Into the Northeast, Pt. 2, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine

Hi there, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter ended on Tuesday, August 8^th, which was our last day in New York. Wednesday, August 9^th, was another travel day. While I was outside our coach, getting things ready for travel, I heard a loud cracking sound. I looked and saw that across the road from us another motorhome, a fairly new Monaco Dynasty, was pulling out of it's parking spot to leave and hadn't put in their big patio awning. As they were driving forward it caught on a nearby tree and nearly pulled it off the side of the coach. When they finally realized what was going on they had broken the arm off the awning and really messed it up. Surprisingly, while I finished my work the guy got his ladder out and fixed the broken arm and was able to manually crank the awning back in.

We had the coach packed up were on the road at 10:30 for a fairly short, 70 mile, drive to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. We made a fuel stop then crossed out of New York, arriving at the Bonnie Brea Campground in Pittsfield about 1:00. We got parked in a spot and did the basic setup, then drove to Matt Reilly's Pub, about a half mile away from the campground. The reason we are in Pittsfield is that Helen Reilly, the owner of the pub, is Jackie's closest and dearest friend. She has known Helen since the 60's when they both worked in Jackie's dad's bar in Gardena, California. Helen was originally from Massachusetts and moved back here in the early 80's and married Joe Reilly who owned the bar. The bar sets right on the shore of Pontoosuc Lake in Lanesborough, the next town north of Pittsfield and has been there since the 40's, although it was rebuilt after a fire in the late 90's. We were last here in 2006 and it was during the time we were here that Joe passed away. Helen has been running the place ever since.

Although we haven't been back here in 11 years, we have seen Helen several times when she has been back out west visiting friends and relatives, the last time being about four years ago. We had lunch at the bar and visited for about 90 minutes, then went back to the coach to finish setting up. Unfortunately, this campground is even more buried in trees than the last and try as I might, I could not get any satellite reception on either the rooftop antenna or our portable one. So, another week without satellite TV. We do get a couple of the local network stations over the air, so we are not completely cut off. After we finished setting up we went back down to the bar and sat outside on the deck, with a great view of the lake, and talked for a couple of hours. About 8:00 we finally went back to the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed. We are going to be here in Pittsfield for a week.

Thursday, August 10^th, I took the Jeep into a local service shop around 8:30 to drop it off for a brake job. The car has almost a hundred thousand miles and still the original brakes. The last time I had it serviced the Jeep dealer told me that the brakes were down to less than 5 percent useful life, so I figured it was time to get them redone. Helen suggested this place, which is right across the street from her bar. She said she just had the brakes on her SUV done there and she was happy with the work and knew the guy who owned the shop. After I dropped the car off I went for my walk, walking along the shore of Pontoosuc Lake. Very pretty, with a little fog on the far shore. After my walk I went back to the bar and went out with Helen to run a couple of errands, then to her house. She let me take her car and go back to the coach to pick up Jackie.

I went back and got Jackie, went back to Helen's and then Helen drove us north to Mt. Greylock State Reservation, a type of State Park. The park was established in 1898 and encompasses over 12,000 acres, including the highest point in the State, Mt. Greylock at 3,081 ft. Now that is only a pretty good size hill where I'm from in Arizona, but a real mountain here in the East. At the summit there is a 93 foot tower that is the Veteran's War Memorial. The tower has a beacon at the top, like a lighthouse, and stairs inside to take you to the observation deck just below the beacon. I walked to the top and took some photos. We walked around and looked at the great views on the summit for a while. You can see four states, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and New Hampshire, on a clear day. Today there was a bit of ground fog that limited distant views, but it was still pretty. There is also a portion of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail that runs through the park, right across the summit. This trail runs from Northern Georgia 2,100 miles to Northern Maine. After our sightseeing we stopped at the Bascom Lodge, a small inn located at the summit, for lunch. After we had lunch we ran into a young guy who was hiking the trail. He started in Georgia in March and figures he will be done in early December in Maine. Yikes!

We had a nice lunch at the lodge, then went back down the hill, back to Helen's house where we dropped her off and went back to the coach to do a few chores. We went back to Helen's about 3:30 and spent a couple of hours playing cards and talking. Jackie had brought over the fixings for chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice, and about 6:30 we had dinner with the three of us. After dinner we talked some more and met one of Helen's neighbors, who brought her dog over to play with Helen's dog. Helen's dog is a smallish standard poodle, but still a pretty good size, 50 pound dog. The neighbor's dog is a Newfoundland and looks a little like a big, fluffy St. Bernard, and probably goes over 150 pounds. But the two dogs play like puppies, it was really fun to watch as long as you weren't in the way when they decided to run around. We took Helen's car and left about 8:30, went back to the coach and watched a little TV then went to bed.

