WE CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE!

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SUNDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #3 - STOP #38

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We have started to make our way back to Cape Cod for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend. We chose to look for a private campground with electric hookups so we could run our air conditioner during the 90°F days forecast for the rest of the week.

What we found is Highland Campground in Scotland, CT, which is actually $1 a night cheaper than we were paying for our non-electric site in the state park. This is entirely due to the state park charging a $10 per night surcharge to any out of state visitors.

It's nice and quiet since no one is home on either side of us

It is an older park with lots of permanent resident sites who don't appear to be here right now. This place is definitely a campground and not a fancy resort, but we don't mind, we kind of like the campground atmosphere here!

The laundry and restrooms are conveniently right across the street from our site.

They do have free cable TV, laundry equipment (which we were in need of), private hot showers (which we were also in need of) and even a residential sized swimming pool up by the office.

Plenty of space even though sites are not separated with any kind of foliage.

What they don't have are a lot of screaming kids running around our site and dogs subsequently barking at anything that moves, compounding the noise and distractions. It is a peaceful place where we hope to get some work done this week. That way we are free to visit with family all around Cape Cod for the next two weeks, before heading south for the rest of the year.

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SATURDAY - Yesterday, after I was all finished setting up camp, I walked over to ROVER to close up the tailgate and saw a mouse headed out of the bed of the truck. He got one look at me, made a u-turn, and headed back inside the truck bed, darn it he was fast!

Now I can't be sure if he has been traveling along with us for a while or he just joined us at this new campsite. Just to be safe we loaded up all four of our mouse traps with some Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter, they seem to love it, I don't, and placed two of them in the usual places inside of THE POD and the other two inside the bed of ROVER.

It didn't take long to snag the hungry little bugger, even though I had all ready decided to leave all the traps out for the entire week while we are here.

The very next morning I checked all the traps and found him in one of the two I set inside the bed of the truck. Using a zip-lock baggie I placed him in with the rest of the trash and went to the dumpster to dispose of him. Let's hope the rest of his friends were watching and learned a valuable lesson today!

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NEWS UPDATE: It's now the end of the week and no more mice!

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CONNECTICUT PIZZA

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MONDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #3 - STOP #37

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Today was supposed to be a very short 31 mile travel day. What could go wrong? Everything was going great, we were only a mile and a half from the campground when the GPS told us to get off Highway 8 at Exit 38 Watertown. OK!

Problem was the southbound exit was closed. The exit ramp leading off the highway was not only closed, it was missing. There was a crew there putting in a new exit ramp, but they looked to be not making much progress, you know how road work goes.

Anyway we continued past the exit and luckily it was just three miles further down the road to the next exit. We got off, made a u-turn and got right back on the highway going back to Exit 38. It seems the northbound exit ramp on the other side was just fine so we made it to the new campground with no further mishaps.

I'm unhappy because you have to understand that I take the time to faithfully download and update the maps on my GPS, usually once a month, to avoid just this situation. That exit ramp work has obviously be underway for more than a month and has more than a month to go before completion. Isn't that the type of update that is supposed to be addressed by the GPS data people? If you think I'm asking for too much, let me know in the comments!

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TUESDAY - This really is a great campsite we are at this week, even if we don't have water or electric at our site. What we do have is a wide open space with no trees to block the sun from reaching our solar panels. There is a break in the foliage behind THE POD that allows what ever breeze happens to blow through the area to come right in the back window where we sit at the dinette for work and meals, then it exits the bedroom where we sleep, making the temperatures very comfortable most of the time. It also blows through our outdoor seating area in front of the door and under the awning.

Plenty of room on both sides of THE POD.

Along with a fairly level spot at the back of the site.

The strong daily solar recharging we receive here means we don't have to conserve power to operate our necessities like lights and fans, recharging our Verizon Jetpacks, cell phones and laptops, or constantly powering little things like our CO2 and smoke detectors, and the water pump.

