May 29
It's about 6:30pm on Tuesday. We're sitting in the truck and we're FINALLY ready to go. We completed our day's work a couple of hours ago and now, after dealing with some last minute chores, it's time to hit the open road...YAY! (LATER THAT NIGHT)... After traveling for about 5 hours, I think it's just about bedtime. A little over an hour ago we passed through Brewer, ME. We talked briefly about spending the night at the local Wal-Mart, but decided to go a bit further. We're now parked in a highway rest area just outside of Augusta, ME. I'm tired, Sheila's tired, and the puppies are...well...they're "dog-tired"... :) Sorry about the pun - I couldn't resist!
May 30
Woke up around 5:30 local time. Didn't sleep very well. I think it's because we're so close to the roadway. I hadn't thought about it when we drove in last night, but we seem to be parked a lot closer to the highway than we normally would be in these rest areas. Needless to say, the highway noise was pretty bad! Took the critters outside to take care of business, then gave them some breakfast. Jumped in the truck, and back on the road. About 45 minutes later we came across one of the I-95 Service Areas. These things are great! A Burger King, ATM, gas pumps, and a nice big parking lot to maneuver the rig. Grabbed some breakfast and decided to eat "picnic style" at one of their picnic tables out back. Once we finished our breakfast sandwiches, we filled up the gas tank, and were on the road again. Lunch time arrived, and our bellies were just about empty...and so was the gas tank! So we decided to pull into the Charlton Plaza on the Mass Turnpike (I-90). Another great spot for a quick little stopover. Gas pumps and several restaurants here - MacDonald's...Gino's Pizza...and Fresh City with their great salads and wraps. We both decided on "Mandarin Sesame Chicken Salad" from Fresh City. YUMMY!! A couple more stops for fuel - in Milford, PA., then in Dover, DE. We're now in NASCAR country...WOOHOO! Lots of NASCAR billboards, advertisements and posters...this is so exciting!! Eventually we reached our destination around 9:00pm - the Delaware Fairgrounds in Harrington, DE. Even though the State Fair doesn't happen for another month, the Fairgrounds Association has opened up the grounds to race fans who want a place to park their RVs. It's quite nice here. Big grassy sites, with power and water hookup. And the kicker is that they're offering a shuttle to and from the racetrack this weekend. What a great idea!May 31
What a beautiful morning! Slept in a bit today. It was so nice to sleep in air-conditioned comfort! Air conditioning is a luxury we do without in a highway rest area... :( Started up the coffee maker, and took the puppies outside to relieve themselves. Didn't have much planned for today besides getting tickets for Friday and Saturday's activities at Dover Raceway. It's a warm one today. When we were driving into Dover to buy the tickets , I noticed the truck's thermometer was displaying 35oC! A bit warmer than we're accustomed to for May! After driving around for a good part of the day, we decided on "Texas Roadhouse" for supper. Oh my God, was it ever good! We started out with their free rolls and free salted peanuts. Then we had the most awesome Margaritas ever! Strawberry-banana, and were they ever good. Then came a sampler of their various appetizers, delicious! Around this time, I decided that just one Margarita wasn't enough, so I ordered another one. Yummy!! then our main course of Prime Rib, with a loaded baked potato and fresh veggies. Delicious! Everything was so good, I'm sure we'll be visiting another Texas Roadhouse restaurant sometime soon. Did I mention how good the Margaritas were?? Afterwards we went on a quest to find a portable fireplace for our campsite. These sites don't have permanent firepits, so if we want to have a campfire, we need to bring our own, fully enclosed, fireplace. Found a great one at Home Depot. Took it back to the trailer, assembled it, and went on to have quite an enjoyable evening sitting by the fire with some cold beverages.June 1
Woke up to another awesome day today - sunny and hot again! Unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow isn't so good...thunder storms... :( I guess we'll just cross our fingers that the nice weather continues. Today's schedule included Nextel Cup qualifying followed by the Craftsman Truck race! WOOHOO...the first race of the weekend! The pole for the Nextel Cup race was won by Ryan Newman. Ryan's pole speed was 153 mph. I can't believe how fast this track is...almost 20 mph faster than the track we typically visit in New Hampshire. It's good to see Ryan doing well - the '12' team has been stumbling a bit, but I think they're back on track. I would say the "Rocket Man" is back! The Craftsman Truck race was excellent! It was won by Ron Hornaday. Lots of side by side racing here at Dover! This place is great!June 2
