Vermont Country Roads

1. Covered bridge outside of Brandon
2. Different bridge leaning just a little
3. Marble firehouse in Proctor
4. View from Lakeview Pub where we had lunch on the deck




August 22, Friday: Woke to beautiful blue skies. Nice day for our drive. We stopped in Brandon just another cute town on our journey. Oh look! A craft fair in their square so we helped out the locals by buying some things. They had very different items for sale. We ended up buying a small homemade raspberry pie. One booth was selling some unusual jellies which we bought an apple/horseradish combination. Sooooooo good. Also learned that there are four grades of maple syrup. We are now soooo enlighten! Picked up some fresh vegetables as we were leaving. Back to our country roads............we saw several covered bridges. On down the road we came to the town of Proctor. It is known for its marble manufacturing plant. The church, bank, bridge, and firehouse are just a few of the buildings made of marble. Larry very very impressed. Our next stop was to see the little college town of Castleton. Castleton is about 5-6 blocks long. In the middle of town just two blocks for Main is the campus of Castleton State College. Larry thinks this is the smallest town to have a four year college. Freshman were all over the campus for orientation. So eager, it was fun to watch their enthusiasm.


Yesterday's lunch was awful...today's was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!! On Lake Bomossen is a restaurant called The Lakeview Pub and Grill. As usual Larry is interested on how business is fairing. The proprietor says they have been steady for lunch and dinners they are doing well. I know why because the food is to die for and the service is great. They open in the winter on the week-ends. Interesting fact, a few people ride across the lake on their snowmobiles. We had the best calamari we have ever had. We also shared clam chowder and a hamburger. I know I know...a hamburger but it was great!!!!!!!!!!


Today we had some of the best weather. Sure are glad we missed some of the heavy rains they were having. Today's high 81 degrees with low of 64. Even I can handle that.


Walked dogs and enjoyed the evening sitting outside. Talked with our neighbors who are from New Jersey.


Time to head north.


Good night!

Norman Rockwell Museum/ Rutland, Vt.

1. Church steeples in Rutland
2. School dating to 1888 in Sudberry, Vt.
3. Buildings in downtown Rutland


August 21, Thursday: Nice campground but no Wi-Fi or cell phone service. So unable to write on blog. OK, let's go sight-seeing! Started at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Larry and I enjoy looking at his works. Very interesting, they showed a lot of his Saturday Evening Post Covers. He is very famous for these but it was a very small part of his works. He received twice as much money for doing advertisement pieces in many other magazines. We were quite surprised to see how many other front covers he had done. Some other works..movie posters, ads for oil companies, car manufacturers, several food suppliers. The museum also had some of the pictures of the Presidential Candidates in his time. Larry was very impressed with how well he captured facial expressions. The museum, itself, was not very well done but we enjoyed it all the same.


When we finished the museum, we looked for a Mexican restaurant. Apparently, Mexican restaurants are non existent in Vermont. Not good! Taco Bell NOT!!!!!! Well, maybe we should have tried Taco Bell because the restaurant we tried was the worst one on this trip. If this keeps up I just may have to cook. Good Heavens! What is this trip coming to!


Oh, a couple of signs Larry and I have come across: U-Turn $10.00 this one was on a country road. Guess the owner had too many people using his drive-way. Sacrificed Pavement this one was in Rutland put up by the city workers. A piece of the pavement was removed.


Tomorrow we get to explore some back roads.


Good Night!

To Vermont or Bust

1 Boat launch at campground on Lake Bomossen


August 20 Wednesday: On our way to Vermont, we saw our first color! It is not hard to imagine how gorgeous these mountains will be when they all burst into full color. Kind of exciting but then I am easily amused. Short drive today only about 100 miles. Two lane road with not much traffic. Roads are in good shape. We only made one mistake; that was to stop at the Welcome Center...not a good idea. You see, we were going to kick back for a few days. I walked out with enough reading material for two days So much for kicking back.



