Travel Update!

 Maybe you have been wondering whether we have fallen off of the face of the earth. No we haven't, but Van-Life has it's disadvantages, at least if you have little experience with it and just happen "to dump into it".

After some rather hectic last hours before the start, we shoved off onto known highways through the state of Maine. The unusual part began when we had our first break.

"Where is...." was the beginning of most questions. What had be packed away in a rush had now to be unpacked in the middle of what resembled Chaos. Shoulda taken pictures of it, but sorry - I think you might imagine.

While drifting farther and farther south and then west, we tried to secure a place for overnighting. At this time of the year, Massachusetts has no open State Parks with camping, and as we had terrific weather and this being Saturday, private campgrounds were all booked solid. So was every single hotel in the area. So what to do?

It turned out that WALMART was the last available ressource. We found one in Sturbridge, MA.

After getting Dixie out of the little space we had, I emptied 2 cans of soup ($1.98 at Walmart) into a pot, cut in a little Beef sausage ($3.98 at Walmart) added a little bread on the side.Voila - there was our dinner.

Going to bed is another chapter which was never written for older people. I mean if one is young it would look radically different, but having us two oldies crawl into that space between the mattrass and the ceiling would qualify for the Saturday night entertainment show. When I finally had tucked myself in, I started contemplating about what I had subjected my dear wife to, after 37 years of marriage.

Also it dawned on me what being homeless might mean for people having seen better days. Some of those folks don't even have a van to sleep in, but drive around in a beaten-up old Mercury.

Finally sleep came to me pushing those ugly thoughts out of the way.

We had been worried what we would do if we would need to go to the bathroom, when WALMART closes at 11pm.

Bea didn't need to, while I had to calm Dixie at 3am when I stepped across her bed on the way out the side door.

Oh dear! 

Going to bed that early (9am) we woke up too darn early as well. The inside temperature in the van wasn't inviting to get out from under the covers, but being the initiator of this drama, I better had to. Outside again, I walked around the front and opened the driver door. Then I started the engine. It wouldn't take long and a cozy warmth would spread through the apartement. 

When it was time to make coffee, a little problem came up. Our newly purchased propane stove did not light a flame. The cylinder valve underneath was open, but no propane made it to the burner. Coffee got canceled and we got out of the Walmart property.

In search for a place with food we found that the Pilot Truckstop would be a place we could try. 

I will spare you from describing the tedious stressful search for that place. All I can say is that that business is tucked away in a corner you won't find. So forget it. Just go somewhere else

We actually used almost 45 minutes to locate it and when Bea wanted to get coffee from the machine, she had to call for assistance. Since they had misplaced the user manual an employee came over and did a lightning-fast intensive course about how to operate this electronic touch-screen rocket wonder. I remember the other kind where large coffee containers had levers on the top which you could press, upon which coffee would pour into your cup. But I do understand that such primitive equipment wouldn't appeal to our talented young people. 

We did not buy any food as we still had chocolate-chip muffins in the van. Mind you, they were kind of hard to locate there.

Finally we were out on the Interstate heading west.

A great surprise were the low gas prices. Lowest we paid was 2.88/gal, but I saw a station offering regular for 2.78/gal. Of course, as soon as we hit Pennsylvania that party was over. Why that state has so high gas prices (above 3.15/gal) I don't know. Maybe tax-greed! But honestly I didn't mind too much, as our van currently lives of 13mpg, which is GREAT compared to when pulling our travel trailer.

The weather today was absolutely terrific. I never saw a single cloud. The fall colours were just phenomenal.

So yesterday I had found and booked a motel room in a SUPER-8 in Brookeville, PA.

We reached the place at 5pm, filled up at a Flying J and walked into a Denny's place.

I have enjoyed Denny's food years earlier, but obviously some less gifted powers have taken a hold on that old American food chain. My Country-fried steak tasted old bread and the So-called fries were not of any edible quality. Tough and tasteless food was it alltogether.

