Travel to NH

Monday morning we left the CG, got gas, and coffee, and then were on the road.  It was almost 10 AM when we got going, but we planned it that way to avoid the rush hour traffic on the turnpike.  What I didn't do was calculate the mileage from NJ to NH correctly.  I thought it was about 300 miles but it turned out to be 400!
Anyway, we got around NY city easily and then into Connecticut.  When we planned our route and were looking at it again before we left, I noticed that we might be going very close to where Larry is working.  So we looked it up and saw that he would be 2 miles off the interstate.  We called him, and he was free to have a late lunch with us.

After lunch we were back on the road, but, by now it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we still have another 190 miles to go.  We went up I-91 from Hartford/Springfield into Vermont.  Once we got to Brattelboro, VT we got off the interstate and went East.  All two lane road and thru mountains the whole way!  Beautiful, but slow.  Finally arrived at our CT about 7 PM.  Got setup and then over to our friends (Ray and Karen Cowan) site for dinner.

Today, Tuesday, we are just taking it easy.  Wednesday, they will show us around Concord, etc.  Thursday we will both head north for more sightseeing.  We are really looking forward to it as they know the whole New England area well since they both grew up here.

More to come later...

New Jersey

On Friday, the 24th we drove from VA to NJ.  We left around 9:30 and missed the rush hour traffic.  However, we didn't miss any of the toll roads!  A total of $47!!

Shipyards between Washington and Baltimore.

Tunnel. (Judy closed her eyes and held her breath!!)

Arrived at our campground, Turkey Swamp State Park, in Freehold, NJ in the middle of the afternoon.

Very nice park but somewhat difficult to get around with our truck and trailer, but we made it to our site.  Completely shaded.

Later we drove into East Windsor and met up with 'old' friends, Skip and Diane Cox and their daughter, Ashley.

They still live right around the corner from our old house.  Had a good time catching up, and had a great dinner made by Diane.

On Saturday we had laundry to do - found a laundromat not too far away - and got it done.  Drove into Hightstown to visit with Russ and Elvira Diefenbach.
Had this picture of the whole family from last year...

 Had another great dinner and then sat out on the porch to enjoy the evening.  Found out that Dana (Egan) and her husband, Dan, and their son, Jack, lived across the street, so Elvira invited them over.  Dana is the daughter of our pastor, Jim Egan, from St. Paul Lutheran Church that we were members of when we lived here.  Fun to see them grow up to become a nice family unit.

Sunday we went to church - kind of like coming back home - we still know many people there, and, they even remember us!!

We got to see all of the Egan siblings.  Met Danny and Dennis and their spouses and kids.

Danny...

Dennis...

In the afternoon, Russ and Elvira drove us over to the shore - Asbury Park for some good German food and beer!!

 We walked over to this church/event hall to look in but all the doors were locked.

We did see 'Tent City' that surrounds the church area.

People own the property and the back part of the house is permanent structure but the front is tent.  They can be there from June thru August and then have to close up.
Then we drove up the coast line to see the beaches and homes along the way.

Got a view of the NY city skyline.

From there we headed back to their house and then over to the Cox's again for pizza and more beer.  It was beautiful evening and we sat out on the back patio.
It was a special weekend that we thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to coming back again next year.

Woodbridge, VA

On Thursday we drove from Galax to Woodbridge to visit with Scott and Terri Zimmerer.

This is our campsite for the night.  Somewhat hard to see, but there is a road behind and in front of our camper, and, our camper extended out into both roads.  Fortunately, ours was not the only one!

Scott was associate paster in our church in Plano when we came there in 1988 and later on married Julie and Mike.
They recently moved to this area to take a call at a church here in Woodbridge only a few blocks from their house.
A view of the steeple of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church.

We got up to date on families, etc., got a tour of the church, and had a great dinner back at their house.

 It's always great to reconnect with old friends like we have the past two nights!

