Baltimore, NYC, and FRIENDS!!!

This really is a sunrise.. and Deb was the one who got up and took the pictures!!

We've been "radio silent" because we've been having too much fun and have come home too tired to write!!

Sunday we spent the day in Baltimore at the Aquarium and at the American Visionary Arts Museum.  We definitely agreed we liked the Art Museum the most.  The Georgia Aquarium just has us jaded!!  While it was extremely well done, we kept waiting for the "wow" and it just didn't come.  That said, we took some pictures:

The American Visionary Arts Museum definitely didn't disappoint us!  It is a craft museum and a little quirky so it was definitely right up Deb's alley!!  Unfortunately we could only take pictures outside and none of the "yard art" there would fit in our back patio... lol...Google it... but the web site really doesn't do it justice.

At the campsite, we finally got some pictures (and DEB DID THEM!!) of a sunrise.  We also woke up to baby ducks and herons.

Then it was on to NYC.   We settled into our parking lot...errr campsite.  What it lacks in "amenities", it makes up for in proximity to NYC.  We are in Jersey City at Liberty Park.  The Statue of Liberty is in view of our site, and we are just a short walk from a train that is 2 stops from the World Trade Center Site.  Monday night we did the "tourist thing" as many of you have seen on Facebook, going down to Time Square and having wine at Rockefeller Center.  Deb shopped at a few of her favorite shops and (surprise!) didn't buy but a few stocking stuffers!  The buy of the night was made at a street vendor (of course!) where she found beach hats for Emily and Tracy and herself for our August beach trip!!  She decided to model them in the subway on the way home!!

Tuesday was spent with good friends, Jessica and Issac Fromme with whom we shared our trip to Macchu Pichu and Galapagos earlier this year.  They live in NJ, near here and their daughter lives within walking distance of our campsite.  We met them at the 9-11 Memorial Museum and spent the morning there.  It is very powerful and going through it with someone who had lived through it  so closely only enhanced the experience.  If I have any criticism of it, it would be that it is perhaps too much to take in at once.  We spent about 3 hours there and somewhere about 2 1/2  hours in, I was on sensory and emotional overload.  And we did not stop and  read even 20% of the artifacts and exhibits!  It is extremely well done and worth the rather hefty ($25) entrance fee.

After the museum we enjoyed a 3 hour lunch at a French Restaurant.  We had a great time renewing and strengthening our friendship. After lunch, the Fromme's walked us back to our train and we discovered that our train was not running due to power failure.  Instead of going to Plan B and taking multiple trains to reach our destination, they drove us home.  That is true friendship, to drive someone around NYC in rush hour traffic!  We howled when Issac and Jessica started fussing with "Myrtle", their GPS.  We decided that it must be universal!  But I will say Issac is a man after my own heart... While we were walking around, David and Jessica are fiddling with their phones, trying to figure out the best route... Issac just approaches a policeman and ASKS DIRECTIONS!!  A man who asks directions!!  How refreshing!!  (But like most men he only followed  them partially!!)  After our "home tour"  which took at least 3 minutes, we broke out the Segways and both of them became riders within 10 minutes!!  Though Segways are not allowed in NYC, New Jersey (at least Jersey City) has no such restrictions.  So after Jessica and Issac left, Dave and I rode all around the harbor and really enjoyed some spectacular views of the city.

As I finish this, the only  question left is,  can the Spurs hang on and beat the Heat at home?  You will know before you read this..... On to Boston for the wedding and more good friends!!  We are definitely lucky people... and who knows, Bessy may even get a mechanical overhaul!!  Dave has an appointment Thursday with an "RV Doctor" in Boston.  Quick update:  The gearshift now has a reading... but its one gear off!!  But Dave is quick to point out that "Bert", our little towed truck is straight drive, and survives just fine with no gear shift indicator!! MEN!!! LOL!

Kayaking and fun with Kris and family!

We've been out a week now, and we realized that we've had campgrounds on the water everyday!  The first night we were on Kerr Lake, then 2 days on Virginia Beach, 2 days on Lum's Pond, and now we are camped on the Bush River right outside of Baltimore!

Yesterday we rented kayaks on Lum's Pond and had fun exploring the coves and looking at turtles and birds.  One of the coves was criss-crossed by a zip line and we cheered and waved to them as they zipped over our heads.  The loon we saw was sitting a stump and almost looked like she was standing on the water!!  We definitely thought about Ella and how she likes turtles  There were everywhere!!

After our adventure on the pond, we went into Wilmington to see Emily's college roommate and her family:  Rob, Gage and Kris.  Gage is a month older than Ella and we had a grand time playing soccer and reading to him.  After a delicious supper cooked by Kris, we all went out for ice cream.  Gage gave me some of his preschool paintings and I put them on our refrigerator.

