May 23-27, Fun with Barb and Barry

May 24 – 25,

Barb and Barry have been fantastic hosts. We've had so much fun learning about their many hobbies. They love classic cars, particularly Thunderbirds. Barry owns a vintage ’55 Thunderbird, a ’42 Woody Ford Station Wagon, a ’72 Lark travel trailer, a ’67 Ford Ranchero, a ’66 Mustang Convertible and a ’65 Mustang Fastback. He has lovingly restored these vehicles to mint condition. And they ARE beauties ! They also collect antique fly sprayers, gasoline pumps, and Pepsi and train memorabilia. You know how I love that train stuff.

Barbara is also an avid gardener. Her yard is a medley of colorful irises, rhododendron, petunias, geraniums and many other plants. We’ve enjoyed cooking together and eating out in the back yard in a gazebo that Barry built.

They took us to this unbelievable place called Jordans, that’s suppose to be a Furniture Store but it is known for it’s ice cream, trapeze shows, musical water falls and much, much more. What a treat!

May 25 , To the beach
Today they took us up the coast to see some Maine beaches. We got on the back roads, so I enjoyed seeing the old Victorian homes and little villages. Barb’s favorite lighthouse is the Nubble (Cape Neddick) Lighthouse in York, ME. After touring the coastline, we met up with some of our other NELD (NorthEast Lazy Daze) friends for supper at the Cracker Barrel.

May 26-27
Today Barb had a Dr.’s appointment, so I drove her into town to the doctor and I did a little shopping for our trip ahead.

We’ve all had a grand time together. Seems that we’ve known them for years but just found each other this week. It was a sweet time I’ll always remember. Thanks Barb and Barry!

Shake, Rattle and Roll

May 23, Leaving Narraganset, heading to North Reading MA

Remember I mentioned the horrible vibration in the rig? Well, we were getting ready to hit the road and Joe was checking the tire pressure. He added air to several of the tires which were low, but one tire would not hold the air. Turns out we had a FLAT TIRE!

We called our Emergency Road Service. They said they’d be there in about 45 min. Meanwhile, our friend Barry offered to remove the tire and put on the spare. He insisted we cancel the service call and he would take care of it. We knew he was an incredibly talented mechanic, but we hated to be an imposition. Barry and Barb are the couple we will be staying with a few days during our journey to Canada. But in no time at all, he had the tires swapped and we were on our way.

We drove on up to North Reading, Massachusetts with NO SHAKING and have been having a ball with Barry and Barb. The next day, Barry checked all my tires , greased some kind of joints under the rig, and generally gave it a good check up.

Then he wanted to take it for a test drive. ----- Now I don't let just anyone drive our beloved Chuckie, but hey, this guy is a mechanical genius, so I figured he would be the safest person to allow behind the steering wheel. Found out he was a "hot rodder". Didn't that RATTLE my nerves!

Joe said he kicked it up to 70 mph, "popped a wheely" and took some sharp curves at 65. I know he did because every item in my frig was turned over, I found my deoderant, which WAS in the bathroom, on the other side of the bed! But that's OK - We're ready to ROLL !


Barry checks out the errant tire.

Barry pulls on the aformentioned tire.

Others join in to assist with the $%#*** tire.

Tires are everywhere!

Barry and our RV friends save the day !!!!!!!

Barb looks on and just smiles.

RVers are the BEST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 21, Fisherman's Memorial State Park and Newport

Yesterday, two of our new NE (Northeast) buddies, Wes and Barb took us on a sight-seeing ride around the Bay and along the ocean. Saw some drop dead gorgeous home on the water. We then went to a small seafood hut called Iggy’s and got clam chowda’ and doughboys. It was our first bowl of chowder on this trip, but I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Last night the group was treated to a hot dog cookout and smores around the campfire. The weather has been perfect. No more rain, about 80 during the day and 50-55 at night.

