Summer Trip Boston

We arrived at Hanscom AFB Family Campground at Bedford (just outside Boston) Wednesday just before noon. We almost got set up before the rains came but we were far enough along to live in the camper for a while until there was a lull in the rain. After a couple of hours it let up enough for me to finish while wearing a raincoat. It rained continuously until about 4:00 PM and then it stopped so we went out for a walk around the campground. It rained so hard during the night that it seemed that we were parked under a waterfall. Up to this time we have only had four days without rain since we left home June 17^th.

Thursday we did nothing as it was raining.

Friday started out nice so we went shopping on the base for groceries, etc., but it rained later.

Saturday Paula came out, picked us up and took us to her place indowntown Boston. I walked the eight blocks to the Public Gardens and back but other than that we did nothing but wait around for the Boston Pops and fireworks. We watched the Boston Pops on TV and the fireworks through the window of her apartment. Paula and I took lots of pictures.

Sunday Paula took us back to the campground and Linda’s cousin Ron and his wife Judy from Keene, NH joined us for a hamburger cookout. We had a nice visit.

Monday we left camp about 9:30 AM on the trike and went to the base clinic so Linda could get a blood thinner check. After that we left on our ride, going all backroads (versus interstates), first to Ipswich then on up the coastal routes (US 1, 1A, 1B) as far as Kittery, Maine before returning. At Ipswich we stopped at the Clam Box, a small restaurant specializing in clams, where Linda remembered going as a little girl. She had a clam roll and I had a lobster roll. Surprised? As lobster rolls go it was pretty good but it was mixed with mayonnaise and wasn’t available with melted butter. It wasn’t a lobster salad, though, as you get a lot of places but just lobster meat on lettuce on a bun.

From Ipswich we proceeded up route1A until we got to Newburyport where we had to merge with route 1. From that point for two and one-half miles to where we turned off toward the beaches on route 1A it took us about an hour. We found out after hearing the evening news that I-95 was closed in the area because of an overturned tanker truck so the heavy traffic on route 1 was all the I-95 traffic detouring up route 1. Going by the beaches, Salisbury, Seabrook, Hampton, North, and Rye beach, as crowded as they were it didn’t seem like there would have been anyone left to cause a traffic jam on route 1.

We rode a lot of nice roads, some of which we wouldn’t have been on if I hadn’t missed a turn or two. Linda was getting a little peeved at me, which I don’t understand. I only got on one road with no outlet and only had to turn around about four times, after turning the wrong way or too soon, to get back on the correct route. The Garmin showed me where I was supposed to be but it didn’t always tell me which way to turn. We got back to camp about 5:30 PM and after supper I was sitting under our awning trying to find information about the tall ships coming to Boston when the campground manager came around and asked if she could take a picture of our camp setup. She thought it was beautiful, the way we had it fixed up and wanted to put the picture in a camp newsletter.

2009 Summer Trip

Boothbay, Maine

We got to Boothbay Friday and met up with friends Ron & Gloria and we all went to Red’s Eats for a lobster roll for supper. They have a very small building but they always have a line, sometimes as much as an hour to wait. Their lobster roll is a hot dog bun filled to overflowing with cooked lobster and nothing else. You can get melted butter or mayonnaise to go with it, but of course, nearly everyone has butter. They advertise more than a pound of lobster on each roll and we believe it. You can’t eat it like a hot dog, as it is too big to fit into your mouth so we eat it with forks. Of course you can get fries with that.

Friday night daughter Paula came up from Boston after work and stayed with us until Sunday evening. Saturday was a nice day and we all went to Boothbay Harbor for shopping and sightseeing. After we had enough of that we drove by Red’s to get a lobster roll but the line was so long we decided to go across the street where we had fish & chips, haddock sandwich and hamburgers. Then we went up the road to Camden, Maine for more sightseeing and shopping. They have the prettiest bay, I think, and lots of very expensive yachts, mostly sail types.

After spending the afternoon there we came back and ordered a 1-¾ lb lobster each from Maniac Lobster. They cooked them for us and we picked them up and brought them back to the campground and ate them at the picnic table. We wanted 2-pounders but they only had two and we didn’t want to slight anyone. It was and excellent meal with scalloped potatoes and salad prepared by Linda and Gloria.

Sunday was a little gray and misty with rain in the forecast but we went to Pemaquid Lighthouse Park anyway, all except Linda who stayed in the trailer to do laundry. We were there a little while and the mist got worse and soon began pouring down. We came back to Wiscasset (where Red’s Eats is) and since it was raining the line wasn’t too bad. We bought five lobster rolls with butter and French fries to go and took them back to the camper. We heated them up in the microwave and they were even better than normal when they are served cold. While we were gone Linda threw her back out while bending and twisting as she was doing laundry. She was able to eat her lobster roll but couldn’t do much else. Paula decided to go back to Boston about five o’clock so Ron, Gloria and I went to the Tugboat Restaurant (built in the shape and looks like a tug boat) for supper. Prime Rib was on special and we all had it. Monday Linda could hardly move and it was a rainy day so we just stayed in the camper all day except for a trip to the store by me and to top off the fuel tank on the truck. Tuesday we almost saw the sun but it didn’t quite make it out. It wasn’t raining but it was foggy and misty some times. I took the trike to Red’s Eats about 11:00 AM and was first in line but their lobster supply was a little late arriving and I had to wait about 30 minutes anyway. I got four lobster rolls to go and brought them back to the campground, dropping two off at Ron & Gloria’s camper. It was a little sad that we would have no more of Red’s lobster rolls for a long time.

