August 23 through August 28, 2018 Traveling home, Part 1

So, y'all, we've had a wonderful summer, but alas, it's time to go home.  Things to do, people to see.....  We crossed from Canada to Maine on August 23, and pointed the truck south.  Here are some random pictures along the way.

We stayed a couple days in Bangor and enjoyed the area.  The Penobscot River flows through the middle of town.  It's a pretty big city with plenty of traffic.  We would have gone downtown by the river but there was a huge folk music festival happening and the area was jam-packed, which we don't particularly enjoy.

Nicky's Diner. 

One part of a wall in Nicky's Diner.

Dam on the Penobscot River;  power plant on the far side.

Reckon they mean business?  Probably doesn't apply in the dry fall months.....

Truly weird sculpture on the bank of the Penobscot River, just downstream from the dam.......

.......titled "All Along The Watchtower".

Milkweed pods;  grew up with these in the fields around our house
in Niagara Falls, played with them in the fall.  The sap that oozes
out of broken stems or leaves is very much like milk.

We drove a few miles up the road from Bangor to Old Town,
and sure enough:  they make canoes there!

On I-95 at the bottom of Maine;  all the people who spent the weekend
at the beaches on the shore in Maine are on their way home on Sunday evening.
Not to mention the toll booths that contribute to the traffic jam.

Yup.  Miles and miles of this.
But it did move, just v e r y slowly.

Finally out of "New England" and into good old Pennsylvania.
"pursue your happiness" .......

.......but there's not much  happiness on their interstate highways.
Hard on the truck and camper.

"Road Work"  "Right Lane Closed Ahead"
Oh yeah.  

Once we got down below the Mason-Dixon Line we started seeing lots of corn.
(click the link, it's interesting)

We are camped tonight in Mount Jackson, Virginia.
They have a truly fine water tower!

June 29... 2018 Random pictures from on the road....

Here we are, finally on the road again!  Due to a rather late departure, we ended up spending four long days traveling in a heat wave, trying to get on up out of the deep south to cooler days in the northeast.  Hah: the heat wave is following us.  Here's a tidbit for all you non-RV folks:  there's very little insulation in an RV and thus, the temp outside is usually the temp inside, as you can see in the photo below.  We turn on the AC first thing at every campground and it takes several hours to cool things down to a bearable level inside.  But hey:  at least we're on the move!

Here are some random pictures from our first four days on the road.  Four days of mostly driving.

Our trusty indoor/outdoor thermometer tells the tale. 

Teasel.

July 5, 2014 Purcellville, Virginia

Today we drove a little east of Winchester to visit with my cousin Gil and his wife Carrie.  Last time we saw Gil was in 1998, and we had never met Carrie before.  They have a beautiful home in a rural area.  They have a huge 110-lb. dog named Valcor who is a great big teddy bear and we became fast friends.  Carrie has a wonderful herb garden in the back, and a spectacular perennial flower garden in the front.  After a fine lunch of BLT sandwiches, we hopped in Carrie's VW beetle for a tour around the area, including a winery and a couple of nearby towns.  What fun!  Next thing we knew, we were being served up a delicious dinner of salmon and heirloom tomato salad and mashed taters.  And all the while we were talking and catching up and doing a lot of laughing.  So happy we managed to get together!  Hope to do it again - next time maybe we will "show" them New Orleans!

Valcor heard me say "bacon" .....

Grapes

Us

Bubba and Gil

Carrie and Nannie

Carrie's amazing yellow Beetle.

July 4, 2014 Stephens City, Virginia (south of Winchester)

Here is what small-town July 4th looks like.  The local park is full of families, there are various inflatable kiddie "rides", there are the usual food options, and there is a DJ playing music.  There were an awful lot of people here for this event - parking was insane and it sure took a long time to get out of there....  We brought our blanket and after walking around a bit we settled down and listened to the music and then the sun finally set, and then....  BOOM!

July 3, 2014 Stormy Weather....

Today we had a nice easy drive from Wytheville, VA up to Winchester - or so we thought!  Little did we know that there was something exciting up ahead...  a big ol' bad storm!  We drove thru hail which scared the dickens out of us (think:  important stuff made of plastic on top of camper) but we escaped with no visible damage.  There were some big winds which also had us a bit nervous, but we just got pushed around a bit, no biggie.  All this took place one town away from our destination and it seemed to take FOREVER to get here!  But we are now all set up and ready for 3 whole days of NOT traveling!  And after today the weather is supposed to be wonderful.

(p.s. I have an awesome video of the hail hitting the truck but alas, I don't know how to make it load on this blog site....)

Ominous clouds gathering on the mountain.

Guess which way we are headed?

Starting to look bad.

Temp outside dropped to 64!!!

June 25 Williamsburg, Virginia

We thought we couldn't have picked a much hotter day to visit Williamsburg - except that the NEXT it was supposed to be over 100! We drank a lot of water and went anyway. According to the historical timeline followed there, Williamsburg was under British occupation. We enjoyed our visit, but recommend cooler weather.....