Darrell's Chair Archives 2009-09

From Darrell's Chair
September 2009 Entries

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"From Darrell's Chair" Archives

This page will be used to share my thoughts with you as I sit in my chair and contemplate the daily events that take place during our fulltiming journey. Hopefully you will enjoy the entries, learn a thing or two, and have some chuckles along the way as Judy and I continue "Wandering America".

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Believe it or not, I have published the travelogue for January through March!!! April and May's is in the works followed by one for June through August at LGE (to be published later). September's has been written and is waiting for proof reading and pictures; it should be published next week.

Today is moving day. We will head out this morning with East Falmouth, Massachusetts in our sights. Our plan is to spend a week with Aunt Marge and do sightseeing both on the Cape as well as other historical sights in Boston. I hope to go to Boston on one of the days to walk the Freedom Trail but, I will need to convince Miss Judy that it would be a worth while thing to do first - walking is good exercise, dear!

The weather here in New Hampshire has been fall like - a little cooler with some rainy days causing the leaves to fall. The colors haven't been all that pretty this year. Since the summer was so rainy the maple trees have been infested with some kind of fungus which has caused the leaves to just turn brown and fall off (generally maples have the brightest colored leaves). However, I have worn shorts on most days but "tenny runners" and socks have replaced the sandals.

Last night we were invited over to Shannon's (Amie's mom) apartment for dinner. She had made a nice beef stew with biscuits and a pumpkin pie for dessert (it was a beef stew kind of days). She has a nice apartment in a converted factory that sits right next to the river in Jaffery. We could hear the river flowing in the background as we sat in the living room and chatted - that is whenever Lola was quiet which wasn't to often (just love that kid, pay backs are wonderful).

The Christmas presents were delivered and are now sitting under the tree (or would be if they had their tree up). So, it was time for us to say our good-byes, see ya in about six months. Our daughter is engaged and a wedding is in the planning stages for late April or early May in Tennessee. Needless to say, the Patterson family will all be present and accounted for so we'll see Marc and Amie and the kids again at that time.

Well, it's time to head 'em up and roll 'em out. See ya from the Cape!!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All The Way!" Yep, it's that time of year again when we do our Christmas shopping for the New Hampshire bunch. No sales tax and no shipping fees makes this a great opportunity to "Git'r Done", We were very fortunate indeed. Miss Judy had her list and we were able to find everything we wanted in just two stores. Wow, that's a first. We were done in approximately two hours. The trip, also, included a haircut for Judy, stops at a couple of "basket weaving" shops, some kayak shopping (looking), and dinner at a Chinese buffet.

We stopped on the way home to get some just picked apples at an orchard. They just had Macs; it will be another couple weeks before our favorite apple (Macouns) are ready. Oh well, a fresh home made apple pie is in my future - right, Miss Judy?

After getting home we went through our finances updating September's expenses and looking over the next three months. Right now, "we are in good shape for the shape we are in." We have managed to stash some money into our emergency fund but it is still not where we would like to see it (We'd like about four to six months living expenses in the emergency fund - I told you we were conservative).

We watched the news - I'm beginning to become a fan of the Newshour with Jim Lehrer (The Lehrer Report)
on PBS. I got fed up with the network news after the continued mantra on the death of that self absorbed singing dancing pedophile freak last summer. Also, the network news only gives us sound bites of news while trying to manipulate our thinking. The Lehrer Report actually does investigative reporting providing us with a little more information to consider - it lets us think for ourselves.

Now, how did I get off on that tangent? We finished our day by watching a movie that we borrowed from Marc and Amie and then it was lights out at a little after 10.

Today is our last day here in New Hampshire before moving onto the Cape to spend a week with Aunt Marge. We'll be doing some sightseeing down there so the journal entries should be a little more interesting.

Monday, September 28, 2009
Yesterday was pretty much some ol', same ol'. It was a rainy day so we got a real slow start to the day. We took our time sipping coffee and playing on our 'puters.

We had to get the harvest in so we went to Market Basket to do our grocery shopping. We just love that store and could easily knock $40 to $60 a month off our grocery budget. They have excellent meats and seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, and all the regular "stuff" we like to buy. Wally World is so inconsistent with what they stock that we can't always find the things we want plus the quality of their fruits and vegetables run "hot and cold". The store was packed - one of the workers commented that they had never seen it that busy, but they had every cash register opened and our wait at the check out wasn't any longer than usual.

After we stowed all our bounties we headed off for another grand kid fix - we didn't stay long since Amie is still not feeling real great. Then it was home again, home again where we got into our PJ's to lounge around the house until bed time. Well, I wish there was more to tell but "that's my story and I'm sticking to it".

Sunday, September 27, 2009
We got underway at around eight o'clock and arrived at our destination five hours later. Five hours is about all we want to drive in a day. We were all set up by one thirty and headed out for the kids house by two. Amie has been sick so Judy thought that she could assist getting things ready for Briana's birthday party but it was well in hand by the time we arrived. Amie's mom had had the same thought and beat us to the punch.

Since we hadn't eaten any lunch we decided to go to the Pizza Barn for some "grinders" and a soda. It's a good thing that we had decided to get small sandwiches 'cause they were more than enough. Then we went back to Marc and Amie's to await the arrival of Briana's girl friends - she's having a sleep over with pick up sometime around ten this morning (poor Amie, struggling through it all with a serious cold). We left around six and came home where we immediately dawned our "jammies" and sat around watching a little tv while playing on our 'puters before "hitting the hay".

Today we're going to one of our favorite grocery stores, the Market Basket. We love shopping in New Hampshire with no sales tax and the Market Basket prices are pretty comparable to Walmart's. The rest of the day is pretty much up in the air so you'll just have to check in tomorrow to see what transpired.

Saturday, September 26, 2009
"All the best lain plans of mice and men. . . " Last Friday there was a crew for the city out front of the house marking lines on the road. I just "knowed that sumpin'" was up so I walked out to ask a few questions. They were "fixinto" upgrade the sewer system down Congress street but the foreman informed me that they would start digging on Monday morning and assured me that they would be well past the house on Friday. He said we would have no problem getting out of the driveway on Friday morning, however, I just "knowed" that whenever "Gummint" is involved there would be a screw up of some kind and that they would somehow manage to be right in front of the house when we were ready to roll. "Sho' 'nuff!!"

They told me that they would stop work, back fill the hole with gravel, and move the equipment out of the way so we could get out but how ridiculous is that? It's not as if it was an emergency and we had to get out; after all, we're fulltimers don't cha know? So I just told them to keep digging and we'd wait until Saturday (this) morning to get underway. We want to be in Peterborough for Briana's birthday party but that's not until four o'clock this afternoon. If we leave by eight this morning we'll be in Hancock by two or two thirty with plenty of time to get into our site, get hooked up, and get to the party on time.