We found a campground on Lake Bomossen which is about 20 miles from Rutland. Not a lot of campgrounds to choose from. We have electricity and water but no sewer hook-up. We are in one of the six pull throughs. Lots of grass and no one next to us. After setting up and walking dogs to see the rest of the grounds, we got our reading material out. Well, look at this there is a free concert in a park in Rutland! This is going to work out because the couple we met in the Poconos had recommended an Italian restaurant called The Palms. What a great dinner! Larry had lasagna and I had a chicken dish. Good atmosphere and a glass of Merlot set off the evening. Now off with the locals to sit in the park and listen to some music. How bad can this be the first song was a James Brown song. Headed home after about 1 1/2 hrs.



Forgot to mention we bought a GPS for the rig. Larry says "we were just a little too long in getting it". It helps getting into the correct lane to turn off freeways and finding all the country roads we end up on. We have only traveled over 6000 miles without one. Sure did relieve the stress level today.


Good weather today high of 76 low of 56. People say we Californians brought the sunshine. They have really had a lot of rain.


Tomorrow off to see the Norman Rockwell Museum.


Good Night!

Big Thunderstorm!

1. One of the walking/biking paths
2. Fishing pond
3. Trolley stop by fishing pond



August 19, Tuesday: Woke up at 2am, they were not kidding this time, this storm is cracking. Lots of rain, lightning, and thunder. In the morning the weather didn't look so good changed our plans of taking the 4 1/2 hour tour around the lake. Kinda of sad but not too sure it would be that much fun. So back to basics...clean the rig and do laundry. Laundry good idea getting low on the essentials........if you know what I mean! The afternoon turned out to be gorgeous! We took another long walk around the campground. We counted 6 different camping areas. Talked to the trolley driver who has a black lab. Larry figured we must have walked about 2 miles. I am sure it had to 20 miles because a lot of up hill. It is amazing what this place has to offer. It has been the most expensive campground $61.00/night with the exception of Friday and Saturday, then it is $71.00. Some families have been coming here for years. Can really see why........You never have to leave the grounds if you do not want to.


Up late watching the Olympics.


Good Night!

Checking out Lake George

1. View from Look out

2. View from restaurant
3. OOPS!




August 17, Sunday: Set out walking with the dogs to explore our campgrounds. It has two ponds, one for fishing, one for paddle boats, lots of hiking trails, free movies, and free entertainment every night. Those are just a few of the hi-lighted things which you can do or use. Oh, it also has 3 swimming pools. Needless to say, the dogs and us got quite a walk.




Made a Wal-Mart run to pick up a few things. Traffic was still backed up so asked Henrietta(car GPS) to get us to Wal -Mart a different way. Not sure faster but saw some more country roads.




Back home to sit outside to work on the blog and try to catch up on emails.




On our evening walk, we met several of our neighbors. We had some great stories to exchange so the walk or talk was about 2 hours. Really is fun to meet different people.




Good Night!




August 18, Monday: Our day included a 5.5 mile drive up the Veterans Highway to Mt. Prospect. On our way up we stopped at the 3 lookouts to view Lake George and the Adirondacks. You cannot drive to the Summit but they provide a shuttle which takes you on a short ride to the top. During the ride we watched a brief video of the history of the Prospect Mt. Hotel which used to be at the Summit. It was built around the turn of the 20th Century. When we walked around, we were able see remnants of the Cable Railroad which brought the guests straight up the mountain to the hotel. The Summit is 2030 ft. and offers a 100 mile view on a clear day. Yep! you guessed it ...it is NOT a real clear day. Nonetheless, we did see a spectacular view. Maybe not 100 miles but several miles.




Down to the lakeside for a late lunch. We watched several tour boats go by as we ate. Thought we might try it tomorrow on our last day. On the way home we passed the Million Dollar Beach. Not sure why it is called that but it was very crowded. Home to visit with our neighbors and find out what their day was like. Met a nice family from Massachusetts who would like to get out to California one day. Sometimes I think this is our favorite part of the trip.




Possible thunderstorm tonight so battened down the hatches before heading to bed.




Good Night!

A Slow down Day

1. House next to restaurant

2. View into town from Hardwick College

3. Chapel at college




August 15, Friday: Slowed down today, just took a drive around the area. Had lunch at the favorite locate BBQ restaurant. I liked the waitress short haircut so I asked her where she got it cut. After lunch headed there to get my hair cut. It is short but since I am trying to let it go gray it should be better. Sure hope it grows quick!!!!!!!!!!!




We drove up and I do mean UPPPPPPPP to see the Hardwick College Campus. It is built on the side of a mountain. All roads and walkways are very steep. Good thing those kids are young. They are restoring some of the buildings.




Home to get ready to head out tomorrow!




August 16, Saturday: Off to Lake George, NY, it is not a long drive. We had some rain that was heavy at times. In fact, really big rain drops! After turning off Hwy 87 towards our campground, the intersection came to an abrupt halt. We have arrived at a very busy tourist destination. The population says 985 but during the summer months it can get to 10,000 all in a 3 mile radius. Our campground, named(surprise)Lake George RV Park is huge. It has 359 camp sites. It has its own newspaper and Trolley service for around the campgrounds and into town. Big..........




gotta walk the dogs and fix dinner.




Good Night!

Cooperstown, New York

1. Doubleday Field

2. Baseball Game at Doubleday Field

3. The Ostego from the front

4. the Ostego on the Lake





August 14, Thursday: Well, this campsite is very peaceful so we decided to camp out for a couple of more days. Cooperstown is just about 30 miles from here. This is where the Baseball Hall of Fame resides. A very pretty drive. Lots of old houses, farms, dairy barns to look at while driving into Cooperstown. What a cute and very busy town. One thing they didn't mention in the AAA book was the 12 year old baseball tournament that was here. While talking to a few people in town, we found out there are at least 3 California teams here. They were from Roseville, Granite Bay, and SF. Walking around town we found the Hall of Fame, however, the line was halfway down the block. Too long for us to wait. We were able to walk into the Doubleday Stadium and watch an old timers game. Apparently any baseball team ,young or old, can book a game here. Abner Doubleday is reputed to have invented the game of baseball in 1839. I believe the stadium was built in 1850. It was like stepping back in time. We walked down several side roads back to the car. One of which was alongside Lake Otsego. There is a magnificent restored old hotel called(what else) The Otsego. Let me tell you it was a beautiful structure. It opened in 1909 and you could almost feel the first visitors walking around the rooms. It was known as the Cooperstown Palatial Summer Hotel. At that time it sat on ten acres with 700 ft of lake shore. Life was good! Of course, the wealthy people from Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey were probably the only ones that could afford it. Come to think of it since the rooms are from $325.00 to $500.00 a night it is probably the same today. Nice to look at but happy to get home to our little RV.





Larry found out about a farm team single "A" for the Detroit Tigers was playing tonight. What else to do in baseball territory but go to a game. What fun! It cost us about $20.00 for the entertain. That included our ticket in and, of course, our hot dogs, french fries, and water. The weather was good to sit at a game.





Good night!

Meeting People in Poconos

Our campsite in the Poconos









August 12, Tuesday: Before leaving the campground this morning, Larry stopped by the office to get better directions for our sight seeing tour. A lady was coming out of the office who appeared to be having a slight "discussion" with her husband. Seeing as Larry and I have been there before, I made a comment about .....The Man/Woman Thing. Larry went into the office and mentioned to her husband, he may want to get us a minute to ponder life on the road. After some conversation, we walked back to show them our rig. They have a C-class and may want to move up to a A-class when Karen retires in December 2008. Well, three hours later, Woody and Karen, who planned on being home outside of Cleveland, Ohio tonight, continued their trip. Thanks, Woody and Karen for adding to our memorable trip!






