Things have been busy trying to get ride of the house (giving it to the daughter), downsizing the estate to fit into the new rig, and trying to get retirement setup so this post combines our first two trips in the Flagstaff. We started with a planned weekend to Normandy Farms in Foxboro, MA for their CT weekend. Since Camping World (Berkley, MA) is on the way there (sort of) we decided to make it a long weekend and spend Thursday night at my oldest son's (Jim) house and hang with the grandkids We dry-camped in his driveway for our very first night in the new rig. Being very early April the heat ran all night. When I got up at 6:30 (ish) am I had 1/3 battery capacity remaining. By 7:30, with the sun coming up the battery was already up to 2/3 capacity - Solar panel CHECK!
Acushnet, MA is a very quaint town for an early morning walk. I always bring an insulated mug of coffee with me when I walk. Just slide it through a belt loop when it empties. After getting kind of lost (I am slightly familiar with the town) I came out at an intersection with a Dunkin Donuts. I decided I need another cup and got one for the Mrs.. Jim made a nice breakfast sandwich for both Lori and I and then we were off to Camping world.
One would think that a store named "Camping World" would be able to handle people who show up to shop and have their campers in tow. Not necessarily the way life is though! Berkley had no parking for a pickup/trailer combination. However, the staff was very accommodating and helped us back in to the area where they sell trailers from. We got many items for the new trailer including an RV GPS and a surge protector for hooking up to the parks electrical system. Since we are going to full-time in August and travel to many different types of facilities the surge protector seemed like a good investment.
Heading from Camping World to Normandy Farms we hit a winter storm. The snow came down hard and eventually started to accumulate in the breakdown lanes. We made it to Normandy Farms without incident and were very efficiently checked in.
Normandy Farms is a very high-end campground and lives to that standard. The entire staff is professional and friendly, from the pool staff to the gate personnel. Lori and I got to enjoy the pool/sauna/hot tub area on Friday evening. Made for a very relaxing time seeing the drive in the snow was white-knuckle for me.
We go to check out all the systems in the Flagstaff on Friday and early Saturday. I noticed that the water heater did not work on AC but it did work on propane. A quick check of the owners manual alerted me to a switch that is used when draining the tank for winterizing. The switch was easy to find and corrected the issue. The rest of Saturday we spent with friends from the Fold and Go camping group. We checked out the different snowmen that were built at sites throughout the campground and actually got to see a "Tiny House". Normandy Farms was unique because I did not see one 'park model' home in the entire place!
Our second weekend in the rig was to the other end of MA. near Sturbridge Village. For years we have hit Sunsetview Farm in Monson on their opening weekend. This is a very rural campground so it is quiet.
Unlike Normandy Farms most activities at Sunsetview are outdoors so the pool is not open when we are there and they have not yet staffed the kitchen. However, the staff here is very nice and we use this as the first campout of the season for the Fold and Go group.
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