Tuesday, June 4, 2013

12 days in New England - Day 4 (Monday, May 20)

A nice morning, the rain is gone for now.  A bit chilly though, wore long sleeves but changed to short sleeves by the time we left the campsite.  Wish I'd changed into shorts as well.

We made our way north out of the campground and headed toward Plymouth.  Even more than Cape Cod, my reason for wanting to visit this area due to my nine Mayflower ancestors.  Plimoth Plantation was a major mental debate for me.  Cost, plus what to do with Max contributed to my decision to forego the plantation.  Maybe another time.

We arrived in Plymouth and soon found a free parking space downtown.  I would imagine in a few weeks that would have been a much tougher task.  We were almost right next to a statue of William Bradford and visited that first.  Then walked down the street to see THE rock.  Plymouth Rock.  I must say I was duly unimpressed.  It's just a rock with "1620" on it.  They're not even sure it was actually where the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth.  Anyway, to protect this rock they built a huge portico and you stand around it and look down at the rock on the beach below.  You aren't even allowed to touch the rock.   It's good to think about what it represents, but it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be.  Believe it or not, I was so geeked about seeing the rock and being in Plymouth that I didn't even take the GPSr out of the car.

On to our second disappointment.  The replica of the Mayflower.  It wasn't there.  It was in drydock and will be back in June.  Doesn't help us now.  Oh well.  One more reason to someday come back.  We walked around the waterfront area for a while, did a little souvenir shopping, then climbed up to a small park where we found a crypt representing those who died during the first year.  They were all buried together and corn planted over the graves as the Pilgrims didn't want the Indians to know just how many had died.  Several of my ancestors were listed.   There were also statues of a Pilgrim Mother and Massasoit during this part of our walk. 

We then walked a few more blocks to visit the Jabez Howland house.  This is the only surviving house in Plymouth where Pilgrims actually lived - the Pilgrims being my ancestors John & Elizabeth Howland, in their son Jabez's house.  Unfortunately, the house wasn't yet open for the season so we had to be content with looking around the outside.

We walked back to the car, and headed toward the Monument to the Forefathers.  This was one HUGE statue, dedicated to the memory of the Forefathers.  It was bigger than lifesize, probably by two-three times.  I think that it is one of the largest statues of stone anywhere.  We pulled up just ahead of a tour bus so had to share the monument with many others.  No worries, there was plenty of room.  This time I did remember my GPS and there was a two-part cache at the monument which required me to gather some information, do some math, then find the final.  I had to go into the nearby woods to look for it, and had some trouble but finally found it. 

We moved on and decided to stop at Burial Hill.  This proved to be the highlight of the day for me.  We had read that there were several interesting monuments so decided to just wander a bit.  First, we found the monument to Thomas Cushman and his wife, my ancestor Mary Allerton Cushman.  Continuing our wandering,  I noticed a more modern monument, erected to the memory of the children of John and Elizabeth Howland.  Hmmm - there are TWO of my ancestors as I'm descended from the Howlands through two of their daughters.  Started looking at the other markers in the immediate area and was rewarded with the marker for John Howland himself.  Wow.  Just wow. 

We walked around a bit more and found William Bradford's monument, and a few other interesting ones.  Getting hungry, and seeing others just enjoying the cemetery, we decided to take the chance and ate our sandwich picnic in the cemetery.  Chose a respectful place, not on any graves, and cleaned up thoroughly afterwards.  While we were eating I realized that there was a virtual cache in the cemetery.  I went back to gather the needed information, from a monument to a shipwreck.  Unfortunately, it was very hard to read the weathered inscriptions and I had to finally do internet research at home to get the information needed to log the cache.

After this we had seen much of what we had intended to see, of the places we could go with Max anyway.  It would have been nice to visit some of the museums but I had had a good day of seeing places where my ancestors had been or were memorialized.  Time for a little housekeeping.  We went to one of the shopping areas at the edge of town for two reasons:  groceries and a coat for Max.  We had noticed he was getting cold at night, so decided to look for a coat for him to wear at night.  We found a nice fleece coat at Petco on clearance for $4.00.  Proved to be a wise choice as it didn't get warmer, just colder, as the trip went on.

We went to a nearby WalMart for some groceries, then headed back to the campground and enjoyed some relaxing time in our chairs, enjoying the lake view.  Turned out to be the only time we got our chairs out on the trip.

