Middletown,MD and surrounding area

While we haven't been traveling, we have been exploring the area. Here are some pictures, in no particular order. 

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This sign is outside of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ACT), which is approximately the half way point of the Appalachian Trail.

War Correspondent's Memorial, Burkittsville, MD

Time for Football! We've been enjoying grandsons Vince and Jacob's games.

We've seen some amazing sunsets and sky views while here.

Here's another pretty sky view.

Martina McBride concert, thanks Allison and Vince! 

Hagerstown, MD Roundhouse (RR) Museum.

Old railroad cars outside of the museum.

Part of the model railroad tracks inside the museum.

Orange sky at night with the steeple of Zion Lutheran Church.

Grandson Jacob eating ice cream at More's, our new favorite ice cream place. 

NYC is not for sissies!

After our whale watching excursion, it was time to head towards Maryland on Sunday. We drove through Rhode Island (another new state-yeah!), Connecticut and then New York. Our plan was to bypass New York City. Andy was joking that we should drive through Times Square with a 40 ft. long motorhome towing a car. I told him if he was going to do that, that I would just go back to the bedroom and hide while he drove all by himself.

Well, we came close. We had our Google maps set to bypass NYC on I-287. However, when we got there, it told us to take a turn so we did. That left us on I-95. (Damn GPS!) We ended up going through the South Bronx and over the George Washington Bridge to cross the Hudson River. We had some great views going through the city. Eventually we made our way to NJ and then PA before getting to our destination in MD. I must admit to holding my breath the entire time through New York. We joked about needing a defibrillator on board.

We're here to spend some time with our kids and grandkids before we head to the Freightliner Factory in South Carolina in September. We'll be able to take in some of the kids football games, and be here for their first day of school.

Another small world story-we headed to downtown Middletown so we could get some T-shirts to show our school spirit for the boys. This shop is right across the street from Zion Lutheran Church, where Pastor Kathy Hoffman is senior pastor. (She is a friend from when I lived in Fargo, ND.) I had planned on going to church on Sunday and surprising her. When we got out of the car there she was. She and her husband Mark were walking on the street and had stopped because they noticed our MN license plates. So we had an early reunion!! We plan on getting together for lunch while we are here.

Cape Cod

We finished off our time in Massachusetts with a trip to Cape Cod. Our highlight was taking a boat out of Provincetown to go whale watching. We were not disappointed! We saw many whales, sometimes 3 or 4 together. One whale was on his back just flapping his flipper back and forth, as if he was performing for us by "waving" to us. The marine biologist on board said he had not seen that behavior before.

They study the whales and have named them (they can identify them by their tails). These whales  go to the Caribbean for the winter and come back each summer. One whale, Salt, has fourteen children and is even a great grandma! It was thrilling to watch them and have them close to our boat.

We have video, which we will post as soon as we cut it down to a "watchable" time length.

Boston

We left the FMCA Rally on Sunday and headed east to Normandy Farms Campground in Foxboro, Massachusetts. This is a large campground that is full of campers, with lots of activities for adults and kids. A lot of the campgrounds we have stayed at this summer have been less than full, and quite frankly, we wonder how they are able to stay open. So we're glad to see one that is full and doing well. 

We are only a few miles from Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. You can see the stadium from the highway as you drive along north on Highway 1.

Yesterday Andy's cousin Peter offered to go with us to downtown Boston so we could see some of the historic sites. We took the commuter train downtown and then set out walking. It was a perfect day, low humidity, a nice breeze and not too hot.

These bricks are your path to the "Freedom Trail"

Faneuil Hall

Old State House




Balcony at Quincy Market, constructed during 1824-26

Street in Italian section of Boston, notice the crowns over the street




Plaque on the site of the church where Paul Revere did his famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal 

Thanks, Peter, for being our guide! We had a great time.

It's A Small World After All.....

Today we had an easy drive to get to the FMCA 94th Family Reunion in West Springfield, MA. fmca.com The only bad part was breaking camp in the rain. Andy had the worst part of it as he had to empty our holding tanks before we left.