We will also be guaranteed to have plenty of power when it's time to leave to raise the stabilizer jacks, close up the huge front power awning and lift the tongue jack to place THE POD up onto ROVER's hitch ball.

Heck we could even be a little bit frivolous with our battery power and turn on our 120V inverter to watch a little television. Or run our refrigerator and water heater off of electric during the daylight hours to save on our propane costs.

It's nice to have these decisions to make! Back in our sticks and bricks home all we had to do was pay the electric bill every month and not worry about whether everything would have power, that is until hurricane season rolled around every year.

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WEDNESDAY - Today it's all about PIZZA! You've undoubtedly heard about New York pizza and Chicago pizza, but what about Connecticut pizza?

Last year when we made our brief three day stop in Connecticut, we took the time to visit Mystic Pizza (opened in 1973) located at the seaport in Mystic, CT (founded in 1654). In October of 1988 the movie Mystic Pizza was released and included a future superstar, the then 21 year old Julia Roberts in her first major movie role.

Since there were no sporting events being televised while we were dining they instead had the Mystic Pizza movie playing on a dozen large screen TVs throughout the restaurant.

As predicted the pizza was good, but not great, although the chance to visit the actual location where most of the movie scenes were shot added greatly to the over all atmosphere and dining experience. The walls were covered with autographed pictures of the movie's cast and other celebrities who have visited the restaurant since the movie was shot over 30 years ago.

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But that was last year, this year we had another Connecticut Bucket List item involving pizza to take care of. One of the iconic Connecticut must taste food items is White Clam Pizza from Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, CT. Their White Clam Pizza is made on a thin crust with Fresh Clams, Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese, Garlic, Oregano & Olive Oil.

Normally we would have chosen to visit the original location in New Haven (opened in 1937) to once again get the full indoor dining experience, but with the current COVID restrictions on restaurants that's not going to happen. So we did the next best thing! We ordered takeout from one of their other six locations here in Connecticut and ate it back in THE POD.

Once again the food was good, but not my new favorite, other than the fact that if you try and order a White Clam Pizza anywhere else in the United States you'll probably get the same response, "You want whaaat?"

The other two items in the photo are a sampling of Frank Pepe's Cannoli Pie, basically an open face cannoli (can you say YUMMY?), and a Gassosa Soda (an Italian inspired lemon soda) that is bottled and distributed right here in Connecticut.

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SATURDAY - Most weekday mornings Tricia is up bright and early taking her morning walk. She is walking with one or both of her girlfriends from back in Florida, on the phone of course. I'm not sure how well that's going to work when we get out west with the time zone difference. I'm not sure Tricia will want to wake up at 4:30AM to go walking in the dark.

While her friends are usually walking the same route over and over everyday from home, Tricia's route changes every week or so while we travel around the country.

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Here are a few photos from Tricia's morning walks while we were here at:

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BLACK ROCK STATE PARK

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The walk begins overlooking the athletic field here in the park.

The swimming beach here at Black Rock Pond.

An illuminated boulder during an early morning scene over the pond.

A pedestrian bridge that connects the pond and the campground.

A brook leading out of Black Rock Pond

Another nearly dry brook leading away from Black Rock Pond

The back side of the Army Corp of Engineers dam the creates Black Rock Lake upstream and feeds Black Rock Pond downstream.

We are now in the home stretch of this morning's walk. Know how I can tell?

Because I recognize our back yard.

Back home safe and sound!

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CAMPED ON THE HOUSATONIC RIVER

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THURSDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #3 - STOP #36

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For the first 25 miles of today's route we traveled due south on Route 9J until we were just outside of the town of Columbiaville, NY. From there we merged onto the more highly traveled Route 9 until we were outside of Hudson, NY where our travel direction finally shifted to a more southeasterly direction toward Connecticut on Route 82.

