The road less traveled

During the past month's travels our destinations have been locations off the beaten path; not located on the the major Interstates.  Those that have driven me places know that I am a horrendous passenger and hate, hate, hate being with a lot of other traffic on the roads, never mind not behind the wheel of the vehicle.  Chuck and I share driving on our travels, changing back and forth every 1.5 to 2 hr intervals.  Even then I get antsy being the passenger for more than 3 hrs a day and get very jumpy and fidgety.

Starting with our departure from Maine, via Route 9 into Canada, we've not had to use a major Interstate except for very short durations.  The roads are classified as truck routes, so we know we've got clearance for the RV with overpasses.

In New Brunswick, Canada, their Route 2 is mostly 4 lanes, but because it generally goes along outside cities, there are very few points of major congestion along the way.  The provinces of PEI and Quebec were generally two lane roads with clearly marked passing zones (including signage as to when the next passing zone would occur).

Our journey through the U.P. of Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa have been on secondary highways and I've been enjoying the trip so much more than I thought.  We passed by farms and through small towns but still had good roadways were we could be passed by those that wanted to get places faster than us.

With all our travels we use various mapping programs, including one of which gives us options on types of road or conditions (no tolls, no interstates, bridge heights, etc.  Although I haven't used the designation of "no interstates" I just may do that on future trips.  It's been lots of fun.  Here's our journey via Google Maps for the month of June.  Nearly 3,000 miles and no white knuckles.

Images from our day in Old Quebec

Favorite images / sunsets

During all these travels, I've enjoyed having the opportunity to take numerous photographs.  There are way too many to choose any one or two individual shots. And I know I have to limit my selection for "show and tell".  Here are some of my favorite sunsets (sorry, don't do sunrises as 4:00 am is way too early to be getting up in some of the areas we've visitied).    What's your favorite?

#1, #2, #3, #12 - Malpaque Bay, PEI

#4 - #7 - Pipestone, MN

#8 - #10 - West Yellowstone, WY

#11 - Island Park, ID

You meet all types ...

We're having a fun adventure with our Canadian travels at this time due to our location.  We've been in the Acadian Regions of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (PEI) and have found it interesting to see how well our high school French is doing.  I dropped French as soon as I could in high school, but Chuck says he took it all 4 years.  Reading signs or brochures has been much easier than listening to people speak.  The fortunate part for us has been most of the folks we've met in these regions are bilingual and we've been able to have good conversations.

At a recent community campfire we really had an international gathering.  There were 5 couples represented, 2 from the U.S., 2 from Germany and one from Canada.  The 2 German couples had flown to NY and rented campers on Long Island NY and were traveling to Nova Scotia and PEI.  One of the men had a great command of English, the 2 ladies spoke a bit of English but mostly German and the other man spoke only German.  The other American couple were like us and spoke English and knew a few words but couldn't converse in German.  The Canadian couple were from the Province of Ontario and spoke English also.  Although there were language issues, we all spoke the communal language of camping and enjoyment.

There was another couple at the campground how had been invited to join at the fire, but they opted to not attend. We found out from the German folks that the other couple were also from Germany and that they were on a multi-year trip in their RV.  (Since we're full-time RVers now, Chuck and I did not think the comment too odd about how long the Germans were traveling, but to the other folks who were all part-time travelers, it was impressive.)

The unit the third German couple drove was impressive to us though.  They have a M A N.  It looked very recent and in good condition and we were amazed to learn that the rig is over 20 years old.  It does command quite a view both when you're parked next to it as well as seeing it driving down the road.

We were told that that couple is planning on driving towards Vancouver, BC, then head south through the US before going on into Mexico.

Quand on vous refile un citron...

Northeast New Brunwsick was a lot of fun for us.  We're staying in Caraquet, New Brunswick, which has a very strong French Canadian / Acadian influence.  (according to Wikipedia, 98.5% of the population speak French and less than 1/2 of those folks are bilingual.)  Signs for all businesses, road signs, and everything else is in French.  I only took 2 years of French lessons in High School so it's been a bit of a challange.  But we're doing reasonably well.

Every time I greeted someone I acknowledged them with both English and French so they realized I'm not from around here.  At one of our stops, Chuck and I ended up talking with a couple who have lived here all their lives.  To our luck they were bilingual and we had a nice conversation with us trying to use French and them using English.

The trip to the supermarket was lots of fun.  One staff member and I spoke about what a specific sign meant - turns out the cooked lobsters/ homard cuire for sale in the store were not cooked on location, rather somewhere in town / marche.  She said folks are very particular about where and how the lobsters are cooked.

Some of the oddities in this region though include milk and mail.  Milk can be bought in a 4 Liter bag.  That's right, a bag.  It also comes in plastic bottles, but a bag.  And the cost of milk is a case of sticker shock for us - $6 - $8 depending on where you shop.

The other interesting oddity is the mail.  Instead of the carrier going house to house like most U.S. neighborhoods, we saw multiple community mailboxes - some in the middle of a town, others out along the roads through the villages.

I was happy with how well we got around in this region.  Although it's not where I would want to settle down, I feel I could visit it several times and get by.

As for the title of today's blog....

The things we do for fun

We arrived at our campground and while we were checking in, the owner went over some of the things to do in the area. Because this campground was at a winery, naturally they offered wine tasting. She also mentioned that they were holding an art class that evening, all supplies provided and no experience or talent required.

