Friday, June 28, 2013

New shoes

I took the trailer into town this morning and had new shoes installed so now I feel more comfortable in starting out on any new trips.  The old tires were only a little over two and a half years old but were showing some strange wear patterns.  One of the internet forums that I read has a thread about my old brand of tires that listed several with the same wear patterns that I had plus they have had several blowouts on the road which I hope that I have avoided.  It's a known fact that trailer/RV tires don't wear out from miles on the road but usually have to be replaced due to aging from the sun.  Four 17.5" 16 ply tires aren't cheap but worth it for peace of mind.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

HOT

We are back at the ol' Martin Manor and wish we could just turn around and head northerly.  The temps are way up there and the weather man says 96° but with the humidity so high you can squeeze drops it sure  feels much hotter.  Each trip carrying stuff from the trailer to the house required a long time just sitting to catch our breath at each end of the trip.

Now we wait to see what Jo's jury duty time will be before we plan any additional trips.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

the penultimate day

It's the penultimate day for this excursion and tomorrow we set up in the Martin Manor RV park for awhile.  We will have to see when Jo gets her jury duty notice before we can make plans for the next trip.  The time at home will be good as there are a few things that need to be taken care of with the trailer before we head out again.  We still enjoy our trailer outings very much.

We had a call this morning from our roofer and it looks like early next week is the current plan for our new roof.

Monday, June 24, 2013

start of the road home

This leg of our trip home is the longest days drive but doable and makes the rest of the journey homeward comfortable.  West from Baltimore to Morgantown is through the mountains of Western Maryland including Sidling Hill, Martin Mtn, Bread Loaf Mtn, Negro Mtn, and others.  There are no level roadways as it is all either up hill or down hill mostly at long 6% grades.  These mountain climbs were the reason that in November of 1999 on our first trip with the gas powered truck and with the slow crawl up these grades that I went home and ordered our first diesel truck.  We haven't found our homeland on Martin Mountain but some day we may have to look for it.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

time near Baltimore

We dropped Phyllis off at her house yesterday afternoon and then got settled in at our campsite for a bit of rest.  This morning we met Phyllis, Tammy and Bryan at Bob Evans for a Sunday morning brunch before a bit of grocery shopping and then a card game at Phyllis' table.

Tomorrow it's the road homeward with our first stop in Milton, WV.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Almost there

Tomorrow we get Phyllis reunited with her Rosie.  Phyllis' friend Tammy has been looking after Rosie and texting Phyllis after each visit with reports of "all is well" and including pictures.

Sunday morning we have plans to meet with Tammy for brunch and then Jo and I head westward on Monday morning.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

South bound

It was a very scenic drive today through southwestern VT and north central NY to our campground.  This campground is quite a ways off of the Interstate and the access roads are twisty and narrow.  After getting set up it took me close to two hours to finally get the satellite in a location for us to get TV.  We watched a couple of shows before a very large Class A motor home pulled into the adjacent spot and totally blocked our signal.  I just went out and put away our satellite and we will play a few hands of cards this evening, not much on anyway.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Quechee Gorge

They call this the Grand Canyon of Vermont.  This gorge is just a few miles from our campsite and there were some souvenir shopping and a nice lunch spot nearby.  We also found a nice grocery store for a few needed items.



Tomorrow we head back toward Baltimore.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

mission accomplished 5 of 5 in the bag

This morning we went northwesterly toward Montpelier in search of the last t-shirt for this trip.  After accomplishing that goal we took off for a tour of the western side of Vermont.  The drive was through the Green Mountains and with all the tree cover they surely are that.  We drove beside clear mountain streams and rivers rolling over their rocky stream beds.  We kept watching for deer, moose, and bear to cross the road as we drove along but no such luck or animal sightings.  Tomorrow we will do a little more VT touring before we head back south toward MD.

We found a nice Irish Pub for lunch and Phyllis had some fried dill pickles to go with her sandwich.


Monday, June 17, 2013

Now in Vermont

Our trip today was nice and uneventful.  The highways in this area are all tree lined and the hillsides are all tree covered so lots of green.  We are in the middle of a wooded campground near Quechee, VT with a couple of days ahead to hunt for number 5 of 5 for the t-shirt quest.  May also hunt for some VT cheese, wine, or syrup.  Our last time in VT we hunted several covered bridges and they still are worth visiting if we find any.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day

This morning we went to the Mystic Aquarium and had a very nice day viewing their displays.  We also watched their sea lion show which was very interesting.  At the ticket counter the folks in front of us were given a free father's day admission for fathers with children.  When we made it to the window I ask for a father's day ticket plus one senior and one adult.  The clerk politely smiled and said that the free admission was only for father's with "young" children and Phyllis didn't count. ;-) She sure counts with me anyhow.