Friday, August 11th, we left the coach around 10:00 and drove to the bar. Helen had called us and told us that she had gotten a ride from her house to the bar and to meet her there. We first stopped at the auto repair place to check on our Jeep and it turned out that he had just finished the brake job. So, $656 later we had our car back with all new brakes, front and rear. Once we got to the bar we parked our car and got into Helen's again and she took us on another road trip. Today we went south out of Pittsfield to the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Stockbridge is a fairly small, colonial town, incorporated in 1739, with a population of less than 2,000 permanent residents. However, it is a very upscale, artsy community that draws a lot of summer tourists. Stockbridge was the home of famed American artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell and many of his works depict life in Stockbridge in the 50's and 60's. There is also a Norman Rockwell museum in town. We had spent some time in Stockbridge back in 2006 when we were last out here. However, Helen took us to something we had not visited out last time here, the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy. The Shrine is part of a Roman Catholic enclave where the priests and brothers of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary reside. They have been on Eden Hill in Stockbridge since June 1944 when the Order initially purchased 50 of the 370 acres that constituted the "Eden Hill" estate. By the end of World War II in 1945, pilgrims in growing numbers came to offer thanksgiving for graces received through the Divine Mercy message and devotion. They urged the Marians to build a shrine to Jesus, The Divine Mercy, as a votive of thanks. The Fathers decided to accede to the requests since there was also a need for a larger chapel to accommodate a growing community. The construction of the present Shrine began in 1950 and was completed in 1960. In 1996, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declared it a National Shrine in accord with Church law. The National Shrine draws thousands of pilgrims from around the world. There are several chapels, residences for the priests and brothers of the order, and a large open area with a walking trail taking one along the fourteen “Stations of the Cross” with each station being depicted by life size bronze sculptures. It was a very serene and peaceful place and we enjoyed our visit. We were also able to get a geocache on the grounds.

After visiting the Shrine we stopped at a restaurant in Stockbridge called Michael's for lunch. As it turns out, we had lunch in the same place in 2006. Lunch was OK, there were a few issues with the food, but it worked out. After lunch we continued south into Connecticut and went to the Lone Oak Campground in East Canaan, Connecticut. This was the campground we stayed in when we visited back in here in 2006. At that time Helen and her husband Joe had a trailer on a seasonal lot there and Helen was the manager of the bar that is located on the premises. We ended up being there for almost a month because it was during that visit that Joe died, so we stayed around for a while to help Helen out. Although Helen no longer has a place there, she still knows a lot of the people there and goes back to visit from time to time. The people we stopped in to see today, Carol and Henry Zajac, friends of Helen that we had gotten to know the last time we were here. Jackie has stayed in touch with Carol since our last visit and it was good to see them in person again after eleven years. We stayed at the campground for about an hour, then drove back up to the bar, a trip that took almost an hour. We were able to get one geocache in Connecticut, our first in that state, adding one more state to our list of those we have cached in.

After we got back to the bar, we went back to the coach to feed the cats and freshen up, then went back down to the bar for dinner. We were joined at dinner by Helen's cousin Michael and another friend from Pittsfield, Carol. Michael grew up in Pittsfield and went to school with his cousin Joe, who became Helen's husband. He now lives down in Connecticut, but visits Helen from time to time. We had met him a few years ago in Las Vegas when He and Helen were back there for the Super Bowl and we drove up from the desert for a few days to visit. We had a great dinner. Helen surprised us with king crab legs, one of my favorite dishes. It is no longer a regular menu item at the restaurant, but she had it special ordered just for us. Yea! I ate way too much, but we had a great evening. About 9:00 we finally went back to the coach for the night after a great day.

Saturday, August 12^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to Walmart and Price Shopper for some supplies. We had to do two stores because the Walmart here is not a Supercenter, so their grocery selection is limited. We also picked up a nearby geocache. After shopping we went to Helen's house to spend the afternoon. We played cards for a couple of hours and then Jackie cooked her taquito casserole for dinner. We had a great dinner and sat and talked for another couple of hours. About 8:30 we left Helen's house and went down to the bar for a drink. She had an entertainer tonight who was pretty good. Helen made him bring me up to do a song, so I did a Neil Diamond song that seemed to be well received by the crowd, although they all seemed pretty drunk. While we were at the bar a series of small thunderstorms started rolling through, lots of distant thunder and lightening and torrential rain. We left about 10:00 and went back to the coach in the downpour. We relaxed for a bit, then went to bed.