Being that we had another day to play, we all went out to breakfast at a restaurant that's in a new location. It's called Family Traditions and has been around since 1952. Mike and I had the "home made corned beef hash" and eggs with toast breakfast. The hash was outstanding; I have never had a hash made like this one. It had corned beef, mashed potatoes, onions, green peppers, and a few other ingredients and was absolutely scrumptious. The portion was so large that we only ate about a third of it and took the rest home to have with venison for dinner.

Mike wanted to check out another parcel of land for bow hunting so we spent a couple of hours doing that while the girls went out to a "made in Maine" craft shop called Patchwork Plus. They had fun and found a few items that they just couldn't live any longer without. Judy got quilting supplies for some place mats and pot holders that she wants to make. I'm not entirely sure what Shauna bought but it required Mike to head to the garage for his drill (some sort of clothes hanger type of thingy dingy).

Later we gathered together for the afore mentioned venison and corned beef hash dinner with hot out of the oven apple crisp dessert. I'm glad we're not trying to loose weight or anything (a little sarcasm here)!! In any event, we've had a good time here with Mike and Shauna and look forward to returning next summer sometime while traveling with our oldest grand daughter, Briana. Yes, our 2010 travel plans are changing again, that's why they are only carved in putty, but we won't go into detail right now 'cause all the changes haven't been finalized.

Fall is definitely in the air. Yesterday was a beautiful bright sun shiny day but the temps only got up into the 50's (two days ago it was almost 80) and last night they dipped into the mid to high thirties - brrrrrrr! It is time to be heading south but we are going to hang around the north lands for another four weeks just to tempt our faith. On Wednesday we'll be heading for the Cape but after that we will be going back to Michigan where we'll be until the 19th of October (who the heck's running the planning department of this operation anyway? Are they crazy?). We'll just have to see how it all works out, especially considering our furnace has gone on strike. That's right, I no more than get one thing fixed (washer/dryer) around here and something else breaks. It just needs a cleaning and tune up but right now it won't fire which means no heat, but it's not as bad as it sounds. We have the fireplace and the Vornado heater to take off the chill and keep us warm as long as the temps don't drop too far below the freezing mark.

Well, it's time to pack up and head out - we'll be in New Hampshire this afternoon so see ya down the road.

Friday, September 25, 2009
Hey Pa, what's for dinner? Yesterday morning Mike and I went over to Young's Lobster Pound to get four one and a quartah pound lobstahs to make a lobstah stew. I never realized that there were so many questions to answer when purchasing lobstahs. "What size do your want?" "One and a quartah poundahs." "One claw or two?" "Two." "Hard shell or soft?" "Soft." "Cooked or uncooked?" "Cooked." "To eat here or to go?" "To go." "You'll be number 78; it'll be about 12 minutes." I looked around and there wasn't another soul in the place so I asked, "Where's the other 77?" "Oh, they called their orders in." Actually, the mesh bags that they cook the lobstahs in are numbered and the number on our bag was 78; ya gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get one by a Mainer!

We brought the lobstahs home and let them cool before "picking" them. Talk about being disciplined - try picking four lobstahs without sampling any; that takes a whole lot of discipline (I guess Mike and I failed the test). You need to save the tomalley (green stuff) and the roe (red stuff) in one dish and save the juice from the lobstah in another bowl. The key ingredient between a good lobstah stew and a great lobstah stew is time - Ya just can't be in a hurry to make lobstah stew. First, using a large pot you stir fry the tomalley and roe in a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter on medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Next you add a little of the lobstah meat with a couple more tablespoons of butter and continue stir frying for a few more minutes (keep doing this until all of the meat and one stick of butter has been added). Don't brown the meat but keep stir frying for about 10 minutes adding salt and pepper to taste. Then add the juice, and two (or three) cans of evaporated milk and continue cooking on low heat for 2 hours (do not let the stew boil). Remove it from the heat and let it stand for at least four hours (it's definitely better if it sits over night - refrigerate after it has cooled down). This yields four large bowls of lobstah stew that will make your mouth water from start to finish (I'm drooling just thinking about it!). This is a once in a year dinner 'cause it is high in saturated fat, it is high in cholesterol, and it is high in just about everything else that is bad for you, but boy is it yummy!!!!!

Other than make the stew, I continued working on the travelogues - there will be four to cover the first nine months of 2009. January, February, and March's is in the proof reading stage; April and May's is outlined and half done; June, July, and August is conceptual (hasn't been started); while September's been kept up to date and should be published on time in early October.

Judy and I did our walk about town with a stop at City Park to walk on the beach (something that I really enjoy doing). We found a log to sit on while we listened to the waves roll ashore with the sea gulls squawking in the background. It was high tide and we sat and chatted for a while while looking out across Penobscot bay. Just beautiful, I could almost buy a place and settle down right here for the rest of my life. Don't worry, I don't have that kind of money and the thought of snow sends me back to the south in a hurry.

Today is supposed to be a travel day but the city workers are tearing up the road in front of the house to improve the sewage system. They told me that they would put some gravel in front of the driveway when we were ready to leave but we are retired and not in that big of a hurry. If necessary we'll just wait and leave in the morning. Well, thar ya have it - take care and be sure to have some fun.

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Yesterday morning we just puttered around the house; I worked on the travelogues while Judy worked on her crafts. Later Mike and I drove down to Camden so I could pick up our new hats. Shauna and Judy stayed at home to continue working on their "stuff".

We took the back roads home (what's new?) and stopped at one of Mike's hunting spots to check the apple situation at his deer stand. October 1st is the first day of bow hunting which my brother is very much into since his rifle hunting season gets cut short. He and Shauna manage a Christmas tree lot in Lynchburg, Virginia and have to leave just before Thanksgiving (rifle hunting season in Maine is the month of November).

The weather was just great for a walk in the woods. You could smell fall in the air - the smell of the dying leaves is quite distinctive. This is my most favorite time of the year; it's just too bad that fall didn't last a little longer than six to eight weeks.

After we got home we just sat outside drinking iced tea and chatting about anything that came to mind. Later the Bambis returned to the backyard so we spent some time watching them. They were just a couple of lambs still with their spots; one is a "button buck" and the other we're not sure (he/she didn't come close enough). They are pretty well acclimated to city living and don't spook very easily. Mike took a picture of the little buck at about twenty feet and the flash went off which startled him a little bit but didn't make him "high tail it". Finally they headed back into the woods to find their mother.

Last night my old buddy William and his wife Kym picked us up to go out to dinner. It was fun spending time with them reminiscing about the "good ol' days" and catching up on our lives. We went to Angler's Restaurant in Searsport and had sea food. They had some of the best fried clams that I have ever had; although fried food doesn't agree with Miss Judy or I. We both felt a little sick to our stomachs this morning - oh well, it was certainly yummy at the time.

After dinner we came back to the rig to sit and chat for awhile until Mr. Sand Man came knocking. We look forward to spending more time with them next time we're in town.

Well, this is it - our last day here. Tomorrow we'll return to Hancock, New Hampshire to spend some more time with our grand children and to celebrate Briana's birthday (she'll be eleven years old; where, oh where did the time go?).

