Traveling the I-95 Corridor

Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, August 26^th, when we left Kennebunkport, Maine and arrived at the Circle G Farm Campground in Bellingham, Massachusetts. Bellingham is located about 40 miles southwest of Boston. After our arrival in Bellingham we got the coach set up and we settled in for our five day stay. In the title of this episode I use the phrase “I-95 Corridor” as it is commonly used to describe the ultra-populated area from Boston south to Washington, DC. This includes Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.

Sunday, August 27^th, we decided that this would be a good day to go to Boston to do some sight-seeing. We hoped to avoid some of the work day traffic that the tenth largest city in the country would generate. It took a little under an hour to get into the central downtown area of Boston. Jackie had been to Boston once, some 25 years ago or more, I have never been. Our first stop was to find a parking garage near the Quincy Market area in the middle of town and get parked. The weekend parking price was a flat rate, $20, for all day. We walked around Quincy Market, which is a very large shopping, dining and tourist spot, finally settling on having lunch at Cheers. The location in the Market was not, of course, the original Beacon Hill Cheers made famous on the TV series, but was owned and operated by the same company. I guess the Beacon Hill location is still open too. I was a big fan of the show and just wanted to be able to say I ate and had a beer at Cheers in Boston. The food was a little pricey, but tasty and you got a decent portion, so we were happy when we left.

After walking around the Market for a couple of hours we got the car out of the garage and did some touring. We drove by Boston Commons, Beacon Street, the Paul Revere house, the Old North Church, and a lot of other historical sites located in Central Boston. We then drove through the tunnel under Boston Harbor to East Boston and then the suburb of Winthrop. We got a geocache in Winthrop and then stopped at the Winthrop Elks Lodge. The lodge is in a big building right on the waterfront and was very nice. The place was very busy and we quickly found out why; they were having a party for a bunch of Past Exalted Rulers and the guest of honor was Michael Zellen, the immediate past Grand Exalted Ruler who just left office this month at the Elks Grand Lodge meeting in Reno, Nevada. We got a chance to talk to him, the first time in my 20 years as an Elk that I ever met a GER. We also met the President of the Massachusetts State Elks Association and the local District Deputy. We had a good time, got a free drink, and a lodge pin, as well as pins from the State President and the District Deputy. A very nice visit with some surprises. After our visit at the Winthrop Elks we set out to go to the Boston Lodge, lodge number 10 and the mother lodge of Massachusetts, but got lost a couple of times trying to get out of central Boston. I finally decided it was getting late and we just got on the freeway and headed back to the the RV park. It was a great visit to Boston, a very pretty and historic city, but now I have seen it and don't need to go back. The streets are narrow, confusing and congested and I just don't like big cities anymore. Once we got back to the coach we settled in for the night, watched some TV and went to bed.

Monday, August 28^th, we had a badly needed stay at home day. We got a bunch of chores done around the coach and in the afternoon we did a Walmart run. Although there was a regular Walmart just up the road from the RV park, the closest Supercenter was about ten miles away. We were surprised when we arrived to find that it was actually located in Rhode Island. I knew that we were close to the state line, but didn't know it was quite that close. We also did a few geocaches, three for the day, two of which were in Rhode Island, making them our first RI caches. We now only have nine states left in which we have not cached. We did some burgers on the grill for dinner and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, August 29^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out and did a little bit of geocaching, getting four new finds in pretty short order. We then decided to try an Elks pub crawl and headed east towards West Roxbury, a suburb of Boston, to visit Boston Elks Lodge 10, the mother lodge of Massachusetts. The lodge was chartered in 1878 at the beginning of Elkdom, so I am sure that they had one or more buildings in downtown Boston, but they are now about ten miles southwest of downtown. It was about 25 miles for us and we arrived there about 2:00. This lodge has just under a thousand members, making it one of the bigger lodges we have been to recently. There were not too many people in the lodge, but those that were were pretty friendly. We had a couple of drinks and got a lodge pin, then moved back to the west to visit the Norwood Elks Lodge. This is a somewhat newer lodge, number 1124, chartered in 1908. This lodge has about 750 members. Everyone here was also very friendly, especially the bartender. We again had a couple of drinks and got a lodge pin for the banner. We then continued west towards the RV park, stopping at the Franklin Elks Lodge, which is only about 8 miles from our RV park. The Franklin Lodge only goes back to the early 60's, but also has over 800 members. The bar in this lodge was very busy as they were having their weekly “Queen of Hearts” drawing and the pot was up to over 35 thousand dollars. The Queen of Hearts game is a very big deal in Elks Lodges and we have seen it in lodges all across the country. In lodges with big memberships and active members, like Franklin, the pots can be huge. One of the members we met in the bar, a Past Exalted Ruler of the lodge, and current District Deputy, told us that the last game they had here was won with a pot of over 105 thousand dollars. He also gave me a tour of the lodge building and we met a lot of other members. A very friendly lodge. We had one drink and got a lodge pin, then headed back to the coach. We had pork chops on the BBQ for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. This was our first Elks Pub crawl in a while and we had a lot of fun.

Wednesday, August 30^th, we left the RV park after lunch and drove to nearby Milford and a laundromat so we could wash clothes. That took up most of the afternoon. We then went back to the coach and put everything away. Jackie made a meatloaf for dinner and we sat with the TV the rest of the evening. Thursday was another travel day. We didn't get out until just before 11:00 because we didn't need to hurry. Today we are only going 60 miles east to Plymouth, Massachusetts, home of Plymouth Rock and Cape Cod. We arrived at the Sandy Pond Campground just before 1:00 and got set up in our hookup 50 amp site. They put us in an open area so we have good satellite, but the sites here are very uneven. No matter what I did I couldn't get the coach level front to back. The front is several inches off giving you the feeling that you are climbing a hill every time you go to the back of the coach. I don't have any lumber available to put under the front wheels, so we will just live with being off level for three nights. Prior to our taking out the old RV refrigerator this would have been a major problem as you cannot operate those types of refrigerators unless you are completely level side to side and front to back. Our household refrigerator doesn't have any problem working when it is a little off level. Because it took us so long to get settled in we just stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Friday, September 1^st, the 19^th anniversary of Jackie and I being together. Yea! We left the coach about 9:00, pretty early for us, and drove down to the village of Onset, which sets on Buzzard's Bay in Cape Cod, to take a boat ride through the Cape Cod Canal. To understand why this seven mile long canal exists you have only to look at a map showing Cape Cod, a hook of land running east and north from the mainland, enclosing Cape Cod Bay. North of Cape Cod is the major port of Boston, south of Cape Cod is the major port of New York. By cutting this relatively short canal connecting Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic off of Long Island, New York, the route from Boston to New York was shortened by 140 miles and the treacherous rocks and shoals south of Cape Cod were bypassed. The first full canal was built in 1909 by a private company and it was only 100 feet wide and 12 feet deep. In 1940 the Army Corps of Engineers took over the canal and widened it to it's current 400 foot width and 32 foot depth. It is a sea level canal, meaning no locks are necessary, although the three foot and three hour time difference in tides between the north and south entrances means that there are swift currents in the waterway. The excursion we took went all the way up the canal to Cape Cod Bay, then turned around and went back down to Buzzard's Bay. It was very interesting and well narrated and we really enjoyed the entire three hour trip.