Larry and I continued on to a restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant used to be the clubhouse for the adjacent golf course. Outside the restaurant was a sign stating that Pennsylvania is a commonwealth. Kentucky is also a commonwealth. Well, I never got to ask in Kentucky what a commonwealth was nor do I remember from school. So between the proprietor, the waitress, and a couple, who are on their honeymoon, we found out that in the commonwealth states you do not own the mineral or oil rights. Now I am sure all our readers knew that but we did not.






Finally, we headed for the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania called the Bushkill Falls. Nice drive but very narrow roads. By the time we arrived, it was 4pm with thunder clouds moving in. The walk to the Falls was 45 minutes with no shelter if it should storm. We opted not to go and instead drove a little further into the Poconos. Arrived back to East Stroudsburg via the old Historic District. Funny how we always seem to find the old houses. Of course, back here they are all over the place.






Back to the rig to watch some of the Olympics and relax. Wrong! With the swimming competition it is very hard to relax. Midnight is too late for old folks to get to bed.






Tomorrow on to Oneonta, New York.






Good Night!



August 13, Wednesday: Only 135 miles to Oneonta, New York so we had a leisurely start this morning. We pulled the rig towards the front entrance to hook-up the car because our site was not very level. Larry had just finished with the car and was climbing in the rig when a man pulling a travel trailer hit the big mirror on the driver's side. It completely knocked it to the front of the rig. Larry was able to turn it back with the help of the man who rearranged it in the first place. It was not scratched or broken. Just a little set back. He did not want to wait. The ironic thing is we had to wait for him as he blocked the exit to go into the office. Ahhhhhh Life!! We got onto Hwy 380 headed north through Scranton. Picked up Hwy 81 into New York State turned east on to Hwy 88 towards Oneonta. Very pretty area. Rolling hills with farms dotting the countryside. Lots of construction. Saw a sign that said State Speed Limit 55. So we thought the speed limit for New York is 55. Not so, 3 miles down the road was a speed limit sign saying 65mph limit. We were confused for a few moments but decided it just must have been a senior moment after all New York State is an Old State!

As we were pulling into our campgrounds, Larry and I were thinking ...Oops! not too good. the owner was very nice but the entrance left a lot to be desired. The owner escorted us through a grove of trees to our campsite and to our surprise it was great. Lots of space between sites with grass. In fact, we are all lone with a park out front of our rig.

Weather is cool. It was in the low 70s today and suppose to be 57 degrees tonight. Larry says nice weather.........I say a little too cool. It is that Man/Woman Thing!
Good Night!!

Poconos Mountains

August 11, Monday: A good night sleep! Yea! Sobaka finally gonked out and slept all night. In fact, this morning you wouldn't even know he had not been feeling good yesterday. Sometimes it is not easy traveling with dogs but it would be too long to leave them.
We are staying in East Stroudsburg which is one of the towns considered part of the Poconos. Paul, our oldest son, and his wife, Michele honeymooned here. They have always said how beautiful it was. They are right. Don't tell them I said that! Larry was very happy traveling here because of all the old barns and country farms. We noticed on the roads that all the billboards are at least 200 to 300 yards off of the side of the road. Sometimes hard to find.

Had a little rain today but all in all a good day to travel. The weather is has been cooling off at night to the low 60s but high 70s during the day. Great Spring weather for Larry but since I am part reptile and don't warm up until the 80s, I have a different opinion.
This campground was a little aggravating to find by the directions in the book. Almost missed the turn onto the side road. Fancy driving by Larry...not easy with a 62ft rig. We asked the owner about better signage but he said the city would not allow it. Go Figure! Today we decided we were going to buy a GPS for the the coach. The CRV has one and it has come in hand many times. That is as long as you remember the address of your campground. Now I am not saying I have done this I am just pointing it out. The campground is literally in a huge forest. We are in a pull through that is about 100 ft. No other rigs are around us. Lots of extended summer camping. Since we are here during the week not very many weekenders are in their spots. Lots of 5th wheels. Can understand the draw since the grounds are about 2 hours from Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey.
Had a very quiet evening.
Good night!

