We aren’t spending too much time in Maine due to several factors. We had previously been to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hahbah) so didn’t feel the need to go that far north. Secondly, it is very expensive to stay here. There aren’t any state parks along the coast with camping and almost all the rv parks are between $60 and $80 per night. I finally found one for $45/night but it’s less than desirable. Pics to follow. Finally, parking is ridiculous. More to follow on that. But the scenery is so beautiful.

Here’s our campground. There’s only one other person here who is traveling. The other 5 campers live here full time and their trailers look like they haven’t been moved in years. We also have our share of abandoned vehicles. But the old guy that owns it is so nice, we have full hookups, great wifi and very clean washers and dryers. Perfect!



Many of these pictures were taken either from a moving car or when John pulled off the road and I jumped out to snap a pic. Why?

Almost all of the parking anywhere near the coast was for residents only. We couldn’t even pay for parking. We did find one small lot outside of kennybunkport but when we pulled in it was so full that the only way to get out was to back all the way out. As we backed out, a cop drove in and gave us the major stink eye! When we were in DC I had commented to someone in the campground how kind and friendly people had been on our trip. That person told us not to expect that in New England. I didn’t believe it but they were right! No eye contact, not even friendly shop keepers. The parking situation is unbelievable. We don’t mind paying for parking but when it’s only available for residents….well we get the message.
Toes in the Atlantic. It was 92 degrees and humid!

We’ve been staying just north of Boston in Salem, ma. We had planned to take the train in to Boston one day but, like NYC, another heat wave hit and we decided not to go there. Not a huge loss since we’ve been there before.

We are staying at a marina/rv park. Here’s a few pics:

Nice, right? Well, this is a pic of where our trailer was actually parked. That’s us back in the corner.

The worst thing about this campground was when I woke up at 4:00am to the sound of someone trying to open the door to our trailer!!! We looked out and they were gone but noticed someone walking with a flashlight around some of the other campers’ vehicles. Then they came and tried to open our car door. And then they opened one of our outdoor cubbies right under the window where I was watching from (going to make sure they are all locked from now on). I yelled at them and banged on the window and the person ran off. We called the police but they didn’t find the person. The next morning the campground manager said they found a group of riffraff from town still here in the campground still so wasted that they didn’t know where they were. Clearly drug users who were looking to steal. But who tries to get into someone’s rv in the middle of the night when clearly there are people inside? Crazy!
Now back to more pleasant things! Gloucester and the surrounding area. Gloucester is the oldest fishing village in America and where The Perfect Storm was filmed.
These bad boys were taken right from a tank and thrown in the pot right before our eyes. Can’t get fresher than that.

Massachusetts is beautiful but the parking situation was very frustrating. All the beaches and many places in the towns only have parking for residents. Not very tourist friendly at all! So on to Maine. Let’s see if they like us more than their neighbor to the south.

Back to Connecticut via ferry. It’s not cheap but so relaxing:

Will not be going here for lobster rolls. That would be like eating McRibs in Austin and then saying you’ve had Texas bbq!

The Cape:

Martha’s Vineyard:


My favorite part of the island was the blocks and blocks of gingerbread cottages that were built in the mid 1800’s by people coming to the island for religious meetings. These are only a few:

And seafood for lunch:

And Nantucket:

Nice sidewalk across cobblestone street. Especially troubling for someone who already has one broken wrist from falling:

And, finally, some thoughts on editing landscape photos. I’ve started noticing what seems to be more and more people editing landscape photos. It’s not so much individuals but it seems like it’s professional sites. Just want you to know I think it’s not honest to post landscape photos that have been edited. The only editing I do is cropping. Other than that, what you see is exactly what we saw!

Long Island is a beautiful place and it was fun to visit places we’ve heard about.

In my opinion, no one in their right mind would drive through NYC to get to Long Island in a car, let alone pulling a trailer. So that’s why we drove around the city to Connecticut. We took a ferry from New London, Connecticut to Long Island and camped in a beautiful state park for the week.

The northeastern part of the island includes many farms,vineyards and produce stands:

This is the beach at our campground:

We spent one day exploring the southeast side of the island which includes the Hamptons and Mantauk. I don’t think they like tourists in the Hamptons. Most of the beaches are either private or expensive. And there is hardly any parking available unless you are a local. Grrrr!!!! Here’s a few typical Hampton scenes:

While most of the time I pack a lunch for us, sometimes when we’re in an area that specializes in seafood we buy lunch. Some of my favorite things: a beautiful water view, mussels, spicy Thai red curry sauce, and a cold crisp glass of wine:

Montauk:


Freeport.
Another seafood lunch. Lobster roll and shrimp and grits with peas and lobster sauce. I’m obsessed with shrimp and grits. This was the best so far.


We had originally decided that we weren’t going to go to Manhattan since we had been there several other times. But once we got here, we decided to extend our time here by a few days so that we could take the Long Island Railroad in for a day. As the time got closer the weather got hotter and hotter. Since it was supposed to be in the 90s with high humidity we decided not to go into the city after all. We think it was a good decision. In the meantime I had decided I needed to have my wrist x-rayed. After six hours in the ER I found out it was broken. But being in the ER with New Yorkers was extremely entertaining. One young girl just wanted painkillers and when they wouldn’t give it to her she screamed and cussed so that everyone could hear her. She walked out in a huff! The elderly lady next to me was asked by the nurse who was going to give her some medication, if she was allergic to anything. “Yes, Ambien and salsa.” I kid you not. But it’s all part of the experience.

It hardly seems possible that we are in New England already. We went from 90 plus degree weather in Pennsylvania/New Jersey to 60’s in Connecticut in one day! We’ve had dismal weather here which makes for not so great pics but loving this area nonetheless.

When you paint your shutters to match your flowers:

Not your typical lighthouse:

We drove to the waterfront at New London to do a prerun for our ferry ride tomorrow with the trailer to Long Island, NY. When you are driving an rv, you do things like that! Didn’t know there was a festival happening. Enjoyed some great music overlooking the water!

And finally, the nautilus submarine: