Monday, September 29 – Monday, October
6, 2014
Monday, September 29: Day Six
Today was a
travel day; we got up early, had a light breakfast, got the rig ready to roll,
and headed east after a delightful stay in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania.
Fall had not settled
in yet, so there weren’t many photo opportunities for beautiful colors. Still, the countryside through northeastern
Pennsylvania was beautiful.
Before long,
we crossed over into New York...
and began
experiencing great lengths of toll roads.
The New York Thruway, which is also I-90, is a wonderful highway, and we
made a generous contribution to its upkeep.
We were
especially impressed with the service areas along the thruway. They had more than adequate parking for big
rigs, clean restrooms, a variety of dining opportunities, and outdoor markets
with farm-fresh produce. We decided this
morning to buy a variety of fresh plums and sample them along the way.
And, we took a little time out for some photo phun...
While today
was essentially a Point A to Point B day, we weren’t in any great hurry, and
arrived at our destination, the Oneida RV Resort, around 4:00 pm, giving us
plenty of time to get Big V all set up for a few days of down-time so we could
rest, relax, and do some serious sightseeing.
We went out
for dinner tonight and, on the shuttle ride back to the park, received some
good information about places to go and things to see on a planned jaunt into
the Adirondacks tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 30: Day Seven
Barbara woke
up sick this morning, so we cancelled out travel plans and just stayed in place
for most of the day. It was just as
well, as we had a large load of laundry to do and some chores to take care of
around Big V.
When I hooked
up our water line yesterday, I couldn’t get a tight seal on the inlet to Big V,
so we just used the water pump, rather than wasting water that would drip/spray
onto the ground. After playing with the
hose a bit, I finally got the seal I needed and we were back in business with
fresh water...and I was soaking wet from being sprayed each time I disconnected
and reconnected the hose.
Barbara
started feeling better around noon, but not well enough to get out, so I
tackled another repair job that had needed work for a couple of years. A cabinet drawer under the refrigerator
hadn’t been working properly in a long time, so I thought this would be a good
time to at least find out what was wrong.
It took a couple of hours of twisting and turning, pulling and pushing,
and making wild guesses about what to do next, but I finally got the roller
guides back where they belonged and the drawer reattached to the guides. Now we have a drawer that opens easily, but
stays in place when we are traveling.
While I was
working on the drawer, Barbara was at the computer designing postcards from
some of the photos we had taken along the way.
We thought they would be a great way to share our adventures with the
kids and grandkids.
Barbara was
feeling much better evening we made the 12-mile drive to Oneida to do some
shopping at Walmart. Along the way, we
passed through Oneida Castle, a small community that adjoins the town of
Oneida.
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Wednesday, October 1: Day Eight
We were both
feeling chipper this morning, so we went through our morning routine, took a
photo of Big V in its setting...
Then loaded
the car and took off to do some exploring in the Adirondacks, a name that we’d
heard all our lives ( and that sound more mysterious than “Rockies” or
“Smokeys.” Our route today took us North
to Rome and then a little northeast to Barnveld where we caught Highway 28 to
Old Forge, a place of interest given to us a couple of nights ago by our
shuttle bus driver.
Fall was
definitely making its appearance, and today we got some spectacular views of
the changing of the colors.
We were
hungry when we got to Old Forge, so our first stop was at Slickers, a
restaurant that Barbara located through Yelp.
The reviews sounded good enough for us, so we decided to give it a try,
and it turned out to be a gold mine in more ways than one. Not only did we enjoy great food in a
beautiful outdoor setting, we had some very good photo opportunities while we
ate.
When we paid
out, our waitress recommended that we go back through town and ride the chair
lifts to the top of the local mountain to get a better view of the area. We took her up on her recommendation and
found it to be a most enjoyable experience as we rode up the lift, spent time
on the top, and then photographed sights as we returned to the bottom of the
mountain.
After
returning to the car, we drove back through Old Forge toward the north and the
little lake community of Inlet. We were
really looking for someplace to find a fountain drink, but found that that
doesn’t seem to be a very important thing in the area. Instead, we found a beautiful lake, friendly
people, and a charming little community with a lot of pride.
On the way
back toward Old Forge, we took a slight detour to look at some fall colors off
the beaten path. I would have liked to
climb Bald Mountain, but it was getting late in the afternoon and we had no
intention of being on unfamiliar roads when it got dark.
The colors
were just as pretty heading south as they were when we drove north this
morning, and we even had the opportunity to photograph some old churches along
the way, even if we did put life and limb in danger to stop on the side of a
very narrow highway to get the shots we wanted.