Sunday, August 13^th, I got a Sunday paper and we had our usual relaxed Sunday morning. We had lunch at the coach and about 1:00 went down to the bar and met Helen. She then took us on another sightseeing trip, this time north into southwestern Vermont. We went up as far as Bennington, Vermont, the largest town in this part of the state. As we were coming into town we saw the Elks placard on the welcome sign, went by the lodge and found that they were open. We went in for a quick drink and were able to get a lodge pin, our first Vermont Elks pin. We also stopped at the Bennington Battle Monument, a 300 foot obelisk on top of a hill, which commemorates the Battle of Bennington, one of the first major colonial victories of the Revolutionary War. We stopped at a couple of shops and antique stores and were also able to get a couple of geocaches, also our first caches in Vermont. After out touring we headed back south, arriving at the bar around 5:30. We had cocktails and then dinner out on the deck, enjoying the great weather. After dinner we headed back to the coach, getting in around 8:00. We watched some TV and then went to bed.

Monday, August 14^th, we left the coach about 11:00 and went into Pittsfield to do our laundry. It took us a half hour or so to locate a suitable laundry, some of them were dumps, but once we did we got everything in the washers. There was a Subway store right across the street from the laundry, but when we went there it was closed. We noticed that there was a liquor and convenience store on the corner that had a deli, so we went there and got lunch. Just a little counter in the back of the store, but I had a cheese steak sandwich that was outstanding. Sometimes you find great food in odd places. Jackie had a chicken wrap that she said was OK, but a little dry. We were finished with the laundry about 1:30 and then drove over to Helen's house. Helen loaded us up in her car for another tour. This time we went north to Adams, Massachusetts and a store called Ocean State Job Lot. It was a huge store that specializes in buying various lots of merchandise from stores going out of business. They had pretty much anything you could think of. We bought a few things that seemed to be pretty good deals.

After the store we stopped at the Adams Elks Lodge, but they are closed on Mondays. It was too bad because the lodge was in an old brick church building. It would have been neat to see the inside. We also picked up a geocache during our travels. After we got back to Helen's house we went back to the coach for a while to put everything away and make the bed. About 5:30 we went back over to Helen's with the leftovers from the last too meals that Jackie cooked for us. We played some cards then had a great dinner of leftovers. About 8:00 we left and went back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, August 15^th, our last day here in Pittsfield. We went out after lunch and did some geocaching in the area, getting five new finds, including another milestone, find 8,800! Yea! About 2:30 or so we went over to Helen's house for the afternoon. We played some cards and sat around and talked. About 6:00 we went down to the bar and had another great crab legs dinner. We had a couple of drinks and about 8:00 went back to the coach for the night. We watched some TV then went to bed. Wednesday was another travel day. We left about 10:00, after saying goodbye to Helen who came up to send us off. This was a long trip today, 188 miles north to Williamstown, Vermont, a small town about 15 miles south of the Vermont capitol of Montpelier. We arrived at the Limehurst Lake Campground around 2:30 and got parked in a nice, full hookup spot which is out in the open, meaning we can use our satellite dish for the first time in ten days. Yea! We got settled in and set up for our three day stay here. This is our first time spending the night in Vermont. We had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, August 17^th, we left the coach about 12:30 and headed out for a day of exploring. We first stopped at the little town of Williamstown, Vermont, where the RV park is located. The town has only about 3,300 population and looks to be about one square mile in size. The big attraction in town is the Spider Web Farm, started in 1977 by local farmer Will Knight. He had Orb Web spiders in the barn and noticed that their webs were very pretty as well as individually unique and his wife's hobby of decoupage gave him the idea for his artwork. He built a series of wooden racks in his shed, introduced the spiders, and then harvested the webs when the spiders built them. He would spray them with paint, then lay them on wood or fabric in a contrasting color. Then the piece was lacquered for permanency. He refers to his studio as the “original web site.” We drove up Spider Web Farm Road to the studio, but it has been closed for several years after his original shed burned down. They are in the process of rebuilding and renovating the studio.

