven’t reached the coast yet but came across an ice cream shop that had “Lobster Bit” ice cream. We had to try it. You can see by the photo that Val and Maggie like it a lot: me too.

Tomorrow we leave headed for the coast. Hope to eat our fill of lobster, scallops, crabs and clams in the next few weeks. We’re going to have to take our time going through the small fishing villages and light houses along the coast while we wait for the trees to change color; can’t think of a better place to be right now.

Our week in Bethlehem

Sep 6 – After spending a little over a week in the small town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire it’s time to move on. We had planned to leave for Maine earlier but decided to wait until hurricane Earl and the holiday weekend had passed. Hard to get a spot to park a big RV on a holiday weekend if you didn’t make a reservation. Last week, when it was still warm, Maggie and I went to a small river nearby and cooled off a bit. Here is a photo of the river.

We went to a place called “Castle in the Clouds” a couple of days ago. It is a large home built near the top of a mountain. It overlooks a very large lake. They guy bought all the land between his house and the lake (6500 acres) so he could preserve it. He made millions in the 1920s but living like a king quickly drained his holdings and he died a pauper. The house alone cost more than a million to build and the second owner got the entire property for $175k in taxes.

This morning we rode a tram to the top of Mt Cannon. The sky was hazy for most of the time we’ve been here but today it was clear. According to the guy operating the tram we could see for more than 60 miles. We saw mountain tops in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

They had a ski museum at the bottom of the mountain and we got to see Bode Miller’s Olympic medals from the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics. Turns out he was raised in the town of Franconia (a couple miles away) and learned to ski on those mountains. I guess it’s a good place to learn how to ski with snow on the ground half the year.

Tomorrow, Tuesday morning, we're leaving for Maine.

Can You Say New Hampsha?

Aug 31 – We can’t believe another month has passed. So, let me make the final entry for the month of August 2010. After visiting Bennington, VT we drove to Bethlehem, New Hampshire. It is a small town just outside the White Mountain National Forest. We’re in a small secluded campground barely out of town. We originally planned to stay just a few days but with the hurricane predicted to impact the New England area we decided to stay here until it passes. This will be the longest we stayed in any single place.

So far we’ve driven the scenic roadways in the area: one in particular, the Kankamagus highway, is famous for its scenery year-round. The trees here are just beginning to change. We see the occasional tree that’s already brilliant red but most haven’t changed yet. I guess we have to wait a few more weeks for that.

We’ve seen several waterfalls in some very pretty forested areas and hiked some short trails. There are streams/creeks everywhere here. Most are too rocky to kayak down (Gary’s still waiting to do that) but they are still nice to look at. There are a lot of things to do in the area so we’ve decided to pace ourselves and not go out every day. It’s nice to stay at home (the motorhome) once in a while and veg.

We’re looking forward to checking out the coastal towns in Maine and eating some great seafood.

That’s about it for now. Hope you enjoy the pictures.