Don't Worry About the Skunks, Huh, What

Well today started out well.  I got in a 2.25 mile run/walk to get the day started.  Yup, I’m trying to get back into shape.  Since we are about a mile from Johnny Angels Clam Shack I make that my turn-around point. Not record time but I’m improving.  From there it was breakfast and a shower.  Our plan was to kayak to Ninegret Pond, possibly to Green Hill Pond.  As we were getting set showers arrived so we go to Plan B. We needed quarters so it was off to the bank.  Rand McNally handled this task easily Next, however, we plug a Laundromat into the Rand McNally GPS and it sends us down 5 miles of country back roads to – nothing!  So it becomes “Hey, Siri” time.  Siri gives us accurate directions to 3D’s Laundromat. In Narragansett – yup the town the beer is named after!  3Ds is a recently expanded and modernized laundry.  The days of sticking quarters in machines –we had plenty and were ready to - are long gone!! In about an hour we have clean, folded clothes and its back to the campground with cleared skies overhead.  With clothes put away we load the kayaks into the truck and head to the boat launch at the end of the campground.  This was a short-lived adventure since the current was strong and we were headed against it  So…Plan C…off to the beach.  We et the kayaks out of the water and stored at the campsite and spend a couple of enjoyable hours at Charlestown Beach.  Lori really enjoys the waves and today they were large and constant

After the beach it is supper time.  Finally a chance to clean up the refrigerator a little bit!  I try to do most of my cooking on a Weber Q.  I fuel mine from a 5 pound propane bottle.  I have a 20 pounder as a stand by and some green Coleman bottles should there be a problem with the safety devices in the propane hose (there is one at each end and their failure limits flow through the hose to 10%). Well my 5 pounder went empty but initially gave indication of a hose failure.  This took a little time to figure out and when I’m hungry …well patience is not my virtue.  I finally got it figured out and was cooking on the 20 pound tank.

After my morning run/walk I went to the beach to stretch.  It was high tide and the wave action was impressive.  The second high tide of the day was at 6:52 p.m. so I decided to bring Lori back to the beach to check it out.  Well, it was not as impressive as the first.  So its off to the other end of the campground to watch the sunset and call it a day.  The mosquitoes and pretty aggressive here at night – though not as bad as Assateague Island – and rumor has it there are a pair of friendly skunks that like to mingle with the campers.  We are told they are very acclimated to the humans in the campground and pose not threat – NO THANK YOU!!!!

The Beginning of Full-Time Experiance

Well this should be the start of daily postings.  I’m now fully retired and we have started the adventure of traveling the country.  We have no house to come back to and no storage unit – everything we own is in our Ram 2500 and the Flagstaff.  At this point I should introduce you to Navy Bear and Marine Bear.  These are our travel companions and my goal is to post a picture of them at every location.

Our first visit is at Charlestown Breachway.  We love the beach settings.  Charlestown Breechway is a marked parking lot.  While the sites are wide, it is flat and open.  Other than being right on the breechway it is not visually appealing.  The access road has numerous speed bumps so proceed at the posted speed limit – or less.  The campground has no services but provides clean Clivus composting toilets.  Since there are no utilities provided generators are a nice option My first impression however, was that this place is the large generator rally point.  Generator hours are 8 am to 8 pm and a large portion of the campers run generators the whole time.  The guy two sites down from me was actually at his generator at 7:55 pm monitoring his watch.

On the positive side we are close to the beach and the campground has a boat launch that is not directly on the ocean so kayaking is easily doable.  These are all features that Lori loves.  We all know the adage.  Happy wife – happy life!

Since this was our first day.  We decided to go out to dinner.  We first tried Johnny Angels Clam Shack but they were close (for a babysitting issue – really?).  So it was off to Cap'n Jacks Restaurant for a mediocre meal.  I had the clam cakes and chowder.  The chowder was thin and lacked creaminess.  The fritters had little flavor and it was like one big chunk of clam was in each ball.  Lori’s fish was good but the fries were flavorless and possibly refried – which is OK for beans – not for fries.

We also discovered we had some friends camping here from the Venture Post my American Legion sponsored.  Always nice to find a friendly – and familiar face or two.  We got to enjoy the evening sunset talking about going full-time.  They are also planning to full-time this winter so we shared tips, tactics, and philosophies over a few glasses of grape juice (the place is alcohol free).

Tomorrow we explore the Ninegret Pond with the kayaks.  Should be a good time!

Update through June

O.K.  Again, its been a while.  We completed our annual trip to Assateague Nation Seashore.  Always a very relaxing trip. Horses (actually pony size) roam the island freely.

 June was a four-weekend month, three state month.  We started out at Odetah campground in Bozrah, CT.  It's been many years since we've been there and it is greatly improved.  Odetah has become a high class resort - to the point the food court will deliver to your site if the order is more than $20!.  Odetah has definitely become a full-service destination.  We went from resort camping in CT to boondocking in MA.  Horseneck Beach is a nice quality campground that has a first rate staff.  If you get past the fact that it is dry camping.  Horseneck is located in Westport, MA. and is at the junction of Buzzards Bay and Rhode Island Sound

We love beach camping and boondocking is not a problem for us,

From Horseenck it was off to Promised Land State Park What a beautiful place!!!  Services are a little weird in that you get electric but no water at most locations, though there are several full service sites.  We kayaked the pond all of Saturday so we did not get to explore much but the place was so beautiful its on our "Return to" list.

