Driving was tough in the rain, and we got lost a couple of times in places where the roads were not well marked, and one place (Woonsocket) where the road we wanted was mismarked on the map. Finally we made it to Bellingham, MA to the Circle CG Campground and Michael scurried to the office in the driving rain and secured our site. (We ended up getting 7 inches of rain in the one day at Bellingham MA!)

Hooking up in the pouring rain was another adventure. Michael wore the dry rider and we got leveled and hooked up. 

Once we had that done, we loaded the dirty laundry into the car and headed to the laundromat in the campground. It was well-furnished and very clean. I did the laundry as Michael cleaned the rig.  (See TIPS for more on our traveling routine.)

We went together to a fantastic Italian restaurant, Bertucci's in Holliston, MA. Michael got shrimp scampi, Dave got rigatoni with plum tomato sauce (except that it was actually fettucine) and I got a dish called Chicken Domani, yummy chicken medallions with spinach and rotini pasta in a wine broth. Everything was wonderful. 

After dinner it had stopped raining and we went off in search of the elusive ice cream. Scoops was our first choice since it was the original lure that Dave used to get us to come here. <g> But they were closed! 8pm on Sunday night and they were closed! So was the the Newport Creamery, another ice cream place down the road! .. So we went to Baskin Robbins and satisfied our passion for ice cream there. A drive around the Irish cemetery and a look at the tower there, and we returned to the campground. We said our so-longs till tomorrow and ... here i am! :)

Dave drove so that we could both enjoy the scenery on the way up, and since we went via the circuitous route (r-OW-t) 126, the sights were abundant. Our first stop was the site of "the shot heard 'round the world" where the Revolutionary War started in Concord Massachusetts. 

We posed for photos in front of the Concord Monument. Dave read Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn as we stood on the site where Emerson himself had spoken the words of dedication in 1837. 

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattled farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world..."

We felt as if we were living the beginning of this momentous war when Dave read William Wadsworth Longfellow's poem:

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

We were all really moved by this quiet pastoral scene, unsullied by the years, preserving for us the sense of calm that was ended only temporarily by the shots of the Revolution. 

The photos at the right came from this park.

There was also a nice display of photos and artifacts called "Return to Route 66", a display of "Made in Massachusetts" items, and "Flash! The Associated Press Covers the World" with a collection of memorable photos from the past 150 years.

A lovely flower meadow tempted my camera and i got these flower pics.

The last photo is me at the starting line of the Boston Marathon. <g> .. as if i'd run a marathon in those sandals.

At the end of the day, both Michael and I were happily remembering all that we had done and seen, thanks to our wonderful friend and tour guide, Dave. 

We parted with a "so long, see you" and a feeling that we certainly will meet again. Have I mentioned that Dave is a friend that I met online from the newsgroups and my Art Challenge? :)

Aside from the fact that the driving was difficult with lots of erratic drivers (My, am I being polite!), the journey was uneventful.

We arrived in Kittery at about 11am. Kittery is one of several Maine towns along the coast that has garnered fame from hosting a huge assortment of outlet stores. The main street of town is just one outlet mall after another, so close together, the one can walk from one to the next for the whole length of the town! 

After a quick run into Harry and David's outlet store to pick up some Moose Munch (see photo at right) <g>, we walked across the bridge to Bob's Clam Hut for a delicious and bountiful treat of clams and clam chowder. (See photos)

Our GPS showed an outline of the next  interesting events, if it indeed posted our locations. Here is what happened:

I was driving on I-95 north from Freeport for about an hour when I became too tired to want to continue driving. We pulled into a rest stop to trade drivers. As Michael took over driving, as always, he asked me how it had been handling and what speed i'd been going. 

I told him that the brakes seemed a little squishy, but that they had been that way for a few days. (He had not driven since before NY.) Since we are towing the car, things feel a bit different than they ever did before.

When he started driving, he found that the "squishiness" of the brakes was unacceptable so he pulled us into a K-Mart lot and we went in to get some brake fluid and he checked it. It was ok, so we continued on up the road with me driving again. I was joking that he would do anything to get out of driving. <g>

I asked Michael to fix it and, "While you are back there, get the camera and take a pic of me driving with a view through the windshield." (See resulting photo at right.) :) 

I came back out drinking some water and then insisted that we set up our reflection triangles which were in the wrong side of the RV so M had to dodge traffic to get them. I set them up.. very nice triangles.

The people at the tire place suggested a Ford repair facility. Michael was watching the guy at the truck place as he opened up the brake thing today and a piece that is supposed to be used in adjusting the brakes just FELL OUT. It had been jiggling around LOOSE in there with the brake shoes and drums and stuff. This was not related to the tire trauma in any way. Lice AND fleas.

They are fixing this now, 10 pm on Wed, 6/20. We will spend the night here.

The drive today was pleasantly uneventful. We did stop at a Walmart and got some supplies to enable Michael to fix the underneath storage compartment where it had ripped apart. Another stop at a home-improvement store netted us a "scrap" piece of plywood that was perfect for this project. I also bought a hook that i wanted for my dresses.

The flora have changed significantly over the last few days, from maple, oak, and pine to primarily birch, spruce and pine. Lupine of blue, pink, and white wave lazy hellos as we pass them.

We arrived here in Sussex New Brunswick early this afternoon and had time to do some of the work that we bought ourselves at the home improvement store. I showed you the "before" photos of the outside compartment that had gotten hurt in our tire terror. Here are the after photos. Michael lined the inside with new plywood, screwed it in.. then lined it with a rubber liner. 

We took the car into town after we did the upload of the above (I just added the paragraph about the flora, too.) We drove to the Sussex Mall and found a grocery where we bought some supplies to tide us through the weekend, including refills of our 4 one-gallon water jugs. (A gallon is slightly LESS than 4 liters. ;)) 

After our shopping, we bought some beer at the liquor store and then grabbed a late supper at the Dairy Queen. We carried our "cool treats" back to our car and watched people pull on the door of the liquor store, since it had closed at 9pm.  <g>

I drove the entire way, about 5 hours. I kept thinking that we were almost there. A kilometer is just 1000 meters, i thought.. that's not far! Well.. you get enough of them piled up and they are just as far as a bunch of miles. I was plenty tired by the time we got here.

Ken called us back on our cellphone later and we made arrangements to call later in the weekend. He is working on the boat and thinks that he will have it ship-shape for us by Monday! 

Michael checked on the Halifax repeaters and announced himself on one. He got into a conversation with a guy in Halifax who told us that he had just been on a trip to the States. He told us that he had been to Dayton and asked us if we had camped at the KOA there. We said yes, that we were the ones with the loud party. He said that he was camped just a few feet away from us!

Michael then worked on the big radio, getting it all set up for Field Day and made some "practice" contacts. He worked a station in St. Louis, one in Belgium, one in Russia, and another in central Pennsylvania. These were on 20M.

While he did this, i lost a bunch of money doing vegas style scoring solitaire. 

At 1:45 GMT, we listened as well as we could to the W1AW Field Day message and tried to get it all copied. 

We started off our Field Day 2001 with visitors! Glenn and Rae from near here in Halifax came to visit us. We got just one picture of them, but it wasn't even very good, so we will need to visit with them again for sure! 

See our Field Day pictures under Hobbies on the Road.  :P