Boston

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Boston, Massachusetts

 

Yesterday and today we spent visiting with Teresa and Eric and Danielle and Danielle’s parents in Quincy which is just a little south and east of Boston.  We had such a great time, they are all wonderful people. They shared their home with us and fed us, it was very nice.
South Station

 

Eric and Danielle went back up to Concord, New Hampshire, where they live.  We will go up there tomorrow and see them again.
Tour Boats and Ferry Boats on Long Wharf

 

Teresa has decided she does not need her car on campus at Yale.  So we are keeping the car and will take it back to Minnesota with us. We’ll have to figure out a way to tow it behind the motor home.  I sure don’t want to drive separately!
One of the Street Performers on Long Wharf

 

Since she had to return to Connecticut we took her to South Station in Boston so she could take the train back since we will be going north to New Hampshire tomorrow.
Legal Seafoods Restaurant on Long Wharf

 

While we were there we walked from the station a few blocks to Long Wharf.  There were loads of people there.  This is where you get on the tour boats and trolleys.  There is a great restaurant there called Legal Seafoods.  Unfortunately, we did not eat there this time, they were packed and the wait time was too long.  Hopefully, we can eat there next time.

 

 

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Massachusetts

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Our spot at Wompatuck State Park
We packed up this morning and headed northeast to Wompatuck State Park in Massachusetts, just southeast of Boston. It’s a nice park, but rain is heading in.  We’ll have to explore it tomorrow.
Teresa and Eric and Danielle will be joining us some time tomorrow, it should be a good day.
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Lobster Landing

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Lobster Landing
Today we just drove around the surrounding communities and along the CT shoreline some more.  We saw in one of the tourist magazines about this little place called Lobster Landing that was supposed to be an iconic spot for an authentic Connecticut experience.  The menu is very limited, i.e., Lobster Rolls.
Lobster cages drying in the sun
After checking the Internet for restaurant reviews we learned that this has a top rating, so we thought we should go for it.  I cannot tell you how it smells when we first got there..um..not delicious.  It is, after all, a fishing dock and marina.  Inside the shack is a bit daunting, but remember it has been there a long long time and everything is aged.  Towards the back there were two large tanks filled with fresh caught lobsters and behind the counter were two young men cleaning and chopping up the critters.  The sign on the wall said the lobster meat was $45/lb.  We went back outside.
Deck with a view

There is a tent near by where the food is sold, so we ordered our $15 lobster roll and chose a table on the deck with a view of the harbor.  We didn’t even notice the smell any more.  The sandwich was just as described in the reviews, juicy and buttery, and the smoky flavor from the grilled soft roll (it looked burnt, but didn’t taste burnt).  It was good.

$15 Lobster Roll

 

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Mystic Seaport

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Marina at Old Saybrook

Up and off early this morning while it was still cool.  We decided to go visit Mystic Seaport since we hard from a few people that it was an interesting place for sight seeing.  On the way there we stopped at Old Saybrook for a look see.  It was a nice drive around a waterfront community.  We stopped at a marina for a while and watched the boats and watched a few men fishing before we headed off to Mystic.

The $24 each price tag to visit Mystic Seaport almost deterred us but we decided since we drove an hour to get there we should finish our mission.  So we got out the credit card and went inside.  I’m glad we did.  The weather was beautiful..sunshine and 80.
Charles W. Morgan, wood whale ship
One of the first things we saw was the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan.  Built in 1841 she has outlived all of her kind and is currently undergoing restoration.  She is the only wood whale ship in the world.
Large boiler where blubber was cooked to make oil
We were able to go up inside and see what was going on in there.  The guide explained how this ship would locate the whales and then launch several smaller whale boats to go kill the whale and bring it along side.  Then the men would cut off the blubber and hoist it aboard the big ship where it was further processed for whale oil.
Preparing to recreate the masthead
I took 50 pictures there, it’s difficult not to put them all in the blog.

After leaving the Mystic Seaport we stopped a few miles down the road to tour the first nuclear powered submarine and museum.  This was FREE (yay!).  Launched in 1955 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.  She has been to the North Pole and logged over 300,000 miles.  The museum on shore gives an excellent display of the history of submarines from the very first one ever until now.

Historic Ship Nautilus (SSN 571)
The first nuclear powered submarine
Inside the Nautilus
Inside the Nautilus
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Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Peabody Museum of Natural History

Our first stop today was at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.  We arrived too early and sat on the retaining wall outside for a while and watched the traffic.