We got back
to the RV park around sunset. While
Barbara fixed supper, I got in some practice time on the trumpet. She likes to be serenaded in the evenings
with some of her favorite hymns.
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Thursday, October 2: Day Nine
This was
another day for exploration. We
backtracked along I-90 to Syracuse and then turned north on I-81 toward
Canada. Along the way we stopped at a
rest area to get our bearings and take some photos of the foliage.
Farther up
the road, we began looking for someplace to get a cup of coffee. When we saw a sign that read, “Fat Nancy’s,”
and saw all the cars and trucks parked there, we thought we’d found a great break place. Alas, Fat Nancy’s is primarily a regional
sporting goods store, with all the hunting and fishing gear one could ever
possibly need. They didn’t have any
fountain drinks, but I managed to get a cup of coffee with enough octane to
carry me for a few more hours.
We saw plenty
of beautiful scenery and a lot of farmland as we got closer to the St. Lawrence
River and the U.S. / Canadian border.
And then we
were at the border, with the customary wait in line and a list of questions to
answer before we were admitted to Canada.
Finally, we got to use the new passports we carried with us on the Taz
trip last spring!
We had
considered driving to Kingston, since we had heard so much about it, but
decided instead to stop at Gananoque (pronounced Gan-on-uh-kway), a very pretty
and quaint little town along the St. Lawrence River. Our first stop was at the visitors center
where we were treated like royalty.
Then we went
across the street to eat lunch at The Socialist Pig, an old iron foundry that
has since been converted to a restaurant.
It was a beautiful day, so we were happy to sit outside and enjoy a
delightful meal.
When we had
finished looking, shopping, and eating in Gananoque, we drove along the shore
highway back toward the border crossing, stopping, of course for more photos.
Close to the
border, we pulled into an area that had a 40-story tower that we could ascend
(mostly be elevator, but stairs for the top to stories to look out and get
panoramic views of the St. Lawrence River, the Thousand Islands, Canada, and
the United States.
The Thousand Islands
are islands that can actually be purchased from the nation on whichever side of
the border they are located. Some are
just large enough for camping or fishing, while others have mansions and
private golf courses. Barbara said that
if I really loved her, I would buy her one of the islands. I don’t know what it says for me, but I
didn’t talk to any realtors while we were there.
We could see
that we might be getting low on time, so we said goodbye to Canada, crossed the
border into the United States (with the usual questions about where we were
from, where we had been, what had we bought, etc.) and began the drive back
south to Syracuse and east to the Oneida/Verona area.
By the time
we finished with the afternoon rush hour around Syracuse and returned to our RV
park, we were exhausted, but happy at having the opportunity to see the places
we saw today.
Barbara fixed
our supper tonight and I got in another trumpet practice session before we
called it a night.
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Friday, October 3: Day Ten
This was
another travel day, so we got up, packed Big V and the car, and got everything
ready to go. After I disconnected all
the utilities and got hoses and cords put away, Barbara drove Big V to the
parking lot at the front of the park and I drove the car around and hooked it
up...and then, like Willie Nelson, we were “on the road again,” driving east on
the New York Thruway toward Albany.
We saw some
beautiful scenery along the way and will let the photos speak for themselves.
We even ran along the famed Erie Canal for a short while...
Dropping southeast from Albany, we continued on the Thruway until we came to the final NY toll station and paid the price for the smooth ride.
In just a few
more miles, we crossed into Massachusetts and entered the Mass Turnpike.
We stopped at
one of the Turnpike service centers for lunch, and found that it compared very
favorably to the New York service centers, with good parking areas and a good
selection of food places. We chose a
delicious flatbread sandwich from D’Angelo’s, and while it was being made,
Barbara had her photo taken with Tedi Bruschi of the New England Patriots.
As we were
leaving the food court, we saw a little farmers market outside and stopped to
see what was available. We bought some
jelly and a Kiwano, a fruit we'd never heard heard of that
originated in Africa. It wasn’t nearly ripe yet, so we set it aside
in a safe place in Big V.
Back on the
Mass Pike, we continued travel across I-90, enjoying the scenic views.
We broke away
when we got to I-290 and followed it through Worcester (pronounced wuh-stuh),
and then more or less toward Marlborough until we broke away to the north on
I-495.
Traffic got a
little intense on I-495 when we got to a stretch where we encountered both road
repairs and an accident, but we made it through just fine and finally turned
off at Littleton and made the last couple of miles to the Boston Minuteman
Campground.
We found the
campground to be rustic, but designed in such a way that every RV site was as
level as an unpaved site could possibly be, and had easy access and egress.
