Monday, August 24, 2015

Lessons Learned and Goodbye To Maine

Phew, we managed to pack quite a few problems into our last 18 hours at Meadowbrook! 

First, late yesterday afternoon I was motoring along over some grass on my scooter and was distracted.  I broke the cardinal rule and started down what seemed like a slight incline but diagonally.  The grass was a bit long so I was going at a good clip and went right over, scooter, Pippin and I.  
The good news is that I did not break or sprain anything, just pulled some muscles.  Pippin was a bit shaken up but she's fine as well.  Needless to say, we did not go to the final campfire!

This morning we managed to clog our toilet (I will spare you the details of how exactly we did that).  We tried the obvious first step of flushing the black water tank.  Nope, the clog was further up at the toilet. Then various items were used for poking.  Nope.  Then I googled it and several sites recommended pouring boiling water down the toilet.  Tried a bunch of that but most of it backed right up.  Finally Steve found an extra length of hose we don't use that he fished down the toilet and that broke up the waste that was stuck.  The boiling water might have helped soften things up. He didn't even need to blast water down the toilet which was going to be our next step if needed.  A tip we also learned in our Google search was to fill the toilet bowl up pretty full when flushing to provide more flushing power.  We already do not put toilet paper down the toilet going on some advice from a seasoned camper in our camping club.

Our next problem occurred when Steve went to put our awning up.  We had our awning on a slant because we had had rain on and off all weekend, but there appeared to be a large pocket of water on top.  Well it wasn't on top, it was between what must be two layers of the awning!  Steve had to make a little hole in the underside of the awning to release the large amount of water caught inside the awning!  He will investigate how the water got in there when we get home.

Then when Steve went to retract our TV antenna it wouldn't go down all the way so he had to climb up on the roof to figure that problem out.  We really don't use the antenna much because we only sort of know how to use it, but evidently something just wasn't lined up correctly.

Of course it's humid today...Steve has sweat thru two shirts already and will need to put a third one on to drive home.  But we had a nice talk with a woman here who is a Work Camper and a full-timer who moves campgrounds with the seasons and that sounded like heaven to us.  More on Work Camping later.

We try to use these camping problems as opportunities to learn things about RVing...pretty much everything we have learned so far is because of problems like this!

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Lobster Dinner at Meadowbrook Camping Area, Phippsburg, ME

The campground did a great job with our lobster dinner.  They delivered our individual orders right to the rec hall and all we had to do was sit down and dig in!

                                  

                                  

                                  

After dinner we had our annual brown bag auction.  Here is Harry, our Chapter President and auctioneer!

                                  

                                  

And of course we had dessert and a wonderful campfire.  

                                  

                                  

Friday, August 21, 2015

Meadowbrook Camping Area and Bath, ME


                                  

I was so impressed to discover this morning that the pool here is heated with solar panels so it is swimmable for their entire season of May 1 to Oct. 1!  That just might make us come back later this camping season!

Last night was bingo which we are sorry we missed...it is free to play and all of the prizes were donated by the campground.  The grand prize was a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.  They said they had a rollicking good time last night!  Wednesday nights they put on a big spaghetti dinner, and of course every night is lobster dinner night for those who want it...our night is tomorrow night!  I think tomorrow night is karaoke as well.

Today we explored the town of Bath.

                                  

We started with lunch at the Winnegance General Store.  It is housed in the original building built in 1902.  We both had a BLT and it was fabulous...freshly baked bread sliced thick and toasted to perfection with just the perfect amount of mayo, bacon, lettuce and fresh native tomato.  Nirvana!  We brought home baked goods, made on the premises for later.  Five stars for sure!

                                       
Dessert was an ice cream cone (we are on vacation after all) and everybody enjoyed that treat!

                                       

No trip is ever complete without a trip to a health food store, so we found one in the quaint little town of Bath.

                                      

This shot is for you Brockett...they only missed by one letter!

                                     

And not to be left out, this one is for you, Wilson!

                                     

On the way back to the campground we caught a shot of this heron on a downed tree.

                                    

Tomorrow we explore Booth Bay Harbor.


Thursday, August 20, 2015

On the road again to Maine...destination Meadowbrook Campground inPhippsburg, ME

This is our August camp out with our Good Sam's Chapter, The Quinebaug Travelers.  We recently learned that this GS Chapter is the longest running Chapter in CT!

I volunteered to Wagon Master this trip...boy, that's a lot of work!  Hats off to our recent full-time Wagon Master!

I chose this campground for its proximity to Bath and Booth Bay Harbor, ME, and they do Maine Lobster Dinners every night!  It's 20 minutes from the Freeport Outlets and it's right on the coast of Maine with lighthouses, museum, whale watching, etc.

The rate is $42/night for W/E/S which is more than we like to spend but not too bad for the height of the summer season.

Tomorrow we are exploring Bath, ME as long as the thunder storms and rain hold off!

Monday, August 3, 2015

Lake Winnipesaukee, PART 3

I keep getting new photos of our weekend in New Hampshire!  Thank you Cindy for letting me share these!

This is a better view of Steve's cousin's house!


We did not see these, but these are the loons that nest in front of their house!


Campfire with S'mores!

Lake Winnipesaukee, PART 2

Just received some new photos from the weekend and had to share them!  Thanks step-daughter!

This was the view from inside the kids' tent looking out...priceless!


Steve and I out on the boat!


Papa and granddaughter out in the double kayak.


Papa fishing with grandson...maybe his first time fishing!


Male bonding time over the pool table!


Three generations!  Papa, son and grandson!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Family Reunion on Lake Winnipesaukee

Steve's side of the family, specifically his first cousin once removed hosted a family reunion at their home in New Hampshire this weekend.  We took the rig and plugged in right in their driveway! 

What a tremendous vacation home they have!  This is the view from the lake, and here are some shots of their private little end of Lake Winni.

                                   


                                                    Morning swim with the grands!

                                    

The kids had a great time jumping off the dock into the lake.  Then kayaking!  Steve took our granddaughter out in a double kayak, and when he wanted to stop, she had no problem jumping into a single kayak and going out on her own!


The next day we went out on their boat!  It seats 14 and everybody had a great time jumping off the boat, and then fishing.  Our granddaughter caught the first fish!

     



        

Thank you so much Cindy and Mike for hosting this great event!  Everybody had a wonderful time and we hope we can do it again really soon!