Change of Plans

August 10, Sunday: Don't Put Off Today.... What You Think You Might Do Tomorrow or something like that. This morning we woke up to Sobaka trying to be sick. Lots of gagging with no results. Watched him for awhile, then called a vet. He couldn't see him. So decided to do home remedies. Benadryl, to calm his gag reflex, and Pepcid to calm his stomach. It worked as long as we walked him. Needless, to say, we got a lot of exercise today. You would not know that he is going on 14 years. Sometimes, all four of us walked and other times Larry and I played tag team. Sobaka didn't gag as long as he kept walking. It was nice because we had plenty of paths to walk on. It did rain part of the day but not down pours.
Anyway back to not putting things off. We did not take any pictures on our drive through town and out laying areas. We also did not get to go through the Chocolate Factory. But we sure are fit!!!
We couldn't stay longer because we had already booked a site in the Pocono Mountains.
Sobaka is feeling better tonight. He is back on chicken and rice and everything seems to be staying down. Hope we get some sleep tonight our legs are tired. That is Larry, mine, and Lottie's. Sobaka, who knows, he is standing by the door ready to go again. Life is good!
Tomorrow to the Poconos.
Good Night!

Cleaning Time/ Hershey, Pennsylvania

1
. Hershey Hotel

August 8, Friday: Time to do some DEEEEEEEP Cleaning. I did some heavy duty vacuuming and cleaned the air conditioning vents. Larry did 11 loads of laundry. No, not all clothes. All the sheets, including the dog sheets and all of their bedding. Both indoor and outdoor beds. Good place to do all of these as the laundry room had 20 washers and dryers. After Larry finished the laundry, he decided to replenish the tequila. Changed his mind after finding out all liquor stores are state owned and the tequila was $40.85 for the same size bottle that he bought at Costco for $18.95 before we left. Larry decided it was too expensive for his budget sheet. Word to the wise ..... make room for the liquor and forget the toilet paper. Just kidding!!!!!!!!!!!





Headed towards Hershey, Pennsylvania actually we are staying in Lickdale which is about 22 miles from Hershey. The campground in Hershey was the first one we have not been able to get into. Lickdale was nice because it had a river on one side, lots of walking paths to walk the dogs, and not overly crowded.


On the way into Pennsylvania, Larry noticed that the mile marker signs were very 1/10 of a mile instead of every mile. He figured some one's brother, cousin, or uncle needed a job. They need to forget the signs and fix the roads. The worst roads we have been on since California. It is a wonder our coach stays together. It will definitely need some good TLC when we get home, if not sooner.


After setting up camp, we headed into Hershey. Alot of farming area and great great houses. OK, alot of them need some serious TLC but still good bones as "they" say. Just about everything revolves around the amusement park. The hotel is huge. A 23 acre botanical garden, stadium which seats 30,000, and next door an amphitheater that holds 7,300. Very family oriented. It also has the 550 acre Penn State Hershey Medical Center.


Milton Hershey founded the town in 1903, then planned and built the area including the Hershey Foods Corp. In driving around town, we saw several large food warehouses and buildings.


We stopped for an early dinner at Houlihan Restaurant. It sits across the street from a park which was having a family day event. We ate outside even though it was 90 degrees. I suggested we start with Long Island Ice Teas with some Breaded Asparagus. So so yummy. We were surprised the Long Island came in a small pitcher which we each a 1 1/2 small glasses. It was more then enough. The pitcher was $7.50. That is the usual price for 1 glass. Larry had a Chipolte Chicken Sandwich with Dijon mustard. I had a bowl of Chicken Tortilla soup. So Good!


