Wompatuck State Park - #37

 We were so pleasantly surprised by the wonderful camping at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, MA.

Firstly, it was very inexpensive.  For residents (only) the cost for a site is $17; if you opt for electricity, it's an additional $6 per day - so for $23 this was by far the least expensive campsite we have rented to date.

The campsites are extremely spacious and far enough apart from one another to give plenty of privacy.  The electric campsites each have a cute electrical box that lights up at night like your own personal night light. Campsites also include a picnic table and firepit/grill for outdoor cooking.  The roads through the camping areas are all paved (there are over 250 sites) great for walking, biking or skateboarding. There was a good mixture of tent and RV campers.  Bathhouses are spaced out on every other road; they are fairly clean (could use a good bleaching) but the water pressure is excellent, nice and hot and both times I used them, I was the only one there.  Trash and recycle bins are situated by the bathhouses as well.  Each road has a water spigot available to fill your RV tank or just a bottle, need be. 

The only down side to our whole adventure was mosquitos.  Hey - you sort of have to expect this, being in the middle of the woods! Lucky for us - we set up our screen tent, right over our picnic table.  It was a life saver, particularly for Charlie who, like cats and kids, the mosquitos love him too!  In the future, we will definitely bring a good supply of bug spray and citronella candles.  

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We did get to do some bike riding and walking.  It was very hot and humid most of the days. Charlie pointed out to me many storage bunkers that have been covered over and sealed. 25 years ago, he had taken me on a walk through this park and showed me where he had worked (25 years before that) for Atlantic Research located in Wompatuck. They produced bombs for the government, bombs which had been stored in those bunkers. Thick foliage has grown over these many years and disguised most of them from view; they are only recognizable by a heaving mound of earth and a vent sticking out of the top still visible if you know where to look.

                                                                                                                                                             I spent a bit of time crocheting and doing puzzles. Time just goes by.  It was peaceful, relaxing and stress-free.

How I Get It All Done - #36

 We are leaving tomorrow (Monday) for 4 days of camping at Wompatuck State Park. Our campsite will  have electricity but it's B.Y.O. water and sewage will be contained and emptied at a dump station on the day we exit the park. I am excited about this trip as the plan is to stay in the park the whole time and do all kinds of outdoor activities! We'll see how it goes!

I've previously written about how I prepare for a trip.  All of that still applies but I wanted to show how I actually get it all done - simply, organized - rarely ever forgetting anything and leaving our home neat and clean.  While I do keep a bunch of stuff - food, clothes, bath items - in the trailer, I usually remove most stuff to wash or use up especially if it will be a few weeks in between outings.

I like to refer to packing the camper as "shopping".  I keep a bunch of canvas and reusable shopping bags just for this purpose.  I take a bag into the closet - and fill with undergarments, socks -  based on how many days we will be away. Then I move onto clothes - depending on where we are going and this trip is easy - all casual, nothing dressy - strictly a sneakers week - I pull out t-shirts for both of us - some sleeveless, jeans, shorts - sweatshirts and an extra pair of sneakers each,  Easy peasey.  Sometimes I will just leave the clothes in the bags and put them into the camper to put away later - but this time I opted to put everything away in our "wardrobes" - one less thing to do when we arrive at our destination.

For bathroom items - meds, etc... I use a basket to accumulate stuff we need to take. If I leave it on the counter a couple of days before we go - I toss stuff in I want to take and it makes it easy for Charlie to add what he needs. He always waits until the last minute to pack! When we are getting ready to leave - I just take the whole basket which goes inside our trailer's bathroom cabinet.

Food is also shopped.  First, the non-perishables. I go through the pantry and bag canned goods, peanut butter, olive oil - anything I might need. I usually have a pretty good idea of the meals I will be preparing and I'd rather have more than I will actually use; gives us some options. Once the bag is filled I transfer the contents to the camper's pantry.  I also bring paper towels, toilet tissue - if needed and also bags.  Since plastic grocery bags are fast becoming obsolete, I bring whatever bags I have and can use for trash; I don't buy trash bags.  I may have to do that one day, but for now, I use whatever I can scrounge up. Perishable foods are the last thing I pack just before leaving.  We don't keep the refrigerators on in between trips but they start as soon as we are plugged into the truck and on the road. To make it easy, I pack up all my frozen in a bag and refrigerated items as shown in photo  Makes it easy just to grab and go - plus I've already thought out what I am bringing and not just taking things in the eleventh hour, and I've purchased fill in items at the store to make sure we have all we need.

Water is another essential, even if a campground does supply a water hookup,  I just don't like to drink the water than runs through the hose and our tank. I'm sure it's fine and I will use it sometimes in cooking, but I like to bring our own. I have 4 gallons that I fill and use for drinking, coffee... in boondocking situations or if our water tank is not filled, we will use them for the toilet, washing up and washing dishes as well and try to keep them refilled when I can. For this trip because it was so close to home, we did fill the tank. But I actually find that if we are boondocking for a night or two a distance away, I prefer not to carry a tank full of water which greatly increases our towing weight and reduces our already low gas mileage. It has been my experience that we only use a small fraction of the tank water when boondocking; using the gallons I bring and wet wipes for cleaning ourselves in between does a good temporary job.  The boondocking is always followed up with a stay at a full service campground to empty our tanks and get a good shower!

For this trip, we also took our bicycles.  The weather looks promising, Here we go!

A Camping We Shall Go! A Camping We Shall Go! Hi Ho ..... #35

 It seems we're only home a short while before I get the urge to get out into the woods again!

I didn't want to go very far or for more than a few nights as this campout would be sandwiched in between a bunch of other fun plans we have already made.  

We are going someplace new and a bit more rustic. Wompatuck State Park in Hingham is the destination!  Charlie actually brought me here almost 25 years ago, showing me the site where he used to work. This park gets high marks for outdoor activity - biking, hiking, fishing.  We will definitely be bringing our bicycles and our most casual outdoor wear.  The site we reserved only supplies electricity; we will have to supply our own water - although there are bathhouses available for showering.  A dump station is also on site which will allow us to empty our black and grey water tanks upon departure. There will be no cable TV or WiFi.  This is roughing it in the 21st Century! Hopefully, the weather will be great and we can even do some fishing! I also understand there is a natural spring at the park and allows free fill ups of spring water! And at $23 a night (including electric) it's a bargain price!

I'm excited we'll be off again in less than a week! This is what summer should be all about!

Camping Down in Plymouth # 34

 If you've never had the opportunity to visit Plymouth, Massachusetts - it's a neat "little" town to put on your list.  I always hesitate to say little because Plymouth is actually the largest city in Massachusetts, distance-wise. There is a lot of history, beautiful beaches, delicious lobster; the downtown area is chock full of new independent and unique eateries. Home building in this area is off the wall! Everywhere you look, new residential buildings are being constructed on the most obscure lots and the prices are off the charts. In 1980, the population of Plymouth was about 35,000; in 2021 it has almost doubled at 65,000.  It's just not the same Plymouth when I moved to the area in 1979. But then, what is.

The weather since we arrived on Sunday at Pinewood Lodge has run from sunny and hot, to cool and rainy. At first glance, the campsite we were assigned (D11) seemed strange.  As we settled in, we realized it was quite spacious for all the equipment we wanted to set up, including our new tent. 

This particular camping trip has definitely been a visiting trip.  We met up with friends and family everyday this week. It was so great to catch up with everyone! Monday I met Linda G. at Panera; she had just retired and we had some good girl talk, Tuesday we met up with Sherri and Ed at the Roll Street Tavern; unique menu, pleasant atmosphere -  enjoyed the food and of course the company.  Wednesday, Myra hung out with us at Pinewood Lodge; we had lunch, walked the trails and sat in a couple of comfy Adirondack chairs overlooking the lake and chatted about life. Thursday we went to dinner with Liz and Nick at the Red Tea Room in Carver - Liz seems to age backwards; she barely looks old enough to be Nick's mom! Last but not least, on Friday we finally got together with Donna and Jeff at the Oysterman in Duxbury. The weather was perfect that night and it was good to hear how well they are doing. This was actually more eating out than we've done all year combined!

During the week, Minnie also had her vet appointment, Charlie got a haircut at Nanci's, we did a little shopping at Savers and Walmart - and poof - the week was over!

It is now August 5th and less than two months before we leave for Texas! Still hoping to get a couple more local camping trips in. We hope to meet up with Ellen and Yori in CT the latter part of this month.

Both Deena and Wally's birthdays will be celebrated on August 14th (their birthdates are 8 days apart). A fun cookout party has been planned at the house.  I have been asked to do face painting! 

And speaking of the house, it is actually in the final stages! It is looking fantastic!

Rain, Rain Go Away! - #33

 We have had a lot of rain.

But you will always hear someone say "Well - we needed it". I think we've probably had more than enough for a while.

It can be a bit depressing when you don't see the sun for days on end. The ground becomes saturated, you feel that constant uncomfortable dampness in the air.  When the sun finally breaks through and lights up our landscape, it's like greeting an old friend "Where've you been?!!"

Through the raindrops, I managed to catch up on my chores and enjoy my days.  

Over the weekend, I found a break in the weather to wash the camper -  finally getting rid of the last vestiges of cicadas, smashed into the trailer when driving through Maryland as well as the dirt and grime from our accumulated road trips. It could use a good waxing and hopefully we'll get to it before we leave for Texas. 

We will be setting out on another camping adventure next Sunday for a week at Pinewood Lodge in Plymouth. We have stayed many times. It is a great campground and gives us the opportunity to see a lot of friends while we are down that way - not to mention a visit to the vet for Minnie, haircuts for Charlie and me and probably a visit to the cemetery. Plymouth is like going home again; I have so much personal history here and where I have lived most of my life.

Despite the erratic weather, I was out walking as much as I could.  I carried an umbrella - needed it part of the time; it just felt good to be on the move and be outside.  I caught up on weeding the gardens. Our hydrangea are fully in bloom - big puff balls of purplish-blue beauty - my favorite flower! 

The construction for the new addition is going great and really getting exciting.  The electrical wiring started yesterday. I think the biggest impact will occur when the siding is installed and instantly and  seamlessly the new structure becomes part of the original house. There will be a lot of moving around and reconfiguring the existing rooms inside the house once that new room is available for the family. They will really enjoy it and be able to spread out more.

We also will be making a change in our space with the addition of cutting a new window in our backyard entryway area. Because the upstairs existing dining room window will be taken out and replaced by French Doors, I realized we could use that window for a little more light.  It will look out over our corner garden area and patio and will provide a really nice view!  I'm just waiting for the cost from the builder.

I resumed my Thursday Scrabble game and also plan to get back to my Still Life Drawing class on Wednesdays - although last Wednesday I opted out to attend a Historical Hike in Lessa Park. Charlie joined me and we followed it with lunch out at Zachary's. Yesterday, I enjoyed a solitary stroll through IKEA and got some great ideas for storage that I can crochet. Needless to say, I could hardly wait to try my hand at those, using up lots of leftover yarn I have on hand.

It's now a little later into the week and I have been busy working with Brooke on cleaning up and reorganizing the garage.  I am deferring to what she wants (well - it is her house) and doing as much as I can with her direction to get the job done.

I cleaned the inside of the camper and today I will start packing with clothes. 

I am enjoying my leisurely pace and still feel quite accomplished. Next week should be a fun week. We'll hopefully get to try out our new screened room, enjoy the outdoors and catch up with our friends!

Back To Reality - #32

Remember the good old days - when flying was an exciting "experience"? Travelers dressed in their Sunday best, meals were served with silverware, dining menus were provided with restaurant style options, magazines, slippers and personal amenities were offered...  Flying now is still an experience, just of the more stressful kind.  Do you have your mask, did you check to see what type of Covid test you need to gain admittance to your plane, do you need a vaccine card, have you sanitized, you can't bring that bottle of water over 3.4 oz.... It certainly can be a little disconcerting to see groups of people walking around the airport terminal not only wearing masks and shields but hazmat suits as well. (Do they know something we don't?)  Between terrorism and germs - staying home seems like a pretty good choice these days.  Still - as I think back over this past week traveling to and through parts of France - it was pretty wonderful! 

 

France is a beautiful country! Through my daughter Holly, I have had the opportunity to visit many different areas as she relocates her way around France. This visit took us to Cepoy and Montargis - two charming villages about an hour and half, south and slightly east of  Paris.  Holly and Greg have a lovely home here! Brooke and I enjoyed walking into the village center to pick up freshly baked pastries and just taking in the quaintness of the village itself. Gardens, architecture, wildflowers and a waterway greeted us at every turn; we were in awe! 

                                                                Cepoy

 

 

In Holly and Greg's garden

                                                               Montargis

Five days is a whirlwind for any international trip so our time was carefully planned; we were very fortunate the weather cooperated and was a perfect 72 degrees our whole time there! 

We visited the Chateau Versailles and the magnificent gardens! That was a full day adventure!

We returned to Paris the day prior to flying home to be closer to the airport and to have a day to see Holly's tiny Paris apartment in the gorgeous building she resides when working her long hours at La Tour d'Argent as their new Chef Sommelier Adjoint!  We did a lot of walking -  visiting her restaurant, sitting by the Seine eating our lunch, relaxing at the Jardin de Luxembourg, dinner at a wonderful French bistro (Le Bon George) and last but not least, viewing the iconic Eiffel Tower at night, lit up and all a glitter!

                                    Holly's Paris Apartment

                                               La Tour d'Argent

                                            

                                     Lunch by the Seine

                                     

Jardin de Luxembourg

And now we are home, adjusting to our regular time zone, slowly getting the house back in order and getting reacquainted with our normal pace and basking in the memories of a wonderful trip!