The last stop for June was back to CT. and another resort!  Lone Oak in East Canaan is a beautiful campground that is well laid out and is full service.  This includes two pools, hot tub, and adult lounge!  Lone Oak is an annual adventure for us so this weekend we went to explore Rhinebeck Aerodrome.  Rhinebeck was not flying this weekend because of overcast conditions.  This gave us time to leisurely stroll the exhibits and rounds.  The place is amazing!  From the airfield to the static displays.  You can tell this is a functioning museum that is constantly working on the displays (aircraft).  I have to plug an unexpectedly good restaurant.  We were driving back to Lone Oak we decided to eat on the road rather than make supper when we got back.  We get to Pine Plains, NY and Tower Pizza pops up on the left side of the road.  I got the 'Jitterbug' (Hamburger on open faced garlic bread with gravy and fries!  This was amazing!  Lori got meatball pizza.  The small is 3" larger than the CT equivalent.  The sauces is great with just the right amount of garlic.  My preference would have been for just a touch more generous hand on the toppings but it was delicious>

Keep tuned, we only have two trips in July and I am hoping to report on each one separately.

The first big trip - the second leg, getting to our destination

On Sunday we make a quick English muffin and try to hook up the Flagstaff before the airshow crowd arrives.  Willow Pond is a small campground and it seemed easier to pull out of my site and back to the dump station. To manage the stress we also grab coffees from the on base Dunkin Donuts.  The trip, while at a slower pace than usual, went smoothly.  It was race day in at Dover International Speedway (why is it “international”?) but with a slight rain it kept the traffic moving.  However, there was a much more serious crowd at Medding Seafood. Both Lori and I had creamy crab soup, as is our ‘tradition’.  From there the trip is a joy – flat, fast and 50ish!  Since we were moving at a slower pace than usual the entrance gate was unmanned.  I always look forward to the landmark in the picture – I know I’m really close to http://www.nps.gov/asis.  They charge a day use fee or a $25/week fee and that had to be collected at the office on check-in.  Don’t forget, the office staff is not used to collecting the fee and the ranger who checked us in forgot to ask.  Fortunately, I remembered and asked to pay the fee.  If not you just get held up at the gate the next time you enter the park.

The first big trip - the first leg

Well I haven’t been as faithful to this as I thought I would be. I’m still working 40+ per week so that’s my excuse. We are on our first big adventure with the new trailer.  We spent two days living in our driveway while we cleaned out the mobile home so the daughter could move into it.  Once that was complete we headed to the Mohegan Sun RV lot for a week.  This was a really good test of tank capacity!  The Flagstaff manages to hold a full-week’s worth of black and grey, thanks to dual 45 gal grey water tanks.  After the week was over we were at 1/3 capacity in the fresh water tank and 2/3 full in all three holding tanks.  It was then off to our stop at Joint Base Dix/McQuire/Lakehurst.  This turned in to quite an adventure.  My new Rand McNally GPS set up for RV use routed me through downtown NYC – literally Broadway to West 179^th Street.  Lesson learned – check the routes turn-by-turn before departing.  Lori did an excellent job navigating! My 2500 Ram with crew cab and 8-foot bed, towing a 30 foot RV made it through gridlock traffic without incident!  When we stopped to stretch at the Thomas Edison service area on the New Jersey Turnpike I noticed one of my Andersen weight distribution chains had failed and the remainder of the chain had been dragging on the roadway. So now I’m towing with no weight distribution and no sway control!!  When we get to Trenton, NJ the roads leading to Fort Dix were blocked off for an air show!  We had to stop and request access through one of the road blocks.  Finally on base, we go to Outdoor Recreation to find the office closed for the weekend due to the airshow!  Thankfully we have been here before and know our way around fairly well. So we head to Willow Pond campsites hoping we can identify ours!  It was easy Willow Pond is a small camp area right next to the flighline.  On airshow day there was only one spot open – must be ours!  After backing into the site we attempt to unhook and the electric tongue jack won’t work. It has power but will not lower.  Break out the manual tool and it is still jammed.  Apparently there is a little mark in the shaft that says “Do not raise farther that this”.  Ooops, who knew?  We had to use the truck jack to raise the trailer tongue to separate from the Ram.  Next we open the door to get slides out and notice the contents of the pantry (for us the closet on the left as you enter the rig) are deposited across the floor.  We get that cleaned up, get the slides out and water and electricity hooked up and it is now time to eat – but who wants to cook!  We decide we’ll head to Burger King on base only to find it closed so it was off to the Base Exchange – they have an Arby’s!!!  We get there and Arby’s is also closed – guys, we’re holding an airshow!  Everyone is on base!!! Fortunately there was a Charleys Philly Cheesesteak.  Lori had a Philly and I went with the Ultimate Fries!  Well that is the first leg.  Stay tuned for the details on the rest of the trip.

We're now full-time

Well, we are officially full-time in the RV.  We transferred the mobile home to my daughter on Friday.  While preparing the ‘house’ for her to take over we spent a couple of nights in the Flagstaff.  Now she has the house and we a relinquished to the trailer.  Since we are headed to our favorite place – Assateague Island – for a week vacation soon we decided to spend the night at Ross Hill Campground.  This will give us a chance to top off the fresh water and head to Mohegan Sun with empty waste tanks.  This will be a nice capacity check before heading to Assateague.