We are coming back tomorrow to go thru the Chocolate Factory.


Oh yes, I forgot to mention, all the street lamps look like chocolate kisses.


Good night!

Annapolis Naval Academy

1. Chapel
2. Cadets marching to lunch
3. Of course, the stadium couldn't too close

August 7, Thursday: Visited the Naval Academy today. It was established in 1845 with some of the buildings on fill dirt in the bay. It sits on 338 acres and at this time it cannot be enlarged. It is banked on one side by the bay and surrounded by the city on the others. Found it interesting that all 4000 cadets live under one roof and they live there for all 4 years. Our tour started at 11am. Went through the building which houses the Olympic size pool & diving pool. The high dive platform is 3 meters high and every cadet must jump from the platform by the end of their second year. It simulates the jump from a ship. In case they have to abandon ship. If they are unable to accomplish this by their second year they are sent home. The wrestling room is on one side of the building. It was a good time to visit because it was Parent Week when the parents get to visit their sons or daughters for the first time since they arrived in May. Very impressive. The band was there playing for them to march into lunch. Just for this week. They are able to sit and feed all 4000 cadets in 30 minutes. Every cadet graduates with a BS in one of the 26 different majors they offer. They graduate in 4 years with no debt and they are also paid a monthly income while in school. Well, maybe not totally free. They do have to service 5 years in the Navy or Marines. Some very impressive buildings.


After the tour, we walked down to an old tavern dating back to 1797 to have lunch. The weather was in the low 90's with low humidity. We have enjoyed sitting out just about every evening.

Pictures

Annapolis 1. Veterans Memorial

2. Street in Annapolis

3. View from the restaurant on "Ego Alley"

4. More boats

Annapolis, Maryland

August 6, Wednesday: Hired Michele, our dog walker, again today. She charged us only $10.00 per dog; really is not too bad. We are off to Annapolis.

Started at the Visitor's Center after taking a "few minutes" to find a parking garage only to find out they had one right behind the Center. Ahhhh the joys of traveling. We decided to do the trolley ride around the town for a little history lesson and sights. These are always nice because it enables Larry to be able to look and not worry about driving. Our trolley time was for 1:30pm so walked across the street to have lunch at an old tavern. We both had a Chipolte Chicken Salad... very good. The tour was about 1 1/4 hr long. What can I say...this town is old and has a lot of history. Annapolis was a charter city in 1708. It was also used as our first peacetime Capital of the USA in 1783 & 1784. The city has the highest concentration of Georgian Style buildings in the Nation about 1300. All four of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence homes are included. No wonder the city is called"a museum without walls". We were unable to visit the Maryland State house, the oldest State Capital in continuous legislative use. It is being renovated. The city has two roundabouts. One around the Capital and one around the St. Anne Church.

Besides the Naval Academy Annapolis is also the home of St. John College. Our tour guide told us that out of the 400 students enrolled, 85% go on to get their Masters and 75% receive their PhDs. Now if you or someone you know is interested in attending the yearly cost is just about $45,000.00 a year.

We made a stop at the Veterans Memorial which over looks the harbor. Very impressive. Walked around the area after our tour just looking at buildings. Of course, now it is time to fill our tummies. So off to the marina to eat by the water. We chose to eat at "The Pusser's" a restaurant that sits on "Ego Alley". They call the waterway "Ego Alley" because people with boats of all sizes parade up and down to show off. While we appreciated the show, we dined on Nachos and Crab & Corn Chowder. No I did not get that wrong when you are in Maryland you have Crab Chowder NOT Clam Chowder.

6:00pm time to head home. Traffic not too bad. Great day... great town.

Goodnight!

