Magic Wings

Lois and I went to the Magic Wings Butterfly Museum in Deerfield, MA yesterday. Not much to say, just lots of pictures. As is my usual action, I forgot my camera. All pictures were taken with my iPhone. They came out OK, but many are a touch blurry.

A walking leaf -- for real. I thought it was just some weird item to collect on Animal Crossing.

This is a frog:

Not sure what these guys to the right are doing. Procreating?

This one is my favorite:

What a pose:                                                                                            I think this one is a moth:

The picture on the right (open wings) is the same butterfly as the one on the left (closed wings).

Lois' admission stamp. Hers came out better than mine. And she had to show off her butterfly nail painting. It is supposed to be a flower, but it looks more like a butterfly.

Pictures from the end of the day. This is a lighthouse that is just down the road from the butterfly museum. It would have been a much nicer picture if the quad wasn't in front of it. The last picture is Hope relaxing in Lois' garden.

Cabot

This week has turned into the Factory Tour trip. Sandy, Darlene, and I were caravaning across VT and NH. I was in the lead, so anything that we came across that looked interesting, I slammed on the brakes to investigate.

This is a covered bridge that we stopped at:

Continuing on our journey, I saw a sign for Cabot Cheese Factory:

This was another tour that cost just a couple o' bucks and lasted less than an hour. At this factory, they make yogurt, cottage cheese, and dips. Cabot has two other production facilities where they make the aged cheddar cheeses and butter. Cabot also makes products for Hood and Trader Joe's.

The milk is brought into this factory and processed by separating the curds from the whey. The whey (liquid) is sprayed onto the fields as fertilizer. The curds are then either pressed and packed in 42 lb blocks and sent to the other factories or used in this one for their yogurt and cottage cheese production.

The tour was interesting, but it was the sample area and store that destroyed all three of us. I did well with only purchasing a pound of butter and a brick of hand-rubbed Tuscan cheese. Darlene walked out with three grocery bags full of every product they had out on their shelves. I was thereon not allowed to stop anywhere else that sold food.  :o)

The butter I bought can only be purchased at their factory stores. It is an English Style and still contains some of the whey. Other than containing some extra liquid, there is no difference between it and the americanized style of butter.

After the Cabot tour, we crossed over into New Hampshire. Somewhere between the Cabot factory and Littleton, NH.  Darlene's refrigerator door fell off.  We were originally planning on stopping in the Franconia area. Instead, we ended up driving an hour or so further to North Conway so that Darlene could bring her rig to an RV repair place. It took the serviceman more than an hour to piece her door back together. It is only a temporary fix until she can get a new door from the factory, but it got her back on the road again with a working refrigerator.

In North Conway, we stayed at the Saco River Camping Area. I camped here 35 years ago with Vanessa. Much has changed in North Conway in the last 35 years, and according to Sandy, even the last 10 years. Many of the outlet stores are gone. Traffic, other than downtown North Conway, was practically non-existent. It used to take an hour to go from one end of town to the other.

I walked around and around and around the campground to find the beach and finally found it just before dark. I wanted to try to take Hope in the river again, but they didn't allow dogs on their beach. It was just as well. The Saco River was much colder than the river we swam in the night before.

Without any rain for the last week, everything was dusty dry. Here's a picture of my dirty-assed dog:

Ben &Jerry's Ice Cream Factory

Sandy, Darlene, and I left Essex Junction, VT and headed over to the Ben and Jerry's factory. The tour was only $2.00 and took about half an hour. At the end of the tour, everyone got a sample of ice cream. Today's flavor was Boston Cream Pie. It was a good size helping, too, not just one of those little spoons for tasting; but do you think that was enough??? NOOOOO, of course not. You can never have enough ice cream, so I stood in line and got a small serving of Oatmeal Cookie Chunk.

Being the brainless wonder that I am, I could not remember what flavor ice cream I had, so I went to Ben and Jerry's Website. Do you know what I found???? A Ben and Jerry's app for the iPhone. It will keep you up-to-date on their newest flavors and has a feature to find the nearest B&J store. Oh, man; am I in trouble now. It even has a feature called, "Learn the ingredients and nutrition info of each flavor." Do you think I care? Do you think that's going to keep me from eating ice cream three times a week? I think not.

Here are a few pictures I took at Ben & Jerry's:

After visiting Ben & Jerry's, we went to the Trapp Family Lodge -- you know, the Von Trapp family -- the Sound of Music family. From what we could see, there wasn't much to see. It was an Inn, so if you were a guest, there was probably lots of stuff to do. For us, we just walked through the main lobby of the lodge and I went to the bakery down the road.

