#82 – July 2021 – NY, PA, OH, MI, WI, IN

 #82 – July 2021 – Six states in 20 days    

Leaving the tranquility of Casa Kendrick for the open road was a rude shock. We pulled into Camp Walmart in Oneonta NY and the bedroom slide wouldn’t work; the motor ran but nothing moved. Not a crisis you think, but we can’t open 80% of the bedroom drawers with the slide in. I didn’t know it, but this was the first of a pretty long list of problems that happened one after the other right up to today, seven weeks later.

The explosion in RV sales has led to very long leadtimes for parts and service. I called the local mobile RV tech who came up on Google braced for the worst. I called him first because he had the only 5-star reviews.  Jason not only answered the phone but agreed to take a look at the slide the next day. We met him at a gas station near his house because the road to his shop had washed out a couple of days earlier and the county crews were still repairing it. He met us by ATV. He looked it over and decided that he needed his tools and a few parts. The road repairs were expected to complete by evening, so he suggested that we get a site for the night at nearby Chenango State Park and he’d work on it in the morning. We did, and he did.

Working on that slide mechanism under the bed is best done by a small contortionist. Jason is a big, strapping guy. Much straining ensued, and I was able fit into the small space to reach the last two bolts. Once he had the slide assembly removed, repairing the actual failure required five minutes and $2 worth of shear pins to reattach the drive gear to the motor shaft. Getting the whole assembly out and reinstalled took over an hour. When he billed me $80 I felt like I’d won the lottery.  

Chenango State Park was our first experience with New York parks. Like most northeastern parks, it wasn’t designed with rigs our size in mind. Luckily, the camp host recognized a problem as soon as we pulled up. The site we had reserved online might have theoretically worked, but access to it was really sketchy. He reassigned us a better site and we spent a couple of days catching our breath and putting the bedroom back together. It’s a nice park, and we’d stay there again.  

That unexpected delay caused us to rethink our schedule. Reservations were hard to find, especially at state and federal parks, our preferred destinations for cost and aesthetic reasons. Weekends were sold out months ago, and midweek reservations at popular parks were also hard to get. Rather than trying to reschedule several reservations, we decided to bypass the Wright Paterson AFB Museum, again, and head directly to one of our primary destinations, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, aka “da’ UP”.

The waiter liked the "Ducati"
It's a Buell

That meant that the next four days were one-night stands, starting with a Walmart in Erie, PA; then the Wayne County Fairgrounds RV Park in Belleville MI; a Harvest Host site, the Wellington Farm Park in Grayling MI; Waterways Campground in Cheboygan MI; and finally to our first UP campground, Monocle Lake NFS campground in Brimley MI. By the time we got to Monocle Lake we were ready for a break from the road.

National Forest Service (NFS) campgrounds are always quiet and beautiful, but are usually inaccessible to large RV’s or located miles from anywhere. Monocle Lake is an exception. The lake-side setting is wonderful, the sites are huge and easy to get into, and it is located fairly close to Sault St. Marie, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and several other places worth visiting. All that for just $9 a day with the Senior Pass!

Entering the Poe Lock

The city (town, really) of Sault Ste. Marie was interesting. The Corp of Engineers visitors center next to Poe Lock, the main shipping lock, is really worth a visit. The displays are well done and the folks working there seem to enjoy it, always a good sign. A huge lake freighter was departing the lock as we were looking for a parking place, and that was uncharacteristically the only ship we saw in two days. Since 7,000 ships a year traverse the locks, that was highly unusual.

Sault Ste. Marie is actually two cities sharing the same name, one in the US and the other, much larger one across the river, in Canada. Canada’s Covid border closure was still in force, so all we could do was look at the shoreline buildings. We hoped the border would be open by the time we arrived because the food is much better on the other side of the river, but we had to make do with the local fare.

July at Whitefish Point

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the entrance to Whitefish Bay on the southern shore of Lake Superior. It documents the many wrecks that have occurred in these waters over three centuries, but the central exhibit focuses on the loss of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot’s well known ballad. The largest ship on the Great Lakes at that time, she sank in seconds with the loss of all hands during an especially severe storm in 1975. Her loss is only one of literally thousands of ships to be lost on the Great Lakes since the 1700’s. Storms are frequent and the relatively shallow waters quickly develop dangerous wave conditions. Before the days of Satnav, GPS and radar navigation was very difficult, leading to the loss of many, many lives.