We're not sure what the rest of the day will bring but I can say that it is absolutely wonderful to not have a plan. I think a special dinner will be in the making for tonight so check back tomorrow to see just what we concocted.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?" Nope, but we went to the Farmington County Fair. It was almost a two hour drive with the leafs beginning to change colors. It was seniors day with the definition of senior being 55 or older which meant that we all got in free (they let Shauna in free even though she didn't make the cut). The first order of business was lunch; we lucked out in that we found a "lunch wagon" where the owners are on their first year. The quality and quantity of food was excellent along with very reasonable prices. Miss Judy and I had Steak and Cheese sandwiches with onions, green peppers, and mushrooms - they were fabulous. We, also, got an order of fresh hand sliced french fries lightly salted and sprayed with vinegar - yum, yum!!!! Both the sandwich and the french fries were the best we've had in a long time.

Okay, with that behind us we were able to move onto the exhibits and demonstrations. There was a midway but we all agreed that we are at the age where we don't want to do anything where our heinies go over our heads. There were the typical 4H exhibits of crafts, gardening, and animals. There were demonstrations and shows with ribbons being awarded for first, second, and third place. There was horse racing with bets being waged which is a staple of most county fairs across the country. And, there was entertainment at various spots around the fairgrounds. We just walked about taking it all in and enjoying each other's company.

Before leaving we stopped by a booth with nice "home made" pies for a piece of Maine blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream on top (Judy and I split a piece 'cause we were still full from the sandwiches and fries). It was good but I like Miss Judy's pie crust a whole lot better (hint, hint - maybe she'll bake me one). Then it was on the road again heading for home.

What a wonderful way to spend the last few hours of summer - the sun was out and the temps were in the 70's. Fall began at 5:18 but it sure didn't feel like it; keep it coming!!!

So, I guess that's it for today, see ya tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Yesterday morning we spent doing our household chores, we did some reading, and played on the internet while we waited for Mike and Shauna to get freed up to go play. Then it was a trip to Camden where we grabbed a quick lunch of Avocado Chicken wraps which we ate in the park. Miss Judy wanted to get some "stuff" (can't say what as it has to do with Christmas) and was able to find just what she wanted at the first stop (that's a miracle).

While we were in Camden, Mike and Shauna needed some hats made up with the logo for the Christmas Tree Lot they manage in Lynchburg, VA. The prices were quite reasonable so the Wandering America crew (pilot and navigator) had some hats made for themselves as well. I've wanted to have some embroidered hats for some time so now it is a done deal - there will be pictures to follow in our September travelogue.

Speaking of pictures, I tried to publish the picture above on our Index page but my program wouldn't cooperate. So I figured I would just put the picture of our Homestead back on that page but the program corrupted that picture. I had problems when I changed pictures last week as well but was finally able to get it published. There is somethin going on in the background that I'm not aware of so until I figure out what it is I'm just going to leave the Index page alone. Hopefully I'll not have the same problems on this page when I go to change the pictures.

After making that acquisition we wandered over to another of Camden's parks for a photo-op. Then Shauna and Judy checked out a few more "cute little shops" while Mike and I waited in the car. On the way home we traveled the back roads again just to enjoy the scenery. This time we came up the backside of Mount Battie on the way to Lincolnville Center and then cut across to Belfast; a route that I haven't been on in years and years.

Shauna whipped up a Tai Chicken dinner with rice, steamed carrots, and steamed broccoli which we enjoyed with some wine as the darkness settled in (it was the sauce that really made the meal). Well, there's another day in the life of the Wandering Americans; and that's the way it was on Monday, the last full day of summer, September 21st, two thousand and nine. By the way, summer officially ends and fall begins today at 5:18 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Hope you had a great summer, we did!!!

Monday, September 21, 2009
So, what did we do yesterday? Well, we sat and we ate. We ate breakfast, sat as we rode to church, we sat in Sunday School, we ate snacks between Sunday School and Worship, we sat through Worship, we sat as we rode home, we sat as we watched the Patriots get beaten, we ate cheese and crackers as we watched the Patriots get beaten, etc., etc.. We ended up eating dinner around 8:30 last night (wait a minute, isn't that bed time?) and sat and chatted until after 10:00. Thar ya go! We sat and we ate.

It was a beautiful day and the ride to church, which is about 45 minutes, was quite pleasurable. In fact, it was so enjoyable that we took all the back roads coming home. The New England countryside has to be among the most scenic in all the nation (maybe even the world). Give it a couple more weeks and God will get out His watercolors and paint the countryside in bright oranges, yellows, reds, greens, and browns making it an amazing exhibit to be marveled.

It was a relaxing Sunday to say the least. Only God knows what today holds. We have no plans but will congregate together shortly and (loosely) map out something. We are definitely rested up from our stint at Lake George Escape and ready to do something (anything). You'll have to check back tomorrow to see what we found to do.

Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Up, up and away" is what it's about today. We are going to church with Mike and Shauna so we have to get ourselves moving a little faster this morning.

Yesterday we started our walk about but stopped to see if William and Kym were home - sure 'nuff, they were so we spent a couple of hours visiting with them. William was my very best friend waaaay back when Hector was a pup - we spent just about every waking moment together. If there was any mischief going on in the neighborhood you could be sure that William and I was at the center of it. It was nice to see them and do a walk about the farm - lots of fond3 memories flashed before my eyes as we walked through the back pastures. We set a date to get together on Wednesday evening so we could enjoy a "chat and chew" at some local eatery.

We came back home to see if Mike and Shauna had arrived home yet - not, so we continued walking on. This time we walked past my aunt Wilma's place to see if she was home from her Alaskan trip - sure 'nuff, she was so we spent an hour visiting with her. My cousin, Larry, was my closest cousin and it was a grand day indeed when uncle Lawrence and aunt Wilma bought a home in the neighborhood. So whatever mischief that William and I didn't get into you can be sure that Larry and I did. It was nice to see Wilma - she is a real inspiration; at eighty (you wouldn't think to look at her) she is still going strong. Her furry kid, Franklin, a bichon puppy of 18 months, helps keep her very active with long walks three times a day.

It was back home again to see if Mike and Shauna had come home yet - still no Mike and Shauna, so we hung around the house a bit and then began thinking about dinner. I had't more than started burning some burger for a spaghetti dinner when in they rolled. After they had unloaded their canoes and gear boxes as well as get a little cleaned up we shared a dinner together. We didn't stay late as they wanted to get some nice hot showers and relax a little after having been on the river for the past week. That brings us to today and who knows what mischief we'll get into this afternoon - that right, when I wasn't getting into mischief with William or Larry, Mike and I would find some other mischief to get into (I wonder who was the catalyst for all of this mischief?).

Oh yes, when Miss Judy and I aren't getting into mischief, I'm working diligently on our travelogues - I'm just about done with the first quarter of 2009. Happy Trails!

Saturday, September 19, 2009
How 'bout that!!! Another pretty much do nothing day. Miss Judy did some laundry, we went back to the quilt shop to get some material for place mats, stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few pantry items, and then we stopped by Jack's Grocery to get some more Italian sandwiches for lunch (Italian sandwiches are yummy). After lunch we took a nap and then puttered around the house for a while.

