From Prince Edward Island (PEI)

My visit in Presque Island was both relaxing and productive. Donna was a wonderful hostess filling me with delicious meals and assisting as I did my laundry. Also spent lots of time catching up with the computer, phone calls and arranging my Newfoundland (I’m told to pronounce NufinLAND with emphasis on Land) ferry rides. I’ll be heading there on July 4 departing North Sydney Nova Scotia at 3:30 P.M. (Atlantic Daylight Time an hour ahead of Florida). I was warned the trip will be longer than normal as they have one of the four engines down and will be repairing underway on the July trips. Anticipated arrival in Newfoundland is Saturday July 5 about 11 a.m. (Newfoundland is ½ hour later than Atlantic Daylight time). My point of arrival will be on the east side closer to St. Johns, the capital. I’m told I may see whales, icebergs, seals, birds or be fogged in during the crossing. I’ve reserved a recliner seat for the trip and I’ll carry my bincoculars, and some food as well as toiletries. The cabins are all taken so this is second best. However I am sure I’ll want to check the waters periodically so being more handy will be good if not restful. My return will be on July 17 so I will have about 12 days which is probably a bare minimum.

Back to Maine. Donna and I toured Presque Isle after visiting the library. While there she received information on becoming a library volunteer. It sounded as though they have a number of activities coming up. That evening her son Chris, daughter in law Sherry and adorable granddaughter Olivia joined us for dinner. Chris worked on my computer and succeeded in getting it to download my email into my mail account. Unfortunately I am still struggling with sending out of the account.
Friday dawned foggy, drizzely and all in all not a promising start for my departure. All secured I departed about 8:45 a.m. after taking a photo of Donna in front of her log house on the lake. I headed for Fort Fairfield, ME where I made the crossing into Canada. The immigration people were very nice and recognized that I was driving a Canadian product (Chevy vans become Roadtreks in Kitchner Ontario). I told him I felt like I was bringing her home and he smiled broadly!
I turned onto what I thought was Canadian highway 2, a beautiful seemingly new four lane with very little traffic. The only sign I saw said 110. That worried me. Where was the “2” sign? I saw more 110 signs. Finally noticed the “Maximum” word above the 110. It was a speed limit in kilometers! I was in Canada. That 110 equated to 65 mph.
I stopped at a Irving Gas service plaza about noon. The gas was 1.375 a LITER. I pulled into the parking lot and cut up an apple to eat with peanut butter and then with a couple of oatmeal cookies added considered that lunch and was back on the road. Earlier in the day the GPS couldn’t locate the road and I had to turn it off. Now though it found me but the directions for heading to the PEI bridge were different than I had planned from the map. I decided to follow the GPS. It was now quite rainy and visibility was more marginal as I approached the coastal areas. Sure enough Greta didn’t let me down and I was crossing the very long bridge or “fixed link” as the area folks referred to it in 1994 when Les and I were here on our sailboat Partnership. Over the bridge (toll is paid on the way off the island) I headed west on 1A for Summerside and after one wrong turn pulled into Linda and John’s driveway.
They have a new dog, Lizzie, a rescue Collie, who was the first to arrive at the door. The house was beautiful as always and it has been great to visit again. Les and I were here in 2004 and John and Linda credit us with insisting they stop in PEI on their St. Lawrence cruise. They did and never left, building this house overlooking the harbor where we all sailed to in the 90’s.
A neighbor Bob joined us for Linda’s delicious dinner. He and his wife have visited Newfoundland in their motorhome several times and he gave me some suggestions. In the morning their neighbor Jim joined us for a bike ride (John thought we did 9 miles!) and he and his wife have visited Newfoundland several times as well, and he also had lots of suggestions as did others who I met. It seems like many here have gone there multiple times. In fact Sunday night we will meet a couple in Charlottetown for dinner who are headed to Newfoundland this summer in their sailboat. Around here what I am doing is more the ordinary than the extraordinary!
The weather is very cool and a lot of rain. We went to a Highland Music Festival at the local College of Piping. Bagpipe bands, scotish dancers, and fiddlers galore making the best of it in the mud. Fortunately they had tents for the venues.
I’ll head toward Cape Breton on Monday, June 30. I’ve really enjoyed all my visiting the last week. Now I’ll be more on my own for three weeks. Hopefully I’ll be up to the challenge.

