Crossett--last stop

 

Sorry..haven’t blogged…been busy…We (Ronnie and I and Dick and Helen) are at the Crossett RV Park ….for Helen’s and my 50^th Class Reunion.  Hard to believe.  We’re so young.

 

We arrived Friday about noon after a wonderful overnight at Mid-south RV Park in Tunica.  Wow, it’s nice…very large, concrete pads, grassy areas, trees if you want them.  We went to the Paula Deen buffet for dinner.  Another Wow.  All the food is Paula Deen’s recipes.  I think among all 4 of us, we ate something of everything.  Very, very good.   Came back to the RV’s to watch the debate. 

 

As soon as we crossed into Arkansas over the Greenville Bridge on Friday, R and I high-fived each other….Back right where we started—almost.

 

Friday evening, we all went back into Crossett for family visits.  Ronnie went to the ball game with brother-in-law, Bill Boyer.  I visited with my sister, Carlynne Boyer.  Helen and Dick visited with her cousins, the McCormicks.  Ronnie and I got back around 10:30 and went to bed.  No TV, but we read for a while.

 

Friday, on the way here, just before we got to the RV Park, a guy from Texas flagged us down on the highway.  Our bicycle rack had broken and we were dragging bicycles behind us down the  highway.  They had bounced for over 6000 miles….the steel rack just ripped from itself (not a good explanation) but the bikes, thank goodness, were still attached.  But not in very good shape right now.  The only mishap, so far, in our long journey.

 

Today has been a lazy day.  We sat around and visited with Dick and Helen, ate cheese, grapes and crackers for lunch.  And then got dressed for the reunion at 5. 

 

Wow, a great reunion!  It was so good to see everyone and I think we had a wonderful turnout.  Charlotte, Judy, Molly, Edra …Thanks so much for all your hard work.  I know that others were involved and we are all very appreciative of what you did. 

 

After six loooonnnnggg weeks of travel, Ronnie and I are so ready to be home…this reunion was a perfect end to a great trip.  We had fun, saw lots of things, met some really nice people, ate good food, and have seen some beautiful countryside.    But after 6500 miles, 18 states, and 3 Canadian provinces, we can truthfully say, “there’s no place  like home.”  

 

Thanks for following along with us and your nice comments on our blog.  It, again, is fun to do and surely will help us remember our journey.

 

Until next time…..

 

 

 

Ronnie and Anita

Arkansas Travelers

Crossville, TN

Just realized I've not blogged in two days, but we've been enjoying a visit with Dick and Helen Washburn....she's feeding us TOO good.  It's been fun.

We enjoyed a very quiet night in their driveway....beautiful views outside all the windows of the woods...yellow walnut trees...They live outside of Crossville in a nice, quiet, private subdivision...nice for walking up and down the hills...which we did this morning.  Enjoyed an afternoon of reading...it's still cool here and the sun just peeked out for a few minutes.

We all decided we'd leave here in the morning and add another night to our travels to Crossett.  None of us like to go over 300 miles a day, so we'll just split it up into two nights rather than a 360 mile day one day and 186 the next...

Helen and Dick made a wonderful pork pot roast tonight for dinner...stuffed.  I contributed a green salad...we really enjoy visiting with them.

We're looking forward to our 50th High School reunion Saturday night....lots of our "old" friends will be there..a good turnout. 

Later...

Ft. Chiswell..LAST DAY

EWWW.. A dark, rainy, cold day.  That started too early for me.  Geez, these people and their diesels at 7 a.m. in a sardine can.  We don't let ours run for 20 -30 minutes.  And slam doors and yell back and forth.  But we're thinking about it in the morning when we leave.  Altho, the ones packed in here tonight are not the same ones that were making all the racket this morning.  Who cares.  I was not in a very good mood when I was made to get up.

The park was almost empty about noon when we went into town to get a few groceries.  Got that done and sat down the rest of the dark, rainy afternoon ...Ronnie watched ballgames and I read.

 We are giving some consideration into looking at a motorhome versus the fifth wheel that we now have.  We absolutely love the fifth wheel....the layout can NOT be beat.   But the ride in the dually leaves a bit to be desired in our old age.  He's always said he'd not feel comfortable driving a motorhome, but he is seriously thinking it's doable.  It will be a slow process of deciding.  Another plus would be to have a smaller "toad" to run around in when we stop rather than this huge truck.  We're to the point of making a Pro/Con list.   We spent some time on the laptops researching.   Found one that had the TV/Fireplace setup that we now have in the fifth wheel. 