Since some kind soul had left a large pile of firewood next to our fire ring, I made a fire and prepared foil dinners for our dinner, as well as roasted corn on the cob.  The hamburger and potatoes turned out pretty good.  I didn't have the corn placed quite as well, and we basically had about an ear and a halfs worth. Oh, fresh strawberries as well.   Probably one of the better dinners of the trip.  Dishes were fairly easy, I just walked everything down to the dishwashing station and had plenty of hot water with very little effort. 

While I did the dishes, Steve decided to take the screen house down as we were leaving the next morning and the screen house was dry.  The forecast called for the possibility of rain so didn't want to take any chances.  Bed fairly early at 9 pm-ish.  I did read from my iPod for a while though.  Sunset comes about an hour earlier here, and sunrise as well. 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

12 days in New England - Sunday, May 19

Day 3 started out slowly.  We took our time getting up - after all, we are on vacation.  Once Max and I were up, we went for a walk around the campground.  It was a beautiful morning!  After getting ready, we drove to Cape Cod.  First stop was the Salt Pond Visitor Center where we got our bearings about the area, then we drove down the road to Coast Guard Beach.  It was hard to find a parking spot, I can only imagine what it's like in summer!  We took Max to the beach for his first look at the Atlantic Ocean. He didn't get to swim because Steve didn't want a wet dog in the car.  Took some pictures and I picked up a perfect skipping stone.  Went on to see the Nauset Lighthouse close by, then drove on down the road, stopping at several interesting sights, then ended up in Provincetown to see the Pilgrim Monument.  As we suspected, dogs were not allowed, so Steve walked Max to a nearby park while I climbed the tower (one admission was given with the $10 parking fee.)  I made it to the top with minimal rest stops, too.  Interesting to see all the cornerstones inside which were engraved with the names of towns that helped contribute funds to build the monument.  A great view from the top, too.  Oh, and there was a micro cache outside the entrance.

Went into the museum briefly after my climb so that I could see the Pilgrim areas of the museum.  The Pilgrim Monument commemorates the fact that the Pilgrims first landed at Provincetown before deciding to move on to Plymouth.  There were some artifacts and artists renderings of what it was like during that time.

After I was done, met Steve and Max at the park and we walked around Provincetown for a while.  Found another micro cache at a little park at the water's edge, went into some gift shops, and got to do some people watching too.  Lots of same sex couples, this must be a favorite place.

Headed back toward the campground, stopped at a few more light houses and areas along the way.  Cape Cod is beautiful, wish we'd had more time to spend there.  Rain clouds were beginning to gather by the time we were back at the western part of the Cape, but we still stopped long enough to drop a few more trackables off at the Cape Cod TB Hotel.  Back to the campsite and we decided we should probably put our screen tent up for shelter from the rain.  Of course, Steve had never put it up at home to get familiar with it, so it was a struggle to figure it out.  Finally got 'er done and just in time as it did start raining in earnest.  Used the Coleman stove to cook some spaghetti.  Only trouble was that it didn't quite cook enough and cooled off quickly.  Probably the worst meal of the trip that we tried eating (there was the campfire pizza, but that story will be for another day.)

A bit earlier to bed than the night before as it was raining.

12 days in New England - Day 2 - May 18

Day 2 found us waking up to a beautiful Pennsylvania morning.  Steve slept for a bit longer than me, so after I cleaned up, took Max for a walk just a very short distance down the road and we found a cache there.  It was part of a series for the county, would have been nice to get more of them but we had another full day of driving ahead of us.

After our usual cereal breakfast, we packed up and were on the road around 9:30 am.  We saw lots of nice Pennsylvania mountains, even though we picked up some light rain from time to time.  We stopped at a WalMart somewhere along the way and picked up a USB to car charger for the iPod, serving spoons that we didn't have, some non-Michigan deposit pop, and a few miscellaneous items. 