After the cruise we had lunch at a restaurant right on the same pier that the excursion boat was docked. We both had fish and chips, which was quite good. We then did some touring, driving north about 16 miles to the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the site of the landing of the first European settlers, the Pilgrims, in North America. We saw what is claimed to be Plymouth Rock, although when you read the history it is pretty unlikely that the rock they have on display in a nice granite enclosure, is really the rock the Pilgrims stepped on. In fact, it is unlikely that they stepped on a rock at all when there is a lot of sand beach in the bay. But, it makes a nice story. We parked, looked at the rock, walked around the stores along the bay for a while, took some pictures and enjoyed the area. We also got a couple of geocaches for the day. After a couple hours in Plymouth we stopped at the nearby Walmart for some supplies before heading back to the campground. We spent the rest of the evening in the coach relaxing.

Saturday, September 2^nd, we left the coach about 10:30 and started the 70 mile drive around the Cape Cod “hook”, the narrow strip of land that extends east and north from the mainland. The very last town at the end of the cape is Provincetown, or as the locals call it, P-town. This is actually the very first place the Pilgrims landed back in 1620, but they decided to make their settlement on the mainland inside of what is now Cape Cod Bay, at Plymouth. This is a very quaint fishing and tourist town, one with a large and highly visible gay population and clientele. This being a holiday weekend and a very nice afternoon, the place was packed. In addition, the town was hosting the annual White Party today. There were a lot of folks in some very elaborate costumes parading around town. We first stopped for lunch at one of the more popular restaurants, the Lobster Pot. Lunch was expensive, but quite good. We both had clam chowder and lobster rolls, and we had some calamari as an appetizer. Too much good food. After lunch we spent an hour or so wandering around town, shopping and looking around. We went out on the pier and checked out some of the artist shops. We also got a couple of geocaches in town. After walking around we drove around the north end of the cape for a while, then started back south.

On the way back we stopped at the Orleans-Eastham Elks Lodge, which is about half way up the cape and is the furthest east Lodge in Massachusetts. They have a very nice building and have over 600 members, not surprising since they serve most of the east and north Cape Cod area. We had a cocktail and were able to get another lodge pin for our banner. We left the lodge and continued our travel towards home, stopping again at the Ocean City Job Lot store. This was the company whose store we first visited with Helen a few weeks back in Vermont. They have stores all over New England. This time we didn't find anything to buy, so we headed back home. We got home about 6:00 and spent the rest of the evening in the coach.

Sunday, September 3^rd, another travel day. The remnants of Hurricane Harvey that ravaged South Texas last week were passing by last night, so we had light rain most of the night and it was still sprinkling when we were packing up. We were on the road about 11:00, heading 70 miles west in a light rain to an RV park in the country just west of Providence, Rhode Island. We arrived at the Holiday Acres Campground about 1:00 and quickly got parked in a nice full hookup 50 amp spot. We are also level and have good satellite access, life is good! Since it was still raining a little and everything was wet, we just stayed in and relaxed for the remainder of the day. We are here for three nights.

Monday, September 4^th, Happy Labor Day. This is one holiday that, to me, seems a little superfluous. I don't understand how to celebrate labor. For one, I don't do it anymore. How do you decorate for Labor Day? Little plumber and carpenter cutouts? Show some butt crack for the day? It really exists to mark the end of summer and let you know it's not OK to wear white anymore. We had planned to drive into Providence, the capitol of Rhode Island, this afternoon, but after lunch Jackie was not feeling well. She was throwing up and feeling headachy, so we stayed in for the day. I spent the afternoon doing some chores I needed to do, including fixing the rear air conditioning. About six weeks ago or so the back air went south. The symptoms were really strange in that the fan would not turn off. Even if you turned the unit completely off with the thermostat, the fan would still run. The only way to get it to shut off was open the breaker on the 120 volt breaker panel. If you did have the thermostat on, the compressor would cycle normally with the temperature, so the air would work, the fan just wouldn't stop running. These A/C units are pretty basic, three main units, the sealed cooling unit, compressor, condenser, etc., the fans, and a control unit. I guess the thermostat would be part of the system too. I knew the thermostat was OK, because the front air, which works off of it too, was working fine. I knew the cooling unit was OK, because it was still working. I knew the fan worked, too well, it wouldn't turn off. I figured that it had to be the control unit, which was inside the box but easily accessible from inside the coach. I found a new control unit, same part number, on Amazon, and got it when we were in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

I thought it would take me most of a day to change the box out because there were a lot of wires going into it, so I kept putting it off as our travels to new places was keeping us busy, and the weather was such that not having a back air was no big deal. As it turned out, it was a two hour job and pretty simple. Cut and splice two wires, connect the 120 power with wire nuts, and unplug and plug in five connectors. I also had to set some micro switches inside the box to match the settings in the old box. Probably not real easy for someone without any electrical or electronic experience, but pretty basic for me. The first time I turned it on after installing the new control unit it worked perfectly. I also got a couple of other chores done, including cleaning out some clothes for donation. Jackie was feeling a little better by dinner, so we had dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, September 5^th, Jackie was feeling better and we left the coach after lunch to explore Providence. Providence, a city of about 180,000, is the capitol of, and largest city in, Rhode Island. Rhode Island, with only 1,200 square miles of territory, is the smallest state in the Union, but is the second most densely populated. It is called the “Ocean State” because almost fourteen percent of it's territory is ocean water. Rhode Island was the first of the original thirteen colonies to renounce British rule in 1776, but the last to ratify the new constitution of the newly formed United States. We drove around the capitol mall and government center for a while, and also explored the campus of Brown University, an Ivy League school and the seventh oldest institution of higher education in the country.

We did a couple of geocaches, including one down on the waterfront, near where there used to be a 60's era Soviet submarine on display. The non-nuclear patrol sub had an interesting post-active duty history, including serving as a bar and restaurant in Finland for a while, then being brought to the U.S. as a museum boat in several different cities as well as a sound stage for the movie K-19, starring Harrison Ford. The boat ended up in Providence in 2002, but was not properly maintained and sunk at it's moorings in a storm in 2007. It was raised and scrapped after that. After a couple hours of touring the city we drove to West Warwick and the Elks Lodge there. It was a small lodge, only about 250 members, and the few that were in the bar at the time were not very friendly. They also didn't have a lodge pin. We left there and drove to Warwick to visit the Tri-City Elks, which was formed a few years back by the merging of three lodges, including Providence Lodge 14. They kept this low number as the number of the new lodge. The place had just opened and the bartender was the only one there, but he was very nice and friendly. We also got a lodge pin from this lodge to put on our banner. After having a cocktail we headed back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, September 6^th was a moving day. The weather forecast showed on and off rain and storms for the day and we had a pretty strong storm come through a little after 10:00 a.m., just as we were finishing our travel preparations. Since we only had less than a hundred miles to our next destination, Clinton, Connecticut, we just waited out the storm. We finally pulled out about 11:30 and the rest of the trip was mostly clear, with only a couple episodes of very light rain. After a fuel and lunch stop we arrived at the Riverdale Farm Campground about 2:30 and quickly got parked in a nice full hook up site. After we got set up we just stayed in the rest of the night.