Anyway, we'll be leaving in the morning for Crossville and a visit/stay with Helen and Dick.  Looking forward to our visit.  Helen and I graduated high school together; and 40 years later, we have reconnected.  We did see each other at a reunion every now and then, but since we've had our annual "girls' bunking party weekend" with some other HS grads, we've gotten to be friends again. We always enjoy being around them both.

This 6 week trip has been fun, but we've decided the next trip will be to a destination somewhat closer (as Colorado) and stay at one spot for 2-3 weeks or so.  Too much driving, but we saw a LOT. '



This is the first time in I can't count the years that we've not had our annual family birthday bash.  Ronnie;  our son, Scott; and our daughter, Dana, all have a birthday within a week of each other during the last week of September-first week of October.  I always get a cake that says, "Happy Birthday, Ya'll" and we have one celebration.  Missed it this year and it doesn't feel right.  But.....Happy Birthday to our two great kids--could not have chosen any better ones!!  We are so lucky to have them; they have been two true blessings in our lives.  But they are getting old...LOL. 




Payton Binns CHS HC Parade

We've got some ballgame catching up to do also when we get home.  Granddaughter, Payton, marches in the Cabot High School band---we've missed those performances and grandson, Braden, is tackle for the Cabot 7th grade North...we've missed his games also.  Got a great picture, tho, of him going up against Michael Oher's (The Blind Side) son (Braden's first thought when he saw him) . LOL  But Braden got by him and into the backfield 2 times  to tackle....He wears his grandfather's #60 for practice and his dad's Jr. Hi #41 to play....both for CHS (Crossett High School and Cabot High School)




Braden Binns (down in stance) against the purple



Ft. Chiswell VA

Not much to write about.  We got here to this very convenient park right off I81 and...on the surface as we came in, it looked fantastic.  A section in the trees...big wide sites.  But we wanted satellite so we asked to be put in a treeless site....OK...there's an upper part that is virtually treeless.

We parked, sat outside in the wonderful sunshine and whoaa... here comes RV after RV after RV....they started lining up to check in.  And one pulled in right beside us and there was barely room to walk.  Another motorhome on the other side and we started to feel like sardines.  These sites, we realized are a LOT closer together.   But we've got great satellite...  It was just aggravating to  have people so close to  us.  Actually, there's cable TV at each site and it had all the channels we wanted, but it's not nearly as clear as our HD satellite. 

By nightfall, the park was FULL.  But, we also noticed that those around us had not even unhooked their fifth wheels from their trucks and the motorhomes still had their "toads" attached.  Sure enough, this morning, the diesels started up.  Now, I understand, by their standards it was not early, but I didn't like being this close to that much noise.  The motorhome had to warm up his engine for 15 minutes before he finally left...and it was RIGHT beside the bed.  Geez. 

We had a nice day, tho, took a walk....no one around, but now, at 5:30, the park is nearly full again and we are repacked.  The poor guy next to us had to duck to get under our window (cranks out) to get his electricity hooked up....I think we could shake hands from their slide to ours. 

Regardless, Ronnie's cooking Montreal chicken outside....it's turning much cooler and rain is expected tonight and all day tomorrow.  We have to make a grocery store run again (I know, sounds like we eat a lot, but I don't have a lot of storage space) tomorrow, and it's supposed to be raining.  ugh. 

We've enjoyed the day, watched the ballgame, I read and we did some bookwork.....man, our credit card is smoking.  We had to make adjustments for the value of the Canadian dollar and the US dollar so that made the transactions that I had entered into my checking account software wrong.  Had to figure it all out.  And the Foreign Transaction Fees...oh my....not much for each one, but a lot of them. 

Tomorrow is another "rest" day and then we leave for Crossville TN to stay in the driveway of our friend's home....full hookups.  Then we'll all journey down to Crossett AR for our High School Reunion....Helen and I graduated together and Ronnie and Dick are just coming along for the food.

Gettysburg Day 2

Our day two; not the Battle Day 2. 

Very relaxing day...the weather was really nice.  We went to Historic Gettysburg and walked around a bit.  It was not as "tee shirty" as I first thought.  A LOT of the old buildings have been turned into bookstores; small museum type stores.  I couldn't stay in them too long....dark and close. 

