Skip to main content

Day 24 – visit with Mom and clams for dinner

Day 24 – visit with Mom and clams for dinner

Aug 24th

We went to visit Mom again and had another great day for her.  She perked up the minute she saw us and stayed up for the whole visit. Here are some photos from that visit:

Elsie's dairy at Randall's Farm in Ludlow, MA - the best ice cream

We took the kids for ice cream in the middle of the afternoon – you cannot believe the quality of this ice cream – just an appetizer for dinner…really.  The ice cream is made right there at Elsie’s and the ingredients are as rich as you can imagine.  It is part of Randall’s Farm in Ludlow, MA.

My brother Leonard came to visit for dinner.  Clams at Alexander’s Restaurant in Ludlow, Mass. were on my wish list so we went there.  I had the “whole belly” fried clam dinner that has become a tradition part of my visits “home”.

Dinner at Alexander's Restaurant in Ludlow

Dinner at Alexander's Restaurant in Ludlow

We looked around for a good seafood restaurant in the area and they are actually becoming hard to find.  Alexander’s Restaurant is a small place with all booths – some large enough for 6 normal friendly people.  Here is a photo of the five of us – taken by the waitress – waiting for our seafood dinners.

Day 23 – Visit with Mom and dinner with friends

Day 23 – Visit with Mom and dinner with friends

Aug 23rd

looking at some photos from her 90th birthday party

visit with Mom

Today we planned a visit to my mother in the assisted living home.  We expected the worst because she is having memory problems but, after some initial confusion, she perked up and we had a wonderful visit that lasted about 5 hours.

In the evening we went to visit our friends Cozette and Joe.  Carol and Cozette have been friends since 1st grade and they were one of the couples who we cruised the Med with last summer.  We had a nice visit and a delicious dinner.

Here is a slide show of our visit with Joe and Cozette.

Day 22 – New Jersey to Mass. in the rain

Day 22 – New Jersey to Mass. in the rain

Aug 22nd

It rained pretty much all the way to Massachusetts but all went well with the GMC.  It was a fairly short drive even though we tried to avoid tolls and that caused us to take a slightly circuitous route.  The only toll we had to pay was on the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River north of New York City.  The reason we try to avoid tolls is because, for an RV towing a car, they are outrageous.  When we had crossed the Bay Bridge over the Chesapeake where cars are charged $2.50 and we were charged $15 so we knew the Tappan Zee at $5 for cars would be worse.  It was $32.50.  It seems like the ratio is about 6 to 1 for us.  We will continue to try the more scenic roads for that reason and because we like them.

We arrived at my sister and brother-in-law’s home in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the day discussing my mother’s situation – we had just moved her into an assisted living home – and preparing to visit her – she has memory problems and, at 91 years of age, is declining pretty quickly.

We tried to have some of my favorite sea food for dinner but the two restaurants we tried were closed for some reason – Sunday dinner would seem to be a good time for business but not here.

My sister DuAnne and her husband Dick

My sister DuAnne and her husband Dick

Day 21 – New York City and Broadway

Day 21 – New York City and Broadway

Aug 21st

We went into New York City via the Lincoln tunnel, parked at the Port Authority garage and visited Times Square while waiting for curtain time for The Million Dollar Quartet.  The show was about a one time meeting in December of 1956 of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins at Sun Records.  Sun Records was founded by Sam Phillips who discovered and gave the first break to each of them.  The show was very entertaining with very good performances by each of the characters.

After the show we had dinner at Carmines Restaurant on 44th Street in the theater district – great food and great prices.  They serve Italian food family style and it is very good – as good as any we have ever had including in Italy.  Desert was a local ice cream shop in New Jersey.

Here are some of the photos from the visit to New York City:

Day 20 – Lewisburg to NJ – starter problems

Day 20 – Lewisburg to NJ – starter problems

Aug 20th

We left late for a visit to our friends in Califon, New Jersey because Carol’s son bought and installed two new tires on the front of the Tracker and because we wanted one last visit with the grandchildren.

We decided to take the road less traveled to New Jersey since we had all day to get there and it was only going to be a short drive on the interstate.  The ride was very scenic and pretty but very hilly – some of those ridges that seem to travel east to west across Pennsylvania are pretty big and steep.

Our starter had been giving us problems throughout the trip but I had not given it much thought since it almost always occurred when the engine was hot.  Each time, if the problem persisted, I would hit the boost switch to use the house batteries and the problem (clicking sounds only) would go away.  On this leg of the trip it finally broke.  We stopped for a break and couldn’t get the starter to work for a half-hour or more.  When it finally did start I figured it must be the starter solenoid so we stopped about 10 miles later at an AutoZone to try to buy one.  I called Jim K at Applied GMC and he confirmed my suspicions so I bought some jack stands and a bottle jack (the one I had bought from Harbor Freight was too tall) and set out to replace the starter.

