A short rundown of the past six weeks...

We started out on the shores of beautiful Moon Lake, near St. Germain, Wisconsin, with our friends Skip and Terri, at the home of Terri's parents.  Washing Minnesota dust off our camper, breakfast on the back veranda of Skip and Terri's motor home, and best of all, Skip and I singing our own version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" dedicated to Terri's mom and dad, the story of their life, with a final verse written by the four of us.

Tank got to run and swim with the two resident golden retrievers and loved this stint at Camp Bow Wow!

Then down to Fort Atkinson, where Karen had lived for 30 years, staying with her son Kiley and his bride of a month, the lovely Stephanie Ann Kracht Kilkenny.  Lots of giggles and stories with Robert and Mary, Kevin and Deborah, Kevin and John, and of course the Merry Carpesters.  I got to play music with Robert and Mark as well...

Stephanie Kilkenny with two of her favorite
 people, Evan and Kenna

A quick overnight visit to Ginny and Don, longtime friends who live in Oconomowoc, WI.  Well, it was supposed to only be overnight, but stretched to 2 days because it was so much fun!  Ginny had recently retired from teaching as well, and we compared our feelings.  She is a little younger than me and was feeling a little guilty (but she's a Catholic and entitled to those feelings I guess!).  I am just grateful!  Ginny also turned us on to the idea of the I-Pass, which will save us almost half off the tolls as we head to New England.  Many thanks, good friends!

Then off to the East Coast!  Three days of hard driving, especially the absolutely NUTS warp-speed nightmare of traveling through Chicago, semis buffeting us from all sides.  I am learning to drive with soft hands, and let the camper/camper find its own way...  hmmm.  Also, at the advice of Lisa of Keepers RV, we have tightened the sway bar a little more to reduce fish-tailing by the R-pod.

We spent the first night in a Wal-Mart parking lot somewhere in Ohio.  Interesting.  Free.  The second night in a small beautiful campground at the top of a winding gravel road somewhere in PA.  A nice campfire, a glass or two of wine, and a sigh of relief.  I think we have more or less finally, left Stuff behind, although the small adjustments here and there will be a part of life for a while...

Mary and Larry at the "Chateau",
a little dive bar near their house.

Boston Larry and Mary's place!  A great First Landing Site...  Live music in the basement, great food and company.  Our own room, which was probably big enough to fit two R-Pods!  A new battery for the Safari so it will reliably start, and a well-deserved oil change.  A visit to Kimball Farm, with bumper boats, a driving range, live music, and Batting Cages!  And of course the Chateau!  Lots of fun, with the promise of a return visit later this month!






Three days in transit camping in New Hampshire, taking the time to further deal with stuff (a lower case s finally).  The final day was a 24-hour soaking rain.  As it let up, we headed into the nearby small town for dinner.
We asked the waitress if they had live music.  She said that as a matter of fact they  had an open mic starting in about a half hour!  We finished our dinner, went out to the van to get my guitar and music, and came back in to talk to Dan, who was hosting the O.M.  Karen and I played four songs and had a great time!!

Then a few days in Burlington, Vermont with Brian and Suzy.

Feel the "Bern" in Vermont!

 Meeting Karen's brother Mark and his wife at a wowza restaurant, Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, an awesome hot tub soaking, more sweet music, driving through the Notch, stories from the Old Days,  and fixing an electric short caused by a disconnected sink drainpipe in the camper!

From there we drove to Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine.  Lovely weather and intense fall colors, including two shades of deep red that I don't think the Midwest has!  We spent one afternoon walking around Bar Harbor, and Tank happily let people pay homage to his Greatness.
 What a beautiful dog, can I pet him?  We had to leave ours behind in the kennel...   or we used to have a golden, but had to put him down two years ago.  I have one photo of Tank, with at least 8 hands petting him at once!

In Acadia I came across a piece of park history called the "Rusticators."  These were wealthy people from Boston and New York who came to the area to commune with nature.  One of the main Rusticators was the wealthy John D. Rockefeller.  He laid out and paid to have carriage roads built in the lands that would become Acadia.  Karen and I spent two afternoons riding our bikes on these gorgeous carriage roads through the woods and around lakes.  I was struck by a rich man paying to have these roads constructed for the good of all.  As opposed to the current discussion about the "One Percent." Feel the Bern!!

Then down to Karen's younger brother, Eric and his partner Francine, in western Massachusetts.  We caught them performing at FodFest, a tribute to murdered journalist Daniel Pearl.  For me a flashback to the old power to the people hippie days.  Amazingly healthy breakfasts and some musical connections.  Watching in amazement as Eric showed us how to access some great music and technology on his computer.

Then down to Mark and Lydia's, just outside Millbrook, NY.  Park the camper by the barn and plug it in.  More good food and company, highlighted by watching the Democratic debate at the home of friends.   Swimming in their newly constructed pond, walking into town to have a sandwich at the crossroads deli, learning about the basics of a winter garden, and an awesome bike ride through hill and dale.  Doing laundry and repacking the camper again.  Rest and relaxation.  Getting a packet of forwarded mail.  Thanks, Marybeth!

That's a very brief resume of our trip so far...  more later.  J