Around four o'clock we had some visitors. Mrs. Deer and her two yearlings visited us in the back yard. The yearlings, complete with white spots, came within thirty feet of our back window. Mrs. Deer, being skittish as she is, stayed along the tree line ducking in and out of the trees. There's an apple tree right behind our rig and the little darlings were having a feast on green apples. I sure hope they don't get a belly ache!!! We snapped a few pictures of them and then sicced Alex on them. He watched them for a while but didn't really care much whether they were out there or not, silly katt.

For dinner we had some BBQ'd chicken and fresh "con" on the cob (love fresh "con" on the cob). After dinner we watched the news and another movie - Duplicity with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. It was a cute spy-vs-spy chick flick type of movie well worth the two bucks we paid to see it.

We don't get much on television here in Belfast. This digital TV "thang" didn't do much to help communities located any distance from the towers. We used to get ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and a couple other stations in Belfast with the over the air "analog" signals - now with the new and improved digital signal we only get CBS, CW, and PBS (no ABC or NBC). Belfast residents aren't too happy about it but figure it was all a ploy to get them to go to cable and/or satellite television. What ever the reason, we don't get any decent programming here so we've been watching movies in the evenings. I like it better that way 'cause there's no snack breaks (otherwise known as commercials) and we get to watch what we want to watch, not what someone decides what we going to watch.

Not sure what today will bring other than Mike and Shauna will return home sometime. They run a guide service business (Mike is a Registered Maine Guide) and do canoeing trips all over the country. This last trip was a week long run down Allagash River in Maine. Mike and Shauna provide excellent trips at very reasonable prices - they have lots of return clientele. We're looking forward to their arrival most likely this afternoon.

Friday, September 18, 2009
Yesterday was another nice sunny day even though it was not as warm as we would have liked. After breakfast I took my bride out to Nancy's Sewing Center which is the local quilting shop and then we visited our my aunt Bobbi. It was noon time when we left there so we stopped at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard lunch then we did a little more "gunkholing".

Remember I told you that you wouldn't find the word "gunkholing" in you Funk and Wagnalls? Well, as it turns out, even though "gunkholing" may not be in your Funk and Wagnalls it is in the more complete dictionarys. "Gunkholing is a boating and sea kayaking term referring to a type of cruising in shallow or shoal water, meandering from place to place, spending the nights in coves. The term refers to the "gunk', or mud, typical of creeks, coves, marshes, sloughs, and rivers that are referred to as gunkholes." - Wikipedia "Meandering from place to place" sounds a little like fulltime RVers with "spending the nights in coves" sounding like a night at Walmart (or other parking lots). Therefore, we RVers are gunkholers as well.

Okay then, we did a little more "gunkholing" around the area with one of the stops being at my aunt Eunice's cottage on Pitcher Pond. We wanted to see if we could get the RV down there to spend a few weeks. My aunt owns two lots on the pond with a cottage on one and the other being undeveloped. It certainly would be doable, however, it would require a lot of tree trimming for both width and height. The lot has a road that circles around so it would be like a pull through site. There is some power (20 amp?) but no water or sewer. I would love to develop the lot for an RV space but Maine taxes would keep us from buying such a lot. Pitcher pond is a wonderful clean/quiet pond that is great for swimming, kayaking, and fishing. Oh well, dream on!!!!

We did manage to get in a two and a half mile walk which was quite invigorating and refreshing. After dinner we watched the news (nothing much new there) and then watched a movie. Then it was lights out on another day in the life. We have managed to get rested up and are now looking forward to Mike and Shauna returning home on Saturday - it will be nice to have some playmates around.

Thursday, September 17, 2009
I'm working at it!!!! However, I have nine months of work to do to get the website updated. No, that doesn't mean that it will take me nine months; I just have nine months worth of material to review and travelogues to write. One blessing in disguise was the fact that I had not downloaded any pictures from our camera since the beginning of the year (that could have been disastrous but I lucked out). Anyway, the pictures are now all in one file so I don't have to go looking all over the place for them. We have folders for family members, states, special events, etc. and when I download I generally file the pictures where they belong (a task I will do once I update the travelogues). Had I done that earlier I would have had to open all kinds of files to get the pictures needed for the 2009 travelogues.

Another issue (if you want to call it that) is that I'm using Picasa 3 to "manage" my pictures. There are a lot of nice features that I like about the program but, as with any Windows based program, it has a mind of its own. That is, that it will do what it wants to do and not necessarily what I want it to do, especially when it comes to filing photographs. Like anything it's a learning curve.

So far I have selected all the pictures that I want to use for the first five months of the year (up until we arrived at Lake George Escape). I have enhanced them with Picasa and filed them in the 2009 Wandering America picture folder. I have written January's travelogue and am working on February, March, and April's. Being that we did very little travel last spring there's not a whole lot to write about so I will let the pictures tell most of the story.

Yesterday turned out to be an excellent day to work on the website. It remained overcast for most of the day and was cold (at least for us sissy la-la's from the south) with temps in the high 50's. We did go for a three mile walk in the morning (while the sun was out) getting back home a little after 11 o'clock. We picked up an Italian sandwich at Jack's Grocery and split it for lunch followed by a short katt nap. Miss Judy worked on her crocheting and digital scrapbooking while I fought with Picasa and worked on the website. Today will most likely be a continuation of yesterday as I hope to get the travelogues caught up before we leave Maine.

The sun is up (and so are we); it's time to get ready for a nice walk in the crisp fresh air (that means we had better bundle up)!! Bye, bye for now. . . . . .

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Yesterday was almost exactly what I said it would be. The washer/dryer problem is with the "board" which means about $350 to fix it (yuck!!). Also, I did some work on the web site while Miss Judy worked on some quilting stuff. The picture on the "Index Page" is of the Patterson Homestead since 1949 where we are currently parked in the driveway.

The weather turned rather nice with the sun coming out around ten o'clock and the temperatures rising to 71 degrees. We went downtown to visit my aunt at her hardware store and then took a drive to Camden Hills State park to get information on camp hosting. They do accept people for one to two months stays so that maybe a future option. They want 15 hours per week per couple spread over five days - the main duty would be cleaning the three bathroom facilities. That's pretty doable, I would say.

For dinner we cooked up some scallops, some rice, and raw carrots. Yum, Yum!!! Scallops have got to be our favorite sea food and, surprisingly enough, 'Bama oysters are probably our second favorite although fresh haddock is right up there. Steamed fresh Maine Clams (Steamahs) are mighty tasty too as is a nice lobstah stew. You'll have to excuse me, I gotta get to the fish market. See ya tomorrow!!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Here we sit in my old "door yard". The house looks great, my brother has done a lot of work on it and it's in good shape. Mike and Shauna have done a great job decorating the interior and restoring the house to the period in which it was built (late 1890's). Mike has upgraded all the windows with the old style two over one panes and added antique shutters. Each room has been restored to the period from the floors to the ceilings as well as the paint on the walls. The old homestead never looked better.

