Recompence weekend campout in Maine

Three hours of steady work got the TC back on the truck and ready to go over to Recompence Campground at Wolfe Neck Farm in Freeport for an impromptue weekend TC gathering. Joe's leg has improved greatly but not enough to let him go for the whole weekend. I needed a restful time in the camper so we figured I'd camp and he'd visit.

Eleven hearty New England TCs showed up for a glorious fall weekend in Maine. Friday was cold, windy but sunny for the most part. We got the fire going early on and, with various adult beverages, managed to stay warm.





This year the ground was muddy but not ankle deep as it has been before. No one sank out of sight and had to be pulled out though Paul said his was starting to list to the side. The cattle are no longer on the farm so we had no wide eyed calves mooing at us from the fence line.



Mikeeee brought his 10x20 tent which was set up as a gathering place and a wind break. As usual we shared a lot of good food and chat about places to go and see.



I took the women up to Bath for a yarn store trip and lunch at Kennebeck Tavern on the Kennebec River. Somehow we never all made a LL Bean trip this year but managed a few crafts shops and a lot of chatter. Relaxing weekend mostly spent around the fire.



Had our usual group breakfast on Sunday which the men cooked. Too short a time but so good to be back in the TC. Unfortunately our propane furnace failed so I did end up back at the house Saturday night to sleep. Too old to enjoy a 40F degree night? Yes! Mike's torn the gas heater unit apart and we're ordering parts today. Sure is nice to know someone so knowledgeable on the inner workings of all kinds of HVAC equipment.

Tempted to leave the TC on the truck awhile longer. Who knows if there is another weekend left to the year before the deep snows arrive.

TC off for the winter

Yes the TC is off the truck for the winter and almost totally winterized. Anti-freeze is in, everything perishable out and all the linens, etc. all boxed up and put up on the bed. Only things left to do are to shut off the gas, remove the batteries and (hopefully) remember to move the license plate from the TC to the truck. F-350 goes in Wednesday for service and then into the garage with the 1/4" to spare so the door goes down.

Why so early? Why did we miss the Northeast Truck Campers fall rally in Salem, MA last weekend? Well Joe came down with a pretty bad case of cellulitis in his lower right leg and spent 13 days in the hospital. The only good thing about it was we were in familiar territory with known hospital and doctors. We could have been in a back canyon in Utah or on a beach in Oregon and had to hunt for medical that would accept retired military health insurance. We'd have found it but if a medical problem had to happen, glad we were home.

The gear we took out isn't so buried in the cellar that we couldn't load the TC back up and head out during the winter. Time will tell. He's healing very well and quickly. walking easily again and getting pretty bored with spending most of his day with his leg elevated over his heart. Lots of trips left to the wound care clinic but he'll heal given a bit of time.

So...... be careful when you are out camping. Treat any tiny cut or bug bite as a source of infection. We never found what caused Joe's cellulitis but just be careful.

Wandering through PA and VA

Our fall NorthEast Truck Camper Rally was held at Western RV Park in Carlisle, PA. Chimmy and Cathy were great Wagonmasters and made everything run smoothly. We got there a day early and set up after spending a night at Cracker Barrel. how odd to say you slept at Cracker Barrel!!

Here we are all set up on quite a slope. Had to take the camper off the truck to get it level. Darryl (Headin'South) lent us a brace for the front end of the camper which stopped all wiggling. We picked up one later at Camping World. Thanks Darryl! plus those smoked oysters were great.



Lots of activities such as a dog show,



Bingo, way too many chances to sample local wine/beer, cheeses, etc. Pot luck was fun and everyone always brings their best. Five of us women even took a trip to Adam's County Winery and to a local yarn shop. Great time and since we didn't want the trip to end - we didn't.

After the Fall Carlisle PA Truck Camper rally, four of us continued on into PA and then into VA. What a joy it is to travel with like minded people who share the same things we like to do. Carlisle was a great rally and we got to meet new TCers and renew old acquaintances. We just kept on going with a bit fewer folk. It's a real joy to look ahead (or behind) and see a line of TCs riding along.



Camped overnight in Bedford, PA after stopping at a local winery. My wine of choice is single malt so the winery stops were educational. Our next stop was in Shanksville, PA at the temporary memorial to the 9/11 Flight 93 crash. That was a really sobering sight to see and made me even more appreciative of our freedoms. Plans are drawn for a permanent memorial but I wonder if part of that will be improving the farm roads to get there.

Next stop was "Falling Waters", a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house.



It was built for under $150,000 and today the operating and repair budget is over $4,000,000 a year. I loved the stone work and roof lines but it was not a house I would want to live in. Joe's head grazed the ceiling in several places and the general scale of the house was not user friendly. Gorgeous to look at but cramped to live in especially the bedrooms.