I did see a row of books in the window of a bookstore that intriqued me.  So we went inside.  There's a series of books about the "Ghosts of the Battlefield".  Very interesting...I glanced through a page or two and read about some of the sightings people have seen...one in particular in the Valley of Death between Little Round Top and Devil's Den....the very bloody battle that made the little stream run red.  I would not be surprised at a sighting of  the hazy column of mist.....but I would also imagine that the men who participated and/or died in the battle would never want to return...dead or alive. 
I started to buy the book; but after a second thought...decided that I didn't need any reminders of spirits walking around this battlefield. 

After the much needed purchase of a sweatshirt (no, I really needed a sweatshirt!), we went to the Diorama exhibition a couple of blocks down.  The Artillery Ridge Campground gave us complimentary tickets to it.  It was really good.  A miniature layout of the entire battleground landscaped as it was in 1863. The town of Gettysburg was smack in the middle of the battlefield.   Little miniature soldiers (really minature--about 1/2 inch tall) dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms.  Horses, cannons, wagons...the whole show.  We were given about 10 minutes to go around it and view it.  Then we sat on bleachers and watched as a documentary/narrative described the entire 3 days.  Lights went out in the room and as he described each battle, the area was spotlighted on the layout.  At the end of each day, the spotlights went out and the little town buildings lit up inside and there were little red campfires dotted around the countryside showing the encampments around the town.  The area of the battleground covered about 530 acres +/-.  In 2008, the Gettysburg National Military Park had 1320 monuments, 400 cannon, 148 historic buildings, 2 1/2 observation towers, and 41 miles of roads, avenues, and lanes (8 unpaved)--one of the largest collections of outdoor sculptures in the world.

Having been through the fighting..with the auto tour, it helped us understand a little bit more how it all played out.  There is still confusion with all the names of the regiments, men, etc.  but it was a bit of help.  We enjoyed it a lot.  We did learn one thing that we had wondered about:  The lady showed us on the diorama exactly where our campground is located....it is right behind Little Round Top and held Union soldiers.  We had wondered about it and felt that it was probably occupied.    We enjoyed the 30 minute show....it is all just so sad.

Leaving there, we ate a burger and bought a few more groceries.  Last night, at Dobbin House, there was SO much food and we wanted dessert, so, we quit eating dinner, got a take out box for the rest of our steaks and that will be dinner tonight along with baked potatoes and salad.   Dessert was good, too...Ronnie got pecan pie with Haagen Dazs ice cream...I had apple crisp with Haagen Dazs.  I know.....calories, calories...I think we'll have to do WW again when we get home. 

We got back to the RV around 3 and sat outside in the sunshine and 75 degrees and read a while.  There's no one beside us on our "front" side, so we had wide open spaces to view out over this side of the campground (and imagine all the Union soldiers camped out around here). 

Tomorrow we'll leave, after having thoroughly enjoyed this part of our journey.  So far, the top 3 stops that we consider our favorites:  NYC, Bar Harbor and Gettysburg. 

Next stop will be in Virginia at Ft. Chism RV Park near Max Meadows, VA.  Three night stop .

A note on Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge

Had an email  on why they marched across an open field face-to-face at Pickett's Charge....knowing that everyone on the front lines (which changed constantly) would die.....their fighting tactics were patterned after the French.....'nuf said.

Gettysburg National Military Park

Where do I start….at the beginning.

 

Rained last night..again.  Got up in the foggy, damp weather, but by 10 a.m. the sun began peeking through and we started our Auto Tour of Gettysburg.  It ended up being a warm (high 70's) day. 

 

We toured the entire battlefield around the city of Gettysburg (pop 2400 in 1863) using the CD and auto tour guide.  It was really good.  He did talk a bit too fast for me --  I need a slow Southern accent.  But we put the CD into my computer and could pause and back up at will. 

 

The Battle of Gettysburg took 3 days (July 1-3, 1863).  It was a brutal, bloody 3 days. 

 

Day 1:

 

The first battle took place at McPherson Ridge.  The first shot was fired when a Union soldier spied the Confederates advancing up toward the town and he fired.  From that point, the battle began.  It took place over acres and acres of fields.  They came across the fields from the white barn.

 

 

 

 

 

Confederate soldiers had taken shelter in this railroad cut through the McPherson Ridge.  It proved to be a wrong move as Union soldiers could advance without being seen and capture or kill them.  They had no place to escape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the war, a monument called the Eternal Light Peace Memorial was erected and dedicated in 1938 by Roosevelt.  The flame still burns at the top.  At the dedication  over 2000 Civil War veterans attended, most over 95 years old; a few over 100.  They shook hands with one another and “beared no ill will.”

