October 1, 2012
That completes our Set.
In our ten years of FGRV ownership we have happily criss-crossed North America but until now have missed a handful of north-eastern states. They were just too close and easy to get to. This summer, however, we fixed that and completed our set.
Starting with the Atlantic Vintage/Fibreglass Campers Meet in St. Martins, New Brunswick, another first-class get-together with 32 like-minded units, we wended our way home via the beaches of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware. Plus a swimming pool in Maryland and topping out with Washington, D.C. which Des had never before seen; very impressive.
Atlantic waters were pleasantly warmer than expected, and the beaches more crowded, even mid-week. Does no-one there need to take time off to go to work?
We have now visited every contiguous (love that word) lower US state and Canadian province. L'EGGO has been with us the whole way, including trailering to the end of the road at Thompson. We went from there by train to Churchill, MB and NWT waters. We flew, rented and tented back in the old days, to the Yukon and Alaska.
"Jack", our Garmin GPS, was mostly believable but we have learned to not trust him completely. For instance, in a wooded area on a divided 4-laner he started yelling "make a U turn, make a U turn". And sometimes "the shortest route" seems to involve opening and closing gates behind us, and the "fastest route" meant going out of our way to get onto a freeway for a spell. But overall, only admiration for the genius(es) that came up with this mind-boggling piece of technology.
Meandering onto Maine highway One, I spotted a small sign "Hubcap Haven". After having searched fruitlessly for more than a year near home, I made the U-turn, hoping to find any shiny, high-centred 13-incher to replace one lost off the
boler, (from a ‘69 Datsun, not your standard, in-stock item). Lo and behold - the gentleman owner delved into his barn full of neatly displayed hubcaps and quickly came up with the real thing, plus a spare! Hallelujah!
Snapped a witch picture in Salem and did a drive-through tour of downtown Boston as we couldn't readily find a place to park.
Inching our way in bumper to bumper traffic to half-way up Cape Cod (and we gave a verbal tour of L'EGGO to occupants of a car inching along beside us) the thought struck "all these vehicles have nowhere else to go and must come back this way". We became claustrophobic, decided that Provincetown wasn't that important to see, managed to turn around and slowly beat it out of there.
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We lucked into Horseneck SP in MA for a long weekend.
Dry camping, and a cobble beach at high tide, but lovely sand at lower tide and fabulous Bayside seafood restaurant nearby.
Driving through New York City was fairly easy, but then around Newark, NJ, traffic was a nightmare. And we spent $19.60 in Turnpike fees getting just to Atlantic City. We are pleased to report that the Boardwalk, less hectic than most previous venues is still in good shape after these many years since its heyday. The Ferry from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE was a pleasant interlude as was another seafood dinner, at "The Big Fish" restaurant in Lewes.
The Duncan Family Campground (very nice), about 20 miles from Washington, includes a shuttle to the "Metro" which we then rode downtown. We enjoyed the city. I suppose they have to do it, but we did find it surprising to be put through an airport-intensity security screening at the Post Office Building just to get into their public food court to buy an ice cream cone.
The weather was great throughout. One day of rain while we were driving; a couple of thunderstorms, and one big windstorm at night; warm to hot every day. This was a comparatively short trip for us 4,609 kilometres (2,864 miles) but yet another large helping of pleasant memories.
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Scamp
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