Time marches on, but we let it pass

Plus side to retirement and living in an RV fulltime: no set plans.

Case in point, when asked earlier this year where we were going, our answer was: Halloween in VA, Thanksgiving in FL, Christmas in TX. Truth is Halloween was in MA where we stayed until mid-November. Our intended Halloween destination became our Thanksgiving location - we spent the week leading up to turkey day visiting family in the Annapolis/DC area, pulling in to our favorite Williamsburg RV park (American Heritage) on the 24th. We spent a week there and headed towards Florida. On the way to Leesburg, we found an amazing quiet RV park just off of I-95 in George (Lake Harmony RV Park) and stayed for 3 nights instead of our planned single.

Most recently, we landed at our planned location in Leesburg FL (Holiday Travel Resort) in early December (a month later than we first thought). Partially because the weather is so mild, partially because time has passed so quickly and we haven't done what we wanted and partially because we can, we've decided to extend our stay for another month.

Another day to just enjoy whatever happens when it happens

Stormy Weather

Although we’ve only been full-timing in our RV for 6 months, we’ve weathered (no pun intended) two potentially serious weather occurrences; Hurricane Irene and a pre-Halloween snow fall.

Because many of the RVers at the campground we were at when Hurricane Irene headed towards New England were frequent travelers to Florida during bad weather times, we received some really good advice from them. Everyone knew to pick up their small decorations and chairs from around their campsites, thus eliminating wind blown items. Those with screen houses either dismantled their units

or secured them with extra weights (btw, that one collapsed).

One couple stopped by our unit and reminded us to fill our fresh water holding tank. This way, if the campground lost electrical power and their pumps stopped working, we would still have access to drinking water. (Our RV holds 84 gallons of fresh, enough to last several days). They also said to make sure our propane tanks were full (cooking and possible heat should it get cold), and finally, since we have a generator, to make sure we had extra gasoline. Those 2 were common sense to us, but still good to hear from a more experienced RVer.

Another camper suggested that if the electricity did go out, to plug a radio, fan or light into the power post and to turn it on. That way, when the power did come back on, we’d have some indication and could discontinue the use of the generator.

Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the time it reached our area. We only had 1/2” rain, but the winds were rather strong. The area did lose power for several hours. We were very comfortable in our rig and had no issues with this storm.

On to Halloween; at a different campground and several days advance prediction of a snow storm. Most of the people at this campground were in just for the weekend activities, and although there was a prediction of up to 6” snow, we were amazed at the number of folks who arrived the day before the storm with plans to stay 2 nights.

As with the Hurricane, we made sure we were prepared with the full water tank as well as propane and gasoline. Saturday the rains started around noon and by 6pm the temperature had dropped and a light film of snow had fallen. Around 8:30, the campground lost power: we just hunkered down for the night while other campers around us rushed to pack up and leave.

Sunday morning we were still without power at the campground and about 4” of snow. Chuck got out a broom and climbed on to the RV to clear it. We walked about in the winter wonderland with the pups and were amazed at the amount of tree damage in the park. This RV park was in the forest, many maples and lots of oaks which all still had leaves. We saw several large branches down across RV units and heard of one family that had a branch crash right into their unit, thru the roof and in to the refrigerator.

We put a light on to our electric box and waited for it to relight, signally us that power was back. In the meantime, we cranked up the generator and pulled out the cribbage board. Wednesday evening, we noticed the light on outside the RV. The campground was back on the power grid.

So one strong wind storm and one adequate snow in the first six months. We feel they were both good tests for us and feel that we’ll be able to deal with Mother Nature.

Migratory Routes

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I’m noticing a lot more movement towards southern states. We’re traveling along I-95, spending the past few days between Williamsburg VA and coastal Georgia. A lot of the movement seems to be from Quebec and Ontario, although other representatives of the northeast region are frequently seen.

Talking with some of the locals along our way, it seems there’s a bit of a push south now but the heavier migration takes place right at the turn of the year. The most interesting occurrence I saw thus far was the car carrier with 8 or 10 vehicles, and all with license plates from Canadian Provinces. Guessing those snow birds really will fly south for the winter.