We wanted to visit the area around Houghton but could not get a reservation anywhere. Any place close to the lake shore appears to fill up as soon as the reservation windows open in January. After a couple of days of fruitless calls and online searches, I went to Plan B: The Klint Safford RV Park in Iron River in the interior of the UP. Iron River is an old, small town working hard to become a destination for off-roading, fishing, snowmobiling, car clubs, etc. The RV park is the cornerstone of that effort and it’s a real gem. Fairly new, well designed and immaculately kept, it was a pleasure to stay in while we explored the area.

I wish it still ran

There isn’t much to see or do in Iron River, but the Cornish Pumping Engine and Glider Museum about 50 miles away in Iron Mountain caught my attention. It was certainly worth the drive. The pump is the largest ever made in the US. It was built in 1892 to de-water the Chapin iron mine, one of the most productive in the area. Pictures can’t impart the scale of it, and the specs are equally impressive: for decades it pulled 4.5 million gallons a day from the 1,500’ level of the mine. If you like iron, you really need to see this.

I had no idea that Ford bought over 500,000 acres of virgin hardwood forest near Iron Mountain beginning in the early 1920’s. Large scale timber operations began immediately and vehicle manufacturing started in the early ‘30’s. During WWll the Iron Mountain Ford plant was one of the largest manufacturers of the gliders used in aerial assaults like D-Day.

I found the gliders and other war related exhibits quite interesting, but the history of Ford’s impact on the whole UP area was fascinating. I could return to that museum with a stool and spend all day just reading the articles on the walls. For example, Ford sold charcoal thru their dealerships throughout the country because Henry Ford hated waste. The vast timber operation created enormous amounts of waste that he was determined to put to use. That business continues today as the Kingsford Products Company.

The front roof-top air conditioner had died when we were in New Hampshire and we couldn’t get a replacement before we planned to leave. We have two others and thought that they would see us through the summer and we’d deal with the problem when we got to Arizona. A few days on the road in 90° heat and humidity quickly changed our minds. The dash AC driven off the engine works until the temp hits 80 or the sun comes through the windshield. At that point we need the much more powerful cooling of the front roof unit.

Parking in Shipshewana

RV components like AC’s are hard to find because the manufacturers of new RV’s are sucking up everything. I finally got a reference to National RV Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana. It turns out that they are one of the largest dealers for Dometic brand AC units in the country, the brand we needed. They had the model we needed in stock, so we reserved one and rearranged our plans, again. Two looong days later we arrived in Shipshewana with an overnight stop in Madison WI. The next morning we had a new AC unit. We spent a week in Shipshewana before heading right back to Wisconsin, but more on that next month.

Oh, yes, the folding stair mechanism broke, for the second time, when we arrived in Erie. I tried to order the part from the manufacturer but they were out of stock. That’s never good news.  Amazon was also out. PPL in TX claimed to have it, took the order, and then didn’t ship. It turns out they were simply incompetent, not actually deceptive. I finally found RVUpgrades.com who actually had them on the shelf and shipped one right out, but…. it was defective. The replacement finally arrived while we were in Shipshewana and after an hour under the coach it worked. We have stairs again.

I haven’t had a chance to do much reading this month, mostly rereads.

We stocked up at the New Hampshire State Liquor Store before we left and they carry a very respectable collection of both domestic and imported wines. That means we had lots of new wines to try and we hit an unusual number of good ones: 

Emma Reichart Rosé of Pinot Noir 2018 – Good
L'Envoye The Attache Pinot Noir – Willamette Valley – Good
Loudenotte Pinot Noir 2017 France – Trader Joes- Good
Trader Joe’s Reserve Cab - Columbia Valley - Wahluke Slope Lot 189 - 2016 - VG!
Pedra Cancela Selecao do Enologo Tinto - Dao Portugal- 2016 – VG
Dry Creek Fume Blanc – 2019 – CA

Santa Francesca - Pinot Grigio – Italy

More soon,

Bob

More pictures:

Ain't she pretty?!