Once here, we discovered wet fields in our parking area. We were told they weren't parking anyone until it dried out some. Turns out we only had to wait a little more than an hour to get parked. Once we were settled, Andy took our bikes off the rack and discovered that mine had a flat tire. We found a bike shop and left it there to get repaired.

After a few hours, they called to say it was done. We went outside to get in the car to retrieve it. Motorhomes were still coming in and one stopped in front of our coach. The driver saw our MN license plates and asked where we were from in MN. Turns out he is from Burnsville, MN (another suburb in the Twin Cities). Andy walks up, looks at him, and at the same time each one said each other's name. Andy-Peter! Peter is Andy's cousin! Now in order for this to happen, the planets had to align. 1) We were outside our coach at the time they were stopped in line in front of our coach. 2) They were in line in our row because someone had told them that was where they were parking, but it wasn't their final spot.3.) Peter struck up a conversation with me since he noticed our MN license plates. We could have gone this whole week without seeing them or seeing them and thinking that Peter looked familiar. What a pleasant surprise to see Peter and meet his wife Susan. It just goes to show you that you never know who you will run into!

Cousins Peter (l) and Andy (r) 

Orange is not an RV'ers Friend, or, those orange cones are there for a reason!

Today we left the Escapade grounds in Essex Junction, VT to head toward Springfield, MA for the FMCA-Family Motor Coach Association (www.fmca.com) Rally next week. Before we left, we had our motorhome weighed by Smart Weigh (www.escapees.com/smartweigh). Knowing our correct weight and height is important for everything from how much tire pressure we should have to knowing if we're too tall to go under bridges. Believe me, we don't want to get stuck! This is a four corner weigh, which is the most accurate. (We've weighed at truck stops but have never quite trusted the results.) The news was good; we're not carrying too much weight.

Being the shunpiker's that we are (the definition of a shunpicker is one who shuns the turnpikes in favor of traveling the back, more scenic roads) we decided to forgo the interstate as long as we could. This took us along some beautiful scenic roads, but also roads that were narrow. We also went through towns where there was no place for us to pull off. Keep in mind we are 40' long with towing a car so that makes for a total length of 55' or so. If we pull off, we have to be able to turn around in a fairly large parking lot. Lots of times we look and it appears to be OK, and then we get into trouble if the lot is smaller than we think. We lucked out a couple of times today. We finally were able to pull off the road in Chester, VT for lunch and ate at the Country Girl Diner, which is an authentic railroad car diner (built in 1944) that's been around since 1966. The food was good and this is a local gem. I wish we had been there for breakfast, that menu looked good as well.

Which brings me to the orange cones. The reason they are there is that our roads need repair! We've been in 14 states so far this summer and every single one of them has both good and bad roads! Yes, construction is a pain in the butt, but a necessary evil. I know we all hate higher taxes, but someone has to pay to fix our roads. (And yes, even the states that have toll roads have roads that are in bad shape.) When you drive a home down the road, every bump counts. I don't like the road construction anymore than the rest of you, but when you hit a new stretch of pavement after a bumpy road, it is heaven! Rant is over, thank you.

56th Annual Escapade, Essex Junction, VT

Yesterday we had the opening ceremonies for the 56th Annual Escapade in Essex Junction, VT. This is the annual gathering of the Escapees RV Club. Once you start the RV lifestyle, it is advantageous to join RV groups. Memberships offer benefits such as discounts at campgrounds, lower rates on insurance, and benefits such as medical assists (if you get sick, someone will drive your RV home and you will be taken to a hospital) to mention a few. Most clubs also publish RV magazines, which offer a plethora of information on the RV lifestyle.

This Escapade is the fourth RV group gathering we've attended since we started RV'ing. They all have two things in common, education and the chance to make new friends who enjoy the same lifestyle as you. Escapees was started by Joe and Kay Peterson. They are true pioneers of the RV lifestyle. Kay is still an active member of Escapees at age 89!

Addressing attendees at the Opening Ceremony

Tomorrow will bring more seminars. Andy has convinced me to go to Line Dancing in the morning before the seminars start-yes, that will be both of us dancing! :) We have been riding our bikes from the motorhome to the seminars and have been getting some exercise that way.