We made it into New York then immediately took the first exit, as that took us down into the very tip of New Jersey, so that I could get a cache in New Jersey.  Thankfully, the cache I found was called "Bovine Royalty" and was located at a Dairy Queen!  We ended up eating lunch there as well as blizzards for dessert after I made the quick find.  Next, we went back into New York, and stopped at the NEXT exit to get a New York cache, at a travel bug hotel.  Tall grass at the cache had me wondering about ticks, and sure enough there was one crawling on my shirt a short time later.  Glad Max stayed in the car for that one!  Crossed the Hudson River, which cost us a $2.50 toll, and Max received his second dog biscuit from the toll collector.

Connecticut was a bit of a navigational challenge, as there didn't seem to be a direct east-west interstate except along the coastline.  We managed to get through just fine, and stopped at a Park and Ride lot which was next to a hiking trail so that I could get a CT cache.  Max walked with me, bet it felt good for him to stretch his legs, too.  Finally made it to Rhode Island, and we stopped just inside the border next to a small historic cemetery for my RI cache.

Didn't take long before we made it to Massachusetts!  Our home for the next three nights would be the Myles Standish State Forest.  This was our bargain stop at only $14 per night.  No electricity but the price was right.  We entered the park through the south entrance, and had to drive (seems like) about 10 miles to get to our campground area which was at the north end.  Curlew Pond, which was really a lake, was a beautiful place to camp.  It was getting dark so I started the charcoal picnic pan which we'd brought and cooked the chicken that I'd had marinating in teriyaki sauce.  Also cooked pineapple slices with the chicken.  We ate in the dark but it was a good meal.

We were very pleased to find that we were just a few sites down from an ultra-modern bathhouse, just opened up a few weeks ago.  Touchless sinks and dispensers, one of those ultra-powerful hand dryers, automatic flush toilets, very nice showers, and even an outdoor dishwashing station that came with hot water.  After checking out one of the other bathrooms in the other direction, we were VERY thankful to be where we were. 

No wifi, no electricity, so just read a book on my iPod to get to sleep.

12 days in New England - Day 1 (May 17, 2013)

Due to popular demand, and after a fairly long hiatus (has it really been last September since I last blogged?) my viewing public will be treated to "12 days in New England" through RedhedMary's eyes.  We decided to take a trip to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and it evolved into three nights each in Cape Cod, Maine, and New Hampshire, with travel time in between.  With Steve not working, it also became a camping trip to cut down expenses a little.


Here is the saga of Day 1:
Everything was loaded up the night before both in the car (taking the '11 brown Outback) and the little camper, except for a few last minute things and the cooler.

Let me tell you about the little camper:  it's made to pull behind a motorcycle, and my mom & Phil bought it about 15 years ago to pull behind their small car.  They later upgraded to a hard sided camper and gifted us with the little camper.  I've also been referring to it as "tent in a box" since it is basically a tent on an approx. 6 x 8 ft. mattress platform, with a small "basement" area (all tent) under the front for storage.  There is also storage under the platform, which can be accessed whether or not the tent is up.

Ok, back to Day 1.  We finished the last minute loading, and left at about 10:00 a.m.  Not even to Lowell, and we couldn't remember whether or not we closed the garage door.  D'oh!  Back home to check - we had, of course, closed the garage door.  New start at about 10:15 a.m.

I-96 down to US 23, through Ann Arbor and Toledo, then on to some Ohio highways to get over to the Akron area.  We stopped for lunch at a "quaint" little roadside area on Ohio 13 which had flush urinals but pit toilets for the ladies.  Go figure.  While Steve was in the restroom, Max and I headed for the cache that was in the rest area.  First find of the trip, and the only Ohio find of the trip as well.  A nice picnic lunch and then on we went. 

Went through Akron and we were able to see (from the interstate) the main Goodyear plant where Steve had done an internship while in college.  Kept on going - soon made it into Pennsylvania.  The interstate was getting more scenic - and we were getting ready to stop.  Finally made it to our first campground, stop for the night, at Clearfield, Pennsylvania.  The campsite turned out to be mainly an RV park - we were put into a pull through site near many RVs, made us feel pretty small.  Very friendly owners, they even gave Max a dog biscuit when we checked in.  (Max isn't into hard biscuits, picky little thing that he is, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.) 

Set up camp and cooked our first dinner of the trip.  Hamburgers and mashed potatoes on the Coleman stove.  It was soon dark, we would find darkness came earlier and earlier the further east we were.  Since the campground had wifi, I was able to catch up on my email and facebook in the camper since we had brought an electrical cord that let me charge the iPod. 

