On the Angelique

Sunday July 20, 2008

This morning we had to check out of our campsite and we did it in a leisurely manner. We only had to take the RV to the overflow lot at the state park because they gave us permission to park it there while we were on our Windjammer…like I said…Mainers are nice people. After packing our stuff for the cruise and putting it in the toad, we headed to Rockford and Rockport. We hiked to a lighthouse that was about a mile out on a breakwater made of huge granite rocks. It was drizzling rain and overcast so it wasn’t hot at all. We got our supplies for the trip (no alcohol is served on the boat) and at lunch at a great little deli called 3 Dogs. Very good food including big steaming cups of coffee and cheesecake topped with berries. It was a dreary day and rainy so we did our laundry before going to check in on the boat. Our cabin on the Angelique is VERY tiny, but so is everyone else’s! We have an upper and lower bunk and of course I told Greg that the upper was his which he didn’t mind until he got in it and there was only about a foot between him and the ceiling…he is a bit claustrophobic. So I got the top bunk! We walked into town and ate once again on the waterfront. Our sailing group is really small, 15 instead of the usual 29, and people introduced themselves and we got to know some of the crew. We will be sailing tomorrow morning.

Our Sailing ship "The Angelique" on left.
Eating lunch on the Camden harbor

Saturday July 19, 2008

Today we decided to do some of the fun things that were going on in Camden. So we went a scoped out the Arts and Crafts show and book sale that was set up on the waterfront. We bought a necklace, some vases and books then ate lunch overlooking the harbor. It really is a pretty little town. After a trip back through the art and to a little market we came home and had a short power nap then took off for CellarDoor winery just outside of town. We did a tasting and while we were tasting the owner/chef came around with some great snacks made with crusty bread, grilled halloumi cheese and capers…really tasty. When we were getting our wine purchases together Greg found the cheese and was asking the owner if it was the type she used (he really liked these things…me too!) and she proceeded to give us a loaf of crusty bread, a jar of capers and a lemon so we could make them ourselves. Mainers are really nice people. We ended up at yet another great restaurant on the waterfront, watching the rain and eating steamers, mussels and lobster, We have decided that we REALLY love the steamers…they are right up there with oysters. Rain again tonight so for the first time in a while we watched TV…seemed nice. I also saw that the Rays won a game…Yea! EVERYBODY up here is a Redsox fan…it is so sad.

BarHarbor
Old Episcopal Church In Bar Harbor
Sand Beach crazy people.
Blowing rock.

Friday July 18, 2008

Today we took off for Acadia National Park. It was a 2 hour drive, but of course we have to stop at Rooster Brothers in Belfast to get more coffee so it took us a little longer. When we arrived we decided to check out Bar Harbor first so we got out the bikes and rode around the town. Went to an old beautiful Episcopal church, ate a lobster roll lunch on park benches, got blueberry ice cream, bought a print and then took off for the actual National Park. The park loop road runs along most of the coast with views of things like Blowing Rock (where the waves come in and crash and spray), Sand Beach (where crazy people swim in 57 degree water), then goes inland where you can see beautiful vistas overlooking the coast and inland lakes. At almost the end of the loop you can drive up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain and look out over the coast and Bar Harbor. We did a couple of hikes…one to view the Rockafeller House, one along the summit of Cadillac Mtn, and one to “the Bubbles”. The Bubbles hike was a little rough, all up hill and very rocky…not much of a trail. We made it almost to the top to a beautiful overlook and it started to rain. Fear of sliding down the side of the mountain on rocks caused us to turn back…it was beautiful up there. After Acadia we headed home but we were looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast. It is the biggest pound that I have seen with probably 20 huge tanks with lobsters of all sizes in them. We ordered our meal at the counter downstairs and watched our lobster and clams go into a net bag and into the steamer. When they came out we had the best lobster so far on the trip. They are served with, of all things, a bag of chips…makes no sense to me. We also had some lobster stew. The thing about these pounds is that they don’t serve alcohol. Luckily we knew that and had beers in the cooler! Never go anywhere in Maine without your cooler filled with water for the hikes and beer for the pounds! It was a rainy night and we were happily stuffed, so no fire, just checking on places to stay and reading. Great day

CAmpground at Camden Hills State Park
Dinner on the docks in Camden. This is where our Windjammer will dock.
View of Camden Harbor from Mt. Battie in Camden Hills SP.