Tahquamenon Falls.

Monocle Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoom in on the specs

Wellington Farm - they still run!

The neighbors at
Shipshewana

#81 – June & July 2021 – Casa Kendrick

June & July 2021 – Casa Kendrick - Campton NH  

Casa Kendrick featuring Charlie and Mollie's lovely new coach

The world's best fire pit

Pulling into Charlie and Mollie Kendrick’s place in Campton, NH, was like entering a tranquil harbor after a blustery sail. We’d been on the move for almost seven weeks, packing up and moving every few days, looking for places to stay, making reservations, and then scrambling to find, see and experience many new places. We were a little hyper and a touch frazzled. A day later, though, we had come under the calming spell of great friends, easy living and no pressure for several weeks. Wow, that felt great!

My Father's Day present,
and the tort was good, too

To make June even better, Liesa flew out to spend a few days with us. We hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving, and she looked great. Phone calls and emails are good, but there is no substitute for a big hug from my daughter. It was so good to see her. Since my sister lives in Concord NH, we had a reunion: the last four Coveys were all together for the first time since 2003. I hope it won't take 18 years for the next one. It was great to see Linda, too. 

We spent the next six weeks hanging out, sightseeing, doing chores, making campfires and visiting with their great kids. The time seemed to fly by in a very pleasant relaxing blur. 

One day we all went to Portsmouth NH for lunch and a walk around:

Mollie

Prescott Park in Portsmouth

It was a great day!

 

 

Not only did we get to see Liesa, but Judy Powell called to say that she was going to be in NH in June with her family. As we talked, it dawned on me that she was planning to come to the Lake Winnipesaukee region during Bike Week, when literally tens of thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country descend on the small lakeside towns and rent every motel room and B&B in sight. That didn't deter her, she rented a house on a small lake in Madison and we drove over to to see her. We'd had to cancel our usual SoCal visit in 2020, so it was a real pleasure to get together. 

Judy, Judy, Judy... and us

 

Every once in a while, Kayeanne reminds me that she is a great cook. She turned out the best blueberry pie I have ever had for my birthday. She even made the crust from scratch using her aunt's recipe. I ate way more of it than I should have, and wished there was another one. 

Tastes even better than it looks

New Hampshire is one of my favorite states. I lived in southern NH for several years before moving to California, but I realized that I hadn't seen a fraction of the great places and terrific scenery that central and northern NH have to offer. Our erstwhile local guides introduced us to several new places, including the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park; the 5,000 ton Madison Boulder, thought to be the largest glacial erratic rock in North America; the small but interesting New Hampshire Boat Museum in Wolfeboro; the beautiful Kancamagus Highway and the many local places near Campton that make this area so great to visit. 

Saint-Gauden's famous
Standing Lincoln

The rock won

The Kancamagus views

It still won

The musuem's old Quonset hut was
as interesting as the boats 

In Rumney Another fantastic
food truck find

Not "burgers and fries"

I really like Portsmouth. It has a variety of rivers, harbors and shorelines, and lots of things to see and do on shore without being too hectic or hard to access. One of the highlights of the whole visit was to cruise on the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth on Mike and Holly Babin's lovely yacht Return Again. The Babins are very knowledgeable local guides, gracious hosts and accomplished mariners. They recently completed a one year trip up the Hudson River, across the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River, across the Gulf of Mexico and back up the east coast to Portsmouth. We always look forward to seeing them.

Portsmouth waterfront

Despite all the visiting and running around that we did, I still found time for a little reading and the odd tipple. Books included:
    Lake of the Ozarks by Bill Geist - Fun read

    Obsessions Die Hard by Ed Culberson - Wore me out

Lots of wines to pick from because the NH state liquor commission (monopoly on wine and liquor statewide) sources a very broad selection of wines and we have been taking advantage of the variety:

    Bousquet Malbec 2019 – VG
    Chateaux St. Michelle Cab - Col Valley 2017 – VG
    J. Lohr 7 Oaks Cab - Paso Robles 2018 - Old friend
    Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc + Viognier 2020 - VG
    Sauvignon de Seguin  Vin de Bordeaux 2019 - VG

On July 11 we sadly said goodbye and pointed Ripley west. More soon,

Bob

 

#80 – May 2021 – WV, VA, DE, PA, MA, NH!

