NEW ENGLAND STATES

Sept 11^th – We left St.John, New Brunswick & headed to Bar Harbor, ME.  Had to laugh when we went thru Customs as we crossed the border.  They decided to come in the RV to see what we had in the way of food.  We had no idea you couldn’t bring certain foods back into the US, that included tomatoes, bananas & peppers because they weren’t grown in the US.  Now the silly thing about that is I’m assuming they are worried about some types of bugs, but these things were next to other fruits they allowed us to keep.  So if they did have bugs what was to keep them from the other fruits or just being in the RV itself. 

Anyway, on our way to Bar Harbor, we stopped at Quoddy Head, which is the Eastern most point in the  US.

Quoddy Head Light House

Collins, Snuggles & Karen at US Eastern Most Point

                                        

Our campground  was just outside Acadia National Park & Bar Harbor.   There was another couple there with the same RV as ours.  Theirs was an ‘06 too, but it didn’t have a kitchen window.  They thought it was built late 05.  We started comparing notes & had several of the same issues, including a squeak by the door which has driven all of us crazy.  We had just figured it out on our way to Maine.  We also both had a problem with our windshield wipers, we’d had ours looked at at least 4 times & were told there was nothing wrong.  Come to find out, there was a recall on them & none of those dealers knew about it.  These people gave us the person to contact.  Lobsters were very inexpensive if you bought them at a small roadside stand.  There was a place close to us, so one night we decided to get one & have them cook it & crack  it open for us.  We also cooked a steak, so we had “surf & turf”.  It was very good.   Another day we bought a lobster tail & some fresh shrimp & cooked that.   We could have steak, lobster, shrimp & champagne for less than $30. 

We spent several days touring Bar Harbor & Acadia Park.  Some of the trees were starting to turn & the park itself is really pretty.  One day we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain.  It is the highest peak on the US Atlantic Coast.  The views were stunning, but pictures do it no justice.

                                                           

Having a beer in Bar Harbor

Collins & Snuggles Relax in the Sun

Sept. 21^st    We left Maine & headed to Enfield, New Hampshire.  Some friends we originally met while selling real estate in IL, Judy & Keith Farrell, had moved there.  We used to play cards together about once a month.  It had been about 5 or 6 years since we last saw them.  We have a card marathon when we get together.  Most of the time we play Canasta, but we have a couple other games we throw in.  We started the first night we got there & continued til the last night we were there.  On Sat.  Judy & Keith took us on a tour around New Hampshire & Vermont.

Collins, Keith & Judy

                   

Judy, Karen & Keith

 We paid a visit to the hospital where Keith works & the VA where Judy works.  

Collins, Keith & Karen at Rollins chapel

 We did a drive thru some of the Dartmouth College & went into Rollins Chapel which has a huge pipe organ.  It was very pretty inside. 

We also paid a visit to a Shaker Museum which was close to their house.  The Shakers lived an “interesting” life.  The men & women lived totally separate, there was no sex among the Shakers- little wonder they had trouble keeping it going.  They were very big on innovation & one of their inventions was the washing machine.  They were great woodworkers & made some beautiful pieces.  They also were huge gardeners & started selling seeds by the package.

                        

                   

Shaker Stone Barn

It was a fun & interesting day. 

 Judy & Keith live in the woods & had a very long driveway so we were able to park the RV there.





 We took a couple of really long extension cords to give us a little power to keep some juice to the batteries.  The day we left, Collins rolled the cords around his arm.  A couple days later he had a rash all over that arm, a few bumps on his cheeks, etc. Best guess we could come up with was poison oak, ivy or something like that.  How ironic, all the years we gardened, we never got any of that.  Here are some funny pics we saw in New Hampshire.  

Must have pretty smart deer & turkey there to read that



Which comes first?



The women's said "Inboard"



  

Sept 26^th  We were off to Boston, MA.   Neither of us had been there before, so we were looking forward to doing some sightseeing.  We stayed very close to the Minuteman National Park which has trail the Minutemen took at the start of Revolutionary War.  One day we went to the Visitors Center & various places along the trail that were important & preserved.  We walked along the very path Paul Revere rode to warn the countryside about the British coming. 