Thursday July 17, 2008

We got up fairly early today…I will be happy when my coffee pot works again (no electricity) so I can quit poring boiling water over the grounds. Had a little mishap with hooking up the Toad, but all is well. It was a short trip to Camden, only about 1.5 hours and we were able to get into our campsite very early. We could not however get the RV leveled…too bad, we are here and we are staying! We are just staying in the RV fun house! You can really tell we are off level in the bathroom. We checked out Camden which is the prettiest town we have seen in Maine. We decided to do a Kayak tour of the harbor and so for 2 hours we went around Curtis and Mouse Islands and checked out all the cool sailboats and houses. What a great time. We also ate dinner on the docks…more food than we thought we could eat…but we managed. We are now back at the campsite and amazingly we have internet connection again…so time to catch up. Greg is actually almost asleep in front of the fire. It is peaceful here. Tomorrow – Acadia National Park.

Outdoor chapel at St. Anne's

Contemplating those huge boats on the monestary trail... St. Anne's built in 1889 out of local stone...

Wednesday July 16, 2008

Today we decided to go back south and visit Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Portland. Our campgrounds here at Recompence are very family friendly. It is on a farm (Wolf Neck) where everyday little kids come for day camp. Families come here to camp and are fun to listen to. There is usually frizbee or baseball going on in the field. It is a good place to be. We got up and showered on our way out and made it to Kennebunk and went for a nice walk at a monastery. We ate on the docks at Kennebunkport and saw some of the biggest personally owned boats I have ever seen. We then took a scenic drive on Ocean St. stopping at St.Anne’s Episcopal church on the way. They have an outdoor altar and pews overlooking the ocean and the stone church was built in 1889…spectacular. We also saw the 1st president Bush’s house out on Walker Point. We headed for Portland and when we got there we decided that we needed a siesta so we stopped at a big park, laid out our shower towels and took a nap. I felt like a vagrant who was going to get poked with a billy club at any minute but that 20 minutes was fabulous. We looked around the Portland area then on the way home stopped at Day’s Lobster Pound and bought 3 steamed lobsters. At our campsite we cooked some rice, garlic bread and chowed down on those bad boys…they were so good. Another night of a beautiful fire and a great nights sleep. My cold has broken! I feel so much better.

Lobster at Harrakaskeet outside of Freeport
More of the South Freeport Port
Our sweet new site 155a - no water or electric, but look at that view!

Tuesday July 15, 2008

Since we will be dry camping for a few days we decided to totally fill and flush our holding tanks and empty and refill our freshwater. Greg spent a while next to the toilet on constant flush to be sure it was full…fun morning. What we didn’t know was that this would be the day that “sh#t happens” and I mean literally. We went down to the dump station on our way to our new site, hooked up the hose and opened up the very full blackwater tank. Well, every once in a while these dump stations fill up and that day was today. Stuff started coming out of the hole and we could just not get to the valve quick enough. We both stood there looking at each other like, “Now what do we do…we have 2 full tanks and we are going to dry camp for 2 days.” Luckily(?) we were not the first people that this had happened to so the manager at the park went and got the “honey pot” (oh my gosh) and pumped us out. We were very happy that they knew what to do. After that, we went into South Freeport (on the water) for lobster rolls at Harrakaskeet Lobster. Great food. We then went to Yarmouth and visited a big map store and bought an atlas then to the visitors center. After a trip to the grocery store, we were wiped out. So we went back to the campsite and recharged our batteries and later went out for dinner at the Muddy Rudder…(4 words…) deep dish lobster pie. I am still a little sick, so we are not going as hard at vacation as we normally would. Instead we built a fire, drank some wine and went to bed. This new campsite overlooking the water is just a little bit of paradise…

Freeport Maine - Recompense Shore Campground

site#2 about 1/4 mile from ocean

Roughing it has a new meaning.

