I have really been remiss in updating this blog! In the past seven weeks, since leaving Pennsylvania, we have traveled to New York to Connecticut to Massachusetts to New Hampshire. So here are some observations about the first five weeks of that, as well as the story of how my phone ended up at the bottom of a small Massachusetts lake:
Campsites
Our campsites have ranged from a "parking lot" space to a traditional open field spot to a generous portion of piney woods. Being in the woods is really lovely by day and a bit spooky by night; busier spaces offer great people-watching (and interacting!) opportunities. Piney woods clot shoes and paws with sticky resin; busy camp roads require a constant state of alertness.
Location
Because we are living, not holidaying, on the road, we select our campground locations for different reasons at different times. In New York, we were helping our younger daughter move her belongings from a storage unit into her off-campus apartment. Being just an hour-and-a-half by rental car from her meant we didn't have to pay New York City hotel prices, and we could host her for a couple of days at the campground. In Massachusetts, we were only an hour from our older daughter's Boston apartment, and she took a week of vacation to stay with us, relax, and tour a bit. In between those stays, we were in a Connecticut coastal campground, where Doug and I hiked with Hershey through the woods, meadows, and marshlands of the state park directly across the road. Finally, we are currently reveling in the explosion of fall colors in New Hampshire, which, unlike Vermont or Maine, let us in without a two-week quarantine requirement.
Campground Ambiance
The feel of the campgrounds has each been a little different. The New York campground seemed to be a place for families and friends to meet up outside of the city, with room to visit and share meals while keeping a safe social distance. I heard lots of different languages, and weekend evenings especially had big groups that were sometimes boisterous. A couple of sites were even projecting swirling colored lights! The campground was pretty full most every night.
The Connecticut campground was also quite full. It seemed to attract families on vacation, whether in RVs, tents, or a couple of big "glamping" canvas cabins. There were also lots of dogs! With Hershey's protective nature, we had to be alert and nimble walkers to steer clear of both large calm dogs and smaller yappy dogs.
The woodsy Massachusetts and New Hampshire campgrounds have been less crowded, which might be a function of the time of year - some northern campgrounds are getting ready to end their season - or of the fact that kids are back in school. (Though we did overhear some families in Connecticut talking about their children attending school online from their RV's.)
One thing that has surprised me is the whiffs of pot smoke that I've caught at every campground we've stayed at. I guess I'm showing my age: I remember when pot was obvious only at rock concerts; otherwise it was kept hidden away.
Firepits
All the campgrounds have provided some type of firepit, from a ring of stones, to an iron ring about the size of a tire, to a larger iron square with a removable grill top, to a "fireplace" formed from rough slabs of stone. While we have had a campfire only a couple of times on our travels so far, the glow and spark of campfires throughout the campgrounds has been a cozy sight. Sometimes it's a single person quietly enjoying the warmth, sometimes a family toasting marshmallows for s'mores, sometimes a group of friends in lively conversation.
Campground Staff
Campground staff has been invariably pleasant and helpful. Whether roaming in golf carts to pass out TV cable extensions or to quickly fix a backed-into water pipe (observed, not perpetrated, by us, thank goodness!), scattering "gold coins" around the campground for a daily kids' treasure hunt, stocking a camp store with necessities (paper towels and TP) or specialties (firewood and marshmallow sticks, RV accessories and parts), keeping the bath houses and laundry facilities scrupulously clean, or providing advice on activities, services, and stores in the area, we have been impressed by their commitment to being excellent hosts.
I've especially appreciated the campground golf cart drivers' unflappability in the face of Hershey's loud, unrelenting objections to the existence of golf carts.
Getting Around
On the whole, we have found that our e-bikes (electric-assist bicycles) are sufficient for seeing the countryside and shopping - though we do have to be careful not to buy too much on any one grocery run! One evening we found ourselves bicycling back to camp with both our backpacks stuffed, plus items tucked into our bike racks, plus plastic sacks of groceries hanging from our handlebars!
Our routine has become for Doug to take the initial exploratory rides (of up to 40 miles!) in an area, then for me to join on shorter rides on lovely country roads and well-kept bicycle trails to picturesque towns and harbors.
We did rent a van to help our younger daughter move her belongings into her apartment in New York City, and we're enjoying having a car in New Hampshire to get to the farther-flung mountain sites. We also took advantage of our older daughter's visiting us with her car to drive up to her apartment in Boston and to have dinner with a friend of hers in Providence. So far, we still feel that the cost of Ubers and rentals will be less than the cost of owning, maintaining, and insuring a towed car.
Natural Beauty
The sheer abundance of loveliness in the U.S. has been a wonder to me. It's one thing to see pictures or even videos of the beauty of our natural landscape, and another to experience it. From the aged stone walls running alongside a campground's tiny nature trail, to the cry of a seabird over a state park's marshland, to the explosion of reds and golds across miles of national forest hillsides, this country is full of beauty that expands the spirit.
Wildlife
Other than the feet of the bear visiting our Pennsylvania campground dumpster in July, our wildlife sightings have consisted of smaller animals: insects and spiders, snakes, fish, birds (robins, woodpeckers, turkeys, swans, and many others), chipmunks (on the ground but also climbing trees to avoid Hershey!), squirrels (both gray and red), ground hogs, and deer. We are considering joining an evening "moose tour" here in New Hampshire, where they allow spotlighting wildlife (such as moose and deer) (outside of hunting season) to accommodate tourists.
History and Industry
We have been enjoying the small towns, farmlands, and historical artifacts of New England:
Phone Story
Our New England time has included lots of water - creeks, rivers, lakes, marshes, and bays - and one of the amenities at our Massachusetts campground was a selection of rental canoes, kayaks, and rowboats on a small lake, Fresh Meadow Pond. I enjoy rowing, and also thought the flat bottom would provide more stability (it's been a while since I've been out on the water). The day was beautiful, sunny and breezy, and we rowed out to one end of the lake and then headed back. The wind was against us on our way back, and I passed the rowing over to Doug a couple of times when I got tired. Our rowboat was a smaller model than we were used to, and on the second or third switch, disaster struck. Doug moved one way and I wasn't careful about keeping my weight to the other side. Suddenly we were tipping! Doug was dumped out over the side and I rolled over with the boat into the water. It was cold and a little scary being caught underneath, but I felt my way to the edge and popped back up into the air. We were both fine, but I let out a wail when I realized my phone had fallen out of my pocket. We were fortunate in where we capsized: we only had to swim with the boat a little way before the depth became shallow enough to touch bottom, where we could turn the boat right side up, and then stand and pull it up onto land to empty it of water. We tried a couple of times to dive down to the seaweed-clogged bottom where we thought we had capsized to feel for my phone, but quickly gave that up. A couple of kayakers came over to check on us, which we really appreciated. Then, sopping wet but otherwise okay, we rowed back to the campground dock.
Some lessons learned: Any boat can capsize. If you have stowed water shoes and small waterproof bags in your rig, remember to use them! Stuff is just stuff, and the fact that we hadn't brought Hershey with us (as we had originally considered) and that neither of us were hurt is what really was important. Finally, the expert staff at a nearby AT&T store that set me up with a new phone and recovered most of my settings and apps from the cloud (but not the previous week's pictures, alas!) were a true bright spot in our adventure.
Second Thoughts about Full-Time RV Living
None.
Campground Links
In case you're interested in any of the campgrounds we stayed at, all of which we would happily stay at again:
Next Up
The beautiful fall colors of New Hampshire's White Mountains, and the "Queen of the American Lakes", Lake George NY.
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