It also took a long time to getting served

Bea's salmon was burnt and her salad was served without dressing and she was never asked about what dressing she would like. Denny's has deterioated to a third-class eating place. 

When we approached our motel, I saw a Pizza Hut right next to it. That would probably have been a better place for eating.

So, you see we are updating experiences.

After many, many years of RVing around I have to say that no hotel beats a well-equipped RV.

Just think of all the comfort-giving stuff you can have in your RV and how much of baggage you would have to move from your car into your room when staying at a motel. And all it is, is a (hopefully) comfortable bed, a bathroom and a TV (which you, of course, also have in your RV. But I have to admit - Hotel beats Van-Life BIG TIME!

Just wondering what this is all about

There might be more to laugh about tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Leaving a Day Early

The plan was to leave on Sunday, but thanks to good planning on the part of Bea, we are ready for travel. Bea had pre-arranged all totes and boxes inside the house, so today we only needed to take all of it out to the van.

This year's preparations were quite different from previous years. Having our trailer outside, we always took 2 weeks to get everything to it's designated spot. But this year, everything we used to have in the trailer had to be packed down and put into the van or the wooden transport box on the auto-hauler. For 2 days the house looked a little "uprooted", like it would be when preparing for moving out or in. However, tonight everything is ready and cleaned up again. Before supper I went into the basement and drained the water out of the lines. For that we use an air compressor, connected to our garden outlet. I believe this is the best way to safeguard against frost. Before leaving in the morning I will pour plumber's antifreeze into the P-traps and the washer. Shutting off the power will be the very last act before heading out.

At least 5 months in hopefully warm and sunny weather are ahead of us. This is always like a big reward for a busy summer spent. Over the last days temperatures have dropped and whenever the wind picks up it's getting frightfully cold. Most older people are more aware of feeling cold during  late fall and winter. As we grow older we want to avoid experiencing frosty weather. For my part I have never been especially happy about winter and snow. And after 25 years in Norway I would go to great length to avoid winter temperatures.

Puckered Out!

Was it always so much work, or did I get soo much older?

After 2 very intense days for preparations for the big trip I simply feel "puckered out".

There is just so much to do before we can leave home for 5 months.

Just gathering all the tools and camping equipment is a steady run-around. Inside the house one stumbles over heaps of boxes and totes. It seems like all surfaces are filled with something "important" we need to take with us.

Should we take those plastic plates from the trailer? Bea was asking. "Let's take the paper plates", I answered.

What about our preserves made from Black Currant and Blackberries, and what about the tomato spaghetti sauce Bea made from hundreds of home-grown tomatoes?

We won't have a freezer until we are in Colorado, so our supplies of frozen beans and peas will be donated to a dear neighbour.

I still need to check air pressure on all tires, oil on our Jeep, and will we actually get our license plate for the new trailer? 

And so it is going on and on and on. at 10:30am our neighbour called and invited us for lunch. She made turkey soup! What a delight! 

In the afternoon I drive to the post office. The license plate for the trailer has arrived. Thank God! After all it has taken almost a month to get it.

The big transport box on the trailer is almost filled up. Tomorrow we need to fill up the van. And maybe, just maybe, we can start the trip on Saturday, if not it'll be Sunday. That's OK!

I am puckered out for now!

The Yearly Change-Over

Yesterday was the last day of our tourist season, and it was the passengers of the cruise vessel "VIKING MARS" who visited the island. 

After a guided walk through the Roosevelt Cottage they were all headed to the "Tea w.Eleanor" (Roosevelt) after which we dropped them off at the boat ramp in Lubec, ME again. 37 Good-Byes with big smiles is a wonderful reward for a happy tour.

Then today I woke up with a song in my head. This was a day without a tour - though not without a bit of work.

The agenda for the day contained the removal of the passenger seats from our 15-seater bus.

Once we had them out, the real work started. All parts of the previous years camper van conversion had been stored in the garage. They needed to be mounted together to make a nice big bed and a little kitchen unit. Carpet is covering the floor and after 6 hrs. of hard work crawling around in the interior it all looked quite comfortable.