Yup, 6 states and 10 campgrounds in one month. That seems like it would be too hectic to be fun, but we actually had a great time. May might be the perfect month to travel in the eastern US, at least it was this year. The weather couldn’t have been better, none of the campgrounds were full and the traffic wasn’t too bad anywhere we went. I think it will be a much different story during the summer, but we’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

As I said last month, there were several places on the coast that we wanted to see, so we headed due east from Kentucky. The Mash Fork campground in Camp Hill State Park in Camp Creek, West Virginia, was our first stop and our first experience with WV state parks. We loved it. The campground is located a couple of miles off of I77 in a very rural part of southern WV, kind of tucked away in rugged country next to a small river. The RV sites are very spacious and reasonably priced, for a change. There isn’t much to do in the area except fish, walk along the river, drove around looking at the old farms and at the natural beauty everywhere. We stayed two nights and could have spent a week.

Hona Lee Vineyard

A few months ago we joined Harvest Hosts, “… a network of wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, and attractions that invite RV’ers to stay in 2005+ stunning camping sites.” We were looking for an alternative to Walmart for an overnight stay, checked the HH website and Hona Lee Vineyard in Gordonsville, VA, was right where we wanted to stop for a night. We arrived just about wine time and pulled into a big field next to a section of the vineyard, right across the driveway from the tasting room. We set up quickly and hustled right over to be sure they hadn’t run out.

Harvest Hosts is a good deal for the members and the campers. The camping (one night only) is free, but a purchase is “suggested.” That means that this free camp site cost us about $80 for the tasting and a couple of bottles of their best. That’s more than twice what we try to spend a night! I’m not complaining, just reporting; the wine wasn’t bad, if a little pricey, and the setting was great.

Williamsburg and Jamestown topped Kayeanne’s list of must-see places for this whole trip. Finding reasonably priced camp sites in that area was difficult, but I stumbled across Colonial Pines Campground in Toana, VA, which turned out to be a real gem, located roughly 20 miles from Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. It is small and very secluded, with large sites and full hookups. It is located on the grounds of the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center, which comprises several hundred acres of forest and extensive facilities to walk around in. One way I judge a place is by its firewood arrangement. Typically, a small bundle of 6-10 pieces costs about $5. Firewood at Colonial Pines also cost $5, but that was for a wheelbarrow load that you picked out yourself, and dropped money into a cash box. That’s the best deal I’ve seen since free firewood at Burro Mountain Homestead six years ago!

Pocahontas and friend

Colonial Virginia is lovely, very green country that has clearly been settled and fettled for a long time. Everywhere you look are 200-300 year old homes that are still inhabited and maintained by the 10^th, maybe 20^th owners. Houses built after 1850 aren’t even noteworthy.

Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg are quite different. Williamsburg is the most heavily developed. It’s sort of a large, living diorama filled with impeccably conserved buildings and staffed by many “re-creators (aka actors)” in period dress. They are well trained and quite enthusiastic about their roles, which keeps the place from becoming just a theme park. I was prepared to scoff, but actually had a good time. A young lady working in the blacksmith shop was particularly noteworthy. She really knew her trade. The guy running the carpentry shop explained that the trades people on site actually do all the renovation and restoration required to keep the whole place up to a very high standard. He said that most of the work is done using period techniques, tools and materials. They even blend paint and print wallpaper in-house. Impressive, if inefficient.

Jamestown is quite different. It is essentially an archaeological site with a restored church, a few partial reconstructions, and a lot of artifacts and story boards. It is staffed by a couple of rangers, a few docents and some college students working on the excavations. The original colony founded in 1607 was eclipsed over time as towns like Williamsburg became established as the centers of commerce. Jamestown essentially became a plantation and then farms until the State of Virginia and the US Government became interested in preserving it’s history in the late 1800’s. It is now a national historical park managed by the National Park Service. It was interesting, but not as engaging as the others.

Yorktown Victory Monument

We almost skipped Yorktown, and that would have been a mistake. Unlike Williamsburg and Jamestown, it is still a real town. Hundreds of people who have nothing to do with the history of the place or the flocks of visitors just call it home. I can see why they put up with the tourists, it really is a beautiful place to live. The town seems to have struck a nice balance between the tourists' interests and the residents’ desire to preserve the town as home, with some separation from the historic events that took place there. In mid-May, it was darn near perfect. We had no trouble getting around or parking, the weather was glorious and there is a Ben & Jerry’s perfectly located right downtown. Best of all, no crowds!

Site of the final battle of the
Revolutionary War

We could have spent a lot more time in that area; we never got to Norfolk, Newport News or Hampton Roads. But, it was finally time to turn north. Our next stop was Mount Vernon and Alexandria, but first we had to get the oil changed on the coach. For some reason we kept having issues with the places where we tried to get it done. Speedco is like Jiffy-Lube for trucks and we've used them several times without a problem. I called the one in El Paso before we left Arizona and was assured that they serviced RVs all the time. When we arrived, they said they’d never done an RV before but would be happy to try… Nope, not practicing on my coach. The next one on our route was just west of Richmond. I called ahead, was told they did RVs all the time, but when we pulled in a day later were politely turned away because "the manager had decided that RVs were too risky to work on..?" Finally, on the way to Mount Vernon we pulled into another Speedco where they were happy to take our money. What a hassle. Two somewhat blistering emails to Speedco corporate went unanswered, so I guess I’ll have to find another solution next year. Ok, rant off, back to touring:

Mount Vernon

When looking for places to stay near MV, I was surprised by how few RV parks there were to chose from. Because we were early in the season, we found space at Pohick Bay Regional Park in Lorton, VA, about 15 miles south of MV. We were able to get a decent site, but access to it was a challenge. This park isn’t laid out very well and the turn around’s at the ends of the roads are too tight for coaches our size, especially if towing anything. Luckily the site across the road from us was unoccupied so I had plenty of room to back in “backwards”. Aside from that, Pohick Bay was fine.

Washington's view from his deck

I had imagined that Mount Vernon would be grander than Monticello. After all, as important as Jefferson was in so many ways, Washington won the war for independence and was the first president. It stands to reason that his estate would be grander in every way. Right? Well, no, it isn’t. Maybe the Covid restrictions on touring it colored my perceptions. On reflection, I think Monticello featured more outward-facing scale and decor. MV is smaller in every way and seemed more personal. By accounts, Washington always rose to the occasion, did his duty and went home as soon as he could. Jefferson certainly enjoyed being home as well, but Monticello seemed to be designed to entertain more often and more elaborately. That said, Covid eliminated guided tours of MV and the entire second floor was closed, so my impressions might be different if we return without those restrictions in place.

Frank Lloyd Wright Pope-Leighey House

We are always on the lookout for Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and passed a sign on the way to  MV for the Pope-Leighey House. When we pulled into the parking lot, big signs said that advance reservations were required due to Covid. A quick look showed that tours were sold out, but we decide to walk around the outside and peer through the windows. It is a classic FLW design, though much smaller than any of the others we’ve visited. As usual, the building design and the setting went together beautifully.

Bagpipe practice

Alexandria was great fun, at least in mid-May. During the summer heat and among hordes of tourists I might feel differently. The river front area offers great walking, dining and drinking. Just sitting back and watching the people and the river traffic would be a fine way to spend an afternoon. Old town is several square blocks of really interesting period architecture, with a few contemporary places thrown in for seasoning. The whole area is sprinkled with small restaurants, boutiques of various stripe and ice cream shops. As we walked we very faintly heard …bagpipes?! Following our ears up one street and down the other we found a local pipe band practice session. That really was a “first”, and we celebrated with great local ice cream.

Trap Pond State Park

For no particular reason that either of us can articulate, we were looking forward to visiting Delaware. The state parks on the coast were already filling up, but we found space at Trap Pond State Park in Laurel, DE. If you are headed to the area, put this park at the top of your list. The park is surrounded by farms that are slowly giving way to development, some of them fairly upscale but not Macmansions, yet. I can’t think of a single negative about the park, and it made a good home base to explore the state. Yes, Delaware is small. In fact, it only occupies the northeastern portion of the Del-Mar-VA peninsula. We made it a point to get crab cakes on the shore at Woody’s Dewey Beach Bar. Recommended.