Thursday, September 7^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove into New Haven, Connecticut for the day. New Haven has a population of about 130,000 and is the second largest city in Connecticut. It is also the home of Yale University, which sets right in the middle of town, near the downtown area. The Ivy League school was established in New Haven in 1716 and has about 6,000 undergraduate students and an equal number of post grad scholars. A number of presidents are alumni, including both Bush's and Bill Clinton. We also drove around the downtown area, then went down to the harbor area, which is actually in West Haven. We got a few geocaches around the area, ending up with three new finds for the day. We stopped by the West Haven Elks Lodge, but it didn't open until later in the afternoon. We also drove by the New Haven Lodge, which is right downtown, but it was closed too. After touring town we went to a local Walmart for some supplies then went back to the coach for the rest of the evening.

Friday, September 8^th, we left the RV park after lunch and drove north about 20 miles to the town of Wallingford so Jackie could get a haircut and get a pedicure. After Jackie's beauty activities we stopped at the Wallingford Elks Lodge for a cocktail. This was a nice lodge with over a thousand members. There were a number of people in the bar and we had two drinks, one on the house for being visitors and another free one bought by one of the guys at the bar that we were talking to. We were also able to get a lodge pin. A very friendly lodge. We left Wallingford and drove south on I-91 back to New Haven and stopped at the New Haven Elks, Lodge #25. It is on the main street, right between downtown and the Yale campus. It is in an old building that looks like it used to be a neighborhood bar. There were a couple of people in the bar, but they were very unfriendly. We had one drink and left after getting out lodge pin. We went back to the RV park and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, September 9^th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road just before 11:00. Today's trip takes us east to Matamores, Pennsylvania, which is a small town on the Delaware River, right at the corner where Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey all come together. The Tri State RV Park is right on the river and only about a quarter mile from the point where the three states join. We got quickly parked and set up in a full hookup site. It is not the most attractive spot, mostly gravel and asphalt, and is right next to Interstate 84, but we are only here for three nights. Since we didn't get in until about 2:30 we just stayed in for the rest of the day.

Sunday, September 10^th, we left the RV park after lunch and went out to do some geocaching in the area. There are no big cities close by and, except for the proximity to the three state junction, there isn't much to see around the area. So, we were able to devote an afternoon to geocaching for the first time in a while. In the course of about three hours we were able to get a dozen new finds. We also logged one DNF, but twenty minutes later we ran into a local geocacher at another cache and got a hint for one we couldn't find, went back and got the smiley. Yea! In the course of our caching we cached in three states, a first for us, and also got our first cache in New Jersey, increasing the number of states in which we have cached to 42. Only eight to go. Yea again! After caching we stopped at a Dollar Store and a local supermarket for a few items, then went back to the RV park for the rest of the night. Monday we had a stay at home day. We got a few chores done and had a relaxing day. Of course, today was the anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. Like most people, both of us recall that day sixteen years ago as if it was yesterday.

Tuesday, September 12^th, another travel day. We left Matamores about 10:30 and started the 154 mile trip south and west to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The trip was a bit stressful as there were few freeways on the route. Much of it was two lane road with quite a bit of traffic. We arrived at the Circle M Thousand Trails RV Resort about 3:00 and got registered. Like most Thousand Trails, we had to go out into the park and find our own spot. We were able to snag a nice full hookup, 50 amp site with great satellite access, got the coach parked and set up. We spent the remainder of the evening in the coach.

Wednesday, September 13^th, we woke up to clouds and fog with the weather calling for on and off light rain all day. This is apparently the leftovers from Hurricane Irma. We still left the coach about 10:30 and went out for a day of exploring. We first drove through downtown Lancaster, one of the oldest inland cities in the country, dating back to colonial times. Lancaster has a population of about 60,000. We did a couple of geocaches, including a virtual which was located right in the middle of downtown. We had to park to get the virtual and got a parking ticket because we didn't pay for the five minutes we were away from the car. The cache cost us $20. Oh well. We stopped for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant called El Publita, which is in the back of a small Mexican market. The place had good ratings on Yelp and we found that the food was pretty decent, certainly the best we have had in a few months. It was not Southwest or Sonoran style, really looked and tasted more like what we get when we go to Algodones, Mexico. After lunch we toured Lancaster a little, getting another geocache. We ended up with three for the day.

After driving around Lancaster for a while we headed northwest to the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Of course, this is the home of the Hershey Chocolate company. The company was started here in 1894 by Milton Hershey and is now a multinational food corporation. The town has a population of about 15,000 and is not an incorporated city. Hershey has created a huge attraction in the town called Hershey Chocolate World, which includes a 121 acre amusement park, a stadium, an indoor arena and show place, museums and visitor centers. We went to the visitors center, which is primarily a huge candy store, and took the free tour which describes the candy making process. The tour is really a ride, similar in construction to the people mover cars at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. It was quite amusing, entertaining and informative, and a lot of fun. Somewhere in town they have an actual chocolate factory, but it is not at Chocolate World.

After our tour of Hershey we drove back to Lancaster and stopped at the Lancaster Elks Lodge. This is an older lodge, Number 134, chartered in the early 1880's. They are in one of the old, classic downtown Elks buildings, an ornate and large three story brick mansion. As was typical in these old Elks buildings, the public rooms, the bar, library, pool room and dining room, are on the main floor. Lots of dark wood and stone. The second floor is the Lodge Room, and the third floor, which is now just storage, was originally apartments for traveling Elks. They also have a four lane duck pin bowling alley in the basement. At one time they had thousands of members, but they are now down to about 350 or so, hardly enough to maintain the expenses of the big building. There were a few people in the bar and they were very friendly. I walked around the lodge and checked out all the rooms. They even say it is haunted. About 25 years ago the then Lodge Secretary died at his desk in the office on the second floor. Since that time “Paul” has haunted the lodge building. We had a couple of cocktails and got a lodge pin for our banner. After our visit we headed back to the RV park and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Thursday, September 14^th, we left the coach after lunch and took a drive around Lancaster County. Lancaster County is considered the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country and the eastern county is dotted with small towns, some with interesting names. On our drive we visited, among others, Bird in Hand, Blue Ball, Intercourse and Paradise. Of course, we had to get a geocache in Intercourse. This is the area which gave rise to the term “Pennsylvania Dutch”, which has nothing to do with the Netherlands, but is rather an English mangling of Duetsch, which means German. Many European religious sects were drawn to Pennsylvania in colonial times because of William Penn's strong feelings about religious freedom. The area that is now Lancaster County was heavily colonized by Mennonites from Germany. The Amish are an offshoot of the Mennonites with much more strict ideas about how to live and work. While the Mennonites believe in hard work and simple living, they do utilize modern things like electricity and motor vehicles. The Amish do not. Of course, the shoulder areas of all the roads are covered in horse poop from all the buggies driving around. Most of the bigger stores and strip malls have horse sheds so the horse can be out of the sun while the family is shopping.

