Viking Trail Caravan has begun

The caravan officially began last night with all the rigs in camp.

Tuesday, right after we got our trailer's brake line fixed near Worcester, MA, we spied another Airstream ahead of us. It was Ed and Beth Jones, so we traveled the rest of the way with them, staying in Bangor, ME, for the night. Yesterday morning we headed out, stopping first at a pharmacy so Ed could refill his eye drops prescription. That took nearly 2 hours; let's hope we never have to have national health care. This was bad enough!

More later. We're off to see the whales!

Massachusetts Somewhere

Our driving day was a good one - until it came time to find our RV park. I'd programmed the address into the GPS, but missed one important item: the correct town name. When the first address proved to be "not a campground" I did some further checking. Wrong town. I quickly reprogrammed it into the system and Larry was surprisingly calm. Even though we had to navigate the small and narrow town streets of Sturbridge, MA. And, we learned that directions to another location don't always take us on major roads. Think: narrow gravel road with bogs on each side. Garmina wasn't screaming that we were "off route", so we proceeded onward. Finally we reached our desired destination in the town of Wales and it's a beautiful location. And, it's QUIET! At last!!!!

Last night found us parked next to a pavilion where the DJ was conducting a Karaoke session that was just a bit LOUD!!!! And, I'm guessing the participants were not quite as talented as they thought they were:(

For those who are unacquainted with the toll road system in the Eastern USA, let me describe them to you.

In Indiana and Ohio we were stopping every few miles to throw more and more money at the attendants. It was getting quite ridiculous. The stops seem to be fewer and more spaced apart the further East we get. We just keep on going with no exits. But, there are service stops every so often with fuel and lots of food options. In Illinois they were located spanning the road, so that both sides could access them. Here they are on the sides of the road and it seems to us that there are more on the OTHER side than on our side. Larry is thrilled that Starbucks is one of the options at most of them. And, the DQ where we had lunch on Saturday had the very best blizzard I've had in a long time! It's a good thing, because I'm trying to limit myself to one small one per month.

The Madison Warrens and us

The Madison Warrens and us

Cake at our final Host to Host gathering

Madison Memories

We left Madison early yesterday morning. I really hated to miss the flea market, but we just can't have everything!

The drive was rather uneventful, which is always a good thing. The toll roads nearly broke the bank, but there aren't many other choices.

Marion Pember recommended a campground for our first night out and we'll have to be sure to thank him for the experience. Think: 4th of July in Redneck Heaven. Plus, the GPS couldn't figure out where the place was and neither could we. Two phone calls - and a side trip into Michigan - and we were there in the far northwestern corner of Ohio. The locals sure know where the place is, that's for sure. A destination for the 4th if there ever was one!

The place we're in now is pretty similar. Heavy day use, as there's a small lake I'm facing from my picnic table (WiFi hot spot). Unfortunately, I can also smell all the BBQ's and we're having leftovers tonight. Bummer.

Our last day in Madison was spent with George and Juliaanne and their kids and grandkids. See pictures! I was amazed at how quickly they lined up for the photo op. The four of us golfed in the morning and George would be disappointed if I didn't mention that he and I had fewer strokes than our combined spouses' score. We also defeated them at Joker the previous evening.

Now we miss them all terribly - and to think we barely knew they existed all these years!

Our flat tire around noon near Cleveland didn't set us back too much time. A couple stopped to help (because they have an Airstream also) and we had a nice visit while the tire was changed.

A brief trip to Sears to have the valved stem replaced and we were again on our way.

We'll be getting into Canada early Wednesday and communication after that will be sparse. Don't feel neglected if you don't hear from us.