June-October 2022

Goodness...once on a role, I realized how I lost all track of time and place.. So, now I will get my ducks in a row. I didn't realize we had done so much in the second half of 2022. It was so much that I decided to remove November and December and give it its own entry.

My last blog was missing a big trip. I neglected to include "Everglades February 2022," where we met up with Charlie who was staying in another campground.  Bertha was too big to stay there, so we booked the very upscale Everglade Isle Motorcoach Resort. We were parked alongside a Prevost and a drive around the property showed more Prevost, Newmar and Tiffin coaches. The roads were laid with paving bricks and each site had pavers. Most had tiki huts and lavish landscaping. The pricing was upscale as well.

A restaurant on site allowed us three the oppotunity to enjoy a delicious dinner and drinks one evening. I had my favorite, a Lemon Drop Martini, which was superb. I keep trying to concoct the same mixture, but fail each time. Maybe it's like a take-out food...it always tastes better in the restaurant. 

Can I get one To-Go?

The weather was quite nice and we toured the Everglades on an Airboat. Our captain was very knowledgeable and we learned about mangrove trees and their role in the ecosystem. Interestingly, the Everglades is the only place where alligators and crocodiles cohabitate. We were able to spot a couple of each, but they were too far to capture in photo and I didn't desire to get any closer.

The airboat ride was fantastic. We sped down narrow openings in the mangroves that led to an open area where the boat went around in a huge circle at a high speed. Water splashed all around us. I found it exhilarating! I can't wait to do something like this again.

Top two photos: our site.
Bottom, our site from the boat, our tour guide and the canal behind our RV

Ride along in the Everglades

In June, Croton Point Park welcomed us with much-needed improvements that had been accomplished while we were gone. Trees were trimmed and the campground road was paved.

The area is full of history and beautiful views of the Hudson River
as seen from atop the old landfill.

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Apparently, while we camped in Georgia, a tree frog jumped on board Big Bertha and we transported him to various campgrounds, across state lines and all the way to NY. The sound our specific tree frog made was similar to a duck. Froggy "quacked" at intermittent times and in different locations throughout Bertha. As hard as we tried, we could not locate him. People thought us crazy until the sound was heard by our fellow Islanders. 

Froggy finally revealed himself as I opened a lounge chair in Croton  He was probably dehydrated and starving. George placed him at the base of a tree, but I doubt he survived, God rest his soul. Stock photo of the little bastard below.

Tree Frog

We had the opportunity to celebrate another 80th birthday. Our friend, Charlie, hit that great milestone in May. In June, his children hosted a party with all of his family and friends. It was a terrific night, filled with great people, delicious food and fine wine. I'm sure the top two things that made his party happy were his kids being there and the FOOD! 

The month of June also allowed me to join in celebrating the retirement of my last principal at BMMS. I went through seven principals in less than 10 years! I retired two years after John Owens (below) was promoted to the job. My friend, Helene, was appointed to fill my position and has done a great job at re-creating and streamlining the responsibilities. Now why didn't I think of that?

Top l to r: Jonathon Brown, John Owen, me and Helene
Bottom: Me & JT, who looked confused at being invited to the party,
R - me, John and Helene - his two best secretaries!

We had reservations for the Fourth of July weekend in Northhampton/Springfield KOA in Massachusetts. It's a long story that included electricity and a run-in between the manager and George (yes, I said George) over not being allowed to use our generator. Then, for the first time in eight years as full-timers, we were kicked out of a campground! A terrible review was left in several locations. 

Of all times, we were traveling on a big holiday weekend with my nephew, Jack in tow. This was his very first RV trip! He had looked forward to camping and was extremely excited and extremely inquisitive. He became a bit worried when he heard we were booted from the KOA and then felt worse when George said that we would "just stay at a Walmart." I think Jack thought we were going to sleep INSIDE the store. We calmed his fears and drove to the nearby Walmart.  It was a quick drive through, because the parking lot was overrun with dilapidated vans, buses and cars. We needed to go with Plan B, aka "CB."

Cracker Barrel here we come! George found a very safe neighborhood and Jack was happy to see other RVs. He still had a bit of trouble falling asleep. so I sat with him until he slipped off to dreamland.

First RV Trip for Jack!

