The Leaf

During our travels to New Hampshire after Thanksgiving we had the opportunity to visit a couple of cigar lounges for a little R&R before moving on again. But one visit in particular stood out at a great little place in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Federal Cigars. 

Day I just don't know HAHAHAHA AKA home again home again!

We are back in Arizona!!!

We put about 15,000 miles on our little RV, saw some incredible views, places and things, met some amazing people and (as you all know) ate some wonderful food. We have taken our 26' Born Free RV on one more journey recently. To it's new home in New Hampshire where it will be well loved. For a first journey in an RV it was pretty spectacular (even with the mechanical hiccups) but we are ready to go again.

Day 93-128 so many miles so little internet

9/12/2018

Miles Total: I'll figure that out later

OMG 128 days! OK so this is going to be a lot … from South Carolina to Georgia, Orlando, Titusville, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Ybor City, and Tallahasse Florida. Up to/through Georgia to Eufaula, Alabama (beautiful old Southern charm) to Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Gardendale. 

Day 92: South Carolina and more bridges

8/7/2018

Miles traveled today - 233.7 Total miles - 8719.2

I swear the Carolina coastline is held together by bridges... But they are really cool to go across. Even though both the Carolina's are stingy with their beach views those views from the bridges are pretty amazing. 

Day 90-91 The Outer Banks and stuff...

8/6/2018

Miles - 297.1 / Trip Total -8485.5

We decided to head towards the coast of North Carolina this week and check out the Outer Banks. The ride itself is lovely and the bridges between land masses are amazing but not a lot of places to stop to enjoy and once on the islands the houses and banking block the view of the ocean. North Carolina is very stingy with it's ocean views...if you don't own it or rent it you don't see it. Very disappointing! We did stop to eat at a neat restaurant in Nags Head, NC called Dirty Dicks... Their logo is "I got my crabs from Dirty Dicks". Food was OK but their steamed clams or mussels appetizer in an amazing cream and garlic sauce was outstanding!

Let's call it Day 89.... LOL

8/4/2018

Miles - I'll figure them out tomorrow ;-) update 137 miles 

Just a quick blog tonight. We are on the road again and as Jimmy posted Planet Fitness is our choice of stay. We are going to try and head down towards Kitty Hawk tomorrow and try out some of the ferry system. Should be an adventure.

Today was smooth sailing with an oil change on coach and generator. We will keep you posted as we get internet access. I will post the rest of the pictures on FB in a few minutes so enjoy!

No Days cause I just can't count that high LOL

OK so I figured yesterday was Day 87 so that makes today 88!

Daily Miles??? Who knows!!

Total miles of trip: 8051.4

Last time I sat here we were stuck again...So let me give you a run down since then. Well we did finally get the RV fixed by the great guys at J&D Power Equipment and more importantly cost effectively.

Day 56-58: Stuck again LOL

June 30, 2018 to July 2, 2018 
Total Miles - 262.3 
Total Traveled: 7082 miles

Well we did run into Hampton Beach, NH last night and stayed the night so Molly could have a romp on the beach this morning. It was worth the stay! She romped and played with her friends Sophie and Angus and went into the ocean too... It was a blast to watch. 

Day 52 to 55: Vermont first ...

Miles traveled: 301.6

June 26-29, 2018

We started off headed to Vermont but got waylaid in Littleton, NH. What a beautiful little town. These folks knew that in order to survive they had to revitalize their downtown and the were incredibly successful. Pollyanna is there good luck charm and she is every where. Every business has flowers in front, they are all friendly and they still have a walking mailman delivering mail with a bag slung over her shoulder. We bought some maple syrup and Jalapeno jelly and had to force ourselves to stop. I even stopped in a little hairdressers and had my haircut again... Many thanks to Connie!

Day 51: Meandering around upper NH

Today's Miles - 148.2
Today's Date: June 25, 2018

So today we took a lazy approach, started out about 11 am and started heading north on route 16. We visited all the little towns along

the way Gorham, Berlin (where we checked out the downtown), Milan (where we saw the ski jump), Errol, Dixville Notch (where the first votes are cast in the Presidential Elections), Lancaster, Whitefield and Littleton.

Days 47-50: OMG I lost track of time...

Miles Since last post: 374.7 (we are over 6000 miles total)

Today's Date: June 24, 2018


So today I'm going to start adding the date to my blog this way it keeps me honest LOL. Counting the days in the beginning sounded "easy peasy" but if you can't count you can run into problems. :-(

Day 46: Off and running again...