We had an uneventful travel day (two hours of driving) and got camp set-up in the driveway (or is it a park way; after all, we are parking in it). There's not much to report - we took a short drive around town and then just hung out for the rest of the day. We finished the fish "chowdah" (with a little wine), watched the news, and played on our 'puters before it was time to let our heads hit the pillows - lights out. Just another day in the life.
Today it is raining and is going to be a stay-at-home day. We've not had one of these days since leaving LGE and figure we are due for one. Hopefully I will get to the bottom of the washer/dryer problem (actually the dryer portion) so we can put that little project behind us. Miss Judy wants to work on some basket weaving stuff while I hope to get some work done on the pictures and travelogues.

I have received a lot of comments on the picture of the "lobstah" boat on our "index" page. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. At low tide that boat wouldn't be able to go through that pass between the ledges in the background and Land's End where I was standing. My plans are to change that photograph to reflect where we're at and what we're doing. I will be replacing the picture with a new photograph soon but the current one is nice enough to include it in the travelogue about our visits to Harpswell.

Until tomorrow, happy trails to you. . . . . . .

Monday, September 14, 2009
It's been just over 12 years ago when we moved from Maine to Michigan so we were curious as to how many people we would know at First Baptist Church of Freeport. Surprisingly there were quite a few. The church looked just the same as it did when we used to attend each Sunday back in the 1990's. We noted that even some of the people sat in the same pews that they did twelve years ago. There are just some things that should never change in order to maintain a little security in this ever changing world of ours.

After church Sandy invited us for a "quick lunch" at their house. A "quick lunch"? Right!!! If you call a roasted chicken, potatoes, couscous, coleslaw, and a corn dish a "quick lunch". It was delicious and we enjoyed their company one more time before hitting the road again. It was really nice to see Sandy and Bev again and we'll be back again.

Mike and Peggy stopped by to say "see ya down the road". Mike and I sat inside talking about important stuff while watching football, opening season for the NFL ya know; Peggy and Judy sat outside and chatted away the time. We managed to polish off the rest of the blueberry cheese cake as we visited together. We look forward to our next meeting when ever and where ever that will be.

The rest of the day was spent getting a few things ready to roll, enjoying a bowl of fish chowder, and watching a little more television before heading to bed. From where I sit, it is a real waste of money to invest in a satellite system and pay a monthly fee for satellite TV - there is just nothing on but junk. We had cable TV at LGE and there was hardly anything on worth wasting our time to watch. We are more than able to bring in enough junk with our antenna and digital television sets for free so why pay for it.

Today it is off to Belfast. We plan to "break camp" sometime before 10 o'clock and make tracks north arriving at our destination somewhere around noon time. My brother Mike and his wife Shawna won't be home until next Saturday so our plans are to rest and relax while getting caught up on a couple of projects. One project is to pull the washer/dryer out of the closet and finish trouble shooting the problem with the dryer. Hopefully, Splendide will be able to ship what ever part is needed to fix the washer/dryer to us while we are in Belfast. The other project is getting our pictures organized so that I can update our travelogues for 2009. More on those things later; right now it is time to ready the rig to roll - so, see ya from Belfast tomorrow.

Sunday, September 13, 2009
Just another day in paradise!! The girl and I slept in until around six o'clock yesterday before Five O'clock Charlie (a.k.a. Alex - now Six O'clock Charlie) decided it was time for up. As you can see, I am having some success with his training, or is it just the difference in the time for first light? We played on our 'puters while we swilled our coffee and made our daily plans. How sweet 'tis!!

After a few daily household chores we embarked on a few hours of "gunkholing" Gunkholing is a term that my dad gave to fishing in various small coves around the Penobscot Bay - you'd reel in more sea weed (gunk) than fish; therefore, gunkholing. My brother and I have extended the meaning of the term to include driving about and stopping at various little places along the way where you find more junk (gunk) than treasures; therefore, gunkholing. However, you'll not find that word in your Funk and Wagnalls.

We drove to Harpswell where we visited a summer "camp" (cottage) that belongs to an old Patterson family friend. While there we learned that he passed away last summer while staying at the "camp"; how sad as I had half expected to see him and his wife there. We walked about the property and down to the beach while I filled my senses with memories of how things used to be 50 years ago. The "camp" remains just as it did waaaay back then, but the neighborhood has changed a little. The biggest change is all the additional docks built out into the harbor. After visiting the "camp" we just drove around looking for photo ops. It was an overcast day, however, the Maine coast is beautiful in just about any light and we found plenty of opportunities to make pictures.

Just to kill some time, we stopped at Best Buy to look at some digital cameras as we are looking for something smaller that will fit into a pocket. After a little research on the internet we have found that Sony and Canon are the two top choices. There are better deals on the internet but I like to hold the camera and try some of the features before buying. I found that I liked the "feel" of the Canon over the Sony. Our first digital camera, a Nikon, cost over $700, our second, a Fujifilm, cost $300, and it looks like our third will cost around $150. We have some more shopping to do before we decide which one fits our needs.

Next it was over to Mike and Peggy's for our dinner engagement. One of our favorite eateries in the Brunswick area is Captain Mike's which has great sea food dishes. Mike and I started our meals with a cup of lobster stew which was absolutely "to die for"!!  I should have just had a bowl of that for my meal but instead Miss Judy and I did a "no, no". We had the fried clam dinners and even though we sinned, they were greaaaaaat!!!! The clams were lightly breaded and fried to perfection - not over fried or greasy. Plus, they gave you a large serving of clams; I had to sacrifice myself and help my little girl finish hers - oh, the duties I am called upon to perform for my bride (I know it's tough but I am up to the challenge). Mike and Peggy had scallop dishes that looked yummy as well. We all left full and satisfied; now where's the couch for a katt nap?

Then it was home again, home again, jiggity, jig where we watched Michigan beat Notre Dame and played on our 'puters a little more before retiring while purring like two ragdoll kittens. It was a good day indeed - isn't life great? Especially when you don't have to get up and go to w*rk the next morning.

Saturday, September 12, 2009
Yesterday was a perfect day weather wise. We cleaned house, went shopping, and prepared last night's dinner. Sandy and Bev Williams, our former pastor and his wife, came to dinner last night. We prepared a fish chowdah (made with fresh Haddock caught right off the coast of Maine), baked fresh scallops (also gathered right off the coast), mezeria (a Polish cucumber dish), coleslaw (made fresh at Walmart - snicker), and ciabatta bread (an Italian sour dough bread). Appetizers were prosciutto panino (prosciutto meat rolled in mozzarella cheese), Vermont cheddar cheese (a white sharp cheddar), and crackers (Triscuits) with dessert being a nice blueberry cheese cake (fresh Maine blueberries right from the Comstock can - we bought them in Maine). Yum, Yummy, Yum!!!