This is the view from the base of the Lodge and a picture of the front of the Lodge:

The library:

That night, we stayed in a campground in Marshfield, VT. It was a very small campground but the amenities were the best I've ever experienced. The campground was bordered by a large river that had a small beach so you could go swimming. In addition, they had two pools and a hot tub. I soooo miss my hot tub. After I took a dip in the river, I later sat in the hot tub. It was over 90 degrees outside; you'd think that it was too hot to be lounging around in a hot tub, but it felt sooooooo goooood!!!

I took Hope in the river with me. I was very, very proud of her. She took some coaxing before getting in over her knees and she did well until she lost footing and had to actually swim. The poor thing completely panicked and ran back in to shore. We tried three times and each time she got a touch better. I figured three was enough, though, so I let her be after that and gave her the ol' towel treatment. She doesn't like water and she doesn't like being brushed, but she sure does like being rubbed all over with a towel. Silly dog!

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory

Sandy and I took off from the FMCA rally for a few hours and went to downtown Burlington and also the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.

This is a short post and there isn't much to tell. It didn't have anything to do with the rally, so I decided to make it a separate entry.

It was hotter than H* this day. We took a walk down the boardwalk along the shore of Lake Champlain and even though it was right by the water, there was no relief. The sky was clear so the only relief we could get was from an occasional shadow.

The Teddy Bear factory tour was cute. They gave us all a sample of the fabric along with a button.

 
As is usual Diane style, I FORGOT MY CAMERA. Not only did I forget to bring my camera with me, I also left my cell phone in Sandy's van as I figured there was no reason to carry it around with me. The only picture I have is this one that I asked Sandy to take for me. This is the hospital section where they repair returned bears. Note the IV bottle:

North East Regional Area FMCA Rally

The 4th of July weekend was spent at my first FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally. The rally was very small, as rallies go; only 500 rigs attended. We had 15 Roadtreks here and 3 others across the compound. This picture shows part of the group. I never did get a picture of all of us, either people or Roadtreks:

The weekend was excruciatingly hot. We all did our best to keep cool like put up our awnings, stay in the shade, run the air conditioners, and go into the exhibit halls.

Friday night was a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain. The pictures below are of the sun setting. There are so many because the sky kept getting more and more awesome. I don't think I've ever experienced a sunset that lasted so long. These pictures were taken over the span of half an hour. I took the pictures with my iPhone because, as usual, I forgot my camera. I'm impressed at how well they came out:

The next two days were filled with seminars and workshops. I went to seminars on RV Maintenance; Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Camera; Geocaching; Dutch Oven Cooking; Personal Safety for Women; and an RV Adventure Tour promotion to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. I also took one workshop in Jewelery Making, which consisted of making two sets of beaded earrings.

We saw the fireworks on both Saturday and Sunday. This is Saturday's fireworks over the compound. The picture was taken from the very top of the grandstand.

And this is a picture of the Van of Discovery decked out to celebrate the 4th of July:

We had a quick rain shower one day that produced a double rainbow. I couldn't decide which was the best picture, so I posted all of them:

On the way to the FMCA Rally

On the drive to the FMCA Rally in Essex Jct., VT, I took Route 8 up to Lee, MA, and then Route 7 the rest of the way up to Burlington, VT. Route 8 was emotionally tough because it is the same route we took to get to the cabin. I miss that trash heap more than you can ever imagine. Route 7 wasn't much better in the emotional department until I got up past Rutland. It's the Manchester/Dorset area that Billy and I went to for nearly every vacation before we got the cabin.

Not much has changed in the Dorset area. Even the Maryville Campground is still there. There's a piece of land that sits right next to the campground that was for sale six years ago. It is either still for sale or it is on the market again. It was a nice piece of property with a barn and large, cleared trails going down to a winding brook at the back of the property.

This is a picture of a house that I just happened to like the look of:

And here's a picture of a fellow Cowboy Action Shooter's trailer that I happened to pass by. They must travel to a lot of shoots:

Driving north on Route 7, somewhere between Rutland and Burlington, I passed the most dilapidated farm I have ever seen -- at least as dilapidated as it can get while still being a working farm. The barn was huge and was in the shape of a round circus tent. And what was out in the field next to the barn? A camel! A Bactrian Camel, the one with the double hump, native to steppes of north eastern Asia (thank you Wikipedia). And what was behind this Bactrian Camel? A BABY camel! I turned around as soon as I could and went back to the farm to get a picture of mamma and baby. They were nowhere around. Apparently they went in to barn. I pulled onto a side street and stayed there for quite some time viewing the area through my binoculars, but they never came back into view. Ever have one of those moments where you wonder if what you think you saw was what you really saw??? Oh, my! I thought I would Google "Bactrian Camel Vermont" and here it is: Ollie the Camel

and thanks to the Internet, here are a couple of pictures I stole (thank you to Bill Owens of Granville, MA and sacoo)

Pachaug

Finally, a post getting done within 24 hours of an eventful weekend.