New Hampshire Scenes

Geneva Point and Lake Winni area.

Community Church of Melvin Hill, NH location of wedding of my parents August 1939.

New Hampshire Memories

Writing from Presque Isle Maine library. I arrived here yesterday with long, but pleasant ride up I-95 to northern Maine. Weather here cool but comfortable. My hostess has a charming log house and sitting on her deck with a beautiful view of the lake we could hear the loon calling. Tomorrow I'll head for PEI and then on to Nova Scotia. I'm planning to make my Newfoundland ferry reservations before leaving here. When I telephoned today they had lots of options so I'll need to have a plan before finalizing them The fuel supplement charge triples after the first of July so I need to make the decision.

Tuesday June 24 I departed the Brattleboro VT campground and picked up fuel 4.099/gal near Putney entrance to I 91. Had seen cheaper gas but am trying to keep above ½ tank and was not sure when next opportunity will arise. I-91 is a good road going directly north on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. There was little traffic though some one lane areas with road construction. It seems as though a lot of the road construction involves bridges. I wonder if that relates to the bridge that fell in Minnesota.

Crossed into New Hampshire at Lebanon and then took secondary roads, US4, 104, 3 and 25 into Lake Winnepausaukee area. This stop was one of nostalgia. I had spent summers here as a young child in the mid 40’s. We had taken the train from Mississippi. My mother worked for the Geneva Point Camp on the Lake near Moultonborough in the late 30’s and mid 40’s. I have recently learned that she and my father married in nearby Melvin Village in 1939.

I had visited Geneva Point Center (as it is now called) in 1976 and tent camped there with my husband and children. The camp has had few changes although there were signs they are selling off some of the land which was later confirmed. Also a new meeting building has been added. I started walking to the beach but it was quite buggy in the woods. Apparently there has been a lot of cool rainy weather lately. A sign at a store read “some sun would be nice.”
I discussed camping there but I would not have electricity and the area is more suited for tent camping. The $38 fee includes meals but they would be taken in a dining room filled with youthful campers. So after many photos I headed for my original choice, Long Island Bridge Campground which is very nearby. For $25 I was given a nice site with 20amp electric.

I unloaded the bike and rack since I didn’t know what the parking situation would be in the areas I’d be touring in the afternoon. After lunch and a short look around I headed out again.
Melvin Village is very small but I had no trouble locating the Community Church. I couldn’t find the Inn where a news article had said they went after the wedding ceremony. I did see a large structure that could have been an inn at one point. There is also a dam in the town. I took lots of photos and then drove a short distance toward Mirror Lake. I decided to treat myself to an ice cream at a shop across from a marina and beach. I chose coffee flavor as this was the area where I first decided that was my favorite. My mother’s job was running the ice cream shop and I licked the end of the cartons.

It was starting to rain as I made my way back to the campground. This is a beautiful area, the beautiful lake the surrounding mountains, the small islands of evergreens are as I remembered. I can see now what an influence it had on me. This type of place is my favorite and one of the reasons I decided to go back to camping. I’ve always credited my early experiences here with my love of sailboats,but I think it also is the reason I love the outdoors and a rustic environment. This was the cradle for much of who I am I suspect. Not sure I realized it until I came back. It’s been a bit of an emotional day as I’ve wished I could talk to my mother about what I’ve seen and thought here.