Interesting camp that night as none of our spots were any where near level and we ran out of leveling blocks and resorted to local rocks. Next day we toured "Kentuck Knob", another Frank Lloyd Wright house.



The exterior details were just perfect to fit in with the site - one of FLW's main themes in a house. The kitchen was almost laughable in size as he expected the home owner's to have most meals catered and only to serve snacks out of the kitchen. Beautiful homes to look at but living inside art must not have been fun if not functional. Our TC looked spacious after a few of the house's rooms.

We're now camped near Independence, VA at a friend of one of our TC buddies. Their summer house camp is beside a roaring brook and in a grove of old maple and oak trees. He's even built a suspension bridge over the brook.



We've had great down time with most of us reading, napping, and planning supper. Last night Chef Mikeeee cooked pork loin, steaks, and fresh veggies on our host's big BBQ grill. Life just doesn't get much better.

We're back in Maine after a great trip with good friends. Truck Camping's best benefit for us is not just the places we see, but the friends met along the way.

Blueberry Hill in New Hampshire

Since returning from this summer's western jaunt, we've not used the truck camper much. We spent two weeks in VA working with the siblings cleaning out mom's condo for sale. Two weeks of way too hot weather, daily big thunderstorms, humidity enough to need a gallon of water a day - all reasons we sure do enjoy our home in Maine. We accomplished what we wanted as a family to ready the condo so even the heat was worth it.

We've just returned from Blueberry Hill Inn and Campground in North Stratford, NH. One of our truck camper friends lives nearby and found this 8 spot campground behind a B&B. It's always a great drive from Maine up into the western mountains and through the White Mountain National Forest.

We've spent so much time in our Host camper this summer, it is really easy to set it up. This time we put out the rear awning and also set up the popup tent at the end of the awning. Rob did the same so we had a big dry area during all the rain storms.


Mike brought up a 22 pound sirloin roast, fresh corn on the cob and steamer clams. Stoney brought up Mike's rotissier grill and two turkey fryer pots for the clams and veggies. Here's Mike checking the roast. It was fabulous! What a perfect summer meal with friends, beverages and a lot of chatter around the campfire.



Family Times (Jayne and Rob with their dog Lacey) set up next to us. They are really enjoying their brand new Eagle Cap truck camper. The amount of storage in this model is incredible. Rob worked with the tall steps into the Eagle Cap and built an interim step so it is easy to get into.



We're still hoping to get up to Kingsbrae Gardens in St. Andrews, New Brunswick for a camping weekend. In September we'll meet up with about 35 other truck campers for a rally in Carlisle PA and then a final small group meet in October in Salem, MA. Next week the camper goes in for re-caulking and a checkup. Love the Host and hope to keep it on the road for a long time.

June 30 Home again, home again

June 30 - NY to Maine

Home again, home again. Never did get to go up the "Going to the Sun" road in Glacier National Park but what sights we did see. This sign is always a very welcome sight no matter how short or long we have been away.




We ended our trip by stopping in MA to see FamilyTimes new Eagle Cap TC. Sweet! Maine is in the third week of rain and we miss that western sun and heat. Great trip and five weeks flew by way to quickly. We traveled 9,636 miles, averaged 11.2 miles per gallon of diesel not horrible considering most of our trip was in the mountains. Average price per gallon was $2.67 with the lowest being $2.29 in Michigan and highest $3.20 in CA. Worth it? You betcha especially since last year's trip $4.65 per gallon.

What parts of the trip will stick with us the longest? The drive over Tioga Pass, north of Yosemite National Park and all of Rocky Mountain National Park for me. Joe says his is Olympic National Park and the views from Hurricane Ridge and also Crater Lake. We would both like to go back to Washington State and spend a month or so wandering around. I'd like to sit on Rialto Beach and watch the sunset. Never did see the type of western sunset colors we had hoped for so we'll just have to go back.

The Host Rainier truck camper and Ford F-350 worked perfectly, all systems taking a lot of abuse on rough roads. The new Michelin tires got a workout on some pretty poor roads and proved to be a good choice for us. We were thankful for our TC friend Mike Tassianari who talked us through fixing the refrigerator after being at high altitude and the thermocouple sooting up. Minor problem overall and just lack of maintenance on our part.

We didn't follow in truck camper friends Wazoo and Farctic Ox's footsteps with extreme back country camping but we stayed in many national forest and state park campgrounds. Most of the time we were pretty much alone in those parks and the quiet and utter darkness at night was fascinating. Sure is a great feeling to drive into a national park, campground or Corp of Engineers facility and either pay nothing or half price. That America the Beautiful senior pass is one of the good things about getting older. Joe calls it his "Golden Geezer Pass".