One day we drove down the coast to Assateague Island National Seashore. We didn’t see the famous wild horses, but we had a great time walking on the sand and driving all the roads. Schroeder was clearly delighted. He hadn’t seen a beach since Nehalem, last year. He had a ball. With better planning we could have camped right on the beach, something to remember for the next trip.

Our next destination was in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, but that was too far to drive in a single day. So, we needed an overnight spot in eastern Pennsylvania, somewhere near Allentown. None of the Walmarts in the area allowed overnight camping, but Harvest Hosts popped up Stony Lake Inn & Winery in Saylorsburg, a near perfect spot for travel the next day.

The people couldn’t have been friendlier and the site next to the lake (a small pond, actually) was terrific. There was a small grass airfield right across the street and we helped a guy push his perfectly restored 1949 Waco bi-plane out of the hangar. I love listening to that old radial engine when he took off! I’m sorry to say that the wine wasn’t as good as the setting and the company.

Peppermint Park Camping Resort in Plainfield, Mass wasn’t a gem, but it turned out to be pretty nice, if a tad pricey. The park is about 80% seasonal sites which usually means that it is pretty busy on weekends and quiet during the week. Seasonal sites on New England are usually rented for May through October, if not year ‘round. Everyone we met was friendly, but it was really quiet at this time of the season.

Despite growing up near Boston, I rarely visited the Berkshire region of western Massachusetts. We decided to spend several days exploring the countryside and sights around Stockbridge. The town itself is very pleasant. Low key shopping combined with a range of food options from ice cream to fine dining and the lovely setting was pretty neat.

There are many, many things to see and do in the Berkshires, but two of them stood out for us: the Daniel Chester French Museum and the Norman Rockwell Museum. Both were very interesting. The tour guide for the DCF workshops and studio really knew her subject and more than made up for the house being closed for renovations. Though best known for the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC, he created many, many iconic and notable pieces around the country. The pieces that he worked on were often so big that he designed a set of railroad tracks under the floor of the studio to move the pieces outside for viewing and, finally, for delivery.

The Norman Rockwell Museum is also worth making a special trip to see. The building, the collection itself and the setting have all been carefully melded into a really attractive, informative and entertaining experience. Coincidentally, his house was also closed to tours. His artwork is so intertwined with our lives that it’s part of our national psyche. While he did use professional models, he used many of his friends and neighbors from town in his art. To say that he was popular would be an understatement.

We needed a break from the pace that we had been on since leaving Benson, so we decided to spend a week at Travelers Woods Campground in Bernardston. I think that this may be our shortest move in seven years, just 33 miles. We stayed here in 2018 and were glad to see that it hadn’t changed much, except that most of the sites had become seasonal, a trend we are seeing everywhere. I think people were afraid to travel during 2020, but still wanted to get away on weekends and on vacation. We met several people who live just minutes away from the park that come just for an evening. I am getting the impression that many people who tried seasonal camping last year won’t go back on the road, especially older folks. We met some very nice people here.

May 19^th is our anniversary, so we made a reservation at an appropriate dining place that was highly recommended online and by several locals. We arrived to discover that they seemed to have over-committed or scheduled parties too close together. The upshot was that the tables they had available weren’t acceptable, so we left. The limited dining options in the area were exacerbated by lingering Covid closures, but Kayeanne saved the day. We went to the local pizza place for our 36^th anniversary, ate good pie, drank house plonk and talked with a couple of local folks. We had a great time.

Bernardston is just eight miles south of the Vermont line. One of the people we met at the campfire one evening recommended visiting the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, about 40 miles north of the park. VCS is filled with lots of nice, very expensive stuff, ranging from anoraks to gourmet local cheese, and kitchen gadgets to jaw breakers. Keep a close grip on

your wallet. We found some things that we couldn’t live without but the well regarded deli was crowded and I was ready to move along. We decided to take the road less traveled home and discovered a great place to eat, the Townshend Dam Diner. Add whatever inflection you’d like. I asked and the owner just grinned. There is a dam in Townshend, but the diner isn’t close to it. 