This was supposed to be a SoloTrekking foursome, but ended up being just Sandy and myself along with Cody Ann, Hope, and Olly.

Casino update: I guess I came to the end of my winning streak as this weekend I lost, lost, lost. Saturday I lost $5.00 and did the same on Sunday --- BUT --- I gained a whole $0.06 in Player points. Whoopee!

On Saturday evening, Hope must have had problems with the heat because all she wanted to do was go back to "her" van. Little did she know, it was far hotter in the van than it was outside. Anyway, I kinda lost track of her and Thomas found her. She wasn't far; she was just trying to get into someone else's RV. Thomas decided to join us and regale us with his life story and future plans.  Thomas, an 11-yr old boy, was either a totally amazing genius child or a complete BS'er who lived in one hell of a fantasy world.  

1) He's entering high school (at age 11) as is going to finish in 2 1/2 years
2) He has an IQ of 140
3) He wants to be a mathematician when he grows up. When I asked him what kind of job a mathematician does, he said that they work with professors and do stuff like 7-page mathematical equations.
4) He is writing a trilogy which he wants to be made into a movie. He even has the actors/actresses picked out. The story is about five kids, one who is a werewolf who has a love affair with a vampire (apparently the two are not supposed to mix).
5) He lives with his grandparents, three dogs, and six puppies. He had Dickens with him, a long-haired chihuahua. (Dickens -- as in "cute as the dickens")
6) He lives with his grandparents because his mother was a drug addict -- who committed suicide two years ago. I don't remember what the story was regarding his father or even if he mentioned a father.

I think poor Thomas would have sat and talked to us all night if we let him.

Sunday was our outing to a State Park. We decided on Green Falls in the Pachaug State Forest. To say I am disappointed in this State Park is an understatement. The park is in a FOREST. 24,000 acres that covers five towns. The picnic area was about 1/4 acre. The picnic tables were horribly decayed and the swimming area was about the size of my fist, loaded with diaper-ladened babies (and I previously wondered why half of our state swimming holes are closed due to high bacterial counts).

It was a H-O-T,  H-O-T, H-O-T day. We decided to take Olly with us because it was just too hot to leave him in the van without the air conditioning running all afternoon. He was so good. He settled in next to the picnic table with us and even tolerated other dogs coming up to check him out. A couple came by with two long-haired chihuahuas. One got very curious and decided to check Olly out. Hope would have no part of this stranger coming near HER cat and she very obviously tried to either dominate the dog or pull it away from Olly. That's my girl!

On the way back to Mohegan, we drove through Voluntown, so Sandy brought me past an Extreme Makeover Home (the show aired Feb, 2009). These are my only pictures for this weekend:

 The Home:

The Neighbors:

When we got back to the casino, I found out how glad I was that I brought my precious Olly with us for the day. I had reflective film around all the windows in the van and the temps still got up to 93-degrees inside.

After leaving Sandy this morning, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to purchase some bamboo trays to put on the second shelf of my food cabinet. They didn't fit so I immediately returned them. On the way home, I stopped at yet another Connecticut State Forest. This one was a boat landing in the Cockaponset State Forest. When I got there, the parking lot was empty. GOOD! I could have a peaceful, restful lunch. Nope, was not to be. No sooner did I finish preparing my lunch when someone pulls in to put their canoe in the lake. They weren't the problem. It was the next car that decided to park right next to me in this nearly empty parking lot. A Honda CRV with three kids in it. They never got out of the car ... just sat there inside eating their lunch. After 30 minutes or so, they pulled out, moved across the parking lot and stayed there another 10 minutes or so. Very strange.

So ends the latest entry of a SoloTrekking excursion.

SoloTrekking at Mohegan Sun

The SoloTrekking Adventure at Mohegan Sun Casino

I already know that I cannot step into the Van of Discovery without some "adventure" happening. This past weekend, I met three other Connecticut SoloTrekkers (Peggy, Jean, and Sandy) for a quick overnight, first-of-the-season, GTG (that's get-to-gether for those who do not know), boondocking session at the RV lot at Mohegan Sun casino. It was an overnight excursion; what could possibly go wrong????

The weather was fabulous; it couldn't have been better. Because the ladies wanted to meet at 11:00 on Friday morning, I knew I would never make it on time so I arrived on Thursday. Mohegan Sun has a wonderful RV lot that is separate from all the other parking lots. It sits up on a hill, overlooks the Thames River, has shuttle service every 15 minutes to the casino, and is continually patrolled by security. The only thing it is missing is picnic tables.

Because Sandy lives five minutes from the casino, she joined me and we went to one of the buffets over at the casino for dinner. It was a pleasant time; no "adventures" passed our way. Sandy's Roadtrek was having DC/battery problems. With boondocking, you absolutely need battery power, so after dinner, Sandy went back home and left me alone for the night.