The Amish community has created a huge tourist industry in the area with dozens of shops selling Amish crafts, furniture and knickknacks. They even have buggy tours with buggies that seat eight, like a small, horse drawn bus. Although all of the drivers we saw on these tour buggies appeared to be Amish, beards, suspenders, straw hat, hand sewn clothes, they may or may not be really Amish. While driving around I did see one of the “bus” buggies parked outside a house that had two cars in the drive and a satellite dish. They may hire real Amish to drive, but it would appear that at least some of the businesses are owned by non-Amish. We stopped at several stores and antique shops while driving around, and took a lot of pictures. After several hours of touring we drove back into Lancaster for a visit to Costco. It has been a couple of months since we went to a Costco. We bought a lot of stuff or the freezer. After the Costco run we drove back to the RV park and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Friday, September 15^th, another travel day. Today's trip was fairly short, only 75 miles, and took us south and east a bit into New Jersey. Like the last couple of trips, this one had a very complicated route on a lot of two lane, State highways with lots of road changes. I got lost twice, but was able to get back on track without too much trouble. We stopped for fuel and lunch and arrived at the Four Seasons Campground near Pilesgrove, New Jersey about 2:00. We got into our full hookup site and spent a couple of hours getting set up for our three night stay. We are an hours drive from both Atlantic City, where I have never been, and Philadelphia, where Jackie has never been. We will be visiting both places during our stay. Once we got set up we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Saturday, September 16^th, we left the RV park about 10:30 and headed east to Atlantic City, New Jersey. It took a little over an hour and we were on the shore, checking out the high rise casino hotels. I have never been to AC and Jackie was last there in the early 90's, and I have to say I was not impressed. As a guy who grew up in the Southwest, I have been going to Las Vegas since the early 70's. Vegas is my idea of a gambling city. The first thing that struck me when we got into the heart of AC was the lack of cars and people. Vegas is wall to wall people and cars 24/7, AC looked abandoned. I was also shocked by the fact that right behind the casinos were tenements and ghetto looking neighborhoods that looked like those we have seen in Detroit or Gary, Indiana. Sure, the boardwalk it glitzy and new, after Sandy knocked everything down a few years back, and the casinos are nice. However, the next block back, in full view of the boardwalk is slum. My feelings, OK, I've seen AC, don't need to go back.

We stopped at the Tropicana Casino Hotel and went to one of their in-house restaurants for lunch. The Seaside Grill had a patio right on the boardwalk, so we sat there outside since it was a nice day. The food was good, a little pricey, but that was to be expected. The service was a little less than I would expect from a brand name casino. After lunch we went in and played in the casino for an hour and a half or so. Neither of us had much luck, so we called it a day on the gambling. We went out on the boardwalk and walked for a while, getting a couple of geocaches while we were there. It had got a little hot, so after an hour we went back into the casino, got the car and drove around for a bit. We then drove a little ways north on the shore to the town of Brigintine. This is where the middle and upper middle class live and have summer places. Very nice homes, mostly new because this area also got wiped out by Sandy. We stopped at the Brigintine Elks Lodge, which is on the bay side of the peninsula and has marina front property. They have a nice bar with great views. We had a cocktail and got a lodge pin for our banner. This lodge has about 1,000 members and the building has been redone since Sandy pretty much knocked it down. After the lodge we headed back home, stopping at Walmart on the way for some supplies. We arrived back home just after dark, around 7:30, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. A very nice day exploring new territory.

Sunday, September 17^th, we again left the coach about 10:30, this time driving northwest about 30 miles to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the day. We parked the car in the garage under Independence Square and walked around the historical district for a while. We went to the National Historic Park Visitor's Center and looked at the exhibits, then walked across the street and looked at the Liberty Bell. We had picked up tickets for the tour of Independence Hall, but our tour wasn't until 1:45, so we walked down the street to a place called Sonny's so we could have Philly steak sandwiches. One cannot come to Philly without having a Philly steak. The food was very good and we had a nice table out on the sidewalk. After lunch we went back and took the tour of Independence Hall, which was very interesting and informative. The Park Ranger who did the tour gave a great presentation. Of special interest was that today is the 230^th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States, which took place inside this very building.

After the tour we got back in the car and spent an hour driving around Philly. We drove by the Philadelphia Art Museum with the famous “Rocky” staircase as well as a number of other famous Philadelphia locations. We also got a geocache in town. There were no Elks Lodges in or near town. Philadelphia used to have Elks Lodge #2, but they went under years ago and the only lodges not are way out in the suburbs, nothing in the urban area. After spending the afternoon in Philly we drove back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Monday, September 18^th, another travel day. Today we left the RV park about 11:00 and drove about 85 miles southwest to a little town called Goldsboro, Maryland, just across the border from Delaware. Most of the trip was actually on the Delaware Turnpike. We arrived at the Holiday Park Campground about 1:00, got registered and went to our site and got set up. Although the campground is mostly in the trees, they were able to get us a spot with some open sky and we were able to get our satellite signal. We have only 30 amp and water, but we are only here for three nights and it is not supposed to be too hot, so we should be fine. After we got set up we spent the rest of the day chilling.

Tuesday, September 19^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove back into Dover, Delaware to do laundry. It took us a couple of hours to get our clothes washed and dried. We picked the right day to do it as there was on and off light to medium rain the whole afternoon. All of this was due to the fact that Hurricane Jose was about 150 miles offshore and we were getting the residual, outer band winds and rain. This is as close to being in a hurricane as I want to be. After we finished our laundry we visited the nearby Dover Elks Lodge. This lodge, number 1903, dates back to the late 50's and currently has about 650 members. They have a nice building and the bartender and several members that were in the bar were very friendly. The bartender told us that the lodge didn't have any lodge pins, and hadn't had new ones for a couple years, but one of the members who was sitting at the bar told us he would find us one. Just before we left his wife arrived to help with the lodge's hamburger night and had a baggie with a number of old lodge pins from the Dover Lodge. He had called his wife and told her to bring the bag so we could get a lodge pin. We offered to pay him for the pin, but he refused. A very friendly lodge. After the lodge visit we did a brief drive thought of the capitol area of Dover, as it is the capitol of Delaware. The whole government mall is old colonial style brick buildings around a big grass square, very pretty and not very imposing. After this tour we headed back to the coach, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, September 20^th, we left the coach about 10:30 and drove to Denton, Maryland, a small town about ten miles southwest of the RV Park. Along the way we stopped in Greensboro, the town closest to the park, and picked up a couple of geocaches. We went to Denton because there was a place there called Bullock's Deli, which not only had the name of great friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock, but also had excellent ratings on Yelp. It turned out to be a gas station/convenience store/deli right on the main road into town. I had a large cheese steak, Jackie had a small chicken cheese steak, and we shared some fries and onion rings. The food lived up to the Yelp hype, it was outstanding. One of the best cheese steaks I have had and the portions are huge. Plus, the entire meal was less than $25, including a drink. We pay more when we eat at Denny's. I doubt any of you will be in the wilds of Eastern Maryland any time soon, but if you are, I can highly recommend this place for lunch. It also seemed very popular with the locals as it was packed and they were doing a brisk carryout business too.