Halloween snow

What a difference a day makes - Friday morning there were perhaps 50 units in the campgound. All day long folks came in and there were about 25 open spaces at 9 pm (campground has about 400 sites). Folks were decorating like made all night for the Halloween party pm Saturday. 12 hours later, and we're watching them scurry as some dismantle their efforts and pack up to leave before the storm. Where's their sense of adventure? Or were they just smart enough to decide to go back home to weather the snow in October. We don't have much choice and will let you know how it goes...

If the day goes as planned for the campground, there are Halloween activities for kids from noon to 3, and then tonight is the adults' party. But Mother Nature plans to have 1 to 3 inches of rain falling this afternoon / evening, followed by the snowfall of upwards to 6" during the overnight and morning.

We had fun with the dusting of snow from the other day - Chuck made a mini snowman. But now that there's a considerable amount predicted, things are a bit different. We did keep a snow shovel, windshield scrapers, snow boots and the like when we sold the house last spring. And many times this summer we joked how we thought we were done with snow. Guess the jokes on us...

My biggest consolation is: if I were still working the cruise ships in Bar Harbor, and this was next year...

Road Trip ReCap

I’ve been retired for exactly one week and we’ve been living in an RV full-time for 6 months now. This blog is a quick recap of our travels.

Back in mid-April we moved out of our house and in to the 5th wheel and camped in our driveway for 2 weeks before heading towards Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. From April 29 thru Oct 13, we were parked at the Narrows Too Campground in Trenton, ME. We’ve stayed at Narrows Too the previous two years I did seasonal work on Mount Desert Island and knew it would fit our needs.

In late May we took delivery of our new 5th wheel, a Cameo by Carriage. Although we had to sort through all our belongings when we sold the home, we still had quite a bit to re-sort as we switched RV units.

Last week we finally started the “real” journey of full-timing. We packed up all our goods, once again getting rid of a few more items we decided we didn’t need - many items were repurposed with other seasonal RV friends at the campground.

Our first trip was rather short, less than 100 miles, but was necessary as we needed to stop to see family and friends as we left the area. The first night we boondocked at the WalMart in Rockland, ME. Their primary parking lot is sloped, but there was a smaller lot closer to Rt. 1 that was fairly level. Being after “the season”, ie after Columbus Day, we were the only RV in the lot for the night. Not wanting to take advantage of free camping and to keep with the concept of boondocking, we moved across town to the Lowes in Thomaston (4 miles) for our second night, allowing us another 24 hours to visit people in the area.

Day 3 put us back on the road again, and another short trip of under 100 miles to Portland, ME. We boondocked at Cabela’s in Scarboro as they have designated RV / truck parking as well as a sewer dump station. This night we were not alone, there were several truck campers and tractor trailer trucks utilizing the lot as well. While in the area we visited the “mothership” (our nickname for the L.L. Bean Flagship Store), had dinner with friends and brought the truck to the dealership for standard service.

Our next portion of the trip was the longest yet - a whopping 130 miles, landing us in West Boylston, MA where we camped out in front of my parents’ home for a few nights. We’ll be here another night or two and then will continue our journey, going where the road may lead us.

Cel-a-brate Good Times, Come On

This has been a week of celebrations, both in the U.S., as well as Canada. Today is the Fourth of July, a time for Americans to remember and honor the freedoms so many worked hard for us to have. Because we're traveling in the Canadian Maritime region, the 4th is being recognized to some degree, but mostly as a bookend to a long weekend.

This past Friday was Canada Day, or as it use to be called, Confederation Day - when several regions decided to become joined with others. We experienced lots of patriotism on that side of the border, very much like one finds in the U.S. - parades, flags, cookouts and fireworks.

The biggest celebration for me actually occurred over a week ago. I reached a mile stone birthday - my 50th. Like so many others, to me it's only a number, and an incorrect one at that. I honestly feel that I look and act much younger (for some reason I think I'm in my 30's).

To celebrate that momentous event I've opted to do my celebration with others, but without presents. My "party" was a reverse surprise party. I was one of the key organizers of a pot luck dinner at the campground and we didn't tell anyone it was a party until they arrived. We thanked them for coming and that the surprise was they didn't know it was a birthday party. The potluck was a blast.