Monday July 14, 2008

Last night turned out to be pretty sweet…we ate clam chowder, talked to Mom & Dad & Kate and Greg played his guitar. We got everything ready to go (toad hooked up and awning down) and hit the road pretty early Monday morning heading for Maine. Along the way in Leominster, Massachusetts west of Boston we stopped and did our laundry…clean sheets are always so sweet. After looking through Woodall’s and the AAA guide we decided to try Recompence Shore campground which is run by the University of Maine. It has over 100 sites but only 7 have water and electric. We chose Recompence because of the description (quiet, primitive and private) and the location (outside of Freeport). We got the last w&e site which is right across from the office and showers, but the site is large, wooded and overlooks a huge meadow and you can see the ocean. The ocean here is not anything like the ocean in Florida except for maybe the part around Cedar Key on the west coast. It is marshy and rocky and the tide changes are extreme. Very beautiful. We liked Recompence and decided to make it our base for a few days. We have to move tomorrow to a non-water/electric site, but it is on the ocean and more private. We took a bike ride around the area and then had a relaxing evening of catching up on e-mail and looking for a place to stay Thursday – Saturday (Camden State Park…we are sort of State/National Park snobs). After dinner and a fire we took a ride into Freeport to check out the 24 hour LLBean store. It is really an LLBean campus with about 5 buildings, all of them chock full of LLBean stuff. Greg was going to buy a new bike seat because the handle bars of my bike have been “chewing the ass” of his bike for the whole trip on the bike rack. He found one that he liked, but because his bike is an antique, he wasn’t sure it would fit. Since we are so close we decide to check it out and come back another day. We have no air in the RV because of the low amps, but the temperature goes down into the 50s an 60s at night, 70's during the day, so we didn’t miss it a bit. Just another reason why we decided to try “dry camping” for the next few days. Definitely a summer paradise.

Traffic around New York
UConn Starbucks blogger

Sunday July 13, 2008

We decided to try and get an early start and did pretty good. Carmen told us that the Pine View Motel right down the pike from our campgrounds had great breakfast (especially the home fries) so we ate breakfast there on our way out. He wasn’t wrong…some of the best homefries I have ever eaten (and we didn’t even get the super J.R. homefries with cheese, peppers and onions). Greg drove us up the NJ Turnpike with his great directions from Uncles Lou and Buddy while I updated the blog. New York roads just about shook our teeth loose but we finally made it through the Bronx and almost $50 in tolls (I said I wasn’t going to gripe about gas prices but I made no promises about tolls!). Connecticut roads are better and we finally stopped at Moosehead Campgrounds “Resort”, and I do use the term resort loosely. We chose them because they advertised internet access, but alas, we are now in the Starbucks at UConn. If they had internet we would have never seen UConn. It is smaller than you would think and in a really little town called Storrs. Things are very quite because it is summer, but some of the old buildings remind me of the original ones at UF, only they are spread out. It is an Ag school (yea Aggies!) with a Floriculture center and lots of flowers. I believe we will finish this blog (it is 5pm) check e-mail and maybe eat something light because we ate Aunt Mazie’s chicken marsala for “lunch” at about 3:30. Our RV site is not the nicest so we will probably go to bed early.

The cousins + spouses
The original Megargel Gang
The girls!
Sorry Patti...but my butts in there too!
Happy 88th Birthday Uncle Louie!!

Curtiss, Edith, Phil and Meredith catch up.
Vanessa and Valerie
The 4 jokesters! Sandy and Anthony feed the horses.
Sandy, Natalie and Anthony.

