Home!

The last two days were long ones.  There were things at home that needed tending to so we didn't take the time to sight see along the route home.  There are places to park the motor home for free overnight so we took advantage of those.  Yes, one Walmart parking lot... and the other was at the Ohio Turnpike Travel Center with the big rigs.  There was no electricity available and our generator is not working properly and my computer's battery was almost dead... oh the hardship!  Oh well, all we wanted to do was sleep so we didn't mind.  We were comfortable and felt safe.

It's good to be home again.  Thanks for reading my blog.  This trip is over, but there will be more. Stay tuned.

Homeward Bound



Rear Camera View

We had a great time visiting family and friends, but it's time to head home.  Before stopping to say goodbye to Eric and Danielle, we first stopped at a U-Haul facility to rent a dolly for Teresa's car that we will be taking back to Minnesota.  Pulling it has not been too difficult.  We hardly know it's back there.  We just have to remember to be careful on the corners and be mindful of how long we are.  The rear camera helps a lot.  We do have side cameras too!

Bernie usually drives thru the city traffic but somehow today I found myself in the middle of rush hour traffic in Albany, New York.  Ugh...I did NOT like it!  I only got honked at once when I got in the wrong lane at the Toll Plaza and had to scoot over.

Tree covered hills of New England

Today we drove thru parts of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and half way thru New York state. I see why people like to come here when the fall colors change.  The rolling tree covered hills go on for miles and miles.

We are sort of paralleling the Erie Canal.  We bridged over it once and I wanted to take a picture but I just couldn't get Bernie to stop and back up on the freeway.

Marble chillaxing

I wonder what goes on inside Marble's head.  She spends almost all her time laying on the bed even when we're driving down the freeway.

Portland, Maine

Last winter we visited our friend, Peter, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  He said we should look him up at his summer home in Maine if we were ever in the area, so that's exactly what we did today.  Up and off early this morning, we left the RV at the campground and drove the car up to Ocean Park, Maine.  Peter is a photographer, you may have seen his work.  He takes pictures of lighthouses and scenes all along the east coast. He makes post cards and refrigerator magnets and books for tourism, among other things. 

Ocean Beach, Maine

Our first stop was at the beach a few blocks from Peter's house.  Peter said there could be as many as 300,000 tourists on a nice sunny weekend.  But this was Wednesday and it was kinda cool so the beach was not crowded at all. 

One of the things I noticed, that I found rather disappointing, is that every two feet you could see a cigarette butt in the sand.  I felt like I was walking in the world's largest ash tray.

Huot's Seafood Restaurant, Saco, Maine

In the Northeast there are seafood restaurants every where you go.  Peter took us to one of his favorites, a local spot off the beaten path...where the locals eat.  It was excellent.  I would love to eat there again.  It was called Huot's Seafood Restaurant in Saco, Maine.

Portland, Maine

With our tummy's full we hopped in Peter's 1993 Suburban truck (with 366,000 miles on it) and drove up the coast to see Portland and some lighthouses.

The first one we saw was a little one called the Portland Breakwater Light.  It's nick-named the Bug Light because it's so little.





Portland Breakwater Light (The Bug Light)





Spring Point Ledge Light

Portland Head Light

Ram Island Ledge Light



Cape Elizabeth



Concord, New Hampshire

Saddleback Campground

We are camped at Saddleback Campground.  It's a nice little privately owned campground about 20 miles east of Concord.  We chose to stay here because it is a member of the Passport America network and we could stay for half price.  We are staying 3 nights.




Main Street, Concord, NH


Concord, New Hampshire, is not so big.  I think the population is around 40,000.  So not even as big as Mankato or St. Cloud in Minnesota.  But it is the state capitol.  Getting around here is a little challenging with lots of narrow and one way streets, but not half as challenging as New Haven, Connecticut, was!


Where Eric and Danielle live now


Eric and Danielle were in the process of moving from one apartment building to another one.  This yellow apartment building is where they will be living now.

Concord, New Hampshire

Campfire at Wompatuck State Park, Massachusetts

The last few nights were great nights for sitting around the campfire.  The rules are very strict here.  Do not bring in your own wood.  Only buy wood in the park you are going to use it in... and if there is any left over you have to leave it behind for the next camper to use.  NOT supposed to take it out of the park. The reason is to prevent spread of the Asian Longhorned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer.

Cummins/Onan Repair Shop


We had an 8am appointment at the Cummins repair shop to have them check out the generator that doesn't seem to work right.  So we got up early and headed out in rush hour traffic.  It wasn't that far away but took forever to get there.  Boston traffic is horrible, and driving a bigass motor home in it was no fun at all.  We have Teresa's car now, so I had to follow Bernie while he drove the motor home.  After an hour of stop and go traffic and a few wrong turns we were only 4 minutes late!

We were there for two hours before they decided there is nothing wrong with the generator at all and that the problems we are having are somewhere within the wiring of the motor home.  And since there was nothing wrong with the generator they could not charge it to warranty *sigh* so it was $140.

After the wasted morning then we drove the rest of the way north to New Hampshire and had dinner with Eric and Danielle at a Friendley's restaurant.