 

Day 2:

 

Little Round Top and the Valley Death

The second day’s battle was held around the area known as Little Round Top, a hill held by the Union.  The  Confederates advanced on Little Round Top from Warfield Ridge onto a huge outcropping of rocks known as Devil’s Den. 

 

Devil's Den

 

 

 

 

 

The valley between the two points became known as The Valley of Death.    The battlefield was so bloody, it was said that this little river ran red with the blood of all the killed and wounded.   Devil’s Den was a popular place for journalists and photographers to take pictures…some before the dead were removed.  It brought the war home to all those back home.

Water ran red

 

Another horrific battle on Day 2 was at the Wheatfield (the only time the word wheatfield is capitalized—when it refers to this battle).  It was located a little below where the battle at Little Round Top was carried out.  It was said that you could not walk across the field and step on ground, it was so covered in bodies.  The wheat was red. 

Cannon ball hole in barn

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3:

 

The Confederates came from this direction.

The High Water Mark or Pickett’s Charge—the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.  The Confederates, led by Longstreet (who disagreed with his superior, Lee, about this particular battle) marched straight across this field towards the rock wall to fight the Union army.  The battle of Gettysburg took 3 days and  23,000 Union soldiers and 28,000 Confederate soldiers were killed.  The movie, Of Gods and Generals, was about Pickett's Charge.

 

 

 

 

This 2.5-3 hour tour…we took nearly 6 hours.  And those 3 paragraphs are such a short description of all that we saw and heard from the CD.  It was a very good tour and I finally feel like I may have a grasp of what occurred.  However, I could go through it 15 more times before I could really understand it all. 

 

All states participating in the battle have monuments...many regiments, companies, battalians, also.  This is Arkansas. 

 

Many are located where so many of the regiments were killed ...as is this one for Michigan at the Valley of Death.

 

We have reservations at Dobbin House for dinner…a Civil War home.  Then we’ll come back to watch the debates.  An after statement:  It was wonderful!!!  Ronnie  had the prime rib; I had filet mignon and it was all perfectly done.  The entire house has been turned into the restaurant.  We ate in the upstairs bedroom area.  All period furniture..candlelight...really nice.  I'm stuffed.

 

Tomorrow, we’ll walk through historic downtown.  It’s a cute, quaint little village….with more than its share of tee shirts, official Civil War relics, and souvenirs.

 

It was a history filled day.  Emotional, mind-boggling.  I am honored to have stood today where these brave men stood, fought and died for our country...no matter what side they were on.  But, win or lose, I'm proud to be a Southerner!!

 

 

Artillery Ridge Gettysburg, PA

A short day driving.  We wound our way out of that tight little park this morning ...started raining again and rained on us all 176 miles.  Hazy, foggy, wet.  But in the I81/I84 part of Pennsylvania, the colors were great.  The hills were alive with reds, yellow, oranges...even in the hazy rain, it was pretty.  But then the farther south towards Gettysburg, they pretty much disappeared. 

We have decided that the $20 hooded rainjackets that we bought in Bar Harbor were the best investments we've made in a long while. 

We got here at Artillery Ridge Campground around 1:00.  We had requested a "satellite friendly" site and that's exactly what we got....sorta up here on a ridge with no trees.  I like it.  Ronnie put the satellite finder out and immediately got it...even got our locals (Little Rock) in HD....cannot figure that out at all.  The dish thingy still has the Northeast settings on it because he forgot to change them.  Strange...  but it's good to see Craig, Liz, and Ed.

Soon as we got everything fixed, we set off for the Visitor's Center.  It's only about a mile down the road from us and the National Park is just across the road from that.  We went to the VC and found just what we were looking for:  a CD self-guided auto tour.  Bought it complete with 2 cd's and maps that take you all through the park and go into detail at each stop explaining all 3 days of the Battle of Gettysburg.  With that purchase, you could also buy a nice soft sided cooler for $15 ...so we did  and will use it for a picnic lunch while on the tour.  First, though, I'll have to fix a lunch. LOL. 

