Life Renewed

Yes, I have been somewhat verbose of late.  That's what happens when we aren't planted in the same place for an extended period of time......I actually have something of note to blog about! With the need for an abrupt change in our itinerary over the past week, we found ourselves spending a week in Kutztown, PA, instead of the Campground from Hell that I discussed in my last posting.   We were supposed to head to Lancaster, PA today, but decided that our overpriced and underwhelming back-up last week needed to be a short stay, and the campground in Lancaster would have been a similar nightmare as the Campground from Hell, so Tim found a decent replacement campground in Kutztown.   We’ve been here since 9/17, and it’s been a good substitute.   Reasonably priced and quiet thus far….however, the weekend warriors have been checking in all day, and it’s like a dog kennel.   Everybody has a dog, and they all insist on saying hello or guarding their campsite! ...

As the title might suggest, we harvested a rather large bushel of lemons during our travel day on Thursday.   All started well, and after an uneventful trip from Lake George to Marshalls Creek, PA, we arrived and immediately began to pick those lemons. The campsite we were assigned was a back-in site rather than the pull-through we requested.   It was short – long enough to accommodate the rig, but not open the ramp to get the bike out.   Tim dropped the ramp before attempting to back in and parked the bike on an adjacent site.   After a few attempts, we realized it was futile due to the overwhelming number of trees growing close to the access to the site.   They bowed over the road, which made it an extreme hazard to the roof of the 5er.   First site was a no-go. Tim walked back to the office and informed them that the site was unsuitable due to the size/height of our rig, and they assigned another close by, the only other one that would be av...

Our life on the road finally began in earnest on September 10 th , when we packed up the 5er, hitched up to the truck, strapped in the motorcycle, and pulled out of our summer campground home in Randolph Center, VT.    (sorry Willie, not your version!)   Prior to that, we had a nice afternoon on the 9 th with Tim Jr., Katy, Lucy, and Abe, followed up by dinner out, and then a farewell Creemee.   And then came the ugly crying (that I knew would happen).   Sigh……….I want so very much to just preserve this past summer in time and relive every moment with the kids.   Since that’s not possible, there are dozens of pictures and videos to revisit to bring all that back.   And, we’ll have our video chats to keep in touch weekly.   Those will definitely help fill that void. We also found the perfect travelling mascot to take with us, to take pictures of our various visits to tourist-y spots, and then send to the littles.   It’s a small (...

We are down to our final week here in Vermont - this time next week, we'll be set up in Lake George, NY for four days.  We will finally be mobile, after being planted here for over two months.  And, that is, after all, why we decided to buy a tiny home on wheels - so we could hit the road and travel.  We have been looking forward to this for a long time, and we will at last be able to scratch that "hitch itch" seasoned RVers talk about. So, you're probably wondering what's with the blog title, right?  The thing that has been weighing on my heart heavily, ever since we first learned that we were going to be grandparents, has been the knowledge that we would have to bid our precious grandchildren goodbye when we pack up and go for the Fall journey southward.  Today, we had our first experience at that. Lauren and Penny came up for the weekend to visit, and saying goodbye to that sweet, adorable face was the hardest thing I've had to do throughout this process....

As August begins to wind down, the usual sense of gloom and doom that I've had so often in recent years is not quite so desperate as it has been.  No more worries about the cold, ice, and snow - WOOHOO!  But.........the reality that we will be away from our children and grandchildren is beginning to seep in and I struggle to fight off thinking about the sadness that will set in when we say goodbye to those precious little ones. One memory that I will carry with me and keep close in my heart is the family weekend we had a couple weeks ago.  Cathi and Louie were in Vermont for a visit, and spent a night in our "guest accommodations"  (aka the garage!), and Lauren, Josh and Penny spent the weekend tent camping here at Lake Champagne.  Tim Jr., Katy, Lucy and Abe joined us all for a family cookout at our campsite, and we had an amazing time watching everyone laughing, playing, and just enjoying each other.  Lucy and Penny had a wonderful time playing together...

And, so, another chapter in the book of our life has ended.  This morning, the house that we had built in Brookline, NH back in 1998, was sold to a young family who could see the potential to fill it with all the love and laughter that we once had there.  We could tell from all the things they hope to do there that they will appreciate and love the house and property as much as we once did. We could not be happier about turning it over to them.  Yes, I shed a tear when the time came to say goodbye, but I think that only served to show them that we still love the place.  It was just time to move on. It's funny, but I couldn't help but realize that this really is a new chapter in our life.  That chapter, however, is getting down to the last third of our book, God willing.  And with that, the melancholy did set in.  You'll excuse me for the inclusion of this link, but it just seemed so apropos.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wte1uk4A5eU  ...

We arrived in Randolph Center, VT around noon on Saturday, July 1st, having just missed a drenching downpour (to the tune of about 4.49 inches of rain).  So much rain that, shortly after we made our way up I-89, part of the northbound lane between exits 1 and 2 gave way, opening up a huge sinkhole.  Thank heavens we missed that! When Tim went to check in, it seems that the reservation system had a bit of a hiccup and showed us arriving on the 10th, not the 1st.  This is not the kind of thing you want to see on a holiday weekend.  The campground owners could not have been more apologetic, and they were able to park us on an unoccupied seasonal site temporarily (the campers had not yet arrived for the season, but were expected in on the 5th).  So, we drove onto our temporary site...........and promptly sunk into the over-saturated ground!  The center jacks on the rig were below ground level - and they had not been deployed.  That meant we couldn't pull...