Max slept between us, on his dog bed.  There was just enough room for him there.  We kept him attached to the cable which gave him plenty of freedom inside the camper but would keep him from running off if he did somehow get outside.  He was content to stay with us though, so the cable wasn't really needed but we used it anyway.  

Monday, September 17, 2012

Moms never stop worrying - update

After a weekend full of checking multiple sites for typhoon updates, seems as though Scott has survived his first typhoon.  He's a bit annoyed with me that I posted multiple updates on Facebook, but I played the Mom card and that was that.  Good thing he probably doesn't read my blog...

And Eric still hasn't seen a natural birth, though he did get to observe a C-Section of twins last week. 

Got to spend time with both of them yesterday, Eric in person and Scott by phone.  Nice family day.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Moms never stop worrying...

A mother never stops wondering and worrying about her boys.  Even when they are 27 and 25.

When Scott first told us he was going to be stationed in South Korea for a year, I never envisioned South Korea as being a place where hurricanes or typhoons would head.  Then came Typhoon Bolaven.  Thankfully, Scott was on temporary duty in Alaska when Bolaven hit.  Minimal damage in the area.

But now, Super Typhoon Sanba is heading his way.  "Super Typhoon" is the hurricane equivalent of a Category 5 storm.  It will probably still be a 3 or 4 when it hits the Korean mainland, by the 17th.  Scott is back in Kunsan.  He'll get to experience it this time.  Thankfully, his dorm room is on the 7th floor so if there is flooding he shouldn't be affected that much. 

Probably a mom worrying too much. 


And then there's Eric.  Classes and rotations have started again.  He is now on his OB rotation.  I'm not worried about him, per say.  He's doing a great job in school and will make a wonderful nurse.  But it gives me a weird feeling to think of him as a young unmarried man watching a strange woman give birth, which he will soon get to see if he hasn't already.  But every nurse has to go through that rotation, even if they are guys.  All part of nursing.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

New Car Update

Well, it's been just over a week since we took delivery of our new 2012 Outback.  We had gone for the test drive Friday night, committed to making the deal, but had forgotten to bring the title for the Montana with us.   So we came back Saturday morning and did all the paperwork.  We used eighteen $100 Subaru bucks that we'd earned from credit card use, so that was the ultimate couponing experience! 

Steve spent a good part of the rest of the weekend undercoating the Subaru and other Cooperizing things to help prolong the life of this car.  I was able to drive it to church, a bit nervously but still nice to drive it.  We've had more than a few new cars over the years, but this is, to my recollection, the first new car that I've driven from the start. 

I got to drive it to work all week.  That was sweet.  It drives very smoothly, and gets good gas mileage.  Found out that my CDs weren't going bad, it had to have been the CD player in the Montana.  They work fine now...   It sits lower than the van, of course, so that takes a little getting used to.  I bought a shallow tote that fits just right in the front passenger seat for my assorted things (many geo-related) that I like to have within reach.  Bought a black laundry basket that holds bigger gear, for the back.  There is a cargo net that is corraling my shopping bags and other stuff like that.  Steve put an small Air Force sticker on the back.  Instead of geocaching stickers, I ordered a geocaching license plate frame which should come this week. 

Friday, I had to return my dog costume.  That went well, by the way.  Though it was VERY hot inside that costume.  Anyway, took me a few hours to get back home after that.  Went to a nearby nature trail and did Michigan's first Wherigo cache, placed a few years back.  A nice walk down the trail, then back.  Did a few more caches on the way back home.

Yesterday, drove to the Fruitport area for a geocaching event.  Most of my caching was done at the park where the event was held, so didn't put many extra miles on the car.  About a hundred altogether in driving back and forth though.  I think it has 300 something on it right now.  We took delivery with around 160 miles on it. 

Holding my breath for that first ding or scratch.  I am back to parking in the outlying areas of lots whenever possible.  At Gilda's, I try for that first spot that has extra room on the one side.  I know it won't be pristine forever, but I'd really like to keep this one nice for as long as possible.  Wish me luck there!

Steve also bought mud flaps and trim for the wheel wells which he plans to install tomorrow.  So I'll probably have to drive his van.  Funny to think it's the ONLY van now...

There's a picture of the new Outback posted on my FB page if you haven't seen it yet....