Saturday July 12, 2008

I slept until almost 9 this morning…the little cold makes me want to stay in bed. Whenever Greg is doing something to the outside of the RV he always calls me over so he can show me how to do things in case I need to. This morning he decided to cook his own breakfast but he didn’t know where anything was in the kitchen or how to turn on the stove…I need to be sure to show him how to do all the things I do inside from now on! It is a beautiful morning…sort of breezy and not too hot. Headed to Aunt Doris’ around 11 and talked more (we can’t seem to stop!) and then to Carmen and Sandy’s house for a family reunion. Almost everyone was there. Aunt Edith and Uncle Lou came down from Marlton (Bonnie, Gary, Pat and Dan are heading to Maine…popular spot this summer and we may try to find them), Val and Vanessa brought Aunt Phil from Pennsylvania, Uncle Buddy and Aunt Betty Jo, Patti and John, Janice and Jerry, David, Natalie, Nicole and AJ with Anthony, Christie and Johnny, Aunt Mazie, Aunt Doris and of course Sandy and Carmen. There is so much food…sausages, ziti, turkey, broccoli salad, potato salad and all kinds of deserts. Mr. Low carb (Greg) ate 5 of Aunt Mazie’s cream puffs and a big bowl of Aunt Betty Jo’s cobbler. We visited with everyone, took pictures, looked at pictures, ate, laughed, ate some more, put our feet in the pool, moved to the front porch for coffee then talked some more. I believe no one wanted the night to end…I know I didn’t. I said things I don’t get to say in Florida like, “All the COUSINS get together for a picture!” We left very late with invitations to come to Florida anytime to either stay with us, Meredith and Curtiss or at the lake house. I hope they take us up on it. Mom would have enjoyed this day so much. Greg and I are both blessed to have such wonderful families.

Our campsite at Patapsco State Park in Baltimore...very quiet and nice.
On our good friends Vicki & Jay's deck after a night of Maryland crabs.
Gaye multi-tasking...laundry and blog update at Endless Caverns.

Friday July 11, 2008

We had a late night last night so we slept in then Greg went to an auto parts store to re-buy the brake buddy parts. We somehow lost them. It is hard to lose stuff in an RV, but we seem to be able to. We are on the road at about 11:30. Talked to Meredith and Curtiss. They are in Philadelphia but didn’t arrive until 4am…so they are moving even slower than we are! Talked to Aunt Doris and got on our way to NJ. Arrived at the Indian Branch Park Campgrounds after buying gas at the big Wawa station (no pumping your own gas in NJ!). The IBPC is having a rough year…the township won’t repair their culvert and without the repaired culvert, the state won’t let them flood the lake…therefore, no lake and nobody to come and stay at the park. It reminded me of an old fashioned lake campgrounds…very rustic and it could have been in north Florida with all the scrub oaks and pines. I believe we allowed the owners to eat another week by us staying there. Got to Aunt Doris’ about 4:30 and had a great chat with she and Aunt Mazie. Meredith and Curtiss arrived and after drinWeks and more talk, we headed to The Library for some great steaks and more talk. Aunt Mazie headed home, but Aunt Doris, Meredith, Curtiss and Greg played pinochle until 10:30 while I slept (I feel like I am coming down with a cold…bummer).
Got back to the RV late and Greg gave me lots of vitamins and ibuprofen so I can get better. So far NJ looks great to us!

Thursday July 10, 2008

This morning we decide to not be in any hurry. We have a short drive and Vicki & Jay probably won’t be home until after five. Of course, we really haven’t been in a hurry since we started! I do a load of clothes, clean house a bit and Greg washes everything outside. We fill our propane tank and head off about noon or so. Have a bit of problem with the brake buddy. The AC adaptor that you plug in came unscrewed and the fuse and spring inside are no where to be seen. We stop at an auto parts store for parts and hit the road. We haven’t fixed it but really don’t need it until tomorrow when we hit NJ. Found some good sandwiches in a little town in Maryland and took the scenic route that Jay recommended…the countryside is beautiful. People in this area really love big yards and big houses. The little downtown areas are quaint and clean. We arrive at Patapsco State Park at around 4 and set up. This state park is on the outskirts of Baltimore and runs for quite a ways. In the campground you would never guess you were that close to civilization. It is wooded and the campsites are spread out. Very peaceful and the campgrounds are almost empty. We take off for Vicki & Jay’s. They live not to far from here in Catonsville in a big beautiful home. We caught up a little (most exciting news – Janelle is pregnant and due Aug 11 with a girl!) and then headed for seafood at a little place in downtown Catonsville. We ordered some beer, crab soup and a dozen steamed crabs. They really do crabs different in Maryland and they are great. They douse them with rock salt and old bay and steam them then they dump the whole lot on your table, give you a wooden mallet and a plastic knife (I still haven’t figured out what the knife is for!) and set you loose. Much later we are covered with old bay and very, very happy! I explained to some woman in the bathroom that in Florida we boiled our crabs and used crackers instead of mallets…the mallets worked wonderfully though and I think we need to purchase some. We went back to V&J’s for drinks on their deck (saw a deer right behind their house) and more conversation. What a great night. We miss them.