Poconos and Vermont

At 1:20 p.m on June 23 I entered the state of Vermont. I am starting to compose this addition to the blog in the customer waiting room of Auto Mall Chevrolet in Brattleboro VT. I attempted to get appointments near Lancaster PA and Gouldsboro PA without success. I found this dealer on Greta the GPS as I entered Brattleboro about 2:30. Amazingly they can do the necessary service (said it was considered 5000 mile service; Big Mama is at 9375!) while I wait.
I came here after two nights in the beautiful Poconos with Chicago friend Judy Koubek. We hadn’t seen each other in over 10 years. Needless to say we talked non stop. It was a “girls weekend”. Her husband and 13 year old were back in Princeton, NJ. The Eagle Lake Community where they have their get away cabin/molbile home is very woodsy. Their place overlooks the lake and has a lovely dock and deck. The community also has many features including a huge pool and two beaches. We had lots of exercise plans but only did a long walk. Most of our exercise involved our mouths, talking and eating! Lots of great neighbors and we spent some time with Paul and Barbara who are former Rvers and interested in my trip. Photo is Paul, Judy and me. I was allowed to park right on Judy’s property and plugged into her electric. “Barn Stars” are a popular decoration on the units. I wondered how it would go over at Schooner Oaks.
My ride to Vermont entailed I-84 to the New York thruway to I 787 on the east side of Albany. The thruway has some very nice rest areas. My toll was $3.50—more than worth it particularly since I was able to confirm that I was on the correct course for Bennington VT. I exited I-787 on Rte 7 which took me into Vermont. Signs for moose crossings, ski areas, curvey roads and scenic small towns were along the 7/9 route. Tonight’s lodging is a KOA a short distance up the road. They have WiFi and if it doesn’t cost too much I’ll send this along.
Tomorrow I’ll head for New Hampshire and then onto Donna Moll’s in Maine where I understand my new credit card is waiting. We had rain the last two nights and I had intermittant rain/drizzle/fog today but nothing that was a problem. The temperature has been in the 60’s-70’s.
Elizabeth and I also had a great “girl-talk” visit since Don was still on the water crewing a sailboat delivery from Ft. Pierce to Annapolis. We watched a foreign film Antonia’s Line a Netflix selection I had ordered for some background in preparing for my trip to the Netherlands in the fall. It was beautifully done from an artistic standpoint and acting we thought. We did some on line research on Saturday as well as I was lucky enough to benefit from one of Elizabeth’s great haircuts. I left looking much better and feeling much more relaxed than I arrived!!!!
I really lucked out with the Auto Mall Chevrolet. They were very helpful, reasonable cost and efficient. Guess it was worth waiting for. Arrived at Brattleboro KOA just ahead of heavy rain shower but in time to get my electric plugged in. It’s a nice small campground and my site is toward the back with no immediate neighbors. I’ve routed my trip for tomorrow. The sun is now shinning but the predictions are for rain tomorrow. I’m sorry not to spend some time in this area. It really looks interesting but I would rather visit on my return or another time.

Some visuals

Some scenes L reminder sign on way out of campground --wife onboard?? I forgot mine! Middle: visitors on my Virginia site R: Santee State Park