Ashburn, Virginia

August 3, Sunday: Off to see Pat and Chuck's new house and area. They have a dog walker here so we were able to leave for a longer than usual time. Very nice!
It took us about 40 minutes to get their Del Webb community. Their house is perfect. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, with a loft and a sunroom. The master suite is downstairs. Very cozy (even though their furniture has not arrived) and yet very roomy. Looking forward to visiting. Yes! can you believe they invited us to visit even after hearing Kathy' tales about our length of our visit. They gave us a tour of the grounds and clubhouse. After our tour, we headed into Leesburg for lunch and strolled around this old town. It was established in the early 1700s. We dropped the Cole's off at their house but did not stay longer because it was getting late.
On the way home we made a Costco stop. I think everyone who lived in the area was there. Larry commented this is why we don't shop on the week-ends unless we have to.

August 4, Monday: Took the dogs for a long walk and ended up talking to our neighbors. Jim, Julie, and their daughters, Abbie and Toni. They live just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. It was great fun being their neighbors for a few days.
Chuck and Pat arrived to play more games. Today it was 'Hand & Foot' which is a card game. The men just blew us away but we will get them next time. I fixed a Southwest Chicken Salad for early dinner then we walked down to the little cafe for ice cream. We will not see the Cole's until September on our return trip. They are headed for California to wrap up the details of their house.
The weather here has been quite nice in the high 80s with low humidity. Very comfortable at night so we are taking the opportunity is sit outside as much as possible.

August 5, Tuesday: Today is my treatment day. Actually, that is why we are in the DC area. Kaiser has a facility here. My appointment was for 1:30pm. Larry was able to get his blood test done and his prescription for coumadin while he waited for me. I finished about 4:45pm. We stopped for a little bite to eat on the way home. Unfortunately, this treatment knocked me out. Larry thinks too much activity and too long of a time between treatments. I guess I am just having too much fun. Needless to say, early bed tonight.
Good night!

Cherry Hill Park, College Park, Maryland

August 2, College Park, Maryland: Easy morning. light housecleaning. cleaning out bays. We have company coming for a visit. Pat and Chuck, our friends who were unable to make the trip with us, and Kathy, Jo's cousin Steven' wife, are coming for lunch and game playing. Chuck and Pat are here because they just bought a house in Ashburn, Virginia which is just outside of DC. Kathy and Steven have lived in the area for a little over two years. Last September Larry and I stayed three weeks with them. When they said "come visit" I am not too sure they meant for that long. After they went to work, we took the Metro and did DC. On the week-ends the four of us went site-seeing in the surrounding areas. One of the week-ends, Steven, Kathy, Chuck, Pat, Larry and me took the train to New York. So you can see why it was fun to get together again. Steven was in Boise, Idaho trying to keep an eye on the fires in California and other places. Hope to see him on our return trip. Chuck and Pat drove over but Kathy just took the Metro from their place. The Metro is only 10 minutes from the Park. We had fun playing Mexican Train. After everyone left we took dogs for one last walk and headed for bed.

Goodnight!!!!

Oh, The Best Laid Plans

August 1, Friday: Larry figured it would take us about 1 1/2 hours to go 90 miles up the peninsula into Maryland. First error of the day. Only Highway is Hwy 13 which goes through all the towns. Signal lights, stop signs, and 30 mph speed limits. After 4 hours and 120 miles, we stopped for lunch about 30 miles into Maryland. Back on the road again up to Queenstown onto Hwy 50 across the bridge towards Annapolis area. We got it made now. We are cruising like we know what we are doing. Arrived at the campgrounds in Millervilles about 3:30 pm not bad. Checked in. Drove to the site........NO WAY we are fitting in this site. Jo drove back to the office to explain. They gave us another site. Jo says NO WAY.........Larry says he thinks so. Another "discussion". Larry gets into the space but is hanging over both ways and cannot level the rig. Jo back to the office and brings back one of the hosts. He could not believe Larry was even able to back the 40 ft rig into the spot let alone try and balance it. It had several trees and very uneven. NOT GOOD!!!!! After some discussion about the 800 number for KOA it was determined they could not accommodate us. So I called Cherry Hill to see if they had room. We had reservations at Cherry Hill for Sunday through Tuesday. Surprise!!!! they could take us poor homeless people. Of course, did I mention it was Friday heading on 495 beltway around Washington DC?? By the time Larry re-hooked the car, took dogs for potty break, and listened to my comments on life it was about 5:15pm. Do I hear commute traffic???? Need I mention we are 62 ft in length??? We had 21 miles to go and actually had no more problems!!!
We were set up by 6:30pm. Very surprised because when we were here 3 years ago it was very crowded. This year lots of empty sites.
Nice evening!
Good Night!