Galax, VA

Wednesday we had a short drive to Galax, VA., the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Nice scenery along the way.

The last few miles to our campground were uphill (up mountain, actually) and the truck fans 'screamed' the last quarter mile or so.  It was a narrow, two lane, long curvy road up with no place to pull over.  Right near the top the coolant light came on but then went off after a few seconds.  Good thing we had reached the top when we did!
Found our campground shortly after that.  It was appropriately named "Cool Breeze RV Park" because it was only about 70 degrees up there.

Drove to Dave and Sara Byrnes' house which is just a few miles out of Galax. Beautiful old home that they have been remodeling.  And a nice view out the back.

We spent a couple of hours getting caught up on each other's lives, families, travel, etc. and then went into town for dinner.   Macado's restaurant now, but was the Post Office at one time.

Galax is known as a center of traditional "old time" music and musicians.
Saw this bass fiddle along the roadway.

After dinner we said our goodbyes and headed back to the CG for the night.

Heading up the East Coast

We left Largo, FL on Monday and drove to Hattiesburg, SC for the night.  Yesterday we drove another 300+ miles and are now in a campground just south of Winston-Salem, NC.
Today, Wednesday, we will drive some 100 miles to Galax, VA to visit with Dave and Sarah Byrnes who were members of our church in Plano in the early 1990's timeframe.
On Thursday we will drive to Woodbridge, VA and visit with Scott and Terri Zimmerer who were also members of our church.  Scott was a pastor there and married Julie and Mike.
Friday we will try to make it to NJ (have to find a way around Baltimore and Washington.  Wish us luck...

Cameron Cove, FL Beach

Forgot to mention that Tropical Storm Colin passed over Florida the weekend before we got there.
This is the damage it did to the shoreline in front of our timeshare.

I wonder how long it will be before they have to replenish the beaches again.

It is now Friday, June 10th, and, we are crossing Tampa Bay over into St. Petersburg, etc.

We drove down Gulf Blvd in Indian Rocks Beach and went by "Reflections" which is where we lived back in 1998-99.

Our first dinner was, of course, at JD's for grouper sandwiches.

After dinner we sat on the beach for awhile and watched the sunset.

Cameron Cove timeshare.

Friends, Dave and Nancy Steffel joined us late Saturday night and on Sunday we were on the beach.

Monday night was "Feeding Frenzy" night at the Clearwater Threshers ballgame. For $13 we got a great seat and all the food you could eat for free.  Of course, we got our money's worth!
This is the team mascot.

This player is from Keller, TX.  Most of the others are from FL or Central America.  Clearwater eventually won 3-1.

Picture of Judy and me after the game.

This is a picture of the beach from our deck.

We got some good beach time.

Tuesday was Dave and Nancy's 47th anniversary so we took them out to dinner at PJ's, a nice seafood restaurant.

PJ's recognition of an anniversary (Hostess cupcake!!).

 The Blues Brothers were performing outside.

One of many sunsets at the beach.

On Thursday we drove up to Tarpon Springs (Greek community).

We like to take the "sponge tour" where we go out towards the Gulf and watch a diver dive for sponges.

Here they are adding about 60 lbs of weights to the diver.

He finds a sponge.

Hard to see here, but the sponge he just found will be 2-3 times larger when dry.  He is comparing it to a dried sponge.

On Friday afternoon we took a tour of Clearwater Bay to find dolphins.

We saw some several times but this is the only time we were able to get a picture.

We had to have a meal at Crabby Bills.

Another sunset.

Dave needed a t-shirt (from Indian Rocks Beach).

Much needed rest period after several strenuous days!!

Drove down to Pass-a-Grille, a small town at the southern end of St. Pete beaches to do some shelling.  Tide was out but the waves were continuous so we had trouble finding a lot of good shells.

On the way down there, we passed the resort (the Sands) in Treasure Island that Judy and I and the kids went to for four years while we lived in Columbus, Ohio (1976-79).

Last night at the timeshare - sunset.