Even though the weather forecast was 'iffy' for today, the Busch race went off without a hitch. It was another phenomenal day and we watched another excellent race! It was won by Carl Edwards, and he performed his trademark back flip to celebrate his victory. After the race we headed back to the trailer, stopping into 'Pizza Time' on the way for one of their Sicilian pizzas. Delicious! Highly recommended!June 3
Crap. Now that the big day has arrived, the weather had to turn lousy. It's wet, cold and drizzly out. This really sucks!! Well, since we already had the race tickets, we decided we might as well go to the racetrack and hope for the best. Sure enough, after going to the racetrack and waiting almost all day, we heard over the PA system "attention race fans, due to the weather, we will need to postpone the race until tomorrow"... :( Headed back to the trailer to dry out. Cooked up some sausages for supper then just vegged in front of the TV.June 4
Here we are on Monday, still hoping to see a race. And the weather hasn't improved...still drizzly out... :( But the forecast sounds promising, so we do it all over again, hoping the race will happen this time - we packed up our stuff (camera, drinks, snacks, etc) and drove to the track one more time. Wouldn't you know it, the weather cleared and we finally saw the big race...YAY!! It was a great show, with lots of side by side racing. The race was dominated by Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards with Martin eventually taking the win. That was great to see. We've always been fans of Martin, and this was his first win in the Nextel Cup series. It's neat to see a first time winner. And I'm sure he'll win more - he's come close so many times.Drove back to the campground and decided it was time to move on. We thought we'd explore the Wilmington, Delaware area next and it's only a couple of hours away. So we decided to hook onto the trailer and move tonight rather than wait until tomorrow. We ended up at a great little state park just outside of Wilmington, "Lum's Pond State Park". Exactly our style too - big roomy sites, lots of trees, quiet and clean. I think I'm going to like it here.
June 5
Woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day...sunny, and not too hot...just right. We thought we'd drive into Wilmington today and see what it has to offer. We ended up in their waterfront area - an area called the "Shipyard Shops". It's appropriately named. The city revitalized the old abandoned shipyard from the war time into a shopping and dining area. This shopping district has been around for a few years now, slowly being built up to include various stores, factory outlets, restaurants and pubs. It also includes this nice little riverfront boardwalk known as "The Riverwalk". The most interesting aspect of the Riverwalk is that they've incorporated the old shipyard cranes into the landscape. Talk about unique. They are standing along the river's edge forming a tunnel of sorts, with the walkway running under them. I've never seen anything like it. Very cool. And they're painted all the colors of the rainbow - red, green, yellow, etc.
June 6
It's moving day again. Packed up and headed for southern Pennsylvania. We love that area and thought we'd spend a few days in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" area. Found a great little campground called "Country Acres". It was late afternoon when we arrived, so we decided to do some laundry then relaxed for the remainder of the day. June 7
Today was a full day, but more on that later. First I want to talk about the Amish community here. It's fascinating!The Amish first appeared here in the 1720's. They were persecuted for their religious beliefs in their native Germany and so fled to Colonial America attracted by William Penn's offer of religious freedom in what is now known as Pennsylvania.
They have strict beliefs and interpret the bible literally. They are a very tight knit group who have a strong sense of community spirit. This is one reason why they don't allow their membership to own automobiles or tractors. This would allow too much freedom. Instead you will see them using horse drawn buggies and horse drawn farm equipment. To help strengthen their community, they prefer to separate themselves from the rest of society. This is why you will never see power or telephone lines connecting their homes to the rest of the world. With all that being being said, you would think their numbers would be dwindling but that's not the case. although some young Amish have been lured away by the attraction of the outside world and it's modern technology, the Amish population has been steadily growing. Since the 1960's, the Amish population in Lancaster county of Pennsylvania has nearly tripled! Amazing!! We spend time here whenever we can. It's so interesting!!