After we got that done, we drove to the Outlet Mall and shopped a bit.  Then found a place to eat dinner and then back to the RV.  It's nearly 7 p.m. and we're tired.  We're looking forward to tomorrow...we've always enjoyed reading and studying about the Civil War.  Although we've been to Gettysburg and have taken a guided tour of the battlefields, it was a few years ago and I've forgotten a lot.  It'll be nice to take our time and really absorb what we are hearing on the CD and looking at....no one will be hurrying on to the next stop. 

We've watched pretty much all the movies that have been made on the War.  I remember years ago going to one of the Breckinridge Theaters in LR and watching the movie, Glory.  I just sat there and cried.   It's always been an emotional thing for me...not sure why.  I think I probably had some ancestors who were involved in it, but it feels real to me. 

We are smack in the middle of it all right  now.  Sitting up here on this little ridge, I feel like we're on the edge of a battle somewhere.  I just hope the spirits are quiet tonight....

The road MOST traveled....

 

We were on it.  Left on 91 SOUTH (!) down the side of Vermont, through the middle of Massachusetts, Connecticut then 84 West through NY.  I have NEVER seen so much traffic—bumper to bumper, mirror to mirror.  Big trucks; little trucks; cars., left lane closed; right lane closed; merge right; merge left…It was a nerve breaker for me.  But he handled it like a pro.  Everyone is in a hurry.

 

Much construction, major and minor.  From real road work to limb trimming (which had the other side of the freeway completely shut down for 5-6 miles or more)  Interestingly, at each “construction” site all along the freeway (and many right in the middle of the cities) and on the exit/entrance ramps, there were two state troopers.  One at the beginning of the work and one at the end..just there with their lights on.  Some of the 4 million newly created jobs..IMHO.

 

One thing we noted while in Canada, Nova Scotia for sure, was the lack of troopers/police.  No one was speeding, everyone was polite on the roads and NO ONE was talking on their cell phones! 

 

Finally, finally…(beginning to think we were back in Canada), we located a truck stop/fuel station just over the NY line.  It was in town.  Packed with trucks.  But we were able to fill up and go into the RV and eat lunch and sit in the peace and quiet for a bit.  Now when I say peace and quiet in a truck stop, that should tell you something of what the road was like.  I long for our wide, open spaces.

 

 

 

The colors of the trees slowly started fading out the farther south and west we got.  They are just barely beginning to turn in NY…which, by the way, is a beautiful state. 

 

 

 

                         We eyed the Catskills off in the distance at one point.   

 

And as we progressed west in NY towards Pennsylvania, the traffic cleared and it was a much better drive.  Good roads .  Beautiful countryside.  Until we got to PA…bad roads, beautiful countryside.  Bad roads.

 

We put our destination into the GPS last night and he (and Google Maps, also) routed us down to I95 right through NYC….George Washington Bridge, no less.  I couldn’t believe it…this is supposed to be a GPS unit made specially for RV’s.  Why would anyone take an RV through NYC on purpose unless they were staying there.  Crazy.  We picked another route and got him to go our way.  And to avoid toll roads. 

 

Got here at Tobyhanna PA (something like that) around 3.  Oh my goodness.  If you like trees, this is the place to be.  Trees, trees, trees.  A pretty big park, but it’s like a little road cut thru the forest with “seasonals” dotted along it.  We had to go to the very end of the park in order to get turned around and  back to the front where our site was.  To look at it, you’d think it was very level, but it took us 45 minutes to get it level enough to use.  We have the largest, easiest to get into? site so we are grateful for it.  We saw another Fifth wheel come in later longer than us…he went toward the back where the “seasonals” are and never came back out….dunno.  It’s nice if you like tight trees and once you get in, it’s pretty to look out the windows at woods.  In the morning, we have to leave and go back to the back again in order to turn around and get back out to the front entrance again.  Interesting.  It does have cable and wifi. 

 

Tomorrow we’ll be at Artillery Ridge RV in Gettysburg for 3 nights.  This seemed like the longest hardest day we’ve done….The traffic and bad roads (bone jarring roads) will make for a long, hard day.

 

 

On the road again...

 

 

Woke up to pouring rain again….was NOT going to stay another night so we just started getting ready to go.  Just about the time we had to do outside stuff, the rain eased up to just sprinkles and we hit the road…..10 minutes later, we were in rain and fog again.  All day long. 

 

The trees are absolutely beautiful in Maine.  Even with the rain and fog, they just glow…they would be out of this world with the sun shining on them.  It was another non-eventful driving day.