Once again I'll put all our best photos to music and burn to a DVD to bore all our TC friends and relatives.

Thanks again for all you on RV.NET who gave suggestions on places to go and things to do. We followed many of your thoughts and enjoyed them thoroughly. Hopefully we can pass on to others some of these special places. What an incredible country we are lucky to live in.

June 27 - Iowa through Illinois to Indiana

June 27 - Iowa through Illinois to Indiana

Travel day - after looking for fossils at Devonian Fossil Gorge in the Coralville Corps of Engineers Park. None seen and fortunately the dam held while we were parked
in front of and under it.



I-80 East over the Mississippi River Bridge is closed for inspection and repair. Seems there were weak structural members and per internet, no idea of when it will be repaired and reopened. We did take I-80 from Iowa City to 280 around Davenport and then I-74 to get Peoria and red road Route 24. This route meanders through Illinois corn and soy bean fields, through myriad tiny towns and great views of America at its small town best. We plan to stay on Route 24 as long as possible as it cuts east between I-80 and I-74/I-70/ Slower? of course but a lot more scenic and almost no truck traffic. Gets pretty tense traveling in and around herds of 18 wheelers on the interstates and not much to see. Might get back on I-80 to cross Pennsylvania but not decided yet.

1,120 miles to go to home. Wonder what adventures lie between here and there?

June 25 Nebraska and June 26 Iowa

June 25 - Travel day through Nebraska Heat

Up on the road really early to try to air out the cow manure smell from the truck before the day's heat hit. Think I'm getting wimpy in my older age. Took I-76 to I-80to meet friends, one of the few interstate roads on this journey.

Today was a pure travel day other than the joy of meeting up with fellow TCers TinCanSailor and SailorsMate in Paxton, Nebraska. They were heading west from MA, we were heading east and with the miracle of GPS and cell phones we met up. We traded places to go and see and I gave Toni a lot of the brochures we had collected along the way. This is their first long trip since retirement and the TC is proving perfect for what they want to do and where they want to go. Joe and Ron did a lot of looking over each other's TCs to see that everything was working well. The seal in our toilet is slowly leaking out flush water from the bowl and no amount of cleaning will stop it. Doesn't happen all the time but enough that we'll replace the seal or ?? when we get home. They had a great time discussing tires and rims while Toni and I drank a lot of water.



Nebraska is right in the middle of the Breadbasket of America. Miles and miles and endless miles of corn, hay, and other foods we couldn't identify.



And then there are the cattle! Missed getting a photo of the main part of this stockyard since we didn't want to open the window. Got the "tail" end. We do love a good steak and can appreciate a bit more the effort to get it to us.

Tonight we are in a superb Nebraska state park, Eugene Mahoney State Park in Ashland, NE. Big trees, paved pad with manicured grass around it, full utilities plus wi-fi for $19 plus a $4 park entry fee. To get air conditioner tonight, we'd probably have paid twice that. TC when we opened it up looked like this -



It's hard to find an out of the way, safe place to run a portable generator all night so we chose to go for power. We even went over to the Lodge and had the buffet for dinner. US Air Force SAC museum is at the park entry so we'll go through there before leaving Nebraska tomorrow headed into Iowa.

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June 26 - Iowa

Travel day in heat but overcast so it only got to 85F instead of 98F. We stay on red roads as much as possible but due to construction had to get travel I-80 a bit today.
The thundering 18 wheelers just get a bit too much after awhile.



There are hundreds of these huge windmills lined up in rows like a checkerboard. They
are adding even more as we saw a lot of the big vanes on flatbeds once we had to get back on I-80 for a bit. Many of the smaller country roads are being repaired. Thanks to Delorme GPS software we usually can figure out an easy way around the detours.

We stopped in Newton, Iowa at the Maytag Blue Cheese Farm.



Never had any idea of how blue cheese was made. We watched a film on the process and then took a tour of this immaculate small facility where all the employees looked like they were contented like the 200 head of Guernsey cows that provide the milk. happy people, great samples and we left with Havarti, Munster, and of course - blue cheese. This blue is nothing like what you can get in a grocery store. Smooth, creamy
and strong but not overpowering.

Tonight we are in the Corps of Engineers campground at Coralville Lake, Linder Point. Another great bargain at $8.00 with the old geezer pass as Joe calls his Golden Age access pass to federal facilities. Quiet, clean, electricity for the AC (86F is still hot) and some beautiful trails we walked down to the lake. Tomorrow we will go see the Devonian Fossil Gorge and then head further east. Looks like we are headed home and the total wandering has stopped. We'll wander a bit more but the line home is getting straighter.