May 21

Today we rode with another couple, Greg and Karen Emerton, to the Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, RI. The tour guide was super and had lots of interesting facts and tales surrounding the old lighthouse. The Bay was beautiful. Even caught a glimpse of a whale. Stopped at a little café in this tiny town for lunch. I had a lobster roll and Joe had (another) bowl of clam chowder. The group went out for dinner tonight but several of us stayed at the campground and munched on leftovers. Nice to have a little down time to catch up on housekeeping and computer time. Tomorrow we go into Newport and a more sightseeing.

May 22, Newport
Our friends from Florida, Bill and Dorothy took us into Newport to see the mansions. It’s a very affluent community with lots of history and elaborate architecture. We walked along a section called the Cliff Walk (about two miles) which allows you to see some of the homes. The walk borders the ocean and today there was a soft fog that created a surreal image. The homes are truly magnificent. We then went into the town for lunch; we had worked up a good appetite!

The food was delicious – I got a seared tilapia dish with a yummy sauce and Joe got ---- clam chowder! Surprise.

Tonight we had our pot luck supper. These folks are excellent cooks. We always have a silent auction and I won a stunning picture of a lighthouse that one of the ladies had created with counted cross stitch. When I saw it on the table I just had to have it and lady luck was with me. What makes it so special is the gal who made it, Mary Ellen Mathew, is the sweetest, most gracious person and has always impressed me with her gentle nature and caring spirit. I feel that I have a treasure! Bill and Dorothy

Mary Ellen, me and our beautiful lighthouse picture.

May 18, New York to Narrangansett

May 17, Virginia to New York (pictures)

Left Winchester, VA around 8:30 Continued north on I-81 through parts of West Virginia and Maryland, heading toward Scranton, PA. There we turned onto I-84 East and went into New York to a KOA campground in Newburgh, NY. When we arrived at the cg, Joe went in the office to get us registered. I went in to see if he needed any help and as I turned around to go back to the rig, I saw a girl standing in the doorway, just looking at me and smiling real big. It was SHIRLEY ! She and her husband, David were one of the couples on our New England caravan in 2008. As it turned out they were currently on another Yankee RV Tour and had stopped at this campground for the night. There were eight couples there that we knew, so we had a ball catching up with each other. What a delightful, refreshing break from the stress of grueling traffic, persistent rain and encounters with sign posts.

May 18, NY to Rhode Island

We left Newburgh, NY around 10:30, destination Narragansett, RI. This part of New York is simply beautiful. Hillsides loaded with trees in shades of green ranging from almost black to lemon-lime. But do I have pictures of them? NO! Not with 18 wheelers breathing down my neck and of course the ever present rain…..Zero Visibility! We stopped in Middletown, CT and had lunch at a diner-style restaurant. This was our first time to eat out except for a quick hamburger in VA.
Traveled on I-84 through Connecticut, onto I-95 and then down to Route 1 in Rhode Island. We’re now at Fisherman’s Memorial State Park in Narragansett and guess what? It’s raining harder, the wind is howling, and it is cold. We’ve never been through a nor’easter, but this may be one. Where’s the clam chowda?

May 19, Narragansett, RI

The Northeast Lazy Daze group began their rally today. So far there are about 21 rigs here and more coming tomorrow. When we plan trips, we try to find out about rallies that may be happening in states along our travel route. We’ve been fortunate enough to attend three of the NE rallies and just love getting to know these folks better.

May 15-17, 2010

May 15

Hey, how about my new driver? He

came all the way from India. Rajnish would be a great driver – but he says the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the truck!

We said our farewells and took off on May 15, first destination – somewhere in South Carolina. The rig has a terrible front end vibration. Having recently bought a new front tire and having it adjusted, balanced, etc., it still isn’t right. I finally felt I should stop and have someone check it out. Nice guy at a Travel Center looked it over but since their equipment is setup for big 18 wheelers, he could not evaluate it thoroughly. I felt better once he explained some of the possible problems and told us we were safe to travel, but to have it looked at when we find an appropriate auto shop.

We stopped at a campground in Gaffney, SC which just happened to be the same place we stopped on our last trip to New England. The campground was taken over by KOA and has vastly improved. But they allow some really weird looking people to stay there!

May 16

The weather has been great except for one down-pour yesterday that only lasted about 30 min. We took I-77 outside of Charlotte and up to I-81 into Virginia. The traffic got really bad, hundreds of 18 wheelers and several times we were at a crawl.