Another first! First time at a Cracker Barrel. It was a hit.

I was able to book a stay at KOA near Mystic Seaport, in Connecticut. It turned out to be a campground needing some TLC. Neither of the two pools were working. No wonder they had space for us on the holiday weekend! Regardless, the trip was terrific and memorable. We took Jack to Mystic Seaport and we all had lots of fun. Jack is a great kid. His mind is like a spinning wheel that never stops. I am thoroughly amazed by his comments, ideas and observances. Watching the whole experience through his eyes made the trip even better.

Mystic Seaport

Last night: A campfire and a BIG Mr. Softee cone.

After returning from Mystic, we had another big celebration. George's step-dad, Charlie, turned 90. A party was held at Table 9, in Cortlandt Manor. Many friends and family gathered to mark this amazing milestone. George and I missed it due to me contracting the flu and George being contaminated, so sadly, no photos.

In August, we traveled up and around northeast coastal towns to the Boston-Salem area. The first stop was Aces High Campground in East Lyme, Connecticut. This was a very nice place and would love to stay here again for a longer time.

Aces High Campground. Close to the beach and seaside towns.

We got our 1st duck at Cape Anne!

The second stop was Cape Ann Campsites in Gloucester, MA. There were so many interesting places to visit, including the Salem Witchs' Cemetery. It was sad knowing these women were innocent and that ignorance was what actually killed them.

We came out of our RV one morning and there was a little blue duck on our Jeep. It had a tag attached that claimed "we had been ducked." Links to FB and Instagram explained the creation of this new fad that was borne out of sadness during COVID. The objective was to bring a smile to a fellow Jeep-er's face. 

 

I'm officially hooked on this new Jeep fad - share a duck and give a smile. It's a "Jeep thing."    

Cape Ann Campground, Gloucester, MA

Boston

Last stop was Alpine Lake Campground in Corinth, NY. We had been here before and loved its proximity to Lake George, Saratoga and Saratoga Springs. It is also a very peaceful place to just sit back and relax.

The view from our site.

The other side of the lake.

Saratoga Springs. We ducked and got ducked again!

We headed back to Croton and dealt with everyday life until it was time for our next trip with several other Islanders. We stayed at the quaint and comfortable Fisherman's Memorial State Park on Point Judith, in the town of Narragansett, RI. We were able to get a lot of sight-seeing squeezed in and had a pleasant (chilly) time.

Beavertail Lighthouse-3rd lighthouse on the Atlantic Coast.

The "facilities" at Beavertail Lighthouse. 

I felt like this blog entry rambled on for way too long. I will complete 2022 in my next entry. Its' not over until it's over.

Deep thought for the day:  Isn't life just ducky? As I proof-read this document, I noticed the three references to "ducks." We should all live a bit more like ducks - they love being in the rain, bobbing on the water, quacking and running or swimming in a line. They always look happy! Let's all try to be more "ducky." ~ vc

Wales, MA

Our third stop had us adding another sticker to our map and it was a nicely sized one too! We arrived after friend, Charlie and just in time to hook up and get dinner started. We will be spending this short, three-day stint together.

This campground had great reviews and was quite reasonably priced - both right up my alley. George had a list of, “You get what you pay for” comments early into setting up. The first problem being we only had 30 amp service and what followed next wasn't pretty - - difficulty hooking up to their confusing and overflowing sewer system. Oh well...I guess you get what you "don't" pay for.

A quick dinner of hot dogs, kraut, beans, and corn on the cob was an even more enjoyable and tasty meal eaten outdoors. Temps gradually dropping down allowing us to fire up our raging propane gas fire pit and witness the splendor of the rising moon. We didn't realize it at the time, but it was actually a "bad moon on the rise" predicting what would follow the next day.

After catching up with each other, we called it a night and heading inside as the mosquitoes attempted to eat us alive. 

"Uh, where are we? Why are we here?

Dad, please don't let them take my temperature!

Day two was a difficult day for us and awful for Miss Lucy Lu. We didn't wait too long before finding a highly rated Animal Hospital where we could get her checked out. Turns out, we were lucky, once more, to find a very clean and modern facility and felt confident in the vet who took care of her. She seems to have a urinary tract infection that was causing her quite a bit of distress and pain. Her frequent trips to her litter box and cries broke my heart. Daddy had located the hospital and drove there like an expectant father with a wife having contractions two minutes apart.