There were no starters available anywhere but a NAPA store we had passed before the first problem had a solenoid in stock so we unhooked the tow car and went back for it.  Once the coach was up on the jack stand I noticed that the connection end of the solenoid was loose.  I tightened the screw that holds it in place and the started worked like new.  I now have a spare solenoid and when I get home I will either install the new one or tighten the screws on the old one – I could only reach one of the screws in the parking lot.

We arrived at our friends’ home a little later than we planned but we got there.  We had a nice dinner and then used the internet to buy tickets to a Broadway show – Million Dollar Quartet – for the Saturday matinee.   Neither one of us has been to a Broadway show before so should be lots of fun.

Day 18 & 19 – annual shopping trip and lunch with Uncle Jr.

Day 18 & 19 – annual shopping trip and lunch with Uncle Jr.

Aug 18th

We picked the kids up for an early visit to WalMart.  We give them each $10 and let them figure out how to spend it.  The first stop is at WalMart and then, with whatever money is left, we go to the dollar store to spend the rest.  We took them back home before lunch time and then went to The Country Cupboard – a local touristy restaurant – and met Uncle Ralph Jr. and Aunt Edith for lunch.  This year Carol’s brother Buzz joined us. Here are some photos.

Day 17 – more grandkids and more fish sandwiches

Day 17 – more grandkids and more fish sandwiches

Aug 17th

Took the grandkids to the park for a little play time and then to Zelda’s, a coffee shop next to the park, for a snack.  For lunch, just a short time after the snack, we took them to “the Fence” for lunch.  Lots of fish sandwiches for everyone except Kendall who had a hot ham and cheese.  In the evening we went to watch Kendall’s soccer practice and then to Hunter’s football practice.  They are very active kids.

Here are some photos.

Day 16 – on to Lewisburg and more grandchildren

Day 16 – on to Lewisburg and more grandchildren

Aug 16th

We left Wormleysburg after a restless – lots of train noises and no earplugs – night and drove the 80 miles to Lewisburg, Carol’s home town and the home of her daughter and her 4 beautiful kids.  We will be spending the next few days visiting them.  We have parked the GMC in Carol’s son Rick’s yard and are staying in his guest room while waiting for him to return from Ocean City.

Carol with her youngest granddaughter, Gracie.

We went to see the grandkids and watched them demonstrate various jumping and diving in the pool – in general, just getting reacquainted after not seeing them for a year.

When it was time to go we had to make our first visit to “the Fence”, the seasonal restaurant that serves the famous fish sandwich – a tradition in Lewisburg.  We each had two fish sandwiches.  I had the fries and Carol had the cole slaw.

Day 15 – dodging Amish carriages and visiting family

Day 15 – dodging Amish carriages and visiting family

Aug 15th

We drove up through the middle of Delaware and into Pennsylvania.  Shortly after entering PA the rain started.  We were traveling numbered but narrow Pennsylvania roads.   The rain and the hills and turns made the driving a little scary but nothing compared to when we added Amish buggies to the mix.  Then it got really interesting.  We must have passed at least 20 buggies going in our direction and more than that going the other way.  Sunday afternoon is their social time and, rain or shine, they are socializing.

Pretty hard to pass in a situation like this.

When we arrived at Carol’s cousin’s house in Wormleysburg, PA – a very small town just across the river from Harrisburg, PA, her aunt and uncle, Dave and Charlotte had joined cousin Jan and her husband George to welcome us.  We had a nice visit and lots of good food.

Here is a slide show.

Day 11 through 14 – son, grandson, crabs and boating

Day 11 through 14 – son, grandson, crabs and boating

Aug 11th

The plan for today is to pick up Carol’s grandson Logan and his girlfriend at the Baltimore airport and then to the GMC for the ride down to the shore.  We have another storage place in Salisbury, Maryland – free this time (intoductory offer).

Carol’s son Rick will meet us there.  Arrived at Ocean City and love the seaside condo and boat.  We went out to dinner on Rick and Kelly’s boat.

Aug 12th

The day started and ended with rain but nice weather in the middle.  We (Rick and Logan) did a little fishing and we then had pizza for dinner.  Not much else to report.

Aug 13th

More rain was predicted but did not materialize.  Went for a long walk on the boardwalk and had some really good french fries and ate some chocolate.  Going out for crab dinner tonight.

Aug 14th

The crab dinner was really good.  We watched Avatar on blue-ray DVD – really amazing, almost as good as the 3D in the theater.  We went for a boat ride and did some fishing.

Here’s the slideshow.