As the day wore on, with the front end of the rig shaking and my nerves on edge, we decided to find a place for the night. I made several attempts at finding a cg (short for campground). At one little town I ended up on a street too narrow for the rig, tried to pull over and in the process scrapped my awning against a rather large street sign. (I expect to get a summons from the constable of Luray, Virginia.) So Joe had to get out and help me back up to get dislodged from the sign, then he told me to pull out into the street. I kept telling him to get in the rig but he just kept motioning me to pull out. So I did! Traffic was coming from behind and in front, so I just had to keep moving. Kind of like a bunch of leemings. Joe just stood there watching as I was "forced" down the street. Five blocks down the street I find a safer place to pull over. I think it took him 20 min. to walk those five blocks.

Well, back on I-81, 100 miles later, with those crazy truckers whizzing by me and yet another little rain fall, we found a good place to stay. I didn't realize what a toll 7 hours of driving would take ---- until I tried to get out of the rig and stand up!!!!!!

Canadian Maritimes Trip - May 2010

We're busy making plans for our next big trip.

The weeks before out departure were filled with visits from family and friends. Our son, Joey came from India with his friend and fellow pastor, Rajnish Jacob.
This was Rajnish's first visit to the US, so you can imagine what
an experience that has been. He is such a delightful person and seemed to enjoy our Southern cuisine.


We all met at Brad and Sharon's house in Canton, Ga. Joe and I got to visit with Sarah which is always a special treat for us.
She's a busy young lady with school, tae kwon do, art, hunting, horseback riding and writing.







Joey got a chance to play with his youngest niece,
little miss Hannah.
The two seemed to hit it off.




Sharon was the "hostess with the mostess". She managed to create fabulous meals, drive us around town and entertained our international guests like a pro. Way to go Sharon! Here she is with her best friend and hubby Brad; both being a little cheesy over the mac'n cheese.




It was such a blessing to have both my sons with me to celebrate Mother's Day. And we were all so pleased to have our special guest from India.

OH, I must mention I now have a brand new Nikon D3000 to play with. Can't wait to hit the road and share some pictures of this beautiful country with all of you.



From left to right: Rajnish, Joey, me, Joe, Sharon, Brad, and Hannah

Oct. 9-10 Middlebury, VT

Oct. 9 We traveled to Middlebury today where we will spend our last two days at Lake Dunmore campground. It's a nice campground - this tree was outside our RV. We went to a marble factory this afternon. Joe and I had been there on a bus tour years ago, so it was a little redundant. That night we went out with six other couples to a fabulous restaurant called Fire and Ice. It was excellent. The whole place was filled with old photos and other memorabilia, plus there was a full size boat similar to a Chris Craft boat (like the one Henry Fonda drove in the movie "On Golden Pond"). The food was superb. Joe and I had prime rib - yummy good.

Oct. 10 We took another scenic trip around the hills of Vermont. It was breath-taking. My camera battery had died so I didn't get any photos. Yankee RV treated us to yet another lunch, at a place called Rosie's. We can thank the RV tour company for all the extras pounds we're bringing home; they have fed us too well. We passed by the Inn that was used in the filming of The Bob Newhart show, also stopped for a glass blowing demo and a bowl factory.

Our other new friends are Bill and Jane from Traverse City Michigan. They've carted us around several times on the trip and we all got along so well. They had taken us on the

Van Trapp lodge trip and a tour of the capitol city, Montpelier. Today they took us into the little town of Middlebury to see some of the quaint shops, a waterfall and the beautiful Middlebury College campus. The college was your typical Ivy League school with grand marble buildings and lush landscaping. I heard that all you need to get in is about $30,000.00 a year and a lot of smarts.

To end the day we walked over to Lake Dunmore at the campground. It was just perfect with the colorful trees reflected in the water.That evening we had a talent show. Joe even did his hambone and of course I did a hula. There were other people who shared their talents with us.

The final morning together the Tour Co. provided breakfast before we all departed.

What a perfectly delightful adventure we have had!