Aug 28th

This morning we had a great breakfast and relaxed until the tide came in and then we went for a boat ride to see the local scenery from the water.  The boat is a copy of a Simmons Sea Skiff that Davin made from scratch – his first power boat project.  The boat has a high bow and stern to keep the ocean out and a flat bottom for a shallow draft and a really smooth ride.  Here are some photos:

Below is a video of part of the boat ride where we are passing through some really nice scenery.  Right after this video was taken a bald eagle flew out of the area on the right.

Below is a video of Diane and Davin’s house from the water.

Below is a video of the harbor at Friendship.  The voice is Carol’s – hard to tell with that Maine accent.

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Aug 27th

Spent the day touring the Pemaquid penninsula which is just south or west of Diane and Davin’s home in Friendship, ME.  Here are some photos.

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Aug 26th

Today we left at 8:00am, a little earlier than we like but we had a long day ahead of us.  We estimated that we would get to Friendship, Maine and my sister Diane’s house at 6:30pm.  It can be done by car in 5 1/2 hours but driving the GMC and towing a car makes it take just a little longer – about double?  We took secondary highways across Mass., New Hampshire and Maine (no tolls and lots of scenery).  It actually took us an hour less and we were comfortably parked at Diane and Davin’s house at 5:30pm.

A little later we were preparing a feast of fresh local corn and lobsters that were just caught today.  No mechanical difficulties except the fuel pump seems to have had another bad connection after being parked for 4 days and there was one instance of a clicking solenoid that went away quickly.

Here are some photos – click the little “full screen” symbol for lots better pictures.

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Aug 25th

We went to visit Mom again this morning but she was not doing real well.  She was upset about her condition and when she could not remember what her husband of 57 years had looked like she lost her composure and could not be consoled.  We left her in the able hands of the people at Orchard Valley in Wilbraham, MA and left, planning to return after lunch.  This visit only lasted one hour and we learned some lessons.  We returned in mid-afternoon and she was much better.  She was animated and smiling.  She was having a very bad memory day but did not get frustrated by it.  When she could not identify people in photos she just called them some other name and went on – we did not argue.  We spent about 2 hours with her just listening and joking with her and then left her with a big hug.

The best Mom in the world

Since we only come back to this area once per year this would probably be the last time she knew who we were.  This is a horrible disease for people like her that know that it is happening.

After the visit with Mom we returned to Dick and DuAnne’s house for dinner with them and their two sons David and Ryan.  Tomorrow, August 26th is Dick’s 67th birthday and the following day, the 27th, is DuAnne’s (I won’t tell you her age but it ends in 5 and is significant) so we celebrated with a little cake and singing.

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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

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.

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Aug 23rd

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.

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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

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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:

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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.

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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.

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