Sure we could have taken a quicker route using the Interstate Highways but then we would have missed seeing all the quaint little towns along the way. Most of these smaller towns have their Police and Fires Stations, Town Halls and Libraries, General Stores and Liquor Stores all on one street, usually renamed Main Street as it passes through town, and we got to see them all. It sure beats watching the mile marker signs go by on the Interstates.

A short two hours later and we had arrived at our new home inside Housatonic Meadows State Park in northeast Connecticut.

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FRIDAY - Last week we were camped near the Hudson River in New York and this weekend we are camped on the Housatonic River in Connecticut. We can't see the water from our campsite, but we can sure hear the water as it cascades over and around the small boulders and shallow rapids. At night the sound is very soothing and makes for a peaceful night's sleep.

Our spacious Campsite #40 here at Housatonic Meadows State Park, CT

The reason you can't see the water from our campsite is twofold. There is very dense tree coverage and the water level is 30-foot down a 45° embankment at the back of our site. But we risked life and limb to climb down at take this photo for you all.

The river as seen from behind our campsite

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SATURDAY - When we arrived here Thursday afternoon I would have estimated the campground to be about 10% full. By Friday evening that estimate would have climbed to about 75% full and by Saturday morning it was up to 90%.

As the head count went up, the cell phone signal went down. All day Friday we managed to receive a usable cell signal at our campsite, using our built-in WeBoost 4GX booster paired with our antennae 20 feet high in the air. But today with all the extra people (i.e. cell phones, tablets and laptops) competing for same signal we were out of luck. Tricia has work that is due out by the end of today so what did we do?

We packed up our electronic gear and loaded it all into ROVER. We then moved to the other side of the campground where they have four rental cabins and only a few tent campsites. The cabins are currently not being rented due to COVID-19 precautions so they are going unused. As usual the higher priced cabins have the best view in the entire campground and we simply moved our office from THE POD to the backyard of one of the empty cabins.

We set up our small aluminum table with two of our comfortable rocking camp chairs. We placed on the table our laptops, cell phones, WiFi and battery jump starter to power our portable cell booster. There was enough space on the chair pockets and arm rests to make our drinks and snacks accessible.

Our Saturday office view.

But if you have to work on a Saturday, this is not a bad place to be! Our course we did have to deal with a few pesky ants and flies during the day. Then when we pulled out our snack crackers for lunch we had a couple of chipmunks eyeballing us. I guess they were just waiting for us to drop something on the ground. Some people still insist on feeding the wildlife, we never do, intentionally that is!

Later in the afternoon we were even treated to a slow moving train going by on the opposite bank of the river.

Three big engines and only three cargo cars?

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SUNDAY - The following is a warning to all those who have been "sheltering in place" for the last few months. Cabin fever, going stir crazy, call it what you want, this could happen to you if you don't get outdoors and breathe some fresh air every once in a while. We received this text message from Tricia's aunt and uncle who we plan on visiting for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend.

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DEVIL'S HOPYARD STATE PARK (CT)

With just 22 sites, no running water or electric, and only pit toilets on site, this isn't much of an RVer's destination campground. It is better suited for tent campers and weekend getaways. We only spent three nights here and we spent most of the daytime away from the campsite working in nearby libraries so there isn't much else I can tell you about the park.

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MONDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #2 - STOP #29

"The Constitution State" is our 16th visited state

For the first time we crossed into a new state not by driving, but by floating! We took the Cross Sound Ferry from Long Island, NY over to New London, CT today, at a cost of around $150 it was worth every penny not to have to drive through New York City to get here.

This ferry loaded cars and trucks at little differently than the other ferries we have experienced on this journey. The entire front of the ship opens upward from the bottom to bring the vehicles aboard. I think the reason for this is the high waves they sometimes experience crossing the open waters of Long Island Sound. Our other ferry rides have been in shallow and calmer inland protected waters like the mainland side of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. With a low flat loading deck like most ferry boats the waves today would have washed right over the lower deck.

