May 29, 2012 -- Buckeye Lake, OH (greater Columbus)

Sad as we were to leave Camp M&M, we were on the road fairly early for Buckeye Lake, a small town east of Columbus, and will be staying this week at the Buckeye Lake KOA campground. It's lovely and we got a very friendly welcome from the staff here. Stay tuned for more adventures!

May 28, 2012 -- Slippery Rock, PA

Today Meagan showed us around her old stomping grounds including McConnells Mill State Park. We took the stairway down from the parking area to the creek. Oddly enough, the stairway was much longer and steeper than Meagan remembered it from back in the day, and we both found it, umm ... challenging. Once at the bottom of the trail, we walked along the bank of Slippery Rock Creek, with its covered bridge, grist mill, whitewater rapids and insane people in kayaks. It was at this point that we learned that the creek lives up to its name: today it was Scott's turn to slip and fall. Luckily there was only a small scrape, and we had antiseptic and bandages on hand with which to patch him up. When it came time to climb back up to the car, Meagan made the selfless gesture of returning alone and coming back with the car to get us. We did not protest. After the park, we went for a late lunch at North Country Brewing Co., “where Bilbo Baggins would hang out on a Saturday night.” The food was delicious, and the beers (and cider) were amazing. (If you are sensing a theme here, we salute your powers of observation!) Meagan indulged Scott's t-shirt addiction and added a “Stinky Hippie Pale Ale” t-shirt to his collection. It definitely suits him.

Once back at Camp M&M, we returned to yesterday's construction theme with a replica of the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright home “Falling Water” in Legos! Now, Falling Water is in Pennsylvania, and not really far from Camp M&M; however the days were just too jam-packed to fit in a trip over there. But we can assure you, building this structure out of teeeeeny tiny Legos is enough to give us a sense of just how amazing it is. Here are some photos of our triumph:

May 27, 2012 -- Construction of Lake Cattywampus at Camp M&M

There was a big breakfast today: blueberry pancakes, eggs from the Camp M&M chickens, home fries, and fruit salad. Theresa slept through the whole thing. Scott and Meagan also assembled the pool and got the water running so that by evening it