After Williamstown we drove north about 15 miles to Montpelier, Vermont, the capitol city. A few facts about Vermont, it is the second least populous state after Wyoming, with about 625,000 residents. It is about the size of Maricopa County, Arizona, (Phoenix) where I lived and worked most of my life, which has a population of 4.25 million. It is only one of four U.S. states which had been sovereign countries at one time, the others being California, Hawaii and Texas. It was also the first state to be added to the Union after the original 13 founding states. Montpelier has a population of less than 8,000, making it the least populous State Capitol. We drove around the fairly small downtown and capitol complex and found it very quaint. One interesting thing was that many of the State agencies and offices were located in converted and restored 18^th century homes located around the capitol building. There were no modern office buildings at all. We walked around downtown for a while, visited a few antique stores and some shops. We then drove to the Montpelier Elks Lodge, located on the edge of town, which owns and operates a golf course. The lodge only has about 350 members, but is doing well because it is the only country club in town. We had a drink and were able to get a lodge pin for our banner. We then did a Walmart run because the closest Supercenter was located here in Montpelier. Our last stop was the Morse Farm Maple Sugerworks. Vermont is the largest supplier of maple syrup in the country and many of the manufacturers are small, local farms. Morse has become a bit of a tourist trap, with a gift shop, tours and films about making maple syrup. They also have a scale model of the Vermont capitol building made by a local artist. We had what they call a “maple creamee” which is maple flavored soft serve ice cream. After this visit we headed back to the coach. During our travels we also were able to get three new geocache finds. Once we got home we relaxed for the rest of the night.

Friday, August 18^th, we left the coach about noon and drove northwest about 30 miles to the town of Waterbury, Vermont. There were two reasons to come here, first there is a Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (DDD) restaurant here called the Prohibition Pig. We like to go to DDD places when we can. The other reason was this is where the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory that provides factory tours is located. Our first stop was the Prohibition Pig. Waterbury is a typical Northeastern small town, small downtown with lots of old buildings. The restaurant is in a newer place right on main street and it was very busy. As a matter of fact, the entire town was crowded, no doubt due to the Ben and Jerry's factory. We had lunch, both of us had the chopped pork sandwich and we had an order of one of their specialties, duck fat cooked french fries. All in all, it was a bit of a disappointment. The food was OK, but nothing special. The fries didn't taste any different than any others we have had. The quantity of the food you got did not jive with the prices, it was way overpriced. Oh well, not all DDD places are great.

After lunch we drove to the Ben and Jerry's plant, which is north of town, and found that it was, indeed, where everyone was going. The place was jammed. We got there at about 1:30 and the earliest tour we could get was 3:00. We hung around, people watched and got the one geocache that is on the grounds of the factory. The tours are not even free, $4 for adults, $3 for seniors. It was no more of a tour than you get at the cheese factory in Tillamook, Oregon, walk along a mezzanine looking down on the factory floor. At the end of the tour you do get a small sample cup of ice cream, certainly not a $3 cup though. Another disappointment, but it was still an experience. After Ben and Jerry's we drove back down towards the RV park, stopping at the town of Barre, Vermont, about halfway between Montpelier and the RV park. We drove around and did a little sight-seeing and got another geocache. We stopped at the Barre Elks Lodge, which is in a big, three story brick building right downtown. The place was jammed because they had just had a fund raising golf tournament and everyone was there after playing. We had a cocktail, but they were out of lodge pins, bummer. After the Elks we drove back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Saturday, August 19^th, another travel day. We left Williamstown about 10:30 and started the 77 mile trip east to Lancaster, New Hampshire. Neither of us has been to New Hampshire before. The trip went OK, although a little stressful because it was almost all on a two lane highway that was winding and hilly. We arrived at the Roger's Campground just before 1:00 and quickly got parked. We did the basic set up, then went back into Lancaster for a quick lunch. We stopped at a pub on the main street and had a nice lunch. I had a cheese steak and Jackie had a burger. It was tasty and filling, and a much better value than yesterday's lunch. We then got one geocache, our first in New Hampshire, then went back to the coach and finished getting everything set up. We stayed in for the rest of the day and relaxed. We are only here for two nights. This stop was just to check the box that we had stayed in New Hampshire, and also to let us get a few geocaches here.