Initial phase of trip or Pushing North

Writing on Thursday June 19 from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia—think Arthur Godfrey theme song for those old enough to remember—“Oh the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on the trail of the Lonesome Pine” sung while strumming the ukulele. I think Les sang that song as we came through here in 2004. Anyway that’s where I am. Tonight I am in Staunton Virginia, not too far from Jefferson’s Monticello and Charlottesville.
I drove 511 miles the first day and 409 today. Much of it has been interstate, but today it was intermingled with smaller roads that were connecting a section of the future Interstate 73. I met a woman at the gas station this morning who told me about it and it was a big improvement over my planned route through the heart of Charlotte, NC. She had left Roanoke VA at 2 a.m. and was headed for Jacksonville FL. I was headed to Roanoke and points northeast. Weird coincidence.
This conversation was taking place while I was internally in tumult having just discovered I was missing one of my credit cards used the previous day for gas in Palm Bay, FL. I feared it had fallen out of my shallow pocket possibly at a toilet stop at the Georgia or South Carolina Welcome centers.
Friend Ginny to the rescue going on line to find a phone connection with a real person to whom to report my dilemma. The other contact numbers required entering your card number which I didn’t have! DUH! Note to self: Take credit card numbers along. Fortunately I had packed a back up card. They will overnight a new card for me to pick up at my next stop in Pennsylvania. I beat myself up pretty badly over this.
In this small van carrying so much, I can lose so much. Things shift under transit to say the least. Cubbyholes that seem perfect storage somehow are obtuse when I try to remember where I put them. Then I absentmindedly stash things in an unordinary place and drive myself into a panic over it. Is this a sign of old age? Should I be allowed out???
Well enough of that hand ringing. I’m in a delightful campground in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Pleasant family noises filter in from the neighbors (Child: Where are my shoes? I can’t go anywhere. Dad: Where did you put them?) See even kids forget. Anyway I feel quite snug. Four geese paid a welcoming call earlier. I think they wanted a handout but were disappointed. They seem to have retired for the night.
Last night’s campground, Santee State Park, was even more scenic. My campsite overlooked a lake and there was more privacy. I was awakened at 5:30 a.m. to a symphony of bird songs. I lay there the next hour trying to decipher them—Owl? Woodpecker? Blue Jay? Robin? And many more. I rode my bike to the visitor center to register. They’d been closed when I arrived at 6:30. I was amazed to learn they had Wi Fi. I don’t think this one does so I’ll probably have to wait to send this when I reach Pennsylvania. Other random musings: Definite evidence of drought in South Carolina. Farm fields in the northern part of state look decimated. North Carolina seemed better but Virginia also dry.
New interstate I took today was devoid of any businesses and that plus new pavement and very little traffic was a real treat. Fortunately I’d enough gas but lunch came late as there was no place to stop close to the road. Poor Greta Garmin, the GPS, thought I was travelling through fields. She couldn’t find the road and kept repeating “Please follow route”. Along that road I saw a “shotgun” type house nestled into devouring bushes and trees. A pretty little house with columns across the front was probably someone’s home before eminent domain prevailed to take the land for the new road.
Many front porches in small towns looked inviting to “come set a spell.”A delightful appearing and seemingly antebellum town was Cheraw, SC. It would be a great place to check out another time. I think Sherman might have missed this one. South of there I saw a street sign “Colonel Cash” and another one “Cash Swamp” which made me wonder if neighbor Thurston Cash has ancestors there. Went through Guilford County, NC where great great grandmother Martha Deweese was born. No time to stop to check the courthouse or library unfortunately.
I finally treated myself to North Carolina barbeque vinegary kind with coleslaw on top. Not the best I’ve had but just could resist. Now I need some Virginia ham!
P.S. Written Saturday from Wrightsville PA. Had a good trip here but spent 4 hours driving to try to get the oil changed in York PA and then missed the turn. Oh well up the road. I was ready to quit and pulling into the McKonly’s driveway was great. Elizabeth had a glass of wine and great supper and wonderful bed waiting. Big Mama stayed in the driveway. Today I’m heading for the Poconos and a visit with Chicago days friend Judy Koubek. They have a weekend retreat that’s a manufacturered home and I will be permitted to pull into the site.
My replacement credit card is being sent to Donna Moll’s in Maine where I should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday and that will probably be my next post. My card was reported found but the account has been closed and a new one opened.
A few more highlights of yesterday: Saw 2 accidents both involving trucks but neither caused much delay for me but sobering to view. On the positive side crossed the Shenandoah twice and the beautiful sight made me think of the beautiful song Shenandoah. Too bad I don’t know how to have music play for the blog!
I am picking up my bellsouth.net email but if you have problems with it, my blog is set up on gmail. That is sandy41mail@gmail.com
I have to admit I am very tired at the end of each day even the 240 miles yesterday. I think it’s the tension of the traffic. Hopefully it will get easier. Will try to add photos next time.

Departure Date Set

I'll depart Stuart on Wednesday, June 18th and take I 95 to Santee, SC where I hope to camp for the night at the state park. The following day I'll work my way north through Charlotte and pick up I 81 which is parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Hopefully I can spend some time on the parkway as well. Natural Bridge is one area where I may try to camp.

Meanwhile it's putting up the hurricane window covers, collecting the final items and storing everying in the van. Just learned I can only stop my mail for 30 days. I don't want to ask a neighbor to do it for my planned two month absence. Should have discovered this earlier.

Preparations

In a week I hope to be on the road heading north. Not sure how often I'll post on here but want to let everyone know about my progress. Goal is to drive to Newfoundland Canada with some help with Ferry crossings. I'll be driving my 2007 190 Roadtrek conversion van (aka "Big Mama) with my bicycle (aka "Georgia") hanging off the back on the new rack. Accompanying us will be "Greta" my Garmin GPS. I'll refer to the group as "Les Girls".


Lots of preparations in the week ahead while dealing with the stomach butterflies. Big Mama needs some final repairs and went to the RV dealer this morning. As of 4 p.m. they hadn't started! Georgia has had her tune up and I sprayed her with silicone which was suggested to protect her from the elements as she hangs out. (See photo).