The museum was having a special exhibit at this time:  Invasion of the Blood Suckers.

Human Bedbug

We saw everything we didn’t want to know about bedbugs and ticks and mosquitoes and lice and fleas.  They even had live colonys on display… eew.

Human Pubic Louse

 

The rest of the museum was the standard dinosaurs and human evolution and birds and animals and very well done.
Part of a big dinosaur exhibit
Dodo Bird
After that we went to a little restaurant downtown called Clark’s Dairy.  It had ice cream, but was also a Greek and Italian restaurant.
Marble
Then back to the RV to chill for the rest of the afternoon.  Marble decided to make a rare living room appearance and hung out with us for a while.

 

Later, we met up with Teresa and went out for Pizza to New Haven’s famous Modern Pizza.  This was a very busy place.  It was featured on the Travel Channel.  Here’s a link if you wanna see a video of it:  http://www.travelchannel.com/Video/new-havens-pizza-paradise-15189
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More

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Inside the Rare Books Library
We were on our own today as Teresa had to get back to work.  So, we went back to the Yale campus and walked around on our own.  One of the most interesting things we saw was the Rare Book Library.  The security is very tight here, but I took a few pictures without flash and nobody stopped me.

 

John James Audubon’s Book

 

There are six levels of very rare books here, including a display showing John James Audubon’s Book on Birds and one of the few original, remaining Gutenberg Bibles.
Woolsley Hall
We walked thru Woolsley Hall, the student commons, stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch, and headed back to the campground. We took the scenic route back and stopped at a beach to have a look.  Then we decided to check out that Hammonasset State Park that we decided not to stay in.  It was a very nice campground, very popular.  Perhaps, if we had advance reservations we could have had a spot with electricity.  We’ll have to remember that for next time.

 

 

The Dining Hall at Woolsley

 

The beaches we saw were all privately owned, and posted for no trespassing.  We did stop and ask permission at one gated entrance and he was happy to let us go have a look and take some pictures.
This is the beach at Hammonasset State Park.  It had cooled off a bit and there were hardly any people out this afternoon.
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New Haven, CT

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
It’s been a busy few days and I haven’t had any time to blog.  We tried to get in to Hammonasset State Park but they didn’t have any spots left that included electricity.  Our generator isn’t working correctly, and it’s been so hot, we really wanted the power for the air conditioners.  They referred us to Riverdale Farm Campsites on the other side of the freeway and we have a good spot there for the next several days with all the hookups we want.
Home Sweet Home
Teresa joined us for a while and then we went out to dinner at a U.S.S. Chowderpot, voted the best seafood restaurant in the state.  It was very good.
Then she took us to her place and showed us where she lives, close to campus.
One of Two Ice Cream Trucks

 

We went to the top of Black Rock Cliff to overlook the city.  The first thing we saw there were two ice cream trucks.  Then we saw the monument to Soldiers and Sailors before overlooking the cliff to the spectacular view below.  I can imagine how beautiful it will be in the fall when the trees change colors.

 

Monument to Soldiers and Sailors

 

From the top of the cliff we could look across Long Island Sound and see Long Island in the horizon.

 

View of New Haven, CT
View from cliff, overlooking New Haven, Long Island Sound.  Long Island is on the Horizon
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Yale!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Teresa in her Office
The Physics Lab
Yale Buildings
A Random Hallway
More Yale Buildings
Nice, huh?
Architectural detail
Yale
“I Regret That I Have But One Life to Give for My Country”
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We Made It

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

More driving all day yesterday, thru Pennsylvania, the very tip of New Jersey, a little of New York and into Connecticut.  It was a long hot ride.  Marble is doing fine, but she just stays on the bed the whole time.

Our campsite at Gentile’s Campground
We found a campground to spend the next two nights.  Everything near New Haven was booked for the weekend.  We are staying at Gentile’s Campground by Thomaston, CT, about 40 miles northwest from New Haven, where Teresa lives.
Teresa drove out to see us and will be spending the night.  She was happy to see us and happy to see Marble.  Marble still stays on the bed.  She did jump down to eat drink and potty but right back up onto the bed.
Christmas in July
The campground was having “Christmas in July” and a potluck dinner but we skipped that and went out for supper to a nice Spanish/Mexican restaurant called Acapulco and Madrid.  Good food. Then a bit of sight seeing.  We stopped at Black Rock Lake damn.
Black Rock Lake Dam
Black Rock Lake is part of a network of flood control dams and local protection projects built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Naugatuck River Basin.  It was built in response to the destructive floods of 1955.  It protects the community of Thomaston, CT, and other communities down stream.  The last big flood was in 1985.  The river itself was barely visible right now so at first sight it looked like overkill with the big earthen dam.
Thomaston, CT
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We Drove All Day

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

Another hot steamy day.  All we did was drive and sweat.  It was a challenge for the air conditioner to keep us comfortable.