Next thing on the agenda was the transport of room plants to a dear friend who is gonna baby them while we are soaking up the winter sun in sunny California.

While I was relaxing after all that work the phone rang. Another inquiry for an ISLAND TOUR at the end of October. I hate to say NO to a potential guest, but this time, I had to. A week from now we'll be in Colorado picking up our new-to-us motorhome. 

And we are really looking forward to this new adventure.

We still have a couple of days until departure and we know the days will just fly by. But from Sunday evening you might find daily updates on our journey out west.

Update! Update! Update!

It is time for a major update!

And right now we have 28 more days until we will start another southern adventure. Just that there will be some changes this year.

For many years we have been pulling our Forest River Flagstaff trailer thousands of miles through the country. It has been fun, but we also had troubles. two winters ago we had to replace both trailer axles, which not only was a lot of expense, but also stress for us. Then last spring we "lost" our transmission on the way home. Another {extremely} expensive and stressful stop along the way.

Our trusty Chevrolet Express, which also is a business vehicle is now sporting close to 200K miles. If we would continue to use the van for the long haul to California we might risk other very expensive repairs, and could lose it as a business vehicle. We thought this to be too risky.

So we had two choices: 

1. giving up to travel south alltogether

2. Getting a different tow vehicle (diesel truck?)

3. leaving the trailer at home and getting a motorhome.

#1: Would be a bummer to stay home. (Life is too short)

#2: Diesel trucks are expensive and we still have to pull            the trailer

#3: A Class-A Diesel Pusher would solve our problem.It has enough power to pull up mountains, it is comfortable to drive, and we know that type of rig as we had one years ago.But isn't it too expensive?

Nobody wants to "break the bank".

So it can't be a new one. But it has to be one which can be trusted, like a brand with a top reputation for quality.

Where can we find it?

Facebook offers "Market Place" with thousands of adds all over the world. But many of these adds are plain scams, and FB doesn't do anything about it.

You probably have seen adds where newer rigs are offered for pennies on the dollar. Or they have dubious email and contact data. (the rig belongs to my aunt)....followed by a strange email address. PHISHING ALERT!!!

So it does take some scrutiny to make sure the add and the seller is real and the rig is theirs.

So when we found an add in our area we thought it would be great to take an in-person-look. And it was good we did that. While the rig wasn't too old and had low miles, it still had been sitting behind a shed in a garden and was now showing signs of decay. 

Back to square one, I restarted the search. After studying hundreds of adds I came across a Beaver Motor Home sitting 2400miles away in Colorado. 20 years old and with 120K miles it seemed too old at first, but well maintained and well-used it would be in better shape than the previous one in our area. And it wouldn't break the bank.

So we went for it and will pick it up in October.

Our trusty van will still drive us to Colorado - but without the travel trailer. Instead, it will pull an auto transport trailer, which will then carry the van behind the MH after reaching Colorado.

The car-hauler is basically ready for travel once we get our license plate in the mail.

When we got our trailer in 2020 we couldn't travel as the borders where closed because of Covid. So we started to rent out the trailer as an AirBnB. Since then the trailer has paid for itself. We now plan to do the same with the motor home, and we will keep the trailer as well.

We are very excited about the new way of travel and can't wait for the next 30 days to pass.

Until then there are still a "million" things to do.

Bea needs to put her garden to sleep, room-plants need to be brought to our friend's place, the van needs to be prepared for travel and the house for the winter.

We also have to finish the Tourist season. Tours are still going on and October will see the arrival of three Cruise ships. The first one came on September 3. It was huge and had 3600 passengers. The "Enchanted Princess" has been starring as the "Love Boat". It was too big to use the Eastport, ME breakwater, so it anchored midways in the bay.

The Green Thumb Garden

 I mentioned that Bea has a "Green Thumb".

Without a whole lot of words, this is her work and the results of it.