Everyone we had met in the office had been so friendly and enthusiatic, I decidded I would indeed try my hand at painting.  Because of a very rainy day, some folks had cancelled leaving just 2 of us in attendance.  Our instructor was the owner of the vineyard, mother-in-law of the campground owner. My fellow attendee was also staying in the campground and the 3 of us hit it off well.



Our still life was to be based on another painting of fruit and a glass of wine.  I set to work on the task at hand and started doing the painting as instructed, although at times it seemed confusing to me. We were directed to start with the piece of fruit in the foreground and work our way back. This made filling in the background and layering more difficult for me, but I perservered through the session.


As we ladies were having so much fun, and after 2 hours of painting, knew we needed to take a break for the night, we decided to rejoin at 10 the next morning to continue our works of art.  Upon my return to the RV, I looked up differnt still life images on the computer.  During our time painting, I was bothered with the centralness of my work, all the fruit and wine glass were in the middle and although there was some variety of height, the edges were empty.  While viewing the internet images I realized that I could add a wine bottle to my painting which would help give more height and direction to my scene.

The next morning, as I looked at my painting from the night before, I changed my mind as to the locaiton of the bottle I was going to add.  Instead of having it sitting on the table, I chose to have it suspended, with wine pouring out of the neck of the bottle and in to the glass.  Naturally I also added a cork on the table to my image.


I asked if there was any rhyme or reason to the placement of my name or initials as I felt that should be my final activity on the canvas. Should it be to the bottom right or left.  Looking at my canvas I realized that my signature and date could only go in one place; on the cork from the wine bottle.

Now to decide how to frame it and where to hang it.

Some campground reviews

Jan-Feb: Crystal Isles RV Resort, An Encore Park, Crystal River, FL.  Our site was classified as a Thousand Trails member site (we aren't TT members, but were allowed to use the site). Parking area and patio region were a full cement slab. 50amp FHU. monthly cost: $500 + tax + electric + wifi. Large park, around 200 sites, most back-in.
Pro: had their own boat launch on to an inlet on the Crystal River, Gulf Coast Region of Florida. Weekly activity meetings with free food. Several dog waste baggie dispensers around campground. Weekend breakfast buffets $. Monthly live band w/free admission.
Con: Only 1 place to hold activities so limited. Outdoor swimming pool, other entertainers with $ cover charge. Office staff did not always come across as competent and we had several financial errors with our bills. No-see-um insects were a major nuisance and we were unable to leave windows open as they could pass through screens.

March: Holiday Travel Resort, Leesburg FL.  We were on an end unit in Little Center section (campground has over 900 sites). Site was grass and dirt, with a slope back to front.  30amp FHU monthly cost: $620 + cable + tax + electric. Wifi free if you went to key locations on campus.  Super large, over 900 sites, all pullthrus
Pro: plenty of activity buildings and things to do on campus. weekly farm market. direct water access to Lake Harris via Helena Run for boating. 2.5 mile campground circumference road for biking. No no-see-ums so windows could be open. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Fenced dog park
Cons: too many activities - much older clientele who had bought park models - no real feel of campground because there aren't many trailers near ours.  30 amp site so we had to watch what we ran and when. Dog park too far away from site and too populated with small dogs and owners who went to chat, not reinforce obedience.

April 1-8: River Lodge RV Resort, Inglis FL.  Flat site with cement picnic pad but dirt and/or sand parking area.  50amp FHU Cost $189 week w/Good Sam.  Approx 150 sites, all back-in
Pro: price included all options. good wifi reception. 2 laundry facilities, paved road through campground,great for bike riding, away from it all but on fairly major roadway.
Con: not right on water, have to drive 1 mile to closest point for kayak, 10+ miles to town

April 9-10: Lake Harmony RV Park, Townsend FL. Flat site backed up to large fishing pond. Site dirt under pine trees.  50amp FHU. Cost $29 nightly w/GS. Smaller park - around 50 sites. most pullthrus
Pros: 1 mile to I-95 but in middle of nowhere. site 47 backs on to water for spectacular views. Pond large enough for kayaking.
Cons: dirt roads and sites. Sites overlap each other, have to be careful about where you set up camp.

Apr 11: New Green Acres RV Park, Walterboro, SC. Right next to I-95.  long flat sites in a pine forest. mix of utilities. 50amp FHU w/cable $32 w/GS. 100 sites, all pull thrus
Pros: easy access to I-95, long sites, could stay connected if we wanted.
Cons: pricing confusion from billboards - rate listed of $25/night if for 30amp, W/E - no sewer, no cable. dirt roads and dirt sites. lots of road noise. no place to kayak or bike. Not worth the money - will stay at WalMart up the road.

April 12-16: CarrollWoods (Grapefull Sisters Winery & RV Park), Tabor City, NC. flat sites in middle of nowhere. dirt roads and sites, 30 sites, all pull thrus. 50amp FHUw/cable & wifi $19 w/Passport America.
Pros: At a winery, newer park (4 yrs old), well thought out and laid out. Super large dog park, quiet area. PPA was to be for 1 night, but because they were rather quiet, allowed us more nights on discount.
Cons: 6 miles to boat ramp, 10+ miles to stores. first tick of season on us. dirt roads became muddy.