 

We stopped at a Rest Area in Maine for lunch.  Huge, clean, efficient place.  Hookups for truckers to rest overnight and keep their a/c; heat going.  Huge gas/diesel pump areas.  Burger King.  Nice, clean and plenty of room to maneveur  around

 

 Now, having said that:  Evidently, Canadians don’t pee.  All of our driving along the Trans-Canada highway (fantastic road), there were no Rest Areas; few towns; no pulloffs.  The only rest area sign we saw was for a Circle K truck stop and they had no diesel pumps….he had to squeeze into the car lanes to fill up.  There was truck parking (as in rest), but that was it.  We drove for miles and miles before we found a place to pull off (on an exit ramp to nowhere).  The Canadians could learn a lot from Maine and its Rest Areas/Welcome Centers.

 

We were  in Maine most all day .  With a short jaunt across New Hampshire and into Vermont where are staying the night.  Lovely states.    But there are just too many people up here.  On this cool, rainy, foggy day,  the freeways are packed.  Where are they going?  And there are hands sticking out everywhere….tolls, tolls, tolls.  I think we stopped 5 times to pay a toll….and the tolls ran from $2.50 to $7.00….they seem to think a dually truck  has 3 axles because it has 4 back tires.  Expensive but good roads.

 

Just as we exited the freeway and began across New Hampshire, it stopped raining and we glimpsed the sun a little.  The trees were beautiful.  My pictures don’t do the colors justice. It’s hard to take a good picture on the fly. We were on a winding two-lane road through the back country of NH….gorgeous drive. 

 

We got to Hidden Acres RV, Dummerston, Vermont….okay spot.  No cable, no wifi.  It’s quiet with only a few people here.  Nice staff.  It started raining again just as soon as we got the RV off the truck….no satellite. 




We drove out to a local covered bridge over the West River.  The highway out to the bridge meandered along the river.  The bridge is the longest in Vermont. 

 

Then off to a grocery store for a few items. Had to take this big butted truck down through this little, little Vermont town of Brattleboro.  Twice.  Crowded, small streets, lots of people even in the rain. 

 

 Edra, we’re having nachos tonight.  Then will just sit and read and listen to the rain.  It’s just like rain on a tin roof….I do hope it’s not raining again in the morning when we get ready to leave. 

 

 

Pumpkin Patch again

The ultimate in laziness.  We have absolutely done nothing today....well...we did vacuum but that takes all of 5 minutes.  It's rained, misted, and been an all around dreary day...loved it.

Found the Arkansas ballgame on the internet and listened to another tragedy.  Oh my.  I read a book, Ronnie took a nap, got on the computer...just did nothing.  It was wonderful.  And now we are ready to hit the road again tomorrow.

We're off toward Dunnerston Vermont for an overnight.  We have altered our plans a bit and are going on down south...there's too many people up here. LOL.  One more one-nighter and we will then stop at Gettysburg for 3 nights.  We've been there before and loved it, so we'll see it all again. 

We've planned a couple of 3 nighters on the way to Crossville TN.  Three nights there and will visit with our friends who we'll caravan with on the way to Crossett on October 13 for my High School Reunion. 

We finished up the taco soup for dinner and R will watch the Alabama-Ole Miss game...he's gonna pretend the Alabama red is Arkansas....

I'll read some more.

Pumpkin Patch RV Park, Hermon, Maine

A rather nice, quiet, relaxing day.  We slept in a bit...I cooked the birthday guy a huge breakfast...eggs, bacon, biscuits  (well, I popped the can open!).  Then we walked over to the laundry and did laundry....all clean clothes, clean sheets, and towels now.  Nice laundry.  I did do the kitchen floor...looks brand new.  LOL. 

We sat outside in the beautiful sunshine and read while  waiting on the clothes.  We took another walk around the park....wonderful trails to walk although they were short. 

   Ronnie went to fill up and get our Canadian money changed back to US Dollars to be ready to leave in the morning. Then the clouds started rolling in and the air really turned cool.   So we came inside and read a bit more. 

I looked at the radar on my phone and the forecast said 70% rain tonight and tomorrow and there was a huge green blob heading this way.  I told him that and he looked over and said..."what are you thinking?  Staying another night?"  I said that it sounded good to me.  So we went up and paid for another night.  It's really good to do nothing for a change.  This is a nice quiet and big RV park...the nicest we've stayed at ( and cheapest--$18 with our Passport America card) and we'll just sit and read while it rains rather than get out and get wet while getting things ready to go.   

