Archive for August, 2017

Bar Harbor

Tuesday, August 29th, 2017

One more tent assembly, mattress blow up and we are settled in for 3 nights in the Blackwoods campground in Acadia National Park.  Beautiful park and our site is perfect.  Like true campers we build a big fire and roast sausage for dinner.  That’s another thing about this RV, we are not carrying many luxuries so Paul found a basket contraption at our last site that you can put things into so you can cook over the open fire.  Works beautifully, so beautifully we get Steak for the next night!

Then what else do campers do,  s’mores!

That night was interesting!  We had a huge thunderstorm.  I was sure we were going to have Stephanie inside, drenched!  But her tent held up.  Our biggest problem was Duke,  he is so freaked by thunder.  He was climbing on my head.  Several days later we found some calming treats and so far I think they are really working!

We did lots of hiking in the park.  I’m trying to get up to speed for my Ireland trip where I will be hiking over 100 miles in 8 days.  The hikes here were pretty rugged so we only got one 8 mile one and one 6 mile.  Duke came along for both.  The second one Paul had to carry him for part.  I think it was the gravel roadway because as soon as we took a detour onto a real trail he was climbing better than me!

 

Stephanie’s first lobster

Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

The next morning we pack up the tent and head to Walmart.  The mattress Stephanie borrowed didn’t hold air and Paul loves to go to Walmart.  The biggest problem is we have no room for a lot of stuff so we stick to a list and only plan a couple days meals.

 

Northeast Bays

Northeast Bays

Then it is off to Browns Lobster Pound for lunch.  At the lobster Pound you tell them how big of a lobster you want and they pull one out and you have to ok it!  Stephanie didn’t enjoy it as much as me. She did not want to look her dinner in the eye before she ate it.  Lobster isn’t as cheap as the last time we were here.  Cost is $13.49 per lb for a 1.25 to 1.5 lb lobster.  Of course the one they pull out is just over 1.5 but even I’m human, I’m not going to have him put back and hope for a smaller one.  We got 2 lobsters for $52.  Still pretty cheap and it’s so fresh.  Paul found a picnic table outside and we enjoyed our lobster overlooking the marsh.

Tonight we stayed at a state park right on the dunes and enjoyed a beautiful fire.

We drive along the coast for most of the day and then Paul found us a spot for another lobster lunch in Maine.  We thought it was cheaper but then when we got it for $10 a Pound we were told we couldn’t eat it there.  It was $15 a Pound to eat it there because it was a meal.  We didn’t want the roll and cole slaw so we took our lobster and drove down the road figuring we could find a nice picnic area. No such luck, we end up eating our $40 lobster on our laps in a parking lot of a closed up business!  Mot exactly the local we were thinking.

Found a bay with a short walk.

Found a bay with a short walk.

This is what Paul loves about the tiny RV.  He can stop anywhere.  I do admit we did get to find some interesting roads and spots. Still is too tiny but we are adjusting.

And so it continues!

Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

We bought a Sticks and Bricks house but Paul still needed his RV and I wasn’t ready to stop exploring all the cool corners of the USA so we bought a 19′  Roadtrek!  Yep you read that right! 19 whole feet!  My bedroom in the last RV was bigger than that.  We have a toilet, shower, queen bed, 2 burner stove a refrigerator and a closet!  Everything you need! Or so it seems!  It’s a very nice 1 man RV but pretty cozy for 2 and a dog.

includes: frigerator, bed, closet, pantry, toilet, shower, stove, microwave!

Includes: Refrigerator, bed, closet, pantry, toilet, shower, stove, microwave!

We took our first trip, a two night stay in Yosemite.  Yosemite was beautiful and the RV did its job.

Our next adventure was to Port Orford Oregon.  Paul went a week early and I joined him via our friends here in the compound (that’s what I call Sun City Roseville). That worked out pretty well as we were only sleeping in it as our friends Ed and Peggy have a beautiful home right there to host us.

Paul has been on a couple trips by himself which is the main purpose of it being so small ( I think!). Sometimes I think it is a test!

Our big adventure started the end of July.  Paul left by himself with Duke.  I’m sure after a day or two of endless driving across country Duke was thinking ‘ how come I have to go with him’!  Anyway the plan was for Paul to drive across country working and I would fly and meet him!  After all he is the one that lives to drive.  Stephanie, our youngest daughter and I flew to Boston and had a fabulous time for 5 days before Paul met us in Salem.  Salem, now that’s an interesting story!  Paul picked us up at the ferry and dropped us in town while he visited another customer.  We had lunch and then took a hop on hop off tour!  The plan was to ride it the loop and then go back to the sites we wanted, well we got the guy who usually does the ferry transfers and he loved to talk.  What was suppose to be a 40 minute ride was 2 hours.  Our ears were so tired that we just sat in the park and said” what was that?”  We did make it to see the house that Nathan Hawthorne’s book The House of Seven Gables is written about.  That’s an interesting story.  He never lived there, his friends sister or aunt lived there.

Paul picked us up after our afternoon and we headed north.  The plan was to return to a couple of the spots from our last trip to the northeast and we did.  First stop that evening was The Clam Shack in New Hampshire.  This new RV has only 2 seats so Stephanie co-piloted and Duke and I layed on the bed.

We found the clam shack where last time I had the best scallops I have ever had!  We had them again and they were amazing!  I would move here if I thought I could eat those as much as I wanted.  Not really because…..

So far so good!  We head a bit further north to get near Salisbury where we will have our first lobster.  We find a campground where Paul and Stephanie set up her tent!  And now the real east appears!  The mosquitos are in full force!  Where did I put the bug spray!  And that is where the adventure gets interesting.