The Cross Sound Ferry

Upon nearing the Connecticut shoreline we saw the Historic New London Ledge Light House. Sorry, it was a fair distance from the ferry so we had to zoom in quite a bit to get this photo.

New London Ledge Light House

There was one more bit of excitement related to our journey today, just before we made the last turn to enter our new campground we encounter a detour sign blocking the road. This detour added 12 miles to our trip and took us down some very narrow and twisting roads. It seems there has been some recent flooding in the area and the low bridge going over Eight Mile River was damaged. There was a road crew there every morning with heavy equipment working on replacing the bridge. Just below the bridge is Chapman Falls, which is less than 100 yards from where THE POD is now parked. Also the water supply in the campground has been deemed unsatisfactory for drinking, so no water to wash dishes or flush the toilet! Thankfully we always have drinking water on board.

Chapman Falls

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TUESDAY

WORK DAY @ THE LIBRARY 31 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

Yes, technically today is a work day, but while on our way to work we squeezed in a little sightseeing trip. We wanted to visit an honest to goodness American castle and Gillette Castle is just that. Built between 1914-1919 it was designed, owned and inhabited by William Gillette, an American actor most widely known for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage. We owe the sleuth's famous signature hat and pipe to Gillette, as it was his vision of the character, not the playwrights.

As usual with us we were two weeks too early in the season to get to actually tour the inside of the castle or the museum, but we did get to walk around the grounds on a self guided tour.

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GILLETTE CASTLE

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The pond at the beginning of the long driveway leading up to the estate.

Our first glimpse of the castle.

An archway over the end of the driveway

Gillette's narrow gauge train depot at the end of the line.

View from the narrow gauge train station

Walkway leading up to the front door of the castle

A second floor patio on the side of the castle

The view of the Connecticut River from the rear patio

A view of the rear of the castle

A sneak peak inside of the sunroom

The other side of the castle

A wall of windows

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After visiting the castle we drove the short distance over to the library and finally started on the work portion of our work day. Several hours later it was time for lunch and we decided to try out the little boutique restaurant next door to the library.

Higher Grounds is a great little gem of a restaurant. The owner/operator, food and decor were all top notch. Here's a photo of my Meatloaf Sandwich with Purple Potato Salad.

My Meatloaf Sandwich at Higher Grounds

After lunch it was back inside the library and back to work. We finished our day and then headed back home.

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WEDNESDAY

WORK DAY @ THE LIBRARY 63 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

Another work day today and this time we drove straight to work, no sightseeing first! Well almost no sightseeing, our route did have us drive down West Main Street in Mystic, CT today, right past the famous Mystic Pizza Restaurant. It was the inspiration and setting behind the 1988 movie featuring a very young and relatively unknown actress named Julia Roberts. This was before Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman and all her award winning performances that came thereafter.

Here is a view of the ornate ceiling inside of the 1893 Mystic & Noank Library, where we are working from today. Isn't it just beautiful? I just love these old library buildings!

Our office space ceiling today.

When it came time for lunch today it was pretty easy to decide where to eat. We are only 800 feet down the street from Mystic Pizza. Funny how we chose this library to work from today isn't it?

Well I'm happy to report that the pizza was delicious, we split a large 14" pizza with Tricia ordering meatball and onion on her half and I tried the Seafood Delight on my half. Sadly we forgot to take pictures until we were finished and outside the restaurant.

Mystic Pizza on the left side on West Main Street, Mystic, CT

Just in case you couldn't read the sign in the first photo

Just across the side street from Mystic Pizza is this tribute to the Olympian John J. Kelley, the long lost uncle I never knew I had. He ran the marathon in the 1956 Olympics, the same year I was born. Just kidding, the tribute is real, the comment that he is a relative of mine is not! At least not that I know of.

John J. Kelley tribute

Our tummies are full and now it's time to get back to work and finish things up because tomorrow we are on the move again into another new state.

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Who will be the first to correctly guess our next location? • • • PLEASE USE THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW TO MAKE YOUR GUESS! • • •

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