He wanted taco soup for his birthday, so it's been in the crockpot all day...smells wonderful.    We'll watch ballgames tomorrow altho we won't be able to watch Arkansas...is that a good thing or a bad thing??? 

He's appreciated all the well wishes for his birthday.  I think he's enjoyed his "not driving" day. 

A rather boring blog, huh?

USA USA USA

It is SO good to be back in the USA.  Gas is a gallon; not a litre.  Miles are miles; not kilometers.  And the flag has stars and stripes and not maple leaves.  Canada is nice; people are nice; beautiful scenery, but we are glad to be home. 

Crossing the border was not so bad.  We answered questions and they looked inside the RV, but we didn't have to open the slides like we did when we went over.  We didn't have anything to hide, but we've heard horror stories.

We got here at Pumpkin Patch RV Park outside of Bangor Maine around 3.  Forgot about the time change so we got an hour back....we need it.  We've decided to stay two nights here and just rest up.  Ronnie's birthday is tomorrow and he wants to NOT drive for a day.  LOL.  It's a nice park.  The weather is nice...supposed to be in the 30's tonight, tho. 

As soon as we got into Maine, the trees began to show color....reds, oranges, yellows.  Pretty.  We are still a little early, but it is what it is.

Not much else to report....We did go to a local grocery store to stock up on food items.  Wow....a really, really nice supermarket...huge....my wonderful Kroger times 10.   Ronnie's grilling burgers tonight and tomorrow I will do laundry and clean the floors...with all the rain, the kitchen floor is looking a little grungy.  I'll either clean or watch "Hoarders"...either way I'll feel better about the RV.

 

Green Gables PEI

A blustery, windy day...all day.  Not too cold, just a cool wind.  We left the RV about 9:30 and drove over the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island.  The bridge is 8 miles long.




There are 3 driving loops on PEI 1) the North Cape Coastal Loop 2) the Central Coastal Loop 3) the Points East Coastal Drive.  We chose the Central Coastal Loop which is also the Green Gables loop and took us through the area where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the book, Anne of Green Gables.  We drove through beautiful farm lands and touched the coast on occasion . 

The fields meet the Atlantic. Farming, especially potato farming, is huge here.  Lots of huge farms, agri businesses.

 Evidently, they are doing well.  The houses are all very, very nice.  A pretty high standard of living here, I would think. 






We saw the home that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to write the book.  The actual home  was owned by the McNeil family, who were cousins of author Lucy Maud Montgomery.  The farm's name is derived from the rich dark green paint of the gables on the farmhouse. The main exterior walls of the farmhouse are painted white.

Montgomery visited the farm as a young girl and based her best-selling Anne series of books on the Green Gables farm. She drew romantic inspiration from the house, as well as the surrounding area, including the "Haunted Woods", "Lovers Lane", and "Balsam Hollow."


Upon Montgomery's death, her wake was conducted from the living room of the Green Gables farmhouse for several days prior to her funeral at the local Presbyterian church and burial in the nearby Cavendish Community Cemetery.

We enjoyed seeing the house (after finally finding it), but the entire area around Cavendish (the local town in the book)  has commercialized  Anne, Green Gables and Lucy Montgomery to the point where everything is named Green Gables something; Anne something; Cavendish something.  You can't tell the historical from the commercial.    The gift stores are so trinket oriented it's just sickening.  Cheap stuff.  We walked through the house which is decorated as it would have been done in the 1800's....quickly.  It smelled of old things and I don't especially like that sort of thing.

We continued on around and touched the southern coastal area.  The dirt here is red (makes good potatoes, I guess) and the ocean has a distinct red tint for hundreds of feet out.   

One stop around Charlottetown port showed a cruise ship was docked.

We stopped at Gateway Village, but most of the shops are closed up for the season.  We went into a couple and it was more tee shirts and tacky souvenirs.  We drove onto the bridge to come back to the RV.  There is no charge to ride the bridge over, but to get off the island, it's $22 per axle.  That's why we left two of our axles on the mainland.  

Overall impression:  Glad we went, but it wasn't exactly like I expected.  Maybe the North Cape Coastal would have given us the rocky wave scenes we had imagined.  Except for a couple of places, most of the water we saw was a protected bay or strait.  One of the things I've loved about Nova Scotia and PEI is the beautiful churches.  Most that we've seen in the Cape Breton and PEI area are Anglican Churches. 