Total Miles - 73.1

We really enjoyed hanging around the Ellsworth area but every time we thought we might like to see the main street it was too busy to park the RV anywhere. So this morning, since it was early enough, we had the opportunity to park the RV right on Main Street and walk. Well like all the treasures we've found the local theater is a true surprise. I wanted to take pictures of the outside of The Grand and thought that was all I'd get but I saw a lady in the office next to the theater and she directed me inside to get a brochure of it's history... 

Day 45: Not a lot of miles

Total Miles - 103.1

Yesterday in our wandering through Bar Harbor we hit a lot of construction and broke off the tailpipe on our GENERATOR... UGH. So today we had to find a place to replace it. OF course, we immediately think that we are in for another long stay at the back of some garage. So we head out to a place called CMD Power Systems, Inc. in Hermon, Maine that work on Onan Generators. Well much to our surprise we are in there at 9AM and out by 10AM all fixed and road worthy for a minimal charge. WOW!!! 

Day 44: Bar Harbor

Total Miles - 95

Today we set off to check out Bar Harbor (Bah Habah), Maine and on the way we stopped at a scenic view to catch a glimpse of Cadillac Mountain. It was breathtaking... 

Day 43: Wandering and Wreaths Across America

Total Miles - 70

We headed out with no particular vision of where we would end up but wandered through the picturesque seaport town of Cutler. It was grey and raining a good portion of the day and makes the pictures look misty but I hope you enjoy. 

Day 39 through Day 42: Just bumming around Lubec

Total Miles - 122

The miles include getting to Lubec where we stayed until Monday morning. Molly meet some new friends, Sophie and Angus, and had a blast. We ate, drank and made merry. We visited Lubec Smokehouse museum and learned about how regulations killed the industry in

Day 38: Tourists

Total Miles - 58.1

We decided to treat ourselves this morning to breakfast out and we did! We found a little place called Karen's Main Street Diner next door to Karen's Main Street Pub in Calais, ME. Well you see on one of the boards they had Lobster Rolls advertised for lunch and when we asked they were happy to oblige our odd choice (see pictures on Facebook). If you're ever in Calais look up Karen's great food and friendly service.

Day 37: Off again

Total Miles - 155.4

Hey I forgot to tell you all that we saw a moose yesterday. It was young and just walking along the edge of the forest on the road in the shadows. BIG!! We've been riding in moose country and I'm surprised we hadn't seen one sooner. Today as we backtracked to get some photos of great old cars near Presque Isle, I saw another bear up one of the side roads just standing in the middle of the road. I was really glad that wasn't the road we needed.

Day 36: World travelers... LOL

Total Miles today - 206.8
TOTAL Trip Miles - 5,319.4

We are really becoming world travelers. We've already been through Greece, Palermo, Peru and now Mexico (twice), Stockholm, New Sweden, Athens and then our phone welcomed us to Canada even though we never crossed the border... I think its as confused as I am.

Day 35: Dexter, Maine and a few treasures

Total Miles - 139.9

We really took our time today to smell the roses and only journeyed a short distance. We went to a town called Dexter in Maine where Jimmy spent some of his childhood. It's a beautiful, fading rose like many little towns in New England.

Day 34: Lookout Maine here we come…

Total Miles - 199.8 miles

Today we decided that we needed to clean the covers on the sofa and beds so we took the time to stop at a nice little laundromat in Conway before hitting the road.

Day 33: Welcome to New Hampshire

Total Miles - 204.8 Miles

Last night we found a great rest area just before the Canadian border. If you ever find yourself on Interstate 87 northbound between MP 161 and 162 before Chazy NY it’s a clean, quiet and safe place to stay. We were the only ones there… You see the Canadian truckers know that if they cross their border they get extra driving hours so they don’t stop.  This was the first rest area we’ve been to where we didn’t wake up to the sound of truck engines starting up.

Day 31 and 32: Getting out of NY

Total Miles today - 351.1

A lot of miles today as we headed out of town towards one of the ferry stops on Lake Champlain.

Day 30 Welcome to NY

Total Miles today - 178 miles

OK so last night we ended about 50 miles further than where we started the day. We headed south to visit our friend and then turned back around to head north for upper NY.  Tomorrow we visit family, so today we wandered upper Pennsylvania and NY along Lake Erie. We have now officially seen 4 of the 5 Great Lakes.

Day 29: Lot of miles but slow going

Total miles today - 219.9

Today we did a little back tracking to visit a friend we thought was out of town... So we headed down from Slippery Rock, PA to Braddock and stopped for lunch. Along the way we took some photos of some railroad bridges, cars and an old station. 

Day 28: OHIO

Miles today – 215.9

Well we made it through OHIO today and what beautiful farm country it is. Amazing old farms, some restored and well maintained, and others falling down in disrepair.  When we started out today we thought we would speed through OHIO as we have both been here before. But in the end we decided to take a lower route and see some of the state we had not seen before… and that is what we did.

DAY 27: On the road again.....

Miles today - 247

YAY we are on the move again. All seems to be working (knock on wood). We took some photos this morning before leaving Saginaw so Jimmy could show off his new Cummins hat and make sure he gave the guys at Cummins Sales and Service a big THUMBS UP!  These guys and someone from Cummins Corporate helped us find a very tough part. The good news is they worked with us and I even helped with the research without bruising any ego's. Except for the generator being a pain in the butt the experience was not a bad one. 

Day 23: Lessons, lessons

Total Miles - About 100 (will lock this down later)

Last night we did some research with the help of friend and found a couple of places that we could bring the RV to. So we found one in Midland that the website boasted Master mechanics on everything including generators and since it was closer than Saginaw we headed there. We arrived early and when they opened we went in to see if they could get the generator up and running. Well it appears that they are not so super duper and they don't work on generators. 

Day 22: Another day in paradise...

Total Miles - 62.5

We started out our day pretty well actually after a good nights sleep in the Walmart at Tawas City. We had a full tank of gas, a good breakfast and supplies for awhile. We had decided to head towards Saginaw and then start rounding up the thumb of Michigan but about 20 miles before we hit Saginaw Bay the generator stopped again. Let me clarify... It starts but doesn't stay running. SO try finding an RV repair open on a holiday weekend. 

Day 20 and 21: Two for...

Total Miles (both days) - 235

Day 20 we took our time leaving the beautiful campsite in Central Lake. Those lake sounds and a light rain really helps you get a great nights sleep so why hurry? We started heading towards a friends place outside Grayling. Along the way we stopped a little town called Alden and it reminded me a lot of some of the little towns in NH. 

Day 19: Deja vu... Central Lake, MI

Total Miles - 185.9

We decided this morning that some of the great spots in UP that we would have enjoyed seeing included a lot of hiking to reach them so we opted to do a little deja vu today and head to Central Lake, Michigan. Central Lake is a place where we spent 4 great Father's Day and a lot of great shooting with friends at the Second Chance Competition. Unfortunately we are about a month early to join them this year so... here we are, having a cigar by the lake... Oh poor us!

Day 18: Truly a road less traveled

Total Miles – 116

Sorry this is a day late but we have had NO SERVICE where we landed and a good portion of the day so we are posting this as soon as we hit civilization.

Day 17: The Upper Peninsula... WOW

Total Miles today: 144.5

We stayed at Ironwood at a little park owned by the town call Curry Park. Simple, clean and easy to get to. Took our time heading out so a slow start.

Day 16: Lake Superior in all it's glory!

Total Miles - 162.4

We left Cloquet, Minnesota to take another road less traveled and do a little exploration around Lake Superior. We headed up towards Red Cliff, Wisconsin on a Route 13 South (which incidentally actually went North - East - and eventually South). We missed our turns a couple of times but finally landed on the right road. We went across the Richard I. Bong Bridge into Wisconsin (please understand these pictures are for your viewing pleasure only and taken through a dirty dash window). ONCE again no sign so: WELCOME TO WISCONSIN!

Day 15: 2 weeks on the road

Total Miles = 143 (approximate)

Two weeks ago today we left on this journey. So far we are hanging in there and haven't killed each other yet. We left Bemidji headed towards Duluth but decided to stop in a KOA campground just before we reached it. Sorry no Walmart tonite ;-)

Day 14: WELCOME TO MINNESOTA!

Total Miles: 200.9

We started the day at Devil's Lake, North Dakota (the picture represents a small percentage of how BIG Devil's Lake is and that spec is actually a boat out there fishing). The other picture is another portion of Devil's Lake and some of it's overflow. OH what New Mexico would do with all that water right now. 

Day 13: North Dakota ... Smooth Sailing

Total Miles = 254

We had a very quiet night at Walmart in Williston, ND (see Facebook for pics) and headed out after a good breakfast. Our goal was to reach Devil's Lake and we did. Along the way we took our time and made a couple of detours to take some great photos. Somewhere on the side of the highway in ND we saw an old truck turned into art... Hamburger and french fries to be precise. It was quite a ways off but managed to at least get a shot of it for you.

Day 12: Shhhhh! A long and productive day...finally

Total Miles: 303.2

We had a great night at Chris' RV Park in Spearfish, SD last night. The place was so quiet, clean and friendly and the cost was perfect. It was a good way to take a deep breath and move forward. 

Today we hit the road again with a goal of making North Dakota.  Miraculously we actually made it all the way to Williston, ND, our turning point. Tomorrow we head east going across the upper portion of the country. 

Day 11: Long day, short miles and more lessons learned...

Total Miles = 103.0

Late yesterday we tried to end our day outside a town called Lusk, WY at a nice little rest area, unfortunately there was no overnight parking. So we rested a bit before hitting the road again.  As we were leaving the Lusk area we realized that the "No Overnight Parking" thing was probably because they had their very own 'pay to use' truck stop and didn't want any boondockers at the rest area taking $$ from the locals. Oh well.

Day 10: Longer than expected day!

Mile traveled: = 250.7

Today was a long day we started in Greeley, CO, went onto Cheyenne, WY to visit Planet Fitness and then just kept going. It's funny how the littlest towns name their restaurants "emporiums" and when I say little I mean population: 45. LOL!

Day 9: We are free again and on the road!

Total Miles = 215.2

This morning the RV was put back together again and the generator was up and running. It appears that the starter and fuel line were the culprits and once in it ran like a top!! Once we paid the bill (which was substantially less than expected), emptied the tanks, filled the LP gas and the RV gas tank, got coffee and supplies we were off and running about noon! YAY!

Day 8: Quick trip to the Air Force Academy

We are still in Colorado and last night we had our first rain storm in the RV. The sound of rain on the roof was wonderful but the lightening was too much for Molly who searched out Jimmy to protect her (what a big chicken). But the good news is that the parts arrived late today so with a little luck we will be on the road tomorrow or early Wednesday.

SO today we used their company car (a little Saturn) to check out  the Air Force Academy which is just 15-20 miles away. It was a great day for photos with the dark overcast skies and the Academy itself is very photogenic. 

Day 7: More of the same but good coffee

First I thought I would add a few pictures of  Jimmy's chariot for your viewing pleasure but the pictures don't do the cow manure smell justice...  the price was right though and it runs well! 

We started out the day by finding an excellent Planet Fitness where we could get a nice hot shower in a human size shower stall. It was a really nice facility and we hope this one is indicative of others in our travels. 

Day 5 and 6: Waiting can be interesting too...

I know some of you have been avidly watching for our posts... Yesterday was a day of waiting and adjusting to our new HQ.

We have been docked here at the Premier Auto & RV Repair and the folks have been great. They made sure that we had a hook up and a vehicle to run our errands and thank God we found a Walmart AND A DUNKIN DONUTS. Horray for good coffee.

Day 4: With the good comes the bad ...

Miles Today: 222.3

We drove from the Whittington Center in NM after quickly checking out their gun museum and gift shop. Took some cool photos on the way out of a statue of Charlton Heston on horse back titled "Scout" and some pretty cool antelope...then onto Trinidad, CO. On our way Jimmy almost right turned into a HUGE prison (Trinidad Correctional Facility) on the back roads... I told him we were not going to prison today.

Day 3: Surprising adventures

Total Miles = 190.8

Today turned out to be an amazing adventure. We started with the intention of visiting Las Vegas, New Mexico... and we did. But in the end it was pretty much a bust. Although we did find the building used in the television series "Longmire" for Sheriff Longmire's office and a beautiful old city square with wonderful old buildings. There were also some beautiful old houses in the local neighborhoods... BUT there wasn't a decent cup of coffee to be found anywhere. On the bright side there was a Walmart LOL...

Day 2: Long roads, long trains, tall windmills

UPDATE from Day 1: We spent the night in a very quiet area in Springerville and reviewed the road for today, listened to Hannity on XM radio for a little while then hit the hay. We were a little nervous sleeping in the RV for the first time but in the end it was very comfortable. 

 Our plan was to head to the VLA aka the Very Large Array and wind our way towards Las Vegas... NM. Well we found that New Mexico is certainly the land of horses, bovine, antelope, open spaces and very very long straight roads. They also have some of the longest trains and a bunch of wind farms.