Once we got
everything set up and hooked up, the major priority was to grab the clothes
hamper and head for the laundry room so we’d have something to wear for the
next few days.
We were
considering eating out, but didn’t find anything close by that we wanted, so we
took the clean laundry, returned to Big V, and Barbara made a great evening
meal out of leftovers.
With laundry
done and a good meal behind us, we settled in for a good night’s rest after a
long, but fun and interesting, day of travel.
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Saturday, October 4: Day Eleven
Today we
drove the car back down I-495 to Ashland to spend time with son-in-law Andy’s
parents, Len and Marilyn Dondis. We
spent a short time getting the grand tour of their home. They took us out to lunch where we continued
our multiple conversations about family members (especially shared grandchildren).
Then we
returned to the house for a delightful afternoon of chatting about everything
under the sun, including plans for a ride into Boston tomorrow in the T, one of
our favorite mass transit systems.
When we had
said all that could be said for one day, we said our goodbyes and started back
toward Littleton, making a stop along the way at a Market Basket super store
for a few necessities. Readers may
remember the big dust-up about Market Basket and the family in-fighting that
included a shutdown of the stores recently.
We were very pleased with the layout of the store and the friendliness
of the folks who worked there. It was
easy to see why the customers were so vocal in their support of the owner who
had been fired.
It was dark
and rainy when we returned to Big V...a perfect night to kick back and do
absolutely noting of any importance.
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Sunday, October 5: Day Twelve
We began our
day by driving into Littleton to attend the morning service at First Baptist
Church. While the congregation was
small, the people were friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed the music and
elements of the service. We both felt
that the service seemed to be more Methodist than Baptist, reminding Barbara of
her Methodist upbringing and me of the years that I spent as director of music
at First Methodist Church in Stanley, North Carolina.
All was well
until the speaker, a former minister at the church, began. It became evident that he was going to just
talk about the history of the congregation and didn’t have much intention of
delivering a sermon. The service had
gone on for over an hour when he started, and we had made arrangements to meet
Len and Marilyn at 12:30, so we quietly removed ourselves from the group, made
our way back to the car, and drove back to Ashland.
Once we were
at the Dondis home, Marilyn got the car out and drove us to the MBTA South
Station where we caught a Green Line train and rode into town. The Government Square station was closed, so
we got off at the next stop and then walked back up the street toward Quincy
Market, passing through the Holocaust Memorial.
We wandered
around the market area for a few minutes and then chose to have lunch at Durgin Park Restaurant,
an eatery that can best be described as quaint and interesting. The food was wonderful, though, as was the
company.
Later, we did
some shop-looking and even some shopping before watching a street performer do
his schtick out in the square.
All that was
left to do then was to make our way back to the station (which took more time
than we thought because Marilyn and Barbara disappeared into another shop),
catch the Green Line train, and head back to South Station.
Marilyn then
drove us back to the house where we visited some more, had our family photo,
said our goodbyes, promising to catch up with each other again in Dallas when
we all plan to attend the Grandparents Day program at Alexander and Abby’s
school.
On the way out of Ashland, we had an opportunity for a photo shot that we had missed earlier that showed some of the beauty of the area.
We were weary
with well-doing by the time we got back to Big V, and were more than ready to
crash and take it easy for the evening.
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Monday, October 6: Day Thirteen
We started
our day by making a last trip to the laundry room to get everything ready for
the next leg of our journey. When that
was done, we returned to Big V to take care of regular business and design a
postcard that we wanted to send out.
Many years
ago when we visited Heather in Boston, she took us out to Walden Pond, made
famous by the life and times of Henry David Thoreau. We knew that we wanted to go back on this
trip, and since this was our last day in the Boston area, today was the day.
The area
around Walden Pond was just gorgeous, and the weather cooperated fully. We spent some time (and money) in the gift
shop, then walked across the street and down to the pond for a photo session.
When we had
completed our time at Walden Pond, we drove back on Highway 2 to South Acton to
stop at a K-Mart store for some things for the motor home (which they didn’t
have) and to grab some lunch at Johnny Rocket.
And then it
was time to go back to Boston Minuteman Campground to do some serious cleaning,
straightening, and packing to get ready for our next set of adventures
beginning tomorrow.
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“Go confidently in the
direction of your dreams!” Live the life
you’ve imagined. As you simplify your
life, the laws of the universe will become simpler.” Henry David Thoreau, American author,
poet, and philosopher
From the
Greater Boston Area,
Jim/Dad/Gramps
and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