Wednesday we broke camp and headed for Boston.

The first picture attached is Red's Eats. Linda is holding my place in line.

The second picture is of Linda and Gloria on the hill overlooking the harbor at Camden.

The third picture is Camden Harbor.

The fourth picture is of Paula and I at Pemaquid Lighthouse.

The fifth picture is Pemaquid Lighthouse from the ocean side.

2009 Summer Trip
American Gold Wing Motorcycle Club Rally
Seekonk, MA

On Sunday, June 21st, we traveled from West Point to Seekonk, Massachusetts. The next day our club’s rally started and we left on a ride with about 15 bikes in a mist about 10:00 AM. We took some scenic back roads east toward Cape Cod. The closer we got to the ocean the worse the weather got until just as we got within sight of the bridge going over to Cape Cod it was raining hard and the wind was blowing so hard we all decided to cut the trip short and return to the motel. The next day we rode, again on scenic back roads with about 15 bikes, to Newport, RI. We not only rode by the famous mansions but also took in many scenic vistas along the ocean and the many boats in the harbor. We saw the church that JFK and Jackie got married in and a house that Jackie Kennedy’s family, the Bouviers, owned. We took a break at the cliff walk but there was a cold misty breeze there and we cut it short. For the most part it was a nice, dry ride with only off and on mists. Wednesday we took a brunch cruise on a tour boat around the Narraganset Bay. Except for two other people we had the boat to ourselves (about 70 Gold Wing club members). We started at 11:00 AM and cruised until about 5:00 PM with a two hour break in downtown Newport for shopping. It was a good day with periods of sun and clouds and the food was very good. Thursday, our last day, Linda and I helped officiate in the biker games then we rode into northeast Connecticut on scenic back roads. I was surprised at how much farmland there was. It was a very pleasant ride and the weather was good. We took a break at the Vanilla Bean Café/bakery, where Coca Cola chose to introduce their Vanilla Coke in 2002. That evening we had a banquet to end the rally, said goodbye to many friends that we only see once a year and the next morning moved on to Maine. The first picture is of a bunch of motorcycles lining up for a ride. The second picture is of Linda and some others on the fantail of the tour boat.

2009 Summer Trip

Hyde Park

The day after West Point we rode up to Hyde Park to tour Franklin Roosevelt’s home and library. We got there early and toured the house where he was born and where his mother lived until she died. It was a nice house as the family had money. After the house we went into his library and spent quite some time in there. While we were in there it started raining and rained off and on all day. The first picture is of Franklin D. Roosevelt's home.

The second picture is a bronze statue of Franklin and Eleanor. There was a place on the bench to sit and have your picture taken with them but I could find no democrats who were willing to have their picture taken with them. The whole town of Hyde Park was republican and they never voted for him. After lunch we took a bus ride to Eleanor Roosevelt’s home away from home, Val Kil, named after a stream that ran nearby through the property. She used it as a place of her own to entertain friends and after Franklin died she lived there until she died. It wasn’t much but she made it comfortable and she hosted several dignitaries there, including JFK when he was trying to get her support for his presidential run. The next day we departed the West Point campground heading for Seekonk, Massachusetts for our Motorcycle Club Rally. Just after we turned onto the main road we had to break hard for a bear that ran across the street in front of us. It was probably within 15 feet of us and we had two cameras within reach of both of us but we were concerned because the oncoming car looked like it was not going to stop in time and we didn’t think to get a picture.

2009 Summer Trip

First Stop: West Point, NY

We left home Wednesday, June 17th, and about an hour on the road it started raining. It rained pretty much all the way to Winchester, Virginia where we camped for the night and it rained most of the night. It was just barely raining when we left camp around 8:00 AM and rained off and on all day. We pulled into the campground at West Point, NY in early afternoon and it was still raining and rained most of the night.

The next morning it wasn’t raining and we went to the West Point Military Academy. We took the two-hour tour, which included the narrated bus tour of the base as well as a walk through the chapel and cemetery. It was all very interesting and we recognized a lot of names in the cemetery of famous generals, etc. I wore my “Retired Navy” ball cap and that elicited a lot of comments and jokes from our tour guide concerning the war (in sports) between Army and Navy. We had an excellent guide and we enjoyed it very much.

The first picture is of the Chapel. It is huge and very impressive architecturally.

The second picture is a view of the Hudson River from West Point with Linda in the foreground.