Later this month I'll finish my birthmonth celebration with the opportunity to give to others by participating in a Mission Trip with the church, doing Housing Repair Ministry for folks in the Cherryfield, Maine area. We're still waiting to hear what work our group will be doing. I'm excited to be part of this wonderful project and wish I had done something like this sooner.

International Travel and trials

Having some free time between assignments in Bar Harbor, we decided to take our "home" and dogs across the border into New Brunswick, Canada. We've crossed the border in Calais / St. Stephen many times in the past 8 years and were ready for a quick, easy passage.

This trip across, they asked to inspect the camper and truck - we think they liked our Cameo and wanted to see one up close and personal. Inspection went very smoothly - Customs opened and closed every closet and drawer and moved on to the next -fortunately the inspector knew enough to keep her hand over the opening of the upper doors to prevent things from tumbling down as items shift in transit.

Our favorite place in New Brunswick is the quaint community of St. Andrews By The Sea. When we first came to the town, we'd stay at the Windsor House Inn, a beautiful property right on the main drag through town. Moneypenny gave them a full four paws on her visit - they spoiled her royally. A few years back we bought our first RV and stayed at the Kiwanis Campground out on the point in the town. We enjoyed our visit at the campground and returned 2 other years before this year. Prior to this year's trip, our visits to St. Andrews have been during "low season", i.e., not during July and August.

We phoned the campground to see if they'd have room for us for 2 nights and they managed to find us some space. We asked about staying 1 more night, so we'd be in town for Canada Day, but they are so full already, there are people "dry camping" or boondocking in the field in front of the rows of RVs. If you have an RV with slides and awnings, you want to put them out as soon as you get on your site so the next unit to pull in beside you knows how much room you need. We saw 2 units so close to each other, they were sharing the shade from 1 awning.

Later today we'll head out and return to a very small, quite campground in Hawkshaw, NB that we stayed at 2 years ago. The view from the campground is wonderful as they've terraced their sites and you look on to the St. John River. Not much to see or do there, but that's what vacations are all about. And we'll want a few quite days after yesterday's trial.

We had taken Rugby out for a walk and a chance to chase his ball. Moneypenny hadn't seemed interested in a walk at that time, so she was left behind in the camper. While playing ball, we noticed a deer feeding along the road and it seemed to be intrigued by our 4 legged creature as it moved in the same direction as us. After the deer left, we headed back to the campground down a trail blazed through the woods behind the campground. After crossing a small wooden bridge, Rugby started acting extremely weird - whimpering, shaking paws, trying to lick them, kicking out in a spasm twitch. We quickly felt his pads for burrs, thorns or rocks but found nothing.

We got back to the camper as quickly as we could and tried to calm Rugby down. He raced about like a crazed creature and wouldn't let us touch his paws. Because we had no idea of what was going on, we got on the internet and found the number for a local vet. We were blessed that there was a vet in the town, and although it was 4:47pm on the day before a major holiday weekend, the vet would be in and we could come by - only a 5 minute drive. As we headed towards the vet, we were trying to remember exactly where we were and what happened when I remembered seeing small ants on the bridge when we had crossed it earlier in the day - could they have been fire ants I wondered? (I thought they were in the southern U.S., but perhaps they were in the Canadian Maritime region.

The vet saw us immediately on arrival and when we made the comment about ants, confirmed that there were indeed fire ants in the region and combined with our description of Rugby's actions, felt it was indeed the reason for his behavior. Dr. Sandra Holdway, DVM quickly checked Rugby over and then gave him an injection. The entire time time we were at the vet, I was thinking in my mind about how much an after hours, holiday weekend, emergency visit was going to cost. The emergency call portion of the bill was only $90 Cdn. Total bill was $200 Cdn. A major relief for us. And hopefully the pet insurance we have will cover a portion of this.

Rugby rested well all night and seems none the worse for wear this morning. Maybe Moneypenny skipped that walk intentionally.

Time to get the camper ready for the road. Happy Canada Day from us in Canada and Happy Fourth of July for the U S - bookends for the weekend. May the only fireworks you experience be in the skies at night.