Sarasota Spa State Park

It's a cold and windy day.  30 degrees this morning, and 3 to 7 inches of heavy wet snow in the forecast for this evening.  Cindy took us out to Sarasota Spa State Park to show us the sights.  That is a National Historic Landmark, a fancy schmancy spa built in the 1930's and currently being revitalized.  There happened to be an old car show there this day, as well as a huge College Cross Country Finals.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Albany, NY

New York

There is still some color left in the landscape in this part of the country.  We are too late for the best part, maybe next year we can catch it.

It was 27 degrees when we got up this morning and frost on the ground, but the roads were not icy at all.  We drove to near Albany, where my friend, Cindy, lives.  We had a nice supper with her and her husband at TGIFriday's and a nice visit.

Word is there is 2 to 4 inches of wet heavy snow on the way tomorrow.

Oh, and about the recycling..I saw no sign of any recycling efforts at any of the rest areas we stopped at in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New York.  tsk tsk tsk

New York

The first thing we saw on the road early this morning was the remains of a car transport and it's load of (I think) 8 cars all burned up on the side of the road.  Crews were cleaning up the mess and directing traffic.  It must have just happened during the night as one lane was closed and traffic was backed up for miles.   Unfortunately no picture as it was in the oncoming lane and went by too quickly for me to get the shot.

It rained all the rest of the day until we stopped for the night, then it quit.  The forecast for tonight is for a hard freeze that will put an end to the growing season.  Maybe even some snow.  We'll see in the morning.

Marble Looking Out Window

Marble has been a very good passenger, staying on the bed all day long and sometimes looking out the window.  She's really not too interested in what's going on outside.

We are now just east of Buffalo, NY.  Tomorrow we will find my friend, Cindy, and have a visit with her for a while.

Indiana



On The Road Again, blah blah blah
More driving today, no sight seeing.  We made it as far as
South Bend, Indiana.  Spending the night in a
Walmart parking lot, but that's ok.  I have TV, and internet, and
there is shopping....what more do I need?

In all fairness to Wisconsin, I will report that Illinois also recycles.
However, only aluminum.

We're Off!!!



And We're Off!!

Packing took longer than we expected.  Just when we think we have it all, we remember more things.  We spent the night in the RV last night as a trial run to see what we might have missed.  Everything looked good, and by the time we got really ready to go it was about 10:00 a.m.
The drive was rather uneventful, just freeway driving, nothing much to look at.

It's been a nice cool day, good day for a drive.  But we were tired from the packing and a restless sleep, so we didn't get as far as we planned.  We are just north of Madison, Wisconsin, and it's getting dark so we are parked for the night.  My Internet connection is very slow here and I'm running on battery power so I have to make this a quick post.


Wisconsin Recycles!

Wisconsin Recycles!  I had to mention it and give them credit for doing so.  I remember on our travels last year there are many states that do not recycle at their rest areas.  Yay for Wisconsin!  We'll see how the other states are doing this year.

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.