It was good to visit with Sandy and Bev and catch up on what's been taking place in our lives over the past couple of years. They were interested in our lifestyle but it certainly would not be something that they would want to do. Bev brought a book that they had had done showing pictures of their trip to Australia. Their youngest daughter, her husband, and their two children have lived there for the past few years which made it a very special trip indeed. We went for a short walk about the campground before having dessert and then just sat and chatted away the rest of the evening. It's always fun to reconnect with people from your past.

What's up for today? Maybe a short trip and another dinner engagement with Mike and Peggy. Yep, travelogues with pictures are coming soon. I will get working on them once we get to Belfast on Monday.

Friday, September 11, 2009
I can never, never, never, get enough of the Maine coastline. It would take nothing for me to spend hours upon hours of beach combing along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. There's just something about the smell of the salt air, the feel of mist as the tide is coming in, and the sounds of the waves breaking over the rocks. Then there's the cry from the gulls as they fly overhead and the occasional whistle from a boat as it makes its way along the coast. How pleasant it is to just sit on a rock and watch the lobstermen tending their traps while looking out across the bay dotted with islands. This is my homeland and the nostalgia comes flooding back every time I revisit it. You can take the boy out of the sea but you can't take the sea out of the boy!

Yesterday afternoon Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I went sightseeing around Harpswell, Orrs Island, and Bailey's Island to a point known as Land's End. Mike gave us a choice - be cool and ride in a meticulously restored 1964 Chevelle or be comfortable and ride in a 2007 Saturn View. The back seat of the Chevelle is rather uncomfortable for adults so the little princesses chose the Saturn as their chariot. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was high tide making for some breath taking views along the way.

At Land's End there is a gift shop where we have been many times before but for me that was not the attraction. I wanted to get down on the beach and walk along the rock ledges that protrude out into the ocean, which I did. We were only there for about 45 minutes but I could have stayed for hours; no, I could have stayed for days or even weeks. We need to find a place where we can "camp" right next to the beach; how cool would that be?

After touring the countryside we stopped by Fat Boy, one of our favorite eateries, for some frappes. Miss Judy likes a chocolate / black raspberry frappe and I like the coffee frappe with a double shot of syrup - Mike and Peggy got vanilla and chocolate frappes. For those of you wondering, "What's a frappe?" It's a super thick milk shake (so thick that you can hold it upside down and it won't run out). It's, also, super cold and if you drink it too quickly you'll definitely get a sinus freeze (ooowww, that hurts!!). By the way, Fat Boy's is a 60's type diner with carhops to take and deliver your order right to you while you wait in your "kah". A really neat place with good food located on old route 1 in Brunswick (right at the end of the runway for Brunswick Naval Air Station),

We took our frappes back to Mike and Peggy's to slowly nurse them into our bellies - yum, yum - after which Miss Judy and I headed home via a stop at L. L. Bean's.

My baby operates with the sun; when the sun sets so does she and when daybreaks so does she - the old "early to bed, early to rise" adage. I always used to say; "Early to bed, early to rise, and your girl goes out with other guys!" Anyway, we went to bed!!! Then at oh-dark-thirty this morning (5:00) I heard the coffee being made. What's up with that? I was just getting Alex trained to stay in bed until six and now I have to train both Judy and Alex. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

What's up for today? Lord only knows. You'll have to tune in tomorrow to find out. Guess who's coming to dinner?

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Aaahhh! The way life should be! Blueberry Pond Campground is another one of those tranquil places with nothing going on but peace and quiet. My friend Mike says, "You really have to want to go there" in order to get to Blueberry Pond Campground. It's only five and a half miles from Exit 22 off I-295 in Freeport but it is a grueling five and a half miles. Route 136 is rougher than a cob and then the last mile and a half is down a washboard dirt road. Go any faster than 15 MPH and you'll see bolts dropping off you're vehicle. It's not the end of the world, but you sure can see it from here.

The campground is small with a total of 36 sites and 13 of them being nice level full hook-up sites (only 30 Amps). We have a large yard with the swimming pool right in front of the rig; it would be behind the rig but the way the hookups are situated I had to pull into the site and then back the truck out around the rig - no big deal. I would have to say that, all in all, this campground does have the "it factor". It's small, it's nice and clean, it's secluded, it's in Maine, it's Passport America, it's close to good shopping, and the owners are great folks. If it had a river running past the campground for kayaking it would be get a 9 or a 10, in our opinion. Really the only negative is that darned dirt road you have to travel down to get here.

We were in and set-up a little after one o'clock. We had a little lunch, took a katt napp, and then went over to Mike and Peggy Ervingham's house for dinner. On our way, we drove past our old house in Topsham. Sad to say it needs a lot of tender loving care to bring it back "up to standard" but, fortunately, that's not our problem.

Peggy fed us very well with baked southern fried chicken, smashed 'taters, "con" on the cob, salad, and brownies topped with ice cream - yum, yum. Thanks Peggy!!! After dinner we went for a walk about the neighborhood. It was a good evening and we look forward to spending this afternoon with Mike and Peggy while doing some sightseeing.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
It was an uneventful trip from Lake George Escape to Seven Maples Campground. We got underway at around 9:00 taking it slow and easy thereby turning a three hour trip into four hours. The day started out foggy and remained that way until we got into Vermont which limited our views of the beautiful mountains along route 149 in New York. From Whitehall, New York we took route 4 which brings us right into Rutland, Vermont. There is a visitor's center at the New York / Vermont border that we stopped at for a little break and then we hit the road again. We made a couple more pit stops before arriving at Seven Maples with the last one being on Route 12 in New Hampstir for lunch around noon time; we pulled into the campground a little after one.

Katie and Alex traveled pretty well considering that they have been sitting in one place for the past four months. Alex paced a little but settled in once we turned on some air conditioning for him - he doesn't like the heat and it was a little warm for him.

Just like last year, we definitely noticed a big difference in campgrounds. We go from living on Main Street U.S.A. to a quiet country setting back in the woods. This is very much to our liking; we can sit outside and hardly hear a sound unlike LGE where you can actually hear the traffic from I-87 as well as a steady stream of traffic passing in front of your site. Here all the passes by our site are wild turkeys, mule deer, a few bears, and an occasional moose. "Country Roads, take me home to a place I belong!"

Yesterday afternoon we completed all the paperwork for the rebates on our Verizon air card and Cradlepoint router. As we sit here in the middle of nowhere we have no cell phone service but we do have internet coverage. Our phones are AT&T and, as stated above, our air card is Verizon. I reckon that if we had Verizon phones we would get coverage but we just love them rollover minutes from AT&T.

Last evening was a grand kid fix. The Rock has grown incredibly since we saw him last a couple of weeks ago. At four months he is wearing 9 month sized clothes with his long legs making them look like capris. Lola is getting to be quite the little Dad's girl - she gave us our hugs but clung to dad for most of the time we were there. Briana greeted us at the door with hugs. She is becoming quite the little lady and we are excited about having her travel with us next summer.