This was the eastern end of our trip....now we turn around and head back home.  We are READY to get back to the states.  But I do dread the long drives ahead of us. 

Silver Sands RV Cap Pele NB

Now I know how Columbus must have felt...as he sailed off the ends of the ocean....that's where we are now.  Right at the edge of the Atlantic.  Beautiful view....another strange park.  Couldn't find anyone around when we got here (no reservations) so R knocked on the door of the house (?) ...a little lady said just go pick a spot.  They are all supposed to be pull thru, but if we pulled through this spot, we'd take out another fifth wheel in front of us....will be interesting when we leave.

It's very cool  here.  The wind is howling...not off the ocean, but from the opposite direction....gonna be good sleeping weather.  

About the only thing that happened today of note was when Ronnie decided to give the satellite a go.  He'd been reading up on the east coast settings, so he tried resetting it and ....wow...we have satellite.  We will watch Fox News tonight!!!  And when the little guy came by to collect, he gave us the WiFi key and we have a decent wifi.  We have felt really isolated w/o any home connections.  Thought this was gonna be a long two days.

Tomorrow we go over Confederation Bridge into Prince Edward Island...it has 3 loops ...one on the north side, one on the south side and one in the middle sorta around Charlottetown.  We chose the middle.  It goes along the coast a bit and is the area where the story of Anne of Green Gables was written.  We both fell in love with that series a few years ago.  I highly recommend it...just a really good family movie.  Anyway, that's on for tomorrow.  And that will be the turning point of our trip....we head back home through Maine, Vermont and south.  A long way to go.

Ronnie is feeling back to normal today.  Thank goodness.  He keeps telling me I need to drive "just in case".  I may on a freeway somewhere, but we'll see. 

We ate the last of the food tonight...pork chops, rice & veggies, salad.  We can't take any fruit back over the border, so we'll be eating one last apple tonight.  Tomorrow night we'll have to finish up the one last tomato. 

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia....really pretty places and in a lot of ways are like home, but in a lot of ways different.  Home is different for everyone.  I prefer the USA...it's my home. 

Our next trip in the RV will be to a place where we will stay for days/weeks and make day trips.  We have done in 3 weeks what others say they did in 3 months.....because we drove a lot, sometimes with the RV/sometimes without.  Either way, we were in the truck, sitting and that's a little hard on two old people. lol. 

It's 7:15 and getting dark....and cool.  We need to get out and walk a bit.  Hope we don't get blown out to sea.

The Cabot Trail Sept 24, 2012

Woke up to NO RAIN.  Partly cloudy am and sunny/partly sunny pm.  Perfect.  Ronnie was feeling much better today, so we took off about 9:30 to do the Cabot Trail.  We started up the East coast of Cape Breton and down the West coast (along the Bay of St. Lawrence).  There's the Acadian influence up here also (especially along the West coast).  Lots of French names and most everything is written in English and French.  Not as much Scottish/Celtic here on the upper West side. 

We stopped right away at the Gaelic College at St. Ann's NS.   They had a great craft shop with most everything made at the college and some beautiful handknitted sweaters.  I tried on some, but they just didn't look right on me.  There was one....a wrap/scarffy thingy...that I sorta wish I'd bought.  Tried it on and put it back.  Ummm...regrets?

Continued on up the coast stopping here and there for sights.  The little fishing villages are just beautiful. We were a little disappointed at the opportunities available to view this beautiful rocky coastline.  The trees had grown up so high, you couldn't see anything.  The views were more available on the western side.

There was one magnificant place to stop and walk out on the walkway and see a view from a postcard.  The waves, rocks and water were all just gorgeous. 

We stopped at Neil's Harbour for lunch at the Chowder House.

 A lighthouse/harbour/view/lunch all at one place.
 The waves were crashing on the rocks...




Neil's Harbour NS

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Moose #1

Moose #2

 



The road then turned inland across the top of the island.  Just climbing corkscrew curves, forests and, believe it or not....moose.  We saw two.  One was up in the forest and the other was right beside the road. 

It was a day to just drive (like we've not done that before!)  and look.    We got back to the RV around 6:45.  Ronnie is still feeling better so tomorrow we leave Nova Scotia.  It's a beautiful place, full of nice people.

 If we ever come back, we'll fly.

Here are other sights from the route today.

Giant Sea Turtle   lol