The parking lot was nearly empty. I think there were only three other RV's besides mine. In the middle of the lot, off to the upper edge, was a large circle cordoned off by portable barriers. I wondered why the area was blocked off and thought, perhaps they were going to dig it up or maybe, because it was a holiday weekend, the tribe was going to have some kind of pow-wow or demonstration sometime over the next three days.

Friday morning, almost right on time, Peggy and Jean pulled in. Earlier in the week, we made plans to have a pot-luck dinner. I made a tossed salad, Peggy made a spicy chick-pea dish, Sandy made vodka penne pasta, and Jean made bar-b-que chicken wings. We decided to have our pot-luck for lunch instead of waiting for dinner.

We set up tables and chairs at the edge of the parking lot that overlooks the river. Lunch was served and we had a grand time. As we were eating, a limousine pulled into the parking lot. I joked with the girls and said, "Ooh, our ride is here!" All of us assumed that the limo driver dropped off his passenger and came up here for a quick nap. We never gave it another passing thought.

Lunch done, I brought everyone's dishes and flatware to my rig to wash them. I returned to the tables with the clean dishes. Peggy had put out wine glasses and desert. Some of our luncheon food was already put away, but not all. The penne pasta was still out on the table waiting to be stored.

I turned around to see a helicopter coming our way. It was low and looked like it was going to land somewhere near. It was definitely heading toward us. I ran back to my van to grab my camera. As I was standing just outside the open doors of my van, I realized that the helicopter was not flying over us; it was LANDING. Sand blew everywhere. I couldn't stand up straight, my teeth were getting sandblasted, my hat tried numerous times to blow off my head, and the van doors slammed shut.

The culprit:

Sometime after it landed, I saw Peggy speaking to the limo driver or someone of "authority" over by the helicopter. I turned to walk back to where we set up our tables and there was nothing there. The tables and chairs were overturned, food and broken glass was all over the ground, and no one else was around.  I was totally dumbfounded.

The result:

A few minutes passed when a very official looking, shiny, new, black mini-van came driving up beside me and out popped Jean. Still in shock and dumbfounded, I asked Jean where she went. She said she went over the embankment because her hat blew off and half of our food stuff went flying as well. As she started walking down the hill, she slipped on the plastic anti-erosion ground cover and slid the rest of the way down. The van was driving by and gave her a lift back up to the RV lot. We all thought she was blown over, but she said she went voluntarily. I found out later that Sandy was going to go over the bank first and Jean stopped her -- and then ended up going over herself.

Peggy finally came back to us and relayed her discussion with the limo/helicopter people. She went over to tell them that the prop wash destroyed all of our things and to give them a piece of her mind. It wouldn't have taken that much energy to walk over to the four or five RVs that were in the lot and extend some courtesy to let us know a helicopter would be landing next to us.

The rest of Peggy's conversation went something like this:
Official:  Didn't you see the barriers set up?
Peggy: How are we supposed to know that's a helicopter landing pad? We though it was for construction or something. The helicopter destroyed all of our things.
Official:  He's not going to pay for it. He's a very important person.
Peggy: Well, we're important, too!

So, we were stuck with this mess to clean up while the Very Important Person got his limo drive down to the casino. Peggy did manage to get them to agree to call us when the helicopter was to come back to pick up its Very Important Person. We picked up all of the paper and food and then we asked Security if they could get someone up here to pick up all the glass.

The rest of the weekend was spent half laughing  and half indignant over the incident. We came to find out that while the helicopter was landing, Sandy was in her van. She heard it come overhead and tried to look up out of her roof vent. Sand came blasting down through the vent spattering dust all over her and all over the van's interior. She was wiping grit out of her eyes for the rest of the day and I was picking sand out of my teeth for just about as long.

The helicopter pad was a temporary set-up, as the normal field was saturated from all the rain we had in the past week. We were speaking to a neighboring RV'er who told us she comes up to Mohegan Sun quite often and that the helicopter can come in numerous times over a weekend. She said the funniest thing she sees is these Very Important People hopping out of the helicopter or their limo in their $600 shoes, tip-toeing and dancing through the wet and the mud.

The rest of the weekend was quite uneventful. Really, how can you top what just happened? Peggy's diplomatic persistence paid off as the Official did call her the next morning to tell us that the helicopter would be back at 5:00. Then, later in the day, called again to tell us the helicopter was coming at 3:30 instead. On top of that, Mohegan Sun's security came in and went to every RV in the lot to tell them that the helicopter was going to land in a few minutes. We did stay to watch it land again, only this time we were prepared. We closed all doors, windows, and vents in the vans and put all of our chairs and tables away. We wanted to see if we could figure out who the Very Important Person was. He was too far away for us see who he was, but we did manage to notice that his limo driver and all other personnel carried all of his stuff. All the VIP had in his hands was his coat.