Then it was home again, home again where we watched a movie and went to bed. How do people sleep with all this quiet and darkness? Ah, we just loved it - man, it's nice to not be living near a highway anymore. We'll be back here in about three weeks to spend some time in this area while celebrating Briana's birthday, she will be the big one one (11). Just can't get enough of that peace and quiet!!!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Today we start Phase II of our fulltiming plan. When we began back in October of 2006 we knew that we would have to workamp along the way to make it to our retirement which was almost three years away. Well, our retirement began on the first of September and we just needed to finish our commitment here at LGE which we did on Saturday. We turned in our keys yesterday afternoon and are now officially unemployed (wonder if we qualify for unemployment or food stamps). We're more than ready to make this transition into retired life and fulltime traveling.

Yesterday we finished all of our prep work (both blue and pink jobs) for getting on the road. I washed both the truck and the RV (a job that usually takes me a week to accomplish). Judy and I went to the laundromat to wash some of our bedding and then stopped at a local car wash to vacuum the inside of the truck. I put up the awning and packed away the rest of the patio stuff, washed the patio rug and let it dry in the sun before folding it up for storage, and I also flushed out the black water tank. Miss Judy continued packing things away inside the coach, vacuuming the house, and doing three loads of laundry as well as other cleaning. Once she was done with the clothes line, I packed it away and mounted the bikes on the back of the rig.

Last night we went to a farewell hot dawg roast with our fellow workampers in the Fun and Games department. There was plenty of food and fellowship followed by hugs, farewells, and a few tears. It was good to sit around with everyone sharing this last evening together - it was a long season, we all w*rked hard, and got along well with each other. We've made some very good friends here over the past three years.

With all of that behind us we are now ready to become fulltime travelers; therefore, today we embark on a new journey as we enter into Phase II of our plan. So, now it is "On the Road Again"!!! See Ya in New Hampshire!!! We're outta here!!!!!!

Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy Labor Day!!! Summer is coming to an end which means that families will be heading home and settling in for a long winter's stay. That, also, means that the campgrounds will pretty much return to us fulltimer's. We'll have plenty of choices as to where to stay without encountering the "No Vacancy" signs, kids, dawgs, or lots of campfire smoke.

We'll hang in here at LGE until tomorrow morning letting all the vacationers get back home and off the highways before heading east. Rather than drive straight through to Maine we are going to stop over in New Hampshire for a night allowing us to have a short visit with our grand kids.

Yesterday we ran some errands and continued working on readying the house for hitting the road. Being that we have been here for four months lots of "stuff" needs to be put away. Last evening we cooked some hot dawgs over an open fire in the backyard and then visited with Jesse and Ginger for a little bit (they had just finished cooking hot dawgs over an open fire also). They will be staying at LGE for another three weeks to help close things down.

Today we'll finish packing up and saying our "Farewells" to all our workamping friends. We hope to meet up with many of them in the future while we are out Wandering America.

Being that we are now retired we'll not renew our Workamping News membership which expired in August as we'll only be volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, Campers On Mission, and National/State Parks from now on. We, also, let our Good Sam membership expire as we hardly ever stay at their members parks (we'll use Passport America and my Senior's Pass for traveling). I used to enjoy the Highways magazine but over the past couple of years all of Affinity Group's magazines have gotten smaller with less relevant content (Motorhome, Trailer Life, and Highways) so we are not going to renew any of them.

Well, it's time to get going in order to get going. Hopefully we'll see ya down the road; let us know if we are going to be in your neighborhood or if you're gonna be in ours. We always look forward to meeting old and new friends as we travel. Over the next month we'll be in New Hampshire, Maine, and Cape Cod.

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Did you hear it? Did you hear the great Y-A-A-A-H-O-O-O cross the land? We are footloose and fancy free once more. This time we are officially retired, not just quiting w*rk, but actually retired. That is, with no J-O-B and with retirement income flowing in. My good friend, Norm Payne, wrote and let me know that I "have officially reached old age". I'm not sure if that is good news or not, but I can tell you that I don't feel "old age", well except for my aching bones, nagging cough, and being hard of hearing. Oh yes, I do need a magnifying glass to read the back of medicine bottles and I don't move as fast as I used to. But other than that, and maybe a few other things, I don't feel old!!!! :-)

Yesterday wasn't as busy for me as I had anticipated, however, Miss Judy and the GCE group were very busy. Each week here at LGE is a "theme week" with this past week being "Labor Day Fair Week". Yesterday there was a circus in and around the big top which required lots and lots of set up. There were games with prizes, a dunking booth, a pie in the face event, face painting, tattoos, all sorts of family sports, and pop corn, cotton candy, and hot dawgs. They sold over 6,000 tickets at a quarter each. After the fair was over, all that stuff had to be dismantled and put back into storage so my baby came home around 5:30 with her "career ending" dragging behind her. I suspect that the circus kept people from coming to boats therefore contributing to my relatively easy day and thank goodness there were no elephants to clean up after.

Neither one of us felt like cooking so we went out to dinner at the Luck-E-Star with Phyllis and Thurman. They are a couple who have been coming to LGE for the past 8 years. We have grown rather fond of them over the years and enjoyed this time with them. Being that we are not coming back next year we will just have to plan a time to meet up with them again in our travels. Miss Phyllis will probably make me some fudge. She makes wonderful fudge and I'm always asking her, "Do you have any Fooodge?"

From now on, my main purpose in life will be to keep my bride happy. The first project that I am going to start working on is teaching one male ragdoll katt to sleep in in the morning. Yep, I need to figure out how to keep "5 o'clock Charlie", A.K.A. Alex, in bed in the morning. It would be nice if he could set his alarm clock to 6:30 or even 7:00. We are morning people but 5 o'clock is ridiculous for retired folks.

The time is now upon us to start packing up. We don't have a whole lot left to do but I do want to throw in a wash job on the rig - from the roof down. I like people to see a nice shinny rig as we roll down the highway. So, it's onto Maine! Have a happy 6th of September everyone.

Saturday, September 5, 2009
It's coming to an abrupt end but not after a tremendous transformation. In twelve hours (or less) we have seen the park go from a deader than a door nail campground to a happening place. What a difference almost 400 check ins make - there's a million dawgs on leashes and two million kids with bicycles running all over the place being that nearly all of the campsites full. The pedal carts are rolling, the wagon rides are full, Evergreen Square is filled with people again - it's the last hurrah for sure. Actually, things were slow most of the day yesterday with "All Heck" breaking loose around 6 o'clock right after the new arrivals got set up and fed.

I w*rked my final day in Honey Bear's Store yesterday morning and did my final tubing run yesterday afternoon (the four thirty run was canceled 'cause no one signed up for it). Miss Judy w*rked her last day in Honey Bear's Store starting at noon until closing. Today Miss Judy will w*rk her final Games, Crafts, and Events assignment and I will w*rk my final day at Honey Bear's Boat Docks. Then that's it!!!! Our w*rk here at Lake George Escape will be all done. It's sort of bittersweet knowing that we will not be back next summer and will miss seeing a lot of the friends that we have made over the past three years. However, we will have a lot of good memories and will now be free to implement our original plan of Wandering America.