After lunch we continued east, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and into Annapolis, Maryland. Annapolis is both the capitol of Maryland as well as the home of the Naval Academy. You can no longer drive around the campus of the Academy like you could twenty five years ago when I was last here. It is now a restricted military base. We did drive around the capital area which is, not surprisingly, very colonial in nature. Very old buildings and houses, very narrow streets, and a smallish capitol building that was very difficult to get a good picture of because everything was clustered so close together. We did park to pick up a geocache and spend some time walking around the downtown area. After touring town we drove to the Annapolis Elks Lodge, which is out on the edge of town. It was in a nice, newer building and the folks that were in the lodge were pretty friendly. We had a cocktail and were able to get a lodge pin for our banner. Once we were done with the lodge we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the night in.

Thursday, September 21^st, another travel day. We got a late start today, not getting out until a little after 11:30. We weren't in a hurry because we only had 60 miles to drive and the campground we are going to has a strict 1:00 check in time. We headed southeast to the Delaware Sea Shore State Park, located on a spit of land just south of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The park has several hundred full hookup sites that are on a narrow piece of land between the Atlantic ocean and the Indian River bay. There is nothing fancy about the parking, basically a big parking lot, but the area around it is spectacular. We got settled into our spot and by 3:00 we were out exploring the surrounding towns. We got a geocache, our first Delaware cache, and did some sightseeing, then we drove to the only Elks in the area, the Cape Henlopen Lodge, named after one of the local Atlantic Coastal points. We had a couple of drinks and got a lodge pin, although the people there were not especially friendly.

After the Elks we drove to Rehoboth Beach, a typical small one-street beach town, and found a restaurant for dinner. It was called Claws and was located in an old, turn of the century home just off the beach. It was a little pricey, but the food was as high end as the price would indicate and it was excellent. I had a stuffed flounder with lobster risotto and Jackie had grilled shrimp and grits with andoullie sausage. Both of the dishes were extremely good. We also had a calamari appetizer that was OK, but nothing special. After dinner we headed back to the coach and sat outside with a cocktail until it got dark. We then watched TV until bedtime. Our arrival here for a two night stay in Delaware also marks an important milestone in our time as full time Rvers. We have finally, after twelve years on the road, completed the “49 state” tour. We have been in, and stayed in, all of the 49 states in North America that you can get too with an RV. Yea us!

Friday, September 22^nd, the first day of Fall. Summer is over, time to head for home. We went out after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. We got five finds, and one DNF, for the afternoon. We went south today, exploring the little beach towns of Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, and Ocean City. The first two are in Delaware, but Ocean City is over the border in Maryland. After our touring and caching we stopped at Safeway for some groceries, then went back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Saturday, September 23^rd, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 11:30, heading south 100 miles to the tiny town of Quinby, Virginia. This town of 250 is on the Atlantic coast, about 30 miles north of the end of the peninsula that we have been on for the last week. We checked into the Virginia Landing Thousand Trails resort and quickly got into a nice, full hookup 50 amp site. This park is right on the water with the Atlantic to the east and a river to the west and Chesapeake Bay to the south. We are going to be here for two nights. We have now officially moved into the South with our arrival in Virginia. We are also south of Washington, DC, therefore finishing our exploration of the I-95 Corridor. For the next several weeks we will be working our way through the south and southeast. Until next time, ponder this question posed by comedienne Lily Tomlin. "Why is it when we talk to God we're praying, but when God talks to us, we're schizophrenic?" See ya soon.

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.

Into the Northeast - Ohio, Pennsyvania and New York

Hi there, welcome back. Our last episode concluded on Thursday, July 20^th, when arrived at the Tomorrow's Stars RV Resort near Springfield, Ohio after nearly three weeks of RV rallies in Indiana and Eastern Ohio. Friday we decided we needed a stay at home day as we had a lot of little chores and administrative tasks which had gone undone during our busy time at the rallies. We got a brief thunderstorm in the morning, but after that it was just hot and humid for the rest of the day. Both Jackie and I got a lot of things done. I made a pot of chili for dinner and we relaxed with the TV after dinner.

Saturday, July 22^nd, we left the coach about 11:00 and drove south and east from the RV park, headed to Cincinnati, Ohio. My niece Stephanie, her husband Jeremiah, and daughter Makayla live in Florence, Kentucky, which is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Stephanie is the oldest daughter of my brother David, who lives in Virginia Beach. We visited Stephanie and her family two years ago when we were in the area, and were going to visit again on this trip. However, the timing of the rallies and other planned activities were such that the time period we were going to be able to go down there fell during her month long summer visit to Virginia Beach to see her family. When we figured out that Springfield, Ohio is less than a hundred miles to Cincinnati, and that Stephanie and Makayla had just gotten back home from Virginia Beach, we contacted her and made arrangements to meet for lunch in Cincinnati today. It took about an hour and a half to drive the 84 miles to near downtown Cincinnati. Jeremiah had picked out a place called Alabama Que which was located in the Short Vine neighborhood, a street with all sorts of restaurants and bars. We got there a little early and stopped at a nearby huge cemetery and picked up a couple of geocaches.

Stephanie and family arrived shortly after we did and we went in the restaurant. It is a little hole in the wall with only four tables, most of their business being take out. I thought it was great food. I had the pulled pork, with cole slaw and mac and cheese and it was wonderful. Everyone else had something called turkey tips, which Jackie said was good, but not outstanding. We had a great visit and stayed for about ninety minutes. Jackie was fighting a little upset stomach, so after our visit we got back in the car and headed back to the RV park, getting home around 4:00. We spent the rest of the evening in the coach. It was really great getting to see family, especially when we didn't think that we were going to be able to make it happen this trip.

Sunday, July 23^rd, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:30, heading northeast about 145 miles to Seville, Ohio, a small town about 20 miles west of Akron. The trip was nearly all freeway and went well. We had a brief, maybe 20 minutes, heavy rain shower as we were passing by Columbus, Ohio, but the last half of the trip was dry. We checked into the Maple Lake RV park about 1:30 and got a nice spot with a view of the lake. We got set up and then just relaxed for the rest of the day. We will be here for three days. We are now the furthest east we have been with the coach since 2006, our first full year on the road.