Near our campground is the town of York, the site of the Harley Davidson plant. Of course we had to go visit. And of course, no trip to the HD plant would be complete without a tour, so we registered and had a chance to view up close the making of the parts and also learned the interesting story of the company...
In 1903 two friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson started building motorcycles in a 10 foot by 15 foot shed with 'Harley-Davidson Motor Company' scrawled on the door. That first year, they built a grand total of three motorcycles. By 1906, they moved into a new 28 by 80 foot factory. They now had six full time employees. That year they produced their first catalogue. Sales went through the roof. By 1907, they needed to double the size of their factory! And the staff size had more than doubled to 18! By 1912, construction had begun on their new 6 story headquarters and main factory building. By 1920, Harley-Davidson had become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. New Harley-Davidson motorcycles could be purchased from over 2000 dealers in 67 countries worldwide. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
After spending the morning in York, we decided to drive into Philadelphia. WOW...talk about a bustling city! With a population of 7 million, there is a lot going on! When visiting a new city we always look for any guided bus tours to learn more about the place. So we parked near the Visitor's Centre, strolled around for a bit then bought tickets for the 'Philadelphia Trolley Works' city tour. We had about 30 minutes to kill, so I thought this was a perfect time to grab a world famous 'Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich'. They are so yummy! worked out well...we had just enough time to eat our sandwich when the bus started boarding. Norm was our guide and Eric was the driver. Norm was kinda boring...YAWN. but Eric was a cool guy. I think Eric should have been doing the narrating...at least he had some personality!
Overall the tour wasn't too bad. Informative. We learned about the history of the city, significant landmarks and the architecture found throughout the city. We also learned about the murals. Philadelphia is full of murals. As it turns out, City Hall decided a few years ago that anyone caught doing graffiti would be 'sentenced' to creating a mural. Now you see them everywhere! Currently there are about 2500 murals in Philly (more than any other city in the world), with 50 - 100 added each year. This program (Philadelphia Mural Arts Program) has become so big that the city has begun a 'mural tour'. Twice a week during the Summer, a trolley tour will take visitors to different murals in the city, offering a 'behind the scenes' look at how the murals were made. They talk about the methods, costs as well the story behind the mural.
It was getting late by the time the tour wrapped up, so we headed back to the trailer. Took care of the puppies, then went to Friendly's Restaurant for supper. We both had the Prime Rib with mashed potatoes. Delicious!!
June 8
After doing lots of touring lately, we decided to slow down a bit. We'll be leaving tomorrow, so we thought we might just hang around Lancaster today, just take it easy, maybe do a little shopping, that's about it. So that's what we did. It's a warm one too...while we were out this afternoon, the thermometer in the truck hit 37oC!Late this afternoon we came across a store called "Rita's". I'm not familiar with them, but their slogan is 'Ices, Cones, Shakes and other Cool Stuff'. Sounds appealing on a hot day! so we popped in. We each ordered a Citrus Blendini. Very good! It's like a citrus slushy but with layers of their frozen custard over top and underneath the flavored ice. Delicious on a hot day!
Spent the rest of the day just unwinding at the campground.
June 9
Here we are, on our final day in Pennsylvania. I hate to leave. Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state. With it's rolling hills, and farms, it's like living in a postcard.Hit the road around 9:00. Stopped for fuel at Milford, PA, then again at the Charlton Service Area on the Mass Turnpike where we had lunch. Chicken Stir-fry wraps. Very tasty! On the road again, another gas stop at one of the I-95 Service Areas in Maine, eventually stopping for the night at the Brewer Wal-Mart.
June 10
Since we're in the neighborhood, we decided to go to Dysart's Truck Stop (just outside Bangor) for breakfast. They have the most awesomest (is that a word?) breakfasts!!Gassed up in Calais then got in line at the border crossing. It was quite a long lineup considering it was a Sunday morning!
We're home now, the end of another trip. This time around we logged 4300 kms. A relatively short trip for us, but still, there were lots of highlights. Dover was awesome. Philly was very cool. And, as always, the Amish region of Pennsylvania was very neat. For now, it's back to work, but it won't be long before we're 'on the road again...'.
No comments:
Post a Comment