Sunday and Monday you will find us finishing our departure routines and saying our farewells to our good friends. Lots of hugs, lots of "looking forward to seeing you again somewhere down the road", and, yes, maybe even a couple of tears. This has been a lot of w*rk but, yet, it has been a good gig. I didn't want to do "maintenance" stuff and Judy didn't want to do "front desk" stuff so it was a good fit for us doing the things that we enjoy doing. Now, it's farewell, LGE, farewell and "On the Road Again!l!

Thursday, September 3, 2009
It's funny how things seem to flow here at LGE. This has been a very slow week. Both Judy and I only w*rked for three hours today. It is as dead as a door nail around here - there were more staff in Honey Bear Square than guests. It just wasn't that way the past two years, but, hang in there - things are a changing!!! Tomorrow there will be 91 check ins, Friday another 276, and on Saturday 28 more. Each check in will most likely brings kids and dawgs - the park will be hopping come Saturday and Sunday. It will be the Last Hurrah for sure.

We have three more days of w*rk left and then it's "On the Road Again" (yes, I'm still humming the melody)!!! Today will probably be another easy day and then we will be busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. However, I can guarantee that the RV will be ready to roll on Tuesday morning and roll it will. We are going to stop in Hancock, New Hampshire for one night on our way to Maine (grand kid fix) but all that can wait for a future entry.

We went to our favorite pizza joint, Capri Pizza, with Jeff and Judy last evening just as planned. It was a great evening with goooooooood pizza and excellent socializing. We enjoyed getting to know them better and look forward to visiting them in South Carolina next winter/spring.

It's happened again, the eagle has flown over our checking account and dropped his load. On Monday two deposits from my pensions showed up, this morning a deposit from Uncle Sam appeared, and tomorrow a deposit from LGE will occur. "We're into money, We're into money!" I just love it when a plan comes together - this one took three years to come to fruition but, "How sweet 'tis!"

I promise, once I get done with this gig here in up state New York I will get busy on the travelogues. I will most likely start publishing the recent travels first and catch up with the earlier ones once we get to Belfast. I may just do one travelogue to cover January through August and then start doing routine entries from then on, we'll see. Any how, we can now see the light at the end of the w*rk tunnel and it's not a train coming the other way.

"On the Road Again, I Just Can't Wait to Get On the Road Again!!!"

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Yep, my blushing bride is smiling from ear to ear. The parts for her computer arrived yesterday and functioned just as hoped for. She has her 'puter back and we now have dueling computers again. Life is good in the valley.

Yesterday began our last week here at LGE, four w*rk days to go. It's not that we dislike workamping but five days a week is a bit much. Also, after four months we are more than ready to hit the road again. From this point on we plan to only do volunteer workamping; that is, working for our site only. That should only require three or less days a week leaving us time to play (sightsee, work on hobbies, visit, etc.).

Our favorite pizza place in the Adirondacks is Capri Pizza, however, we have not visited them at all this year. We've had so many people tell us that Pizza Jerks pizza is better than Capri's so we tried that once - NOT! Another one that was recommended was Gino's Pizza - definitely NOT! It just goes to show you that if you've found something that you like then why change? We are going to Capri's tonight with fellow workampers Jeff and Judy.

Jeff and Judy live in South Carolina, just outside of Savannah, Georgia. Their housing development has a half dozen full hook up sites available for friends to stay when they are passing through the area and Judy has invited me and the girl to partake of one of the sites which are very reasonably priced for that area. Sounds like a plan to me. In any event, we are looking forward to going out with them this evening as our schedules have not permitted it all summer.

Today and the next two days I get a two and a half hour lunch break which means that I can start packing up the patio "stuff". Yesterday morning I got the oil changed in the truck. They gave me a free car wash pass that was good for 30 days; well, being that we don't have 30 days left I took advantage of it post haste. The truck still needs a good wash job but at least it took the "grime" off. I would still like to give the rig a quick wash job on Sunday/Monday before we pull out so the more I get done before then the better.

Well, it's time for Miss Judy and me to get ready for w*rk (day two of five) so I will bid you farewell for now.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Yesterday we went over to Vermont (Gifford Woods State Park) to visit Allan and Jeanne Webster, our friends from Alabama who are workamping there. It is a cute little park with no hook up sites (except for the camp host). They are required to w*rk 30 hours a week (15 each) but put in more hours than that and are glad to do it. They enjoy volunteering as they travel fulltime in their Excel fifthwheel hauled by their Medium Duty Truck.

We went for a walk about the campground and then had lunch before going for a short sightseeing trip. The Appalachian Trail runs right through the middle of the campground. We came across it several times as we took our trip around the neighborhood. Vermont is such a beautiful state with the Green Mountains being sooooo green and pretty. We'll need to spend more time in Vermont in the future. It was good to see Allan and Jeanne again and, as always, one of the greatest things about this lifestyle is the people you meet and the friends that you make as you are wandering about.

Our "stuff" from Verizon and 3G store arrived yesterday so I spent some time setting everything up last night. As usual, the instructions for the Cradlepoint Router were very much lacking so it took a phone call to 3G to get it up and running. The problem was that the "Set-up Wizard" doesn't interface with all of the various broadband appliances available - Verizon USB 760 being one of them (me thinks that the Set-up Wizard needs to return to Hogwarts for another semester or two). Ed from 3G walked me through the manual set-up process but first I had to reset the router to the original settings. The instructions said to just press the reset button on the unit but it's not that simple. You have to remove the air card, unplug the unit, take a paper clip to press in and hold the reset button, then plug the unit in while continuing to hold the reset button for 15 to 20 seconds, and then replace the air card (none of that is in the instructions).

All's well that's ends well and we are happy campers now that we have high speed internet connectivity - Miss Judy will be a very happy camper when her "toys" arrive today. The new air card is sooooooo fast that it blew the hat right off my head and my hair went straight back. After muddling through two years with the Sprint card this is light years faster and we are very pleased with the new hookup.

Every time I turn around I find myself humming "On the Road Again", I wonder why? Today is our Monday for the last week of w*rking here at Lake George Escape. We've been in the hunkering down in conservation mode now since last fall when the economy came tumbling down. My original forecast had us short around six grand but in reality we are going to end up about six grand ahead (maybe a little better considering we bought tires for the rig and truck as well as a new bed, and a few other things). I said it last year and say it again now, this fulltiming lifestyle gives us more flexibility to weather these kinds of storms than living in sticks and bricks.

If you are thinking about fulltiming but entertaining a lot of "what ifs" we can tell you that there are just as many, if not more, "what ifs" in our old lifestyle. What if a forest fire burns our house down, what if a tornado passed through the neighborhood, what if a hurricane hits our area, what if we have a medical emergency, what if we have a family emergency, etc.. We can always move our house and go where things are better, be it the economy, weather, best medical facilities, or near family members. Fulltiming in conjunction with being debt free gives you the flexibility to make the necessary adjustments.

Well, that's it for today, so Happy Motoring!!!!

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