Lucy handled all the examinations like a trooper and was so well-behaved despite her malady and everyone loved her (like who couldn't). Over $350 later, they loved my Visa card even more. We brought her home and did our best to medicate her and keep her comfortable. She protested taking her meds, but Mommy tricked her with some chicken broth, and she was non-the-wiser.

We were so physically and emotionally wiped out after spending over four hours at the hospital, that George just grabbed some terrible take-out and we all went to bed early. Poor Charlie was on his own for the whole day, but never complained a bit. Sorry Charlie.

The last day turned out to be the best of the three.  We took a ride into Sturbridge Village and having both been there before, neither Charlie nor I recognized much of what we had seen in the past.  We got to make about 5 U-turns and got to see some interesting and some boring sites along the way, so not a total waste of time.

A train pulling out of the station in its hay day.

On the way back to the campground, George mentioned that he wanted to go to a restaurant that was an old railroad station . It was called The Steaming Tender. By the time we parked the car, we knew we were in for an interesting and informative evening. The building is a National Historic Site and every inch of it bespoke of years gone by when the main form of transportation was by train. There were so many items to photograph, that I only included the most spectacular and/or funny of the bunch.

The 1884 station itself was very authentic as you can see from the original photo and the ones I had taken during and after dinner. You can recognize the archways in several photos matching the original, as well as the entry doors and ticket booth. We all enjoyed walking around, each pointing out interesting old time pieces. Very scary for me to admit, but I recognized many of them, including (not photographed) the pot-belly stove that heated the waiting room. It was a similar design to the one I had warmed my hands on when traveling by train to high school. 

The 1909 Parlor Car. Used for private parties and Murder-Mystery Events.

Don't look at that man in the picture,,,,,focus on the background and then look at photo below!

We were sitting approximately right where this photo was taken. Curved ticket booth area no longer exists, but you can see the circle where they patched the floor ages ago.

Proud of his great choice of restaurant. 

Charlie opted for the Stout Wheat

Cheers - enjoying a nice Steel Pale Ale

Dinner was quite good and our waitress was sweet and dressed in engineer overalls.  The menu was varied so there was somethin' for everyone. During dinner a train made an unusually quiet approach, but then roared past the station to the surprise and shock of most the diners! Everyone had their hands to their chests and then we all looked at one another and laughed. I've eaten at a restaurant along side the Valhalla Train Station and always heard the train approaching, but not this train. It was kind of nice, because it made you look at all the people at the tables around you. It was a tremendously fun evening.

Leave it to me to be on hold after making a phone call.

Perfumatic.....it contained Brut and Old Spice

Charlie demonstrating his first paying job to youngster, George.

The only one eager to get on the scale. Charlie and I chose to look at other items of memorabilia.

Interesting and confusing plaque.

This is a photo of a train pulling into the station where we had our dinner.

Ticket Counter 

Stone platform where many people awaited their train.

I hope you can enlarge this photo to see the schedule. It is similar to how we travel by plane today; you need to arrive and plan to await your trains arrival to the station., which could take anywhere within a 2-hour window. 

Steam Engine 102 in the middle of the parking lot.

This is the newly refurbished Train Master Home that has been turned into a Bed and Breakfast. Future plans call for a horse and buggy to transport you back and forth to the train station. 

A bit more history of this beautiful Train Station. At the rear of the station, there is a unique and rare "diamond crossing," which allows trains to enter from north, south, east and west. When it was built, it was the third largest in Massachusetts. The property in front of the station has been excavated to reveal a former park and grotto. Attempts are being made to restored both to their former beauty, including using the flower and shrub plantings from the original architectural design. I would return here in the future to watch the progress as it moves forward bringing us back to the past.

Last photo of our stay here...sites 93 and 94.
We are in the foreground and Charlie is behind us.

Deep thought for the day: While we all enjoy the new, modern conveniences of life and depend upon immediate and precise timetables, the days when life moved by more slowly and less smoothly seem much more simple and easy. Technology has ended the hay day of railroad travel and it is bittersweet to see the things we have left behind along the way. ~ vc