Saturday, we moved to our current site right outside of Baltimore.  After settling in, we took our segways to the Inner Harbor.  Baltimore is very bike and segway friendly and we toured the harbor, got National Aquarium tickets for tomorrow, rode out to Fort McKinley, and ate a mediocre seafood dinner in a very nice restaurant overlooking the harbor.  (Dave posted his Yelp review on FB)

Sunday we will start at the Aquarium early and then go to the American Visionary Craft Museum and then... who knows!!

PONIES AND EAGLES AND DUCKS... OH MY!

Our day on Chincoteague Island was a study in nature.  We began the day with Captain Spider with a boat tour of the island.  He told us how a Spanish galleon sank in the 1600's and ponies bound for the gold mines in Peru swam to the island and their descendants have lived there ever since.  When the island became a part of the National Park Service the Volunteer Fire Department kept control over the ponies on the Virginia side and they can cull the herd once a year to maintain it at 150 ponies which the island can support.  Once a year they have a round-up and swim the ponies to the public part of the islands and then sell off some of the three year olds.  On our boat tour we saw the ponies several times grazing on sea grass, several foals among them. We also saw an eagle and several ibis and herons.  The tour was very windy, but delightful.

Clam farming near our campsite

As we were entering the restaurant recommended by Captain Spider for lunch, right beside the door was a mother duck with several ducklings tucked under her.  Later that day, Deb was in town shopping and the mother and brood crossed the street holding up "traffic" (at least 3 cars!) for 10 minutes!  While in town, Deb bought a book the Captain recommended about the pony round up.  It is for young adults and will be fun as a read aloud for Abbie in a year or two.

As we were leaving the island, Deb read aloud to Dave from one of her travel books that we were close to Rehoboth, which is the home of Dog Fish Head Brewery.  It didn't take long to decide to alter our itinerary to include it!  Deb liked the Red and White and Dave bought 120 Minute IPA and World Wide Stout for him and Clay.

After setting up camp at Lum's Pond quickly just before dark, we headed out to a sports bar to watch the NBA finals.  But after the beer at Dog Fish Head and the "mandatory" beer at the Sports Bar to justify the table, we could only hang with the Spurs through the half.  Reading the paper this morning, it appears the 2nd half was just as exciting and the Spurs knew how to turn up the heat on the Heat.

Today we hope to rent a boat on the pond and then go into Wilmington to do some shopping and meet Kris and Rob for supper.  They have invited us to their house!

Stay tuned...

THE BRIDGE IS SAFE!! BUT OUR RV IS STILL NOT A MAYTAG

Just a quick update.... we made it through the tunnel and across the bridge!  Bessy is fine, though Shade Tree Dave is only 1 for 3... We can now access all our gears, though the indicator is useless.  The new brake sensor did not fix the anti lock brakes.  I guess Dave's career as a Maytag repairman is somewhat in jeopardy!!  He is researching "professional help" in Boston.  After my last post we've heard from those who are concerned about our safety.  Dave assures me that these problems are more of an inconvenience than a concern.

Meanwhile we enjoyed our day on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  We explored the towns of Cape Charles and Onacock and settled in for the evening on Chincotesgue  Island.  Tomorrow we hope to take a boat tour around the islands and see wild ponies.  Then it is on to Lum's Pond in Deleware to visit with Emily's college roommate, Kris and her husband Rob and son Gage.  

Some answers to the "burning" questions:

• Will the anti-lock brakes work?  We'll let you know when we go 20 miles/hr. or less tomorrow...nope!
• Will we have more than forward and reverse?... Probably, but we will only know which gear by feel (and this IS an automatic!!). That's how it happened!
• Will the rest of the parts on our NON MAYTAG RV get jealous of  ALL of the new parts being installed and the attention to the obsolete ones?  Is there a mutiny of parts on the horizon?  Probably!
• How soundly will Shade Tree Dave sleep?  Will we wake up for the sunrise?

OUR RV IS NOT A MAYTAG!!!

Do you want the good news... or the bad news first?... The good news is we are at a very nice camping spot on Virginia Beach.  It is very private and we've had some great walks on the beach and rode our segways down to a terrific seafood restaurant.  The campground is located on a peninsula so we get to see sunrises and sunsets on the beach... ok we saw the sunset and considered waking up for the sunrise.. maybe tomorrow... lol

And continuing on good news, I'm pretty sure I married the RV equivalent of the MAYTAG REPAIRMAN!!!