Kiptopeke State Park, Virginia Peninsula

July 31, Thursday: Larry informed me that I call this campground Cape Charles but it is really outside of the town about 7 miles and it is called Kiptopeke State Park. Now you know why I call it Cape Charles. Total relaxing day at the campground. OK, that might be a stretch. Some housecleaning, laundry, brushing dogs, fixing Jo's bike tire. Larry calls this relaxing????????? Larry went into town to the bank for quarters and to pick-up on inter tube for Jo's bike. He found an old hardware store that had wooden floors, old tools hanging from the ceiling, and boxes upon boxes of merchandise that has never been put away for years. The aisles were so cramped that only one person at a time could walk down. Larry looked around for a short time then decided to get some help since he could not locate the tube. Sure enough... they had ten different types. One of them was the right one. The old cash register had push button knobs. Your receipt was printed on adding machine tape. Larry felt he had stepped back in time about 50 years.
Nice long walk around the grounds and boardwalk before we head out for Maryland. Not too many campgrounds in the DC area. Found one after Larry and I had a "discussion" the other day in a grocery store parking lot. Oh the joys of traveling. The campground is in Millersville which is the closest one to Annapolis which we want to visit. It is a KOA but they said they could accommodate us. We want to get an early start because it is Friday and headed into the DC area. Not a good combination!!!!!!!!
Goodnight!

Cape Charles, Virginia

1. The Old Lighthouse(took this for Ron)
2. The new Marina housing/lunch
3. One of the great old houses

First we must apologize for being sooooooo long getting back to our blog. To our few faithful readers, Sorry!





July 30, Wednesday: Weather is very warm and probably one of the most humid days we have encountered. Thunderstorms all around us but no rain right where the campground is located. Lots of lightning and lots of thunder. Heard Virginia Beach got hit bad. Virginia Beach is right across the bay from us.


Campground is not very full. Sites are large. We picked one under the trees. Took the dogs for a walk down by the bay. Couldn't take them to the beach but they had a great boardwalk that we could walk them on. Talked to a couple from New Jersey who come here often. They said this is the empiest they have ever seen. Camped next to us is a couple from Montreal, Canada. It was interesting because they spoke French and had a hard time understanding us if we spoke too fast. Funny because several years ago Larry and I took a car trip with our good friends, the Emrichs, into Quebec. The people there were very adamant about speaking only French. Apparently, nothing has changed. However, the couple was very nice.


Time to explore>>>>>>>>>Only one highway on the peninsula so can't get too lost. Cape Charles, the town, had a building boom in the late 1990s. Two golf courses, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus are weaved around a very high class neighborhood. The security guard let us drive into the pro-shop but we took a little detour. Unfortunately, at the moment the town is in an economic slump like alot of tourist places. Drove around and could tell at one time it was quite the place for people from New York to come. In the 1920s the original planner had a railroad built to bring people directly into town. Along the road next to the Bay are some beautiful brick homes. Several for sale. On one side street, Larry and I stopped and walked around this huge house that is for sale. We had passed the realtor who said if we wanted to see the inside let her know. 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, yep it was a B & B. It was on a large lot for only 739,000.00. In California, even now, it would be alot more.


Driving around house shopping made me hungry so headed for the newly developed marina area for some lunch. The Hostess and our waitress informed us that business was very slow. Needless, we had great service and wonderful food.


Goodnight!