A lot of our pictures through aquarium glass didn't come out well but I think we did get some good ones.  The album below includes pictures from all three of us.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

4 of 5 bagged

This morning we found the RI t-shirt and then drove to a State beach to see the ocean.  Below are a few pictures from that beach access.  Being it's Saturday the local folks were really making use of the day of sunshine on the beach.  We accessed the area through a State Park and had to pay the daily use fee for a place to park.  Private folks along the beach road were renting parking spaces for $20/day.






Friday, June 14, 2013

3 down 2 to go

We are now in our campsite near Mystic, CT.  Along the way we stopped at a truck-stop and Jo was able to bag a CT t-shirt which was on the list.  Now we only have RI & VT to fill our goal for this trip.  Our campground is only a few miles from the RI state line and we are here for the next two days so will head into RI for that hunt and then check out other attractions in this area that might be of interest.

We have traveled over lots of scenic routes on this trip but windshield pictures just don't show the beauty.  Hopefully while we are out we can get a few pictures of the seaports and sailboats in this area.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Success again

It was another successful outing today with the bagging of the 2nd of 5 t-shirts in this trip's purpose.  With a DE t-shirt last Monday and a NJ shirt today we now have only CT, RI, and VT to satisfy that goal.

The drive today was very nice and mostly on local roads past small farms and towns on a winding path.  Just like General Washington we crossed the Delaware River (twice).  Jo found what she thought was a town named Ledgerwood, NJ but when we got there we found that the spelling was almost like her maiden name except that they forgot the "r" so we had a nice lunch in Ledgewood, NJ at a good Irish Pub.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

PA roads are rough

Now set up in Eastern PA for the next two nights.  Tomorrow we drive to a nearby truck stop in New Jersey to continue the t-shirt hunt.  Most of Jo's t-shirts have come from truck stops in their souvenir section.  If that doesn't work then it is off to Wall Mart or somewhere else to satisfy the goal.

The weather forecast is for rain most of tomorrow and tomorrow night but then maybe clear up for our drive Friday to CT.

all is calm

... weather wise that is. We had a nice day yesterday with Phyllis helping her move a few things around her house and doing a little bit of shopping with her while our truck was available.  We hauled a wheelbarrow from Lowe's and a large sack of kitty litter from Pets Mart.

This morning we head toward Stroudsburg, PA and the weather is looking good for today.  Tonight and all day tomorrow however is forecast at 100% chance of rain.  A T-shirt hunt tomorrow may result in a wet T-shirt. ;-)

Monday, June 10, 2013

mission accomplished

This morning Jo and I headed toward Delaware in search of a T-shirt and it was a successful hunt.  Phyllis decided to stay home today and get caught up on her laundry so she can pack for her trip with us starting Tuesday.  There were rain showers, some very heavy, off and on all day and they still continue this evening.  There were severe storm warnings and even a tornado watch with possibly a sighting in the Woodbine area (in the vicinity of our campground) around 7:00 this evening.  We were with Phyllis at that time and didn't get back to the campground until around 8:00 and on the way here there was a tree down across the roadway near the campground but no apparent storm damage in the campground.

Sunday, June 09, 2013

Her yard looks real nice

Phyllis has sure been working around her house and yard.  She has used landscape stone work to mark out several beds and small gardens.  After the tour of her yard we went to the Double T Diner for a bite to eat and with the left-overs in some boxes we will have another meal before we leave this area.  She has laundry planned for tomorrow while Jo and I drive over to Delaware to find the first T-shirt to begin the hunt this trip is designed for.  We will visit again Tuesday with her before the three of us head out Wednesday on the hunt for the remaining T-shirts from this area.  If this hunt is successful then she will have 48 of the 50 state shirts.  The last two would be ND and MN and we have plans for that hunt later this year.

yesterday's hitch

Yesterday's trip was almost as usual except for a hitch as we were passing through Lexington.  Just as we were entering the urban limits we saw red taillights in front and slowed to a stop.  We spent the next hour in a three lane parking lot with a lot of other folks.  When we finally got to the accident site there was a lot of hay strewn along the median barrier and pieces of a horse trailer were being hauled off.  We just hope that if there was a horse in the trailer that it was okay.  At one point there was an emergency response vehicle driving down the shoulder pulling a trailer with "equine rescue" on the back heading toward the accident site.

Today we head for Woodbine, MD and our campground which is only about 20 miles from Phyllis' house.

Friday, June 07, 2013

Our trip for tee shirt hunting in the northeast

We're on our way again stopping this evening in a campground we have used many times.  Our trips to Baltimore have been made so many times that we have the rest stops, fuel, and campground locations memorized.  Our day started with a small oops on my account as we made it almost to the highway before I realized that I hadn't picked up my billfold, glasses and pocket items.  It was simply a loop around the block and then park in the roadway in front of our house while I ran back in for the goodies.  We always wonder just what we did forget as we head down the road but without my glasses and drivers license the trip wouldn't have been any fun at all.  We couldn't just buy those items at Wall Mart or Dollar General.