This is the road the British & Minutemen walked & fought on



 What most people don’t realize is that Paul Revere actually was captured along the way (& released later that day) & two others went on to warn the countryside. 

This is where Paul Revere was captured

  We also went to the North Bridge where the first shots were fired.  We stood on the bridge (which has been rebuilt) & could almost picture the scene that early morning.  It was kind of eerie. 

The Bridge where the first Revolutionary Shot was fired

We also took a bus tour around the city of Boston.   It is a very pretty city.  We like to do those hop on/hop off tours because you learn a lot about the city. 

Boston Statehouse

We also took a boat tour of the harbor.  We saw the church where the two lanterns were hung to warn that the British were coming by sea,

Church where the 2 lanterns were hung

& we saw the old State House where the Declaration of Independence was signed. 

Old Statehouse

We also went on the USS Constitution, which is the oldest warship still in commission.  It is also known as “old ironsides” because many of the cannonballs fired at it just seemed to bounce off.  It is sailing ship & has so many ropes on it, I don’t know how they knew which ones to use.  It was very interesting. 



So many ropes



Sleeping quarters on Constitution

 There was also a museum there which had a lot of good things to see. 

This monument was erected on Bunker Hill where a huge battle was said to have taken place.  However, the battle actually took place on another hill nearby.

We had lunch at the Cheers replica bar & drove by the place where the front of Cheers was filmed.

Fenway Park

Old Church in downtown Boston

Oldest fire station in Boston



Boston Neighborhood





We ended our second day there at the Parker House Hotel, which is the home of the original Boston Cream Pie.  Of course, we each had some, which was really good.  

Oct 3^rd Took us to Centreville,VA.  Right down the road is where the first battle (Manassas) of the Civil War  took place.  When we stood on the hill where the fighting took place, you could almost see & hear those soldiers fighting.  It gets to me everytime I think about the way they fought battles back then.  They all lined up & shot at each other.  It’s amazing anyone lived thru those wars.  We’re staying in a Regional Park called Bull Run, which is practically next door to the original battlegrounds.  You just know fighting took place here.  It’s a really nice park, with lots of trees, which are just starting to turn.  We decided to play campers last night & built a bon fire.  We haven’t done that before.  We also made smores, which Collins has never had – I don’t know where he’s been!  Today we took a walk thru the woods.  The weather has been beautiful, sunny & in the 70’s.  We went DC last week & took a tour of the Capital Building including the House & Senate Galleries.  

The capitol dome

The building itself is beautiful. 

There are a lot of statues & artwork, & the dome itself is amazing.  Unfortunately we both came away really disgusted.  When we went to the House & the Senate there was one person speaking to an almost empty room.  The people up front kept leaving & new people coming in.  You have to wonder why we pay these people & what the heck are they doing for all of us!! 

Copy of Statue on top of Capitol

The Statue Room

US Capitol

Supreme Court Building

Mt. Vernon

 We also went to Mt. Vernon the other day.  We spent over 5 hours there & could have stayed longer if they hadn’t closed.  It’s quite a place.  You can tell George Washington was very detailed & organized.  The house was restored, even using the same colors they had then.  You weren’t allowed to take pictures inside.  They said that when George was there they had hundreds of guests a year, some they didn’t even know. 



Slave quarters



Blacksmith's Shop

There is a huge museum on the grounds.  It was so informative, we spent quite a lot of time going thru that. 

Overseer's quarters

On Monday we went back to Washington, DC.  On the advice of our friend, Sue Hollingsworth, we paid a visit to the Library of Congress.  It was beautiful & huge. 

Ceiling Dome

Karen in the main reading room

The common person can actually get a reader card to go in & use the library.  

Smithsonian Castle

In addition to zillions of books, there is a lot of art work & several museum type rooms.  There is one room that contains many of Thomas Jefferson’s actual books or copies of those destroyed in a fire.  They had a room that was a tribute to Bob Hope & Satire in Government.  We also made a stop at the American Indian Museum.  We were disappointed in that one.  Somehow, it wasn’t what we were expecting.  Our last stop was the Castle, which gives a little insight to most of the other museums.  Collins & I both said we wish we’d gone there first.  We would have gone to some of the other museums that we didn’t think would be of interest to us.  Well, if we make it back to DC again, we visit the rest of them.