Sunday, August 20^th, we had basically a stay at home day, the first in a while. I spent a good part of the day working on travel plans and reservations for the next month of our East Coast tour and also got some minor repairs to the coach taken care of. Jackie also spent the day doing chores. We did leave the coach for a quick trip to the grocery store. Monday was another travel day. Today's trip was a little longer than we normally do, 230 miles from Lancaster, New Hampshire to Trenton, Maine, just north of Bar Harbor. In the original plan the trip was a little under 200 miles, but some later changes in RV park selection, and some rerouting to put a larger portion of today's trip on interstates rather than the back roads, added to the mileage. The first 100 miles were on mostly two lane roads, although they were approved truck routes. I won't take the coach on anything else, the car OK, but not the coach. Here in the Northeast you don't see that much on the back roads except trees and the occasional small town, so taking the interstate is preferable to me.

We arrived at the Timberland Acres RV Resort in Trenton, Maine about 3:00 and quickly got parked in a very nice, very large full hookup site. We spent a couple hours getting set up and then just relaxed for the rest of the evening. We had a pot roast cooking in the crock pot all day for dinner. Trenton is a small town about 25 miles south of Bangor, and 15 miles north of the coastal town of Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. We are going to be here for three nights. This is the first time in Maine for either of us and we are looking forward to exploring over the next few days.

Tuesday, August 22^nd, we left the coach about 10:00 and headed south onto Mt. Desert Island, one of the hundreds of islands dotting the coast of Maine. It is an island only by virtue of a few hundred yards of water, which is mostly gone at low tide, but it is officially an island. Much of the island's land is taken up by Acadia National Park, but there are a couple of coastal villages, including the most famous, Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor became a summer vacation spot for the wealthy starting in the mid 1800's, and has continued as one of Maine's premier tourist destinations. The village only has about 5,500 full time residents. Acadia National Park was established in 1919 to preserve the forested islands of northeastern Maine. Cadillac Mountain, located adjacent to Bar Harbor, was part of the reason for the creation of the park. It is the highest point on the East coast of the U.S. that is within 25 miles of the coast. In the late 1800's it's summit was a major tourist attraction and the first cog railroad in the United States was built to take people from Bar Harbor to the 1,527 foot summit. The mountain is inside the National Park and once it was established a road was built and the cog railroad abandoned.

We spent a couple of hours in Bar Harbor, walking the streets and going into shops. We had lunch at a nice restaurant right on the waterfront, actually sitting on a pier outside in the nice weather. After lunch we drove the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain and spent some time up there looking at the view. While we were up there fog and clouds moved in, so we didn't get too many good pictures. We also got three geocaches, which are our first in the State of Maine. We put off driving other parts of the National Park and drove back north to the town of Ellsworth, which is just north of the RV park. We went to the Ellsworth Elks Lodge for a cocktail. It was another small, 350 member lodge, but the half dozen guys in the lounge were very friendly and we got to meet the ER. We also got a lodge pin for our banner. After the Elks we stopped at Walmart for a few things, then headed back to the coach for the rest of the night. By the time we left the Elks is was completely overcast and there was pretty heavy fog all over the area. However, we didn't get more than a light sprinkle of rain overnight, despite the weather radio going off every half hour with dire warnings for other parks of coastal Maine.

Wednesday, August 23^rd, we again left the coach about 10:00, this time driving north so we could explore Bangor. Our first stop was to drive by the home of one of my personal favorite authors, Stephen King. We knew where he lived because just yesterday there was an article in the local newspaper, which the park gives out every day, talking about the fact that many of his neighbors in his upscale Bangor neighborhood are trying to sell their homes. I guess they don't like the traffic. It was pretty easy to pick out his house, a very nice red mansion, because the black wrought iron fence was decorated with spider webs, gargoyles and bats. And, had a half dozen cars stopped in front of it. After driving by his house we got a nearby geocache, the first of three new finds for the day. We then set out to find a local cafe for lunch. The first two places we picked turned out to be closed, but right next door to the second one was a place called the New Moon Deli. We went in there and had some really great pannini sandwiches and some out of this world soup.