Now the bad news... our mechanic in Charlotte is not winning any popularity contests in the Park Household.  So far, almost everything he worked on has either re-broken, not worked "quite right" or was downright overlooked.  Dave assures me that none of it is truly life threatening and he can handle the road without these safety features.  So am I concerned?... Stay tuned... He also said after a full day of being a shade tree mechanic that he did not want to break camp and test drive his efforts... if it didn't work, he would just have a sleepless night... So tomorrow we will test it out in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel!!!!

So what are we dealing with?.. well the RV has lost a few gears... just the lower ones... but we are in flat land  and don't really need them ... yet!!!  AND the anti-lock brakes no long work due to a faulty right wheel speed sensor.  The good news there is we only need it when we are slowing down!  After numerous phone calls, Shade Tree Dave located a new part and put it on, so we THINK the brakes are fixed.... As for the gears, they required a bit of creativity.  He also discovered that the mechanic in Charlotte did not see an obvious break in the indicator cable anchor.  First we found out that broken part is "obsolete."  AND there are no substitutes.  This generated a few choice words, but did not stop Shade Tree Dave... He got out his handy  J B WELD epoxy glue!...  so Dave glued it, "blessed it", and reconnected everything. Now we have all of our gears, we just have no indicator, so we just won't know which one we're in!!... Will it hold??  Stay tuned and stay off of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel!!

Meanwhile, Deb listened to Dave's rants, occasionally handed him parts and flashlights, and retreated to her sewing table, where she finished Ella's dress... now she can coordinate with Abbie's purple one!!   And at one point Deb just shook her head when Dave was up under the RV talking to Clay on the phone and diagnosing Clay's home repair by telling him to get a glass and hold it against the walls and floors so that he could listen better to his house "talking"!!!

So there are a few questions to sum up this blog....

• Will the anti-lock brakes work?  We'll let you know when we go 20 miles/hr. or less tomorrow...
• Will we have more than forward and reverse?... Probably, but we will only know which gear by feel (and this IS an automatic!!).
• Will the rest of the parts on our NON MAYTAG RV get jealous of  ALL of the new parts being installed and the attention to the obsolete ones?  Is there a mutiny of parts on the horizon?
• How soundly will Shade Tree Dave sleep?  Will we wake up for the sunrise?
• Will we get across the Bay Bridge?.... stay tuned for that one...
• When will Deb see Ella in her dress? 
• And finally... what DID Clay hear in his house?

ON THE ROAD AGAIN.... 2014

"Bessy" was a little reluctant, but we finally got her loaded and headed out Sunday morning.  We had high hopes for our potential "new" mechanic, but at 6:45 on Friday afternoon, she was still in pieces.  They put her back together and passed the inspection, but we are still looking for a part to get her "perfect" when we get to Virginia Beach.  We thought packing her Saturday would be a snap... we had already staged our clothes and we just needed a grocery/WallyWorld run and we'd be set to go!  About midnight Saturday, we decided that we would only have a few chores in the morning and went to bed.  We finally pulled out about 11 a.m. with Nathan and Mollie in tow... at least around the corner so that he could ride in the "big, big, bus!"

As we were pulling out, we said, "What did we forget?... whatever it is, there are WalMart's everywhere."  By Burlington, we had thought of three things, none of them available at WalMart!!!  Mollie  and Emily agreed to "get it together" for us, and Diane will be bringing my jewelry, some banking papers for Dave and his prescription order to Boston!!  Thank goodness for good friends and family!!

The shake down cruise to Kerr Lake got us acclimated to the road again.  I only had to go to the back twice to secure loose items and we arrived at our terrific campsite right on the shore of Kerr Lake.  As Dave was leveling out the RV, he says an expletive deleted and realized that our "dear" mechanic had failed to hook up our jacks!! Our site is level, but we can't plan on that every time, so Dave got up under the dash and figured out how to reconnect everything.  What would Bessy and I do without him!!

Soon we were settled in and Dave was searching the internet for RV parts and Deb was cutting out and sewing a dress for Ella!

For supper we discovered a new delicacy!!  David had done a Boston Butt on his Green Egg and pulled the pork.  To save it, he canned it using water and apple juice.  It worked terrifically!!  The meat held its texture and with a little Band BBQ sauce, it was almost as good as coming off the Green Egg!!  I'm not sure how this will look in my decorative canning cabinet... but I'm sure it will be there!!

The idyllic camping spot lost a little of its luster after supper when we tried to sit out by the fire and write this blog.  The mosquitoes and bugs about carried us off!!  Thank goodness for RV's vs. tents!!  

On to Virginia Beach..... stay tuned!