This unlikely looking place makes its own bread every day. It grinds and blends its own burger meat. It makes almost everything it cooks. I had the best cheese burger and fries I can remember, and Kayeanne’s veggie burger was also outstanding. I’d plan a trip just to eat there again.

The famous Flower Bridge

A couple of days later we headed to Shelburne Falls, a small, very pretty old mill town on the Deerfield River. We walked all over the place, sticking our noses into most of the stores and hiking a short way down the river. We stumbled into the Lamson Factory Outlet Store where Kayeanne finally found a pie server that met her exacting requirements. I bought a putty knife. <I know> Lamson has been crafting cutlery, tableware and various edged tools since 1837, so it looks like they have figured out the fine details of these items. Bring money, though, even to the outlet store.

As constant readers may recall, we like food trucks and we found a good one on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls. It’s name says it all: Middle Eastern Food. Boy, was it good. We ordered ONE sort of curry burrito, fusion, wrap, whatever, and it fed both of us for lunch and we took some home for lunch the next day. For $12!  And, it was good. I’d go back again in an instant.

Grant and I at Heritage Gardens

We had a short list of must-see people for this trip and Kayeanne’s bother Grant was at the top. We haven’t seen him since 2018 and it was overdue. After a week in Bernardston we headed east to Cape Cod Maple Park RV Campground in Wareham, Mass., a few miles from Grant’s place in Onset. Maple Park was a test. It is NOT set up for rigs our size in the area they wanted us to camp. We had to be escorted the wrong way down a one way street to be able to get to our site. Once there I was relieved to discover that no one was home in the site across from us. That meant I could use their parking area to swing the front of the coach as I backed in around the trees and rocks that were everywhere. Once we got in, the site was fine. Most of the neighbors weren’t home when we left a few days later, making it possible to get out without another escort. I don’t think we’ll be back there soon.

Mayflower ll in the background

The campground issues aside, we had a great time. It was a pleasure to see Grant again. He has lived at Cape Cod for three years and appears to have spent all of his time visiting all the interesting places and eating at every restaurant within 50 miles. He really knows that area. We drove up to Plymouth to see the Rock, and toured Wareham, Marion, Onset and environs. I particularly enjoyed the Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich. It was an unlikely combination of lovely trails, lush foliage and a car museum, but it all worked.

Grant still works for a living, so we spent a day visiting the mansions of Newport RI and the town itself. What with Covid closures and it being before Memorial Day, the Breakers was the only one open, but it is arguably the best of the bunch. Finished in 1895, it was a summer cottage by Cornelius Vanderbilt ll. No heating system was included. The house was in use for three months a year, serving as the summer headquarters for the NY Yacht Club and the family’s

The Breakers from the back yard

escape from NYC’s summer heat. It was built about the same time as Biltmore, George Vanderbilt’s even more extravagant country home in Ashville, North Carolina. It was quite interesting and the grounds and setting are beautiful. The house is aptly named. It was calm the day we visited, but the pictures of the waves on stormy days are spectacular. Once again, I’m glad we visited in May, not during the summer tourist season. Newport is an old town with narrow roads and lots to see and do. Even on a weekday in May it was getting a little crowded.  

The summer cottage

With the Memorial Day weekend about to begin it was time to say goodbye, and thanks, to Grant and to head north to our most favorite campground, Casa Kendrick in Campton, New Hampshire. We have been looking forward to seeing Charlie and Mollie again since we had to cancel our plans to get together last year. This year, we may stay long enough to wear out our welcome.

I found copies of Ted Kooser’s older poetry on Thrift Books and enjoyed all of them. It was interesting to read them in date order to see his writing evolve: Sure Signs, Flying at Night and Weather Central  

Since we landed on the east coast we’ve been finding more good wines than I can keep track of. Here are three that I would happily buy again. As you may have noticed, I’ve become a fan of big reds from Portugal:

Veramonte Carmenere 2017 – Portugal
Kirkland Gigondas - France 2018
Portal Douro Valley Red Blend - Portugal

More soon,

Bob

PS: Bonus footage!

 

Daniel Chester French Studio

River walk in Shelburne Falls

Plymouth harbor

Heritage Garden Auto Museum

Da boys checkin' it out

Mount Vernon