Monday, July 24^th, we left the coach after lunch for a day of exploring and geocaching. For the first time in a few weeks we had a cooler day with lower humidity and little threat of rain. Our first stop for the day was an old Mennonite cemetery about a mile from the campground where we found our first cache. We then traveled east about 25 miles to Akron, Ohio, where we drove around for about a half hour, just sight-seeing. Akron has a population of about 200,000 that was founded in the early 1800's along the Ohio Canal. In the early 1900's it became famous as the Rubber Capitol of the U.S. when the expanding auto industry's demand for rubber tires increased. At one time the four major U.S. tire manufacturers, Goodrich, Goodyear, General and Firestone were all headquarted, and manufactured most of their products, in and around Akron. Now Goodyear is the only one as much of the tire industry has moved overseas. After our brief tour we stopped so Jackie could get a haircut and we got our second cache of the day in the parking lot. We then visited the Akron-Cuyahoga Falls Elks Lodge. We had a couple of cocktails and a very nice visit with the bartender, who was very familiar with the Coachella Valley having been married to a Marine stationed at 29 Palms back in the 80's. Unfortunately, they didn't have a lodge pin, about the fourth lodge we have visited recently without one. We left the Elks Lodge and started back towards the RV park, stopping at Walmart and KFC along the way. Once we got back to the coach we had dinner and relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, July 25^th, Jackie's brother Dennis' birthday. Happy Birthday Bro. We left the coach after lunch with the promise of another cool, dry day. We went to Seville, Ohio, the town in which we are staying, and drove around for a little while exploring. It is a small town of less than 2,500, so it didn't take long. We did a few caches, then headed south towards the town of Wooster, about 29 miles south of Seville. Wooster is a little larger city of about 27,000, founded in 1808. Lots of neat old turn of the century and even older homes. We stopped at the Wooster Elks which is located right downtown. The Elks building is an old home, built in 1868, which has been enlarged and remodeled, but it still pretty. The Elks bought the building in 1928 and have been there since. This was a very friendly lodge and I had a long chat with a Past ER who gave me a lot of the history of the lodge. It is a good size lodge, with about 800 members. We had a drink and got a lodge pin before heading on our way.

After the lodge visit we did a couple of geocaches in town, then headed west to the town of Ashville, Ohio, about 25 miles away. Ashville is a smaller town, about 4,300 population, founded in the late 1800's. It is mostly a farming support town. We stopped at the Ashville Elks Lodge and found another friendly lodge, also with about 800 members. This lodge was located in more modern building, but still downtown. We had a couple of drinks here and also got a lodge pin for our banner. After the visit we did a few geocaches, ending up with seven new finds for the day. We then headed back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, July 26^th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road by 10:30, heading about 110 miles northeast to Conneaut, Ohio, the most northeastern town in Ohio, with Lake Erie to the north and a little piece of Pennsylvania to the east. The day was beautiful and the trip fairly easy, mostly freeway, although there was some construction. We arrived at the Evergreen Lake Campground around 1:00 and quickly got settled into our spot for another three day stay. After we got set up we went out to do some exploration of the area, heading first, of course, to the shore of Lake Erie. The lake is 241 miles long and nearly 60 miles across, so it looks like the ocean when you are standing on the shore. However, the deepest spot in the lake is only 210 feet. We drove west along the lake front, looking at houses and driving through a few more small towns, we then found another road to take us back east to Conneaut, where we drove around and stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to pick up some information. Conneaut has a population of around 13,000 and claims to be located in the “sharpest corner of Ohio.” After looking around town we went back to the campground and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Thursday, July 27^th, we left the coach about 11:00 and headed southeast into Pennsylvania for a day of exploring and geocaching. There is a little forty mile wide “panhandle” of Pennsylvania that juts north, separating Ohio and New York and giving Pennsylvania some Lake Erie Shoreline. Pennsylvania is one of 15 states in which we have not geocached and we wanted to be sure to get a cache there. When we leave Conneaut tomorrow we will be going to the Niagara Falls area of New York and won't be passing through Pennsylvania again. Our first stop was the town of Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, where we stopped at the Miller Food Company restaurant for lunch. Actually, I had lunch, a Philly Steak sandwich, Jackie had an omelet. The food was good, the portions huge and the price right. After lunch we explored Conneaut Lake, the largest natural lake fully within Pennsylvania, and did some geocaching. We then spent the next couple of hours slowly driving north and west, caching and looking around all the little towns and villages, including Conneautville. In case you hadn't noticed, a lot of things have “Conneaut” in the name, because this is the Conneaut River Valley. We ended up with a dozen new finds, and three DNFs. Out goal for this summer trip is to both travel with the coach through the nine states we have not been in yet, as well as to be able to say we have found caches in all 50 states. After we got back into Ohio we drove to the Conneaut Elks Lodge for a cocktail. They were a very friendly crowd and even bought our drinks for us and gave us a lodge pin. It is an old lodge, #256, chartered in 1889, but they are now down to less than 200 members. We had one drink, then went back to the campground and stayed in the coach the rest of the evening.

Friday, July 28^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to do some more caching and exploring. This time we stayed on the Ohio side of the line. We headed west towards the Ashtabula Elks Lodge, about 20 mile from the campground. On the way we did some caching, getting eight new finds, and one DNF, in the process. We stopped at the Astabula Lodge, which has a very nice building right on the shore of Lake Erie. There is a nice patio area overlooking the lake, although today was very windy and quite cool, so we stayed indoors. This lodge also has around 800 members and was very friendly. We had a great chat with a couple of members and the bartender. We had a drink and were able to get a lodge pin.

We also found that there was a motor home parked in the parking lot with Nevada plates and the members at the bar said that they had been in the lodge the other day and were from Nevada. There was no one around when we left, so we left a card on their coach. They called us later and introduced themselves, telling us they are from Northern Nevada, near Reno. They are going to be at the Northeast Rally in Syracuse next week, so we will see them and meet them there. After the lodge visit we went to the mall so Jackie could get a pedicure. I shopped a little while she was busy. After the mall we stopped at Walmart for some supplies then headed back to the campground where we stayed in the rest of the evening.

Saturday, July 29^th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:30, heading about 150 miles northeast, along the shore of Lake Erie, to Lockport, New York, located about 20 miles from Niagara Falls and about 20 miles north of Buffalo, New York. We arrived at the Niagara Lazy Lakes Campground about 1:00 after an uneventful trip. We got settled into a nice spot and spent the rest of the day getting set up and then relaxing. We are going to be here for five days, playing tourist around the Niagara Falls area.

Sunday, July 30^th, we left the coach about 10:30 and drove into Niagara Falls, New York for the day. We stopped at a local cafe, the Brown Bear Diner, for breakfast first. The food was quite good and the people very friendly. After breakfast we drove to Niagara Falls State Park. As you might expect, the place was very busy and the parking lot in the State Park was full by the time we got there. We did find parking in a nearby city parking garage for the same price, $20 flat rate for the day. We then walked the one block to the State Park. A brief introduction of the area. The Niagara Falls are on the Niagara River, which flows from Lake Erie north into Lake Ontario. All of the outflow from four of the five great lakes flows to Lake Ontario via the river, causing three to six million cubic feet of water to flow over the falls every minute. There are three falls, the largest, Horseshoe Falls, is mostly within Canada's border, although there is some dispute as to the exact point the border transects it. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are within the America border. I have been to Niagara Falls twice in my lifetime, once when I was about six years old and still living in Milwaukee, and again with family back in the mid 80's. Jackie has never been here and was really excited to be able to see the falls.