Oct 13^th we left Virginia to go to Cincinnati, Ohio for my nephew’s wedding.  We decided to go to Gettysburg on our way.  It was cold & rainy  when we arrived.  We went to the Visitor’s Center to see a film about the battles there. They also have a huge circular painting (like a mural) that depicts the fighting.  You felt like you were in the middle of it.  

They also had a very nice museum there.  Since the weather was so crummy, we decided to take a bus tour of the area.  It was good & bad.  The tour guide was very informative, but since it was cold & rainy it caused the bus windows fog so sometimes it was hard to see.  It was very sobering to be on actual battlefields & to think of all that died in such a war. 



 We went on to Cincinnati the next day.  We had a hard time finding a place to park the RV anywhere close to downtown.  I spent a day on the phone checking everywhere I could think of.  We finally found a mobile home/rv park about 20 minutes from the hotel.  Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best place we stayed.  However, it did allow us to take the RV & not have to stay to far from the activities.  On Friday nite, I met up with most of my family & had a chance to catch up with everyone.  The wedding on Sat was beautiful.  The day was perfect & the church was very nice & the wedding was great.  Julie was a beautiful bride & my nephew, Andy looked very solemn.  
The reception was held at the Hilton hotel & was very elegant.  Our daughter, Paula, brought her husband & our grandkids.  It was nice to see them, and dressed up no less.  They looked very nice.  I can’t believe our grandson, Danny & granddaughter, Becca are taller than Collins or me.  Becca, who is 13, looked like she was 20.

Julie & Andy Hoerr



Danny, Paula, Tyler, Becca, Dave

Tyler, Karen, Danny, Collins, Becca

Paula, Karen, Becca

Becca & Paula

Collins & Becca on the dance floor

Paula & Collins

Karen & Danny on the dance floor

Sisters in law- Deanna & Lisa, Sisters- Linda, Colette & Karen

Oct16th  we left Cincinnati for an RV Rally in Winston Salem, NC.  We also planned to have some work done on our tow dolly while we were there. Our Tire straps had snapped & we had to get creative to keep the car on the dolly until we got it fixed.  The trees were finally turning colors.  Until now, everywhere we'd been, only a few had changed. 



Look closely - A double rainbow

 We had beautiful weather in NC all but one day.  We attended several interesting seminars & learned a few things along the way.  We also attended an info seminar on caravanning to Alaska.  We’ve been talking about going there in 2013.  Seeing the pictures really made us want to go there. Sunday we had to move the RV to a new spot at the rally.  As we were lowering our leveling jacks, the front one made a horrible noise & the back ones wouldn’t drop. Then we couldn’t get the front one to go up. We ended up having to call for service because we would not have been able to move the RV & we were planning to leave Monday morning.  After an hour of working on it, the guy was finally able to get it up, but there was definitely something wrong with it & we aren’t able to use any of the jacks now.  Since we were heading to Destin, FL we’ve contacted a repair company there to get us a new jack & fix a couple other things while we’re at it. 

Oct 25^th We arrived in Destin today.  It was in the 80’s.  When we got to the park & got ready to take the car off the tow dolly we discovered the car had a flat tire.  We had a horrible time getting it off the dolly. Collins was going to change the tire himself but couldn’t  get the lug nuts undone.  We ended up calling roadside service again.  Even the guy who came out had a heck of a time getting them off.  By the time was all said & done, it was 6pm & we were both ready for a drink!  We’re just going to hang out here in Destin, soak up some sun & chill out for the next couple weeks.  Hopefully we’re done with “issues” for awhile.  We'll go to Tampa for a few days on Nov 7th.  The 8th is my mom's 86th Birthday so we thought we'd celebrate with her.  We'll leave the RV in Destin to have the repairs to the jack done, so we'll be ready for wherever our next stop may be!