Boston



Boston, Massachusetts





Yesterday and today we spent visiting with Teresa and Eric and Danielle and Danielle's parents in Quincy which is just a little south and east of Boston.  We had such a great time, they are all wonderful people. They shared their home with us and fed us, it was very nice.



South Station



Eric and Danielle went back up to Concord, New Hampshire, where they live.  We will go up there tomorrow and see them again.



Tour Boats and Ferry Boats on Long Wharf



Teresa has decided she does not need her car on campus at Yale.  So we are keeping the car and will take it back to Minnesota with us. We'll have to figure out a way to tow it behind the motor home.  I sure don't want to drive separately!





One of the Street Performers on Long Wharf



Since she had to return to Connecticut we took her to South Station in Boston so she could take the train back since we will be going north to New Hampshire tomorrow.



Legal Seafoods Restaurant on Long Wharf



While we were there we walked from the station a few blocks to Long Wharf.  There were loads of people there.  This is where you get on the tour boats and trolleys.  There is a great restaurant there called Legal Seafoods.  Unfortunately, we did not eat there this time, they were packed and the wait time was too long.  Hopefully, we can eat there next time.

 









 

Massachusetts

Our spot at Wompatuck State Park

We packed up this morning and headed northeast to Wompatuck State Park in Massachusetts, just southeast of Boston. It's a nice park, but rain is heading in.  We'll have to explore it tomorrow.

Teresa and Eric and Danielle will be joining us some time tomorrow, it should be a good day.

Lobster Landing

Lobster Landing

Today we just drove around the surrounding communities and along the CT shoreline some more.  We saw in one of the tourist magazines about this little place called Lobster Landing that was supposed to be an iconic spot for an authentic Connecticut experience.  The menu is very limited, i.e., Lobster Rolls. 

Lobster cages drying in the sun

After checking the Internet for restaurant reviews we learned that this has a top rating, so we thought we should go for it.  I cannot tell you how it smells when we first got there..um..not delicious.  It is, after all, a fishing dock and marina.  Inside the shack is a bit daunting, but remember it has been there a long long time and everything is aged.  Towards the back there were two large tanks filled with fresh caught lobsters and behind the counter were two young men cleaning and chopping up the critters.  The sign on the wall said the lobster meat was $45/lb.  We went back outside.



Deck with a view

 There is a tent near by where the food is sold, so we ordered our $15 lobster roll and chose a table on the deck with a view of the harbor.  We didn't even notice the smell any more.  The sandwich was just as described in the reviews, juicy and buttery, and the smoky flavor from the grilled soft roll (it looked burnt, but didn't taste burnt).  It was good.



$15 Lobster Roll



Mystic Seaport

Marina at Old Saybrook

Up and off early this morning while it was still cool.  We decided to go visit Mystic Seaport since we hard from a few people that it was an interesting place for sight seeing.  On the way there we stopped at Old Saybrook for a look see.  It was a nice drive around a waterfront community.  We stopped at a marina for a while and watched the boats and watched a few men fishing before we headed off to Mystic.

The $24 each price tag to visit Mystic Seaport almost deterred us but we decided since we drove an hour to get there we should finish our mission.  So we got out the credit card and went inside.  I'm glad we did.  The weather was beautiful..sunshine and 80.

Charles W. Morgan, wood whale ship

One of the first things we saw was the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan.  Built in 1841 she has outlived all of her kind and is currently undergoing restoration.  She is the only wood whale ship in the world.

Large boiler where blubber was cooked to make oil

We were able to go up inside and see what was going on in there.  The guide explained how this ship would locate the whales and then launch several smaller whale boats to go kill the whale and bring it along side.  Then the men would cut off the blubber and hoist it aboard the big ship where it was further processed for whale oil.

Preparing to recreate the masthead

I took 50 pictures there, it's difficult not to put them all in the blog.

After leaving the Mystic Seaport we stopped a few miles down the road to tour the first nuclear powered submarine and museum.  This was FREE (yay!).  Launched in 1955 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.  She has been to the North Pole and logged over 300,000 miles.  The museum on shore gives an excellent display of the history of submarines from the very first one ever until now.

Historic Ship Nautilus (SSN 571)
The first nuclear powered submarine

Inside the Nautilus

Inside the Nautilus

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

Peabody Museum of Natural History

Our first stop today was at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.  We arrived too early and sat on the retaining wall outside for a while and watched the traffic. 

The museum was having a special exhibit at this time:  Invasion of the Blood Suckers.



Human Bedbug

 We saw everything we didn't want to know about bedbugs and ticks and mosquitoes and lice and fleas.  They even had live colonys on display... eew.



Human Pubic Louse



The rest of the museum was the standard dinosaurs and human evolution and birds and animals and very well done.



Part of a big dinosaur exhibit



Dodo Bird

After that we went to a little restaurant downtown called Clark's Dairy.  It had ice cream, but was also a Greek and Italian restaurant.

Marble

Then back to the RV to chill for the rest of the afternoon.  Marble decided to make a rare living room appearance and hung out with us for a while.



Later, we met up with Teresa and went out for Pizza to New Haven's famous Modern Pizza.  This was a very busy place.  It was featured on the Travel Channel.  Here's a link if you wanna see a video of it:  http://www.travelchannel.com/Video/new-havens-pizza-paradise-15189