Wednesday July 9th

Today is a day that we want to make some time and get pretty far into Virginia although we never seem to be able to take off very fast. We dive through the last of North Carolina on I 77 and into Virginia and pick up I 81. 81 pretty much parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway but is not so mountainous…the old bus doesn’t like hills very much. We decide that we need a new mp3 player since Greg dropped his in his soda and fried it! We have a lot of gadgets up front and if one of them had to be sacrificed to the soda gods I guess the mp3 was the best! After checking maps and our time, we found a campsite with availability in Endless Caverns, appropriately named “Endless Caverns RV resort”. That is now our destination. We stop at the good old Wal-Mart for some food supplies, mp3 player and a can opener (I cannot figure out where mine went) and then head to ECRVR. ECRVR is pretty nice. It is the 1st place that we have stayed that was labeled a “resort”. They are working on it, but the sites were beautiful and the host gives you an escort to your site and shows you where everything is. Greg said, “I swear I thought the guy was going to hook up my sewer hose too!” Now that is service. He also gave us a tip on how to see Shenandoah National Park with the time we have. After a quick set up we are off to the park. We are going to do mile markers 32 – 66. The drive is beautiful with many overlooks and little trails you could take to various places. Speed limit -35. This part of the Parkway is called Skyline drive and is the first that was built back in the 1930s. One of the amazing things about SNP is the wildlife. We immediately saw a deer when we started and then continued to see wildlife until our count was 12 deer, 3 bears, 1 bunny and chipmunk in it’s ‘smunk cave! We decide to take a hike…1.5 miles round trip to a waterfall. Sounded good. 1st half of the trip – straight down, last half of the trip – straight up! It was beautiful and we would have never seen the ‘smunk if we haddn’t gone. After we finished skyline drive we headed back to ECRVR by way of a little town of Elkton,Va where you can get some good vittles at the S&C Café for a great price…we seem to be hitting a lot of these places. It was 7:50 pm when we stopped and we were starving! After one of the most beautiful skies at sunset we arrive “home”. We have internet access so we check e-mail (directions from Vicki & Jay to their house!) and make reservations at a Maryland state park close to them, download some pictures and that ends the night. Note: LOTS of fireflies in this area…we have missed them…they make the night magical.

July 4, 2008

After months of planning, shake down trips to Spirit of the Suwannee, Reed Bingham SP, Crooked River SP, Withlacoochee State Forest, Myakka River SP, Manatee Springs SP and Fort DeSoto we sort of think that we are ready for a month long trip a long way from home. We have gadgeted and “Gatored” up the RV so there is nothing left to do except take off for Maine.

At 10:30 am (just a little late) after figuring out the logistics of getting us PLUS 5 kids (including Andy) and 2 boats from St. Pete to Camp Blanding and back while working around crazy work schedules we are on our way. The kids are NOT going with us to Maine, but we always have the Burnsed Family reunion on the 4th of July weekend so our first stop is Kingsley Lake. Keith and Sandy meet us at the lake, we swim, jet ski, eat K&S’s food (thank you!) and end up watching the fireworks going on around the lake. What a great day.

July 5, 2008

Family reunion day! Kids are up early and on the lake skiing. Andy brought his mom’s boat so there is plenty of power to pull 2 skiers. Good fun on the tubes, wakeboarding, knee boarding and also watching, Food is fabulous…low country boil, brats, dumplings, ribs…more deserts than you could imagine. Matt has to leave early but everyone else stays until dark. We are beat but happy.