Poor Marble, she was so hot too.  We stopped a few times to run the generator so we could run the house air conditioners.  The dash A/C just wasn’t enough.

Road Construction and a Big Bridge
We were slowed down by several miles of road construction in Illinois and Ohio.
We were seeing several triple-trailer trucks on the Ohio Turnpike today.  That is something we just never see in Minnesota.  Good thing too, I had to pass one that was going stupid slow and didn’t enjoy it much.
One of Many Triples We Saw Today
We’re spending the night at a Service Plaza on the Turnpike.  It’s a super duper rest area that has restaurants and gift shops as well as cheap overnight parking area with electricity for RVs like us.
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Day 1

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
We had good intentions.  We had planned to leave at 7am and drive all day.  But this terribly hot and humid weather made packing more difficult than we had thought.  So we finished up and were on the road by around 9am.



Accident on Hwy 14



About an hour into the trip we came across this accident on Hwy 14 between Nicollet and Mankato.  The police had not yet arrived, so it must have just happened.  I see a motorcycle in the ditch.  There were people helping and directing traffic so we just moved on.  I hope this is not a bad omen.
Around noon we stopped in Blue Earth and said hello to Shirley and showed off the new motor home to her.  It was good to see her again, but we had to get moving.  We made another brief stop in Albert Lea to show this to Diane.  Then on the road again.
The rest of the day was uneventful, stopping only for gas (ouch).  I can’t calculate the miles per gallon yet as we also use the gas tank to fuel our generator which we have used to run the air conditioners.
We found this fella outside a BP gas station and snack shop.  I think he wanted us to stop in for meat and cheese.
Spending the night just outside of Madison, Wisconsin.
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Two New Things!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Marble

Our cat, Marble, will be joining us on our travels this year.  She is an indoor cat, kinda old and arthritic, and a fraidy cat.  We took her on a trial run in the RV over Father’s Day weekend in June.  She hated the cat tote that we used to bring her outside and once she was free of that she found a place to hide in the far back corner behind the bed where she stayed quietly the whole 120 miles to our destination.   She stayed there most of the weekend, sneaking out for food and water and the litter box (thank God!!) when nobody was looking.

By the next day she was feeling more at ease and took a rest on our bed.  She seemed quite relaxed.  I’m sure she will adjust just fine for this upcoming trip.

The other new thing is that we have purchased a new motor home!! It’s newer and bigger than our present one.  We get possession of it in a few days. Exciting!!
Our maiden voyage will be to the East Coast to visit the kids.  We’re all looking forward to seeing them again.  We pick it up on Tuesday and then we will head out on Wednesday morning. We should be gone two, or maybe three weeks.I’ll be blogging along the way, of course.

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HOME!!!

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

We weren’t sure at first.  The motorhome would not start this morning.  Not sure what that’s about, it wasn’t the battery.  We had problems last year with it not starting and that turned out to be the starter switch.  Perhaps it has returned.  We had to call someone to come help us.  Once it got started we drove straight home.  Well, we did stop at Walmart to unhook the car before we got to our house and by habit turned the key off.  Oops, it wouldn’t start back up again.  We fussed with it for a while and it finally did start.  We were so lucky this whole trip, no problems at all until just now.  Whew!!!!  Knock on wood.

We were surprised to see there is still about a foot deep of snow on our yard!  More snow here than we saw all the way home.

It’s good to be home.

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Almost Home

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Minnesota!
Almost!  We came as far as Albert Lea, Minnesota.  We stopped here to say hi and have dinner with family.
Tomorrow we’ll go the rest of the way home. 



Captain Kirk



This morning we stopped at Riverside, Iowa.  That is the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk of the Star Ship Enterprise.  We HAD to stop and take a few pictures. 



We really didn’t miss this





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Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

It was SNOWING this morning when we left Burlington.   But we didn’t let that stop us from moving about 20 miles west to Mount Pleasant.

There is a nice new RV park here with all the hookups, including Internet and cable TV.  Our water tank is empty, as the last few places we stayed did not have water available. 