When returning from California on April 18, we were afraid that it could be too late to get all the seeds and plants going in time to get a harvest. Possibly this warm summer with enough of rain has helped, but also Bea didn't waste no time to get everything going.

But what am I talking? Take a look.

The FLOWERS

The VEGGIES

CORN

Squash

Dill and Parsil

Carrots

Beans

Tomatoes

Basil

Also in the greenhouse: Peppers, lettuce squash

Not Bea's work

After 3 Months

Hello there, I am back to blogging world!

And with that comes an update over the last three months.

So we got back home on April 18 and after we made our house our home again for the next 6 months, we noticed that spring wasn't here yet. It stayed cold and we used quite a bit of our firewood supplies. 

Bea started her various garden projects. Putting seeds of various vegetables in the soil - so far in small containers, then with the help of growing lights and some heating nursing them to real plants in our front entrance. Bea is really good at this. People say she has green thumbs, and I have to agree. After the weather got warmer she readied our greenhouse and then her plant babies found a new home there. By that time is was the middle of May and our thoughts went towards the coming tourist season. A few tour guests came early and by the end of the month we had AirBnB renters in our trailer. 

View of Lubec, ME

Beach Art

The return to coastal climate was nice and underlines that a change in surroundings can be very inspiring. So far the beaches were empty and open for walking with the dog.

But I noticed that Dixie was growing older now. Her excitement over doing doggy walks was showing its limits. She has never been a long-hike-dog. It's just not in her breed. As a livestock guardian dog she sees her primary work as chasing intruders off of the property, for then to return to her herd. This is exactly what we appreciate. Whether it is a stray dog, cat or a deer, everything is run off of the ground - sometimes even some pesky two-legged visitors. 

June brought more of the Sightseeing tours and a few more AirBnB guests. The grass started growing like crazy, there was enough rain but also sun.  

The garden was showing results - things were growing making Bea happy. Daytime highs were comfortable. We were still looking forward to a full summer.

I had to see the doc because of my recent Arthritis diagnosis. The local doctor comes to the island twice a week, and I wasn't overly impressed  with him. But he got me some more medication, especially some pills which would prevent me from having stomach pain from the pills I had to take. 

CANADA DAY  at the Head Harbour Kiosk

Waiting for the fireworks....

July 1 was Canada Day and I had to work as a guide on a motor coach full of Americans. I had gotten a bunch of small Canada flags and with the help of the coach driver we managed to play OH CANADA through the coach sound system. And everyone was singing along. 

Happy Bus Group at Herring Cove Beach

The tour was finished on Herring Cove Beach where many of the seniors got barefoot to stick their feet into the Bay of Fundy. It was the absolute highlight of the tour.

July 4 Independence Day rolled around. But the mood was depressed. Too many crazy things were going on in the US. Would America really turn into an authoritarian country? It would influence Canada in a bad way. Could the clown really become president again? It worried everyone. Not even the fireworks on the American side could change that.

The last winter brought some very powerful storms to the island. The Head Harbour Lightstation on the northern edge of Campobello sustained a lot of damage. To help I went out there and started repairs. The big boat shed had lost both doors and fixing this required to gather leftover materials and make new doors out of it. There is more damage on the buildings. So whenever I have extra time I will continue to do some repairs.

Repairs to be made....

Coast Guard on the water....

.....and in the air

And now July is almost gone. The big highlight of the month was the recent 60-year anniversary of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

Celebration Grounds

No party without the Mounties...

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs

US-Senator Angus King

 

Ambassador David L. Cohen

The celebration started Saturday at 11am with a gathering of the general public and dignitaries from both countries.

Bagpipe music made for some great entertainment and afterwards it was lunchtime!

A great celebration indeed!

Soon we will be in August and my thoughts are wandering ahead to October. We think, this time, we will be heading south somewhat earlier than last year. That might make it possible to head up the I-40 from Albuquerque to see the Arizona Nat'l Parks along the I-40 before it gets too cold.

Flagg Day at home

The Flagg for Kamala

Home...Sweet Home