After lunch we spent a half hour or so driving around Bangor and checking out the sights. We then found the Bangor Elks Lodge, an older lodge, number 244, but in a newer building right next to the end of the runway of Bangor International. At first they weren't the friendliest bunch, but they warmed up some before we left. We had one cocktail and were able to get another lodge pin for our banner. We made another stop at the local Hobby Lobby so Jackie could pick up something she needed to store her jewelry. After that we headed back towards the RV park. We made one more stop in Elliston, the town just north of the RV park, to pick up two pieces of cheesecake from a place called Momo's Cheesecakes. This was a spot we heard about on the local news channel two days ago. This lady makes a couple dozen cheesecakes every day, then sells it by the slice, or the whole cake, out of her garage. And it's on the honor system. Five dollars a slice, out of one of two coolers in the garage, drop the money in the box. There's even a box of change if you have a big bill. We then went home and had dinner, and cheesecake for desert. Probably the best cheesecake I have eaten. Yum! We watched some TV and went to bed.

Thursday, August 24^th, another fairly long travel day. We were on the road just before 10:00, heading south towards Kennebunkport, Maine, another coastal village, this time in Southern Maine, south of Portland. It was just under 190 miles and we arrived at the Red Apple Campground about 2:30 after a fuel stop and lunch break. This is a very nice campground and we got a long, paved pull through spot with full hookup, 50 amp service. We even got good satellite even though the owner told us he didn't think we would get it in this spot. After we got set up we went for a drive for about 90 minutes, just to get the lay of the land. We drove through Kennebunkport's downtown, which looked to be much like Bar Harbor, then took a drive through some of the back roads and along the coast. Like Bar Harbor, Kennebunkport started out, and remains, a place where the wealthy come to spend some or all of the summer. One look at the boats in the yacht harbor told you there was money in the town. Just outside of downtown, on it's own little peninsula, is the summer home compound of George and Barbara Bush. The peninsula is called Walker's Point, named after his maternal grandfather. Although we didn't stop and join the crowd standing outside the fence, we did take some photos of the very nice house on the point. After we made the circle drive we went back to the RV park, stopping at the office to order lobster. One of the services this very nice RV park provides is that you can go to the office in the morning, or the day before, and order lobster to be delivered to you site. You tell them how many, what size you want, and they will get them fresh off the boat, boil them up and deliver them to your site around 5:00 p.m. the same day. They only charge what they pay the fisherman, no delivery charge, no cooking charge. We ordered two 1.5 pounders and will note in tomorrows post what the charge was. We then went back to the coach, sat outside and had a cocktail, then a light dinner and TV until bedtime.

Friday, August 25^th, We left the coach about 10:00 and drove to Kennebunkport. We found a parking place and spent a couple of hours walking around the shops. We also stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. We both had lobster rolls, which were very good. The town is on the Kennebunk River and right on the other side of the bridge is the town of Kennebunk. Weird naming of places around here. Kennebunkport is pretty small, so after a couple of hours we had seen pretty much everything, so we drove around and did some more sight-seeing. We found a house that is called the “Wedding Cake” house, and, according to the tourist stuff is the most photographed house in Maine. To us it look a little run down and dilapidated. We then drove down to Kennebunk Beach, a nice sand beach on the Atlantic Ocean. I had to go out, take off my shoes and at least dunk my toes in the Atlantic. It has been eleven years since we have been on this ocean. The water was really cold, so the toes was all that I dunked, and not for long.

We continued to explore, ending up in the town of Wells, and the Wells Elks Lodge. It is in a building out in the middle of a farm field. The lodge only has about 137 members, but the two in the bar were very friendly. We had a drink and got another lodge pin for our banner. After the Elks we headed home because we had to be at our campsite by 5:00 so they could deliver out lobsters. At 5:30 the owner of the RV park pulled up in their candy apple red, restored 1948 Ford pickup truck and gave us a bag with two warm, pound and a half lobsters. The total was $28 and he refused any tip. That is less than one dinner in a restaurant for a lobster that size. We fixed some squash and cole slaw and within and hour were digging into some very good lobster. Two meals of lobster in one day, we must be in the Northeast. We spent the rest of the evening in.

Saturday, August 26^th, yet another travel day. Today's trip is only about 125 miles, heading south to Bellingham, Massachusetts, which is about 40 miles west of Boston. We got to the Circle G Farm RV park about 1:30 and quickly got parked in a nice spot out in a field of grass. We only have 30 amp, but water, sewer, cable and wifi are provided and we have good satellite, so we are all set. We are going to be here for five days. Jackie was in Boston many years ago, but I have never been here, the only major city in the I-95 Corridor that I have not been to. After we got set up we relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

Our arrival here at the north end of the I-95 corridor marks a good place to close this chapter and get it published. Until next time, remember that life is not about how you survive the storm, it is about how you dance in the rain. Let's go dance. See ya soon.