Mount Pleasant is a pleasant little community with a really big Old Threshers Heritage Museum.  This was way more interesting than I expected it to be.  And besides the tractors and threshing machines, there were also many other antique displays.   Everything was in two really large buildings. . They were open, but since it’s the off season the lights were not turned on, so I wasn’t able to get pictures of the other antique displays.  They were happy to let us in, but did not charge us the admission fee.   
Every year, in September they have a five-day event on their property which is like the state fair, with a campground on site, flea market, vendors, and big name entertainment.

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Burlington, Iowa

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Marsha Brecht



Snake Alley view from top



Still slowly creeping north.  In Burlington, Iowa, today.  We went to explore the city.  We couldn’t find much in the way of interesting history, but we did find Burlington’s most famous landmark named the “Crookedest Street in the World” by Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
Snake Alley view from below
Snake Alley originally provided a short cut from Heritage Hill to the business district.  The bricks were laid at an angle to allow horses better footing as they descended.
We are keeping an eye on the weather at home as well as the flood conditions.  We know there are several roads closed already because of the flooding, but hopefully ALL roads home won’t be blocked.



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Keokuk, IOWA

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

I think we started north too soon.  It’s nasty weather in Minnesota and it’s not so hot here either.  Hopefully, after the weekend things will improve and we’ll go home.


Chief Keokuk
Today we’re in Keokuk, Iowa, a town of about 20,000 on the Mississippi River.  It will freeze here tonite, but at least it’s not snowing (yet).  I think there is snow in the forecast for the weekend.
We explored the city for a while.  On the river’s edge there are some wonderful big old homes and nearby there is a big park with a statue of Chief Keokuk.  He was more of a politician than a great Indian chief.  He talked his people into not fighting the Americans, and was moved off to a reservation in Kansas.  The town is named for him because of his friendship with the Americans.


Lock & Dam #19



Then we went to the visitor overlook of Lock & Dam #19.  It was built in 1913, and at that time was the largest electricity generating plant in the world.  It was rebuilt in 1957 and has a lift of over 38 feet.




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La Grange, Missouri

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Marsha Brecht

Slowly moving north.  But I’m hearing things about a blizzard in northern Minnesota???  We’ll wait another week before we cross that border.  It’s even supposed to be in the freezing temps right here over the weekend.

No pictures and nothing to blog about today.  We’re finding campgrounds around here are closed for the season, and won’t open until April 15.  But just because they say they are closed doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t camp there.  Last night we stayed at a private campground in Hannibal that was closed.  There was someone in the office and they were happy to take our money.  We were the only ones in the campground.  Then again tonite, we are in a state park that is not yet open for the season, but we can still pay discounted off-season rates.  There are two other campers here in the park with us tonight.

We are in Wakonda State Park.  It used to be a big gravel pit.  The gravel excavation left the park with six lakes.  So now it’s a popular fishing place as well as a popular spot for annual waterfowl migrations.  There are several Canada geese here and some ducks now.

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Hannibal, Missouri

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Marsha Brecht



Tom Sawyer’s House and the Whitewashed Fence


We went about 30 miles north this morning, to the historic town of Hannibal, Missouri, home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twin) and Tom Sawyer.  We have been here before, but it was nice to see it again.  The city has done some upgrades since we were here last. 

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn



We walked around town for most of the day.  We saw Tom Sawyer’s house, Huck Fin’s House, Becky Thatcher’s House, and much much more.



Mississippi River



After that we drove to a park near by and sat at the overlook for a long time and soaked up the sunshine.  The high today was 82 degrees!!!  nice.  People are so friendly; we visited with other people there including one lady from Waconia, Minnesota! 



Watching a Barge Being Filled





There was a great view of the Mississippi River.  We watched while the grain elevator across the river was filling barges.




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Bowling Green, Missouri

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Marsha Brecht
Railroad bridge on the Mississippi

 We’re in Bowling Green, Missouri today.  We’ll only stay one night as I have no cell phone service and the Internet is very poor.

This is supposed to be a good place to see bald eagles in the winter.  We drove down to the river and sat and watched for a while, but didn’t see any.  We did see this railroad bridge pivot bridge and a barge passing thru it.



Lock & Dam #24



We stopped at Lock & Dam #24 in Clarksville, but nothing was happening there.  It’s such a beautiful day, we didn’t mind.  It was 80 and sunny. We just enjoyed the day.

Really?
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