Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland

Forgot to add about the trip to Assateague.

After the rally at Tuckahoe, six rigs headed over to the Assateague Island National Seashore.

We stayed Friday & Saturday and headed to Alex's house on Sunday to avoid the Monday, Memorial Day, traffic. Had a very nice time, as we always do, when we are camping with this group.

May 30

We had a wonderful time visiting with Jen, Alex and families. Left Annandale this morning about 5:30am to beat the morning rush hour. We stayed the night at the Carolina Beach State Park near Wilmington, NC. Not what we had expected based on the NC State Park website but OK for one night. Hard to beat the $10/night cost. Tomorrow we take the ferry from Fort Fisher to Southport as we continue our way towards Charleston.

Southeast Lazy Daze Rally Tuckahoe, MD

Arrived at the Tuckahoe State Park near Queen Ann, MD on Monday the 21st of May for a get together of the Southeast Lazy Daze Club. There were ten rigs there. Everyone was surprised when Tedd and MaryLou showed up. Hadn't seen them since January of 2006. Since we last met, they had through hiked the Appalachian Trail. On Monday we all had subs for dinner. On Tuesday we went to Tilghman (pronounced Tillman) Island, MD for a two hour ride on a Skipjack sail boat, the Rebecca T. Rurak. It was built in 1886 and is the oldest Coast Guard registered boat in America. Carol stayed on shore with Dorothy Wockenfuss. Dorothy is from Tilghman Island and had been on the Chesapeake Bay since she was a child. After the wonderful cruise we had dinner at the Chesapeake House restaurant on the island. Carol had crab cakes. The best ever. After dinner, Dorothy's cousin Larry Gowe talked about the life of a Chesapeake Bay waterman. all about fishing, crabbing and oystering. A fascinating talk. On Wednesday we went to the Adkins Arboretum for a guided walk.

Wednesday night was the ice cream social followed by the Pot Luck supper on Thursday.

Gettysburg Lazy Daze Rally

We arrived in Gettysburg on Thursday the 17th for the Northeast Lazy Daze Caravan Club rally held to the Gettysburg Campground. In total there were 29 rigs in attendance.

On Thursday we had a cookout, hamburgers, etc. On Friday we toured the battlefield. Carol's scooter allowed her to go most places everyone else went. I even put her in her wheelchair and managed to push & pull her up the trail to the top of Little Round Top; one of the major sites of the battle. Carol & I drove the camper and then did the self guided auto tour. We both read the book Killer Angels by Michael Sharra, a story about the battle. It really helped us better understand the events and places we saw. A very enjoyable day. That evening we all went to a wonderful B & B that also hosted parties. Great family style dinner. On Saturday day, we stayed at the campground and waited for our friends, Joe & Clara, to arrive. They were delayed caring for Clara's Mom like we care for Granny. That evening we had the pot luck supper. We made shrimp jambalaya. On Sunday most people left to head home but five rigs stayed with plans to leave Monday. We both agree that the best part of these rallies is the great company. The Northeast Group is having another rally in Booth Bay Harbour Maine in early September. If all goes well with Granny, and baring any major hurricanes around home, we would like to leave Ft. Pierce in early July, tour New England, attend the reunion in Mystic and then attend the Booth Bay event. A few other couples are planning to tour Canada in August (after Mystic and before Booth Bay) and invited us along. That's the plan. We'll see what really happens.

Tomorrow we are driving with four other couples to Tuckahoe State Park via Wal-Mart and a Trader Joe's.

Yet another nice day

This morning Enterprise delivered the rental car at 9am. We spent the morning at the Lancaster City Market. Per the brochure it's the oldest continuously operating Farmers Market in America. Since 1730. It was interesting. A nice assortment to meats, cheeses, fresh veggies, baked goods, etc. We bought an assortment of prepared salads for lunch & dinner. When we got back to the campground we were surprised to find two other Lazy Daze motor homes. Mike & Jan ? from Maine and Don & Bonnie Hunt from Mass. We spent the afternoon visiting, then went to Miller's Buffet for dinner. Oink, oink. One of these days I need to stop eating like this. I can feel myself getting fat. We had a wonderful day. Carol's reading the Gettysburg book to learn something about the war before we get there this coming Thursday. Almost finished.
I got an e-mail from Don Hughes today. We worked at Harbor Federal for years together. He & Lee have a motor home and are headed to Alaska. Asked us if we wanted to join them. Would have been fun but this isn't the time just yet, for a really long trip. Soon perhaps.

Lancaster area

On Saturday we drove around the area stopping at the Bird-In-Hand farmers market and a few other such places. The Amish farms are beautiful. The land has either just been planted or being plowed. On Sunday we went to dinner at the Miller's Buffet for Mother's Day.

Today we went in town to get a new battery then drove to a nearby Lancaster City Park for a nice walk. Did a load of laundry and read our books. Carol is reading the book on the Civil War battle at Gettysburg that I just finished. We'll both be better prepared to understand the battle when we get to Gettysburg this coming Thursday. The rental car is being delivered tomorrow.

First day in PA Dutch Country

This morning we drove the motor home to the Green Dragon Market in Ephrata,PA. It's a huge combination of permanent stalls inside buildings and outside vendors. The outside vendors are your typical low quality flea market stalls. Everything for a dollar junk. The vendors in the buildings sell prepared food, fruits & vegetables, meats, cloths, furniture, on & on. There was a hay auction going on. Interesting to watch as the growers sold their hay to the buyers then transferred the hay bales from their truck or trailer to the buyers. We bought some scrapple (for me) a crab cake sandwich (for Carol), some apple fritters and a shoofly pie. A wet bottom shoofly pie is the classic PA Dutch desert. It has a sweet molasses bottom covered with a crumb filling that is basically brown sugar, butter & flour. Very tasty.
Mid afternoon we went to the Shady Maple Buffet for lunch. An absolutely huge buffet of typical PA Dutch cooking. Pot roast, sauerkraut, roast pork, sausages, fried chicken, lots of veggie dishes and a very nice desert bar. Oink, oink!!.
Returned to the campground about 5pm. Stuffed. Sat around and read our books until bedtime.

Alex's house. Enjoying our visit.

On Sunday the 6th, the girls had an early Mother's Day party for Carol since Jennifer & Karen will be in Florida next week. Jennifer treated Carol to a manicure on Saturday. On Sunday Britta Bar-B-Qued a super dinner for all of us.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our visit. I've been helping Britta with chores. Pulling weeds, mowing, fixing things. Walking Gopher every day.

On Thursday we leave for Lancaster, PA. Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

At Alex's house again

Left Assateague Island about 8:30 this morning. We'll be back to this campground. One of our favorites. Arrived at Alex's early afternoon. Played out back with Finn for an hour or so. Rolled trucks down the slide, played on the swingset, threw the rope for Gopher. Carol enjoyed Teagans company as always. Going to stay for the weekend washing cloths, cleaning the RV and enjoying the kids company.

Another Wonderful Day

Here is one of our neighbors having lunch next to our campsite.