July 6, 2008

Greg and I decide that we will get on the road as soon as we wake up (without alarms), Well we are up at 6 and on the road by about 7:15 heading for Savannah. Uneventful trip, even through the “Woodbine Triangle”. We arrive at Skidaway Island , feState Park just south of Savannah. The people in Georgia really know how to do state parks and this one is no exception. Large wooded campsites…very beautiful, We ate some of the ham and pasta that Sandy sent with us and took off for Savannah proper. By the way…if you set up the RV and turn on the electricity right at noon you don’t have to reset the clocks! In Savannah we visit the information center and get a map and directions to some of the sights along with a warning that it is not a good town to bike in (lots of cobblestones and crazy students!). So, we got on the bikes and took off! Savannah is so beautiful with all the “squares” and we biked through much of the town. We stopped at the city market and drank a beer and listened to a band…there was a really old guy out in front of the band with an electric guitar not plugged into anything that he was “playing”. Our waitress said he “plays” with all the bands and they keep his guitar at the restaurant. Rain was on its way so we finished our bike tour and headed for the car. We needed some internet information so we Navi’d a Starbucks and looked up some information on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had to sign up for t-Mobile hot spots but it was well worth it. After the coffee and internet we went back to the Riverfront for dinner on a terrace, rain gently falling, free margaritas…what a nice end to the day. **Personal note: be sure that when you leave for a month that you wake up your kids to say goodbye. We decided not to wake them and we missed seeing them by about 10 minutes…As Maggie said, “I didn’t get to give Daddy a hug!” Dad sends virtual hugs.

Monday July 7, 2008

First – “Happy Birthday Meredith!” We decide to get a little later start today to possibly avoid any Savannah traffic and fill up with gas. After many changes in plans we have decided to head to Iva, South Carolina to see Uncle Edward. There are a few State Parks in South Carolina near Iva and they have space available. On our way, while I am driving, Greg (the unofficial spokesperson for Georgia State Parks) finds Richard B. Russell State Park right over the state line from Iva in Georgia. We decide to take a chance and go by. It is supposed to be on a lake and has a golf course. I always feel blessed to get to a State Park without reservations and still get a site and today was no exception. After arriving at about 4pm and checking out the campsites we choose one that overlooks Lake Richard B. Russell. This is an amazing place. We set up, get out the chairs and have a drink while watching the lake and enjoying the breeze. We then set out for Iva in “The Toad”. We have a nice visit with Uncle Edward and Edna. They have a nice place out in the country with a little garden and it is almost on the lake…I think it is part of the same group of lakes that we are staying on. Iva is a very good place to get gas…$3.79 a gallon (I know I promised not to talk about this…but this was a nice surprise) and also a good place to eat…2 dinners = $11. After arriving back at our campsite around dark we sit by a lovely campfire and Greg roasts his leftover French fries from Saturday night (he says they weren’t as good as the ones we had at M&C’s lake house!)
Personal Note – we seem to be having a little bit of disagreement between our 2 GPS systems in the RV. One GPS (global positioning system) has been with us for about 3 days. The other GPS (Gaye’s positioning system) has been working for about 37 years! Now granted, Gaye’s system gets us lost every once in a while, but it does refer to Greg about the route to take. The problem is that Greg trusts the new GPS system more than me sometimes. We also have the new GPS system doing a lot of “recalculating”. We just aren’t used to someone telling us where to go. It is good at finding Wal-Marts though!

Tuesday July 8, 2008

The weather is beautiful here in North Georgia on the lake. We have decided to play 9 holes of golf before we head out, so after breakfast outside we get as much of our getting ready to go done before we leave for the golf course. The course is called Arrowhead and it was voted 2nd best new public course in 2005 by golf digest. We really didn’t play well (just a few nice hits…thought Greg was going to actually par #9!) but we had fun and the course was spectacular. We took a golf cart tour of the back 9 after we finished just to see the rest. Many of the holes ran right along the beautiful lake. The fairways and greens were “Disney worthy”. After golf, it was noon so we ate lunch, hooked up The Toad, took showers and hit the road. We are heading for a little town called Union Grove, North Carolina. As we cross the North Carolina border the rain begins to fall and really doesn’t stop until we stop for the night at 7pm. Along the way we hit the North Carolina welcome station (and get a call from Matt), the Wal-Mart along with the only liquor store in Statesville. At least they don’t close at 6pm like they do in South Carolina. We end our day at our first private campground…VanHoys Farm in Union Grove. We are spoiled by State Parks, but it is late and we aren’t going anywhere else so it is working out just peachy. We have a pull through site so we don’t even unhook the toad! VanHoys is the Spirit of the Suwannee of North Carolina. It hosts many must festivals and has a huge pavilion that will seat 12,000. No music festival right now though. It is so nice here that we do not have the AC on. Finished off some leftovers for dinner. One really nice thing about this place…internet access!