Sept.19 Boothbay Harbor, ME

Sept. 18 Pictures of our last day/night at Wassamki Springs. We played bingo with the locals and met this sweet lady who works at the campground during summers and winters in Florida. The moose head between us was not road kill. There are supoose to be plenty of them around here but haven't seen one on the road, thank goodness.

Sept. 19 We met up with the tour group yesterday, did some shopping at Walmart and went to supper with everyone at Ruby Tuesday's. Most of the other rigs are BIG ones. You can see little Chuckie, standing proud between the big-un's. We drove through Bellgrade Lakes which is a gorgeous area outside Augusta. This picture does not do it justice. This is where parts of "On Golden Pond" were filmed.

The folks are easy to get along with and from very interesting backgrounds. We drove a short distance over to Boothbay Harbor today and will be here 3 days. Tonight we go to eat lobster - yuuuuummm! Tomorow we go on a boat cruise around the harbor, then we're off to see Camden ME, drive up Cadillac Mnt., visit the Maine Prison where the inmates make fabulous handcrafted things like boats, etc. One of the couples has been taking us with them in their car. Other activities for tomorrow are the Maine Maritime Museum, LLBean Store in Freeport and a drive up to Ocean Point in East Boothbay.

Sept. 17 Wassamki Springs, ME

Sept. 17 Wed., I think. We've been here for two days and we've needed every min. of that time. As you can see in the pictures, this is a very pretty place. The people are friendly, it's quiet except for the occassional jets overhead from Portland and the weather is fabulous. Joe has had a chance to get his housework done while I give my driving arms a rest. Actually, I have cooked a pot of soup, helped with the laundry and cleaned up the rig. We filled the propane tank yesterday. We're going to need that for the heater. It's cold at night up here. Sleeping like a baby.

Sept. 15 On to Maine

Sept. 15 Left Shenandoah Valley at 10:30 after a final gathering with LD folks. They really helped us plot our trip and locate campgrounds between here and Maine. Stopped at a Cracker Barrel around 11:30 for "brunch" and then headed on up I81 north. Stopped for the night at Lickdale PA, a pretty nice place with a country store and ice cream parlor. Now you're talkin'! Picture at right.

Still lots of truckers to deal with but no major problems. We listen to the CB to find out about problems on the road or police near by. One thing I won't get on this trip is a speeding ticket. I'm too scared to speed! Sometimes they (truckers) get into various "other" discussions and we turn it off. I have found they are usually very courteous to an RV and will let us in on merges better than cars do. Today was a short day, about 5 hours of driving. We have plenty of time, so there's no need to push it.

This is new geography for us. We've never been this far north in Chuckie. Everyone has assured me that, with the exception of Hartford, Conn., this route is pretty easy. Once I get us to Maine, the wagonmaster does all the route planning and campground reservations. We stopped at Milford PA to check out a campground, but decided it was too early to stop.

We headed on thru New Jersey and New York on I84

to Southbury Conn. Found a beautiful State Park,

Kettletown, that I had looked up prior to leaving home. No hookups, but that's OK. We have battery power and our own water. That's the beauty of this rig, its totally independent when necessary. Picture at right. There's a gorgeous lake here and we got a site with a fairly good view. Plan to battle Hartford in the morning and head to Littleton, Mass. for tomorrow night.

Sept. 16 The Pocono Mountains were super and the Hudson River Valley was post card perfect. Didn't stop for photos - too much traffic to pull off. Didn't need air conditioning all day.

Left Kettletown at (9AM). We've decided to hit Hartford early and drive on to Scarborough Maine instead of stopping at Littleton. We really need two days in one place to get laundry, house cleaning and tank refills before beginning our 23 day tour. All but one of the campgrounds on the tour will have hook-ups so water and elec. will be provided.

6PM We made it through Hartford without a glitch. "Wanda Woman" (GPS) and "Truck Driven Woman" at the wheel - piece a' cake. We're at Wassamki Springs Campground in Scarborough, ME for two days. We're only an hour away from our destination, Augusta ME. Nice break.

Sept. 13 Eatin' and Seein'

Sept. 13 Went to the Frontier Culture Museum today after breakfast. It's a living history museum featuring reconstructed working farms from Germany (1710), Northern Ireland (1730), England and Virginia (1850). Saw the best demonstrations I've ever seen by a blacksmith, a cooper, a weaver and a German farm owner. All the presentors were so knowledgeable and authentic.

We returned to camp for lunch and a craft class on making personalized greeting cards. That was fun too. Then the final function was the Pot Luck Supper where we enjoyed everybody's good cooking. And SURPRISE, these Yankees are good cooks!

We leave in the morning and will drive up Hwy 81 into Pennsylvania. Probably stay at a campground south of Scranton, PA. Don't know if we'll have Internet or cell reception, but we'll see.This visit with the NE Lazy Dazers has been fun and I'm so glad we decided to include it on our trek north.

A few pictures of the today's activities:

Sept. 11, Shanendoah Valley Campground

Sept. 11 We got here around 3:00 on Thursday. Stopped on the way to pick up a few groceries and then went to a family style restaurant for lunch. The NorthEast Lazy Daze folks had a great

"Meet and Greet'" gathering that evening including hotdogs with all the trimmings and lots of yummy side dishes and desserts. (None of which appeared to be South Beach diet related.)

Joe knew a few of the guys already so he got caught up with them. I was busy ruining my blood sugar level for the night. For those who don't know, I've been having pretty high sugars lately so I'm a little paranoid. For some reason ( could be called zero resistance) I overindulged at the dessert table.

Sept.12

This morning we gathered at the hosts' site for coffee, snacks and announcements. The picture is Joe with two of the gals in the group in front of the breakfast tent.

This afternoon I rode into town of Staunton (pronounced Stanton) with the group. We visited the Woodrow Wilson Museum and Home. Then went to lunch downtown and to a glass shop to see a real demonstration of glass blowing. Tonight we'll go back into town for supper.

Pictures of the campground and town of Staunton.

Sept. 10 Claytor Lake State Park Dublin, VA

Sept.10

Rained a good bit on the drive here, but it was a short distance. This is a state park and it's beautiful, quiet and just what we wanted. Cooked chicken quesadillas for supper, walked around the lake, feed some "wild" cats (kittens in the woods) and got to sleep early. Enjoyed being lazy, cooking, eating and relazing before heading to Staunton, VA on Thursday.

Sept.9. We got a false start on Tuesday. Left the house at 9:30, got an hour down the road and Joe realized my passport wasn't in the folder. Only problem with that is we could get into Canada but couldn't get out. Not exactly how I want to spend the rest of our retirement years!

Went back home, found it and took off again at 12:00. Stopped at a Flying J in Commerce Ga for lunch and gas. (Uhh, fuel) Arrived at Gaffney SC at 6PM. Stayed at Pinecone Campground. Not the greatest campground, but we had water and AC. Drove 291 miles , 6 hrs.

Truck Driven' Woman after doing battle with 18 wheelers for 6 hrs.

Lovely view outside our window.