Our first adventure was the Maid of the Mist tour boat ride. These boats have been giving tours below the falls since 1848. You buy your tickets and then go out to an observation tower which contains four elevators that take you 200 feet from the plateau to the Niagara Gorge below the falls. They give you flimsy blue plastic rain poncho's before you queue up to get on the boat. They have two boats that each carry 300 passengers which alternate, with one loading up and going out every 15 minutes, so there is little waiting, even when it is busy. On the Canadian side there is a similar operation, but, of course, their ponchos are red. The boat only goes about a half mile or so from the dock to the base of the Horseshoe Falls, but the views are breathtaking. You also give your poncho a good workout because you get within a hundred yards of the falls and the mist is like a hard rain falling. After the maid of the mist we got on the trolley that takes you all over the park and went over to Goat Island, which is the piece of land that separates the American and Canadian falls. We walked around the area and took a bunch of pictures. We finished the sight-seeing tour on the trolley, then walked back to our car and drove around town for a bit. We did some geocaching, getting two finds and one DNF. This was our first cache in New York State, yea! We were going to visit one of the local Elks Lodges, but being Sunday they were closed. We headed back to the campground, getting home around 6:00 or so and then stayed in the rest of the evening.

Monday, July 31^st, we left the coach about 11:30, after lunch, and drove back down to the Niagara Falls area. We crossed the Rainbow Bridge, just up river from the falls, to spend the day in Canada. We first drove around Niagara, Ontario doing some sight-seeing. We then stopped at the Skylon Tower, a 520 foot tall tower with an observation deck and rotating restaurant on top. We bought tickets and went up to the observation deck which offers the absolute best views of the falls and the surrounding area. We spent about 40 minutes in the tower, then went back down to

ground level and did some shopping in the mall there. After shopping we got back to the car and did some more drive around touring in Niagara, Ontario, including getting one geocache there. We then drove northwest to the town of Niagara on the Lake. This is an old, and VERY upscale, community located right on the shores of Lake Ontario where the Niagara River empties into the lake. There are numerous wineries in the area, as well as some historic forts and buildings, and lots of very expensive homes. After touring Niagara on the Lake we continued to the town of St. Catherine's and stopped at the Canadian Superstore there. Jackie wanted to see if they still sold escargot. Back in 2009, before our tour of Alaska, we spent six weeks in British Columbia and loved the Canadian Superstores. We bought lots of cans of escargot, which are really hard to find in the States, along with their seasoning mix. Unfortunately, this store did not carry escargot. We left the store and started back towards the border crossing, running into a torrential downpour which went on for 20 miles. We crossed back into the states and headed back to the RV park. We got home around 5:30 and spent the rest of the evening at home. All the rain, including the storm we drove through, passed south of the campground, so we had a dry evening.

Tuesday, August 1^st, we left the coach about 10:00 to do some more exploring in the area. Today we went to Lockport, New York, the city that is the mailing address for the campground we are in. Lockport is a small city, about 22,000 population, that was first settled in 1820 when the route of the Erie Canal was determined and it was at that point that a series of five locks would be required to carry the canal over a high point on the route. Hence the name, Lockport. The Erie Canal when first built ran 363 miles from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, to Buffalo, New York, where it entered Lake Erie. The route required 35 locks to move traffic up and down to match the terrain. This “water road” would cut the cost of transportation of goods across New York by 95 percent. By the early 20^th century the original usefulness of the canal had been superseded by newer and larger barge canals and railroads. Now it is maintained in bits and pieces as recreational and tourism and it's historical value. Lockport has a very long section of canal that is still operational, both the old, original set of five locks, and the newer 20^th century set of two locks.

Our first stop was at the Lockport Caves tour. This tourist attraction is focused on the 19^th century hydraulic raceway that was constructed to provide power for a variety of industries in Lockport. A tunnel was dug that ran parallel to the canal and took advantage of the 55 foot drop in the Niagara River at that point. The half mile tunnel provided power through a series of water wheels which in turn drove the machinery in the factories. This was not hydroelectric power, which came later, but rather just mechanical power created by flowing water. The tour was over an hour and included an above ground portion around the canal locks, with the guide providing a lot of history about the Erie Canal and Lockport, and a walking and boat tour through the ten foot diameter tunnel that served as the hydraulic race back in the day. The tour was very interesting and informative and we really enjoyed it.

After the tour we had lunch at a local place called Lock 34, that had very good Yelp ratings. I had a steak sandwich and Jackie had a chicken ciabatta, and both of us thought the food was excellent. I also had a bowl of French Onion soup that was the best I have ever had. After lunch we got a couple of geocaches then went and did our laundry in town. After the clothes were clean we did a Walmart run, then went to the Lockport Elks Lodge. This is an old lodge, number 41. They have a newer building on the outskirts of town and were pretty busy. We had a couple of cocktails, got a lodge pin, and then left and headed back to the campground where we stayed in the rest of the night. A very busy, but very interesting and fun day exploring and getting chores done.

Wednesday, August 2^nd, another travel day. We were originally going to stay here in Lockport for five days, but our next stop is the FMCA Northeast Area Rally in Syracuse, New York, and we wanted to get there on one of the early parking days so that we would be sure not to miss any activities that may start on the first day of the rally, Thursday. We were packed up and on the road by 10:00, traveling about 160 miles east on the New York Thruway to the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The trip was uneventful, although I think $24 was a little steep for the tolls, especially given the condition of the road for much of the trip. We arrived at the Fairgrounds around 1:00 and were quickly parked. This venue has a large RV park and all of the rally participants are parked in this area. The sign up only promised 30 amp electric and water, but each set of four sites has some 50 amp power and a couple of sewer hookups. We were parked early and were able to connect to the 50 amp service and sewer. Yea! It was really hot and our bedroom air conditioner is on the fritz, so we spent the afternoon trying to cool down after getting set up. The actual rally starts tomorrow. We just did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, August 3^rd, the first day of the rally. I went down to the events area about 8:00 to pick up our welcome bag which would have the rally schedules in it. We needed it so we would know what we were going to be doing today. There really wasn't anything on the schedule until after lunch, so we had lunch in the coach, then went down to the events area. We picked up our rally pins and then walked through the vendor area for about an hour. They only have a couple dozen vendors here, not a real big turnout. I bought a couple of shirts from the FMCA booth and Jackie bought some jewelry, but other than that we didn't spend much. About 2:30 we went to one of the seminars on smartphones, put on by the Geeks on Tour group. We have been to their seminars at other rallies and they always put on informative and fun talks. After the seminar was over we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. We had an early dinner and at a little after 6:00 we walked over to the big tent where the entertainment would be and got a seat. They started the evening with a Parade of Chapters, but it wasn't anything at all like we have at the Western Area rally in Indio, with floats and costumes. This was just some of the Northeast Area chapters walking in with their banners and signs. They did a brief tribute to the military and veterans, then had the welcoming remarks from the Area Vice President and the FMCA National President. The entertainment then started. Tonight it was a couple of singers, impressionists really, who were doing a tribute to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. The guy doing Sinatra really did sound a lot like the young Sinatra, and even had a passing resemblance. The other guy looked more like Robert De Niro and didn't sound too much like Dean Martin either. However, he did have a good voice and they started to put on a good show. They did a few songs together, and then each did a few solos. About halfway through the show it started to rain, but after about ten minutes a real storm moved in, wind, torrential rain, thunder and lightening. They stopped the show and then announced that because of the winds they were evacuating the tent. We had to walk back to the coach, a block or so, in the pouring rain. We were soaked when we got back to the coach, and ironically, just as we got there the rain quit. It didn't rain the rest of the night. Oh well, another RVing adventure. We watched TV and relaxed the rest of the night.

Friday, August 4^th, we went down to the activities area about 10:00 to attend some seminars. I went to one on computer backups and Jackie went to another by the Geeks about smartphones. Around 11:00 we were done with the seminars, so we got into the car and drove off the fairgrounds for the first time and went to Walmart for some supplies. After Walmart we stopped at Azteca, a local Mexican food place. The food was OK, not real Southwestern Sonoran of course, but OK. It is New York, after all, and they have a different idea of what Mexican tastes like. We went back to the coach, put stuff away and went back down to the activities area. Jackie walked around the vendors again and I sat for a while in the Chapter Fair area as a representative, sort of, of the Military Veterans and Full Timers chapters. A Chapter Fair is usually something at most Area rallies where the chapters of that Area set up tables and advertise their chapters for a couple of hours. Of course, we don't belong to any Northeast Area chapters, but the International Area, where most of our Chapters are based, did have a table set up and that's where I sat. The Ice Cream social started at the same time and in the same room as the Chapter Fair, so there were a lot of people around. However, the Chapter Fair didn't draw much attention and after the ice cream stopped no one was around, so I left.

We went back to the coach for a while and around 5:00 we walked over to the coach that we had seen at the Elks Lodge in Ohio last week. They were the people from Nevada that we talked to on the phone and made arrangements to get together here at the rally. They are parked just around the corner from us. We finally met Steve and Gail Piche and sat outside and talked. Steve made a pitcher of margaritas and we brought some chips and salsa and we had a little happy hour. Steve is a retired contractor and Gail is a real estate agent. They were originally California folk, but like us moved to Nevada when they retired, although they are outside or Reno up in Northern Nevada. We had a great visit and left about 6:30 so we could go to the entertainment. Tonight was the same singer that was the Dean Martin impressionist last night, and the singer who did Sinatra stayed over and also came out and did a few numbers. Again, they only got about half way through their show when it looked like storms moving in. Unlike last night, they shut down the show and sent everyone back to their coaches before the rain, based on the radar indications and warnings. Of course, the storms collapsed before they got to the fairgrounds and all we got was about an hour of fairly light rain with little wind. Better safe than sorry I guess. We watched TV for a while and then went to bed.

Saturday, August 5^th, the last day of the rally. There were no seminars we were interested in so we left the coach about 10:30 and drove to the regional farmer's market. This was a very large market, set up in six or seven different buildings. It took us about an hour to got through it. This was a real farmer's market in that it was about 90 percent fruits and vegetables, with an occasional booth for clothes, jewelry and other stuff. We bought a few produce items and had a breakfast sandwich at one of the food booths. After the farmer's market we went to the large mall across the street and went through the Penny's store. We also got one geocache and also on DNF for the day. We went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. At 4:00 we went down to the events area for the BBQ. When we signed up for the rally we had to also sign up for what they called the “Dinosaur BBQ” event. The tickets were pricey, $25 a person, but they said it was good BBQ and all you can eat, so we bought them.

Turns out Dinosaur BBQ is the name of the company, a catering company that provides food for the Buffalo Bills football team, among others. We went through the line and got a quarter of a BBQ chicken, three rib bones, some small white potatoes, salad and corn bread. The ribs were excellent, fall of the bone tender. The chicken was overcooked and there was no butter for the corn bread or potatoes. To top it off, they ran out of food, so it was not all you can eat either. NOT a $50 meal by any stretch, we were very disappointed. At 7:00 we were back for the entertainment. It was still the same male singer, but tonight he had a female that joined him. She had toured for years with a country tribute group, doing Patsy Cline impressions, and she was outstanding. The best part was, they got through the entire show tonight, no rain. Yea! By 9:30 we were back in the coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Sunday, August 6^th, a travel day. We were packed up and on the road by about 10:30, happy to be on our own again. This rally was not as enjoyable as some others we have been to. Partly because they had some organizational and logistical problems, the weather was bad, and frankly we found these east coast people to be generally rude and snobbish. Not everyone, but more so than we find in the Midwest and west. We headed east on the New York thruway again, about 130 miles to Glenville, New York, a small suburb of Schenectady. We checked into the Arrowhead RV Park, which is a very pretty, wooded park right on the shore of the Mohawk River. Unfortunately, the wooded part means that we have no access for our satellite TV. Fortunately, we are close enough to Albany and Schenectady to get decent over the air TV, so we won't miss everything. We got set up and just relaxed for the rest of the day. We will be here for three nights.

Monday, August 7^th, we left the coach about noon, after lunch, and headed out to do some exploring. We drove south on one of the state highways that runs through the middle of Schenectady right down into the heart of Albany. Albany, the New York State Capitol, was only about 20 miles south of the campground. After we got into Albany we spent about an hour driving around the downtown and Capitol plaza ar
ea. New York has a very non-traditional state capitol building, which looks more like an ornate and very large courthouse rather than a domed building like most states have. Albany has a population of a little under 100,000 and was incorporated in early colonial times in the late 1600's. The Capitol building was completed in 1899. Albany also sets on the Hudson River and we walked around one of the riverfront parks for a bit. The Erie Canal, the route of which we have been following for the last week or so, began at the Hudson right near downtown.

After driving around Albany for a while we went to the Albany Elks Lodge, Lodge 41. They have a very nice building about two miles from the capitol mall, and we had a nice visit. There were a half dozen members in the bar and they were quite friendly, giving us a lot of the history of the city and the lodge. This lodge had a little under 400 members. We had a drink and were able to get a lodge pin for our banner. After we left the Albany Lodge, we started northwest, back towards the campground, and stopped at the Guilderland Elks Lodge. This was a newer lodge, chartered in the 1970's, and had about 600 members. This was also a very friendly lodge and we had a drink and got another pin for our banner. We left the Guilderland Lodge and continued northwest to the Rotterdam Elks, another newer lodge. This is the largest large in the State of New York, with almost 1,700 members, although there were only a handful in the bar. This lodge was not quite as friendly, but there was one guy who was very nice and talked to us while we sat at the bar. We had a couple of drinks, and got another lodge pin. This was our first Elks “pub crawl” in while and we were happy to be able to get pins from all three lodges. After our last lodge visit we went back to the campground and did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner. We then watched some TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, August 8th, my late mother's birthday. We left the coach after lunch and tried to do some geocaching. We struck out with the first three caches before finally finding one. Yea! We decided one was enough for the day. We went to Sam's Club for a few things, then stopped at the nearby Walmart for some more stuff. We drove around Schenectady and it's suburbs for a while, then went back to the coach. We had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Tomorrow is another travel day, leaving New York and going to Pittsfield, Massachusetts where we will spend a week with a long time close friend of Jackie's. Our last night in New York marks a good spot to close out this chapter and get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of the Indian poet Sanober Khan.“ Like a speeding train I am passing by... I don’t know where I’m heading, with whom, or why. All I know is that I will never, ever pass from here again. All I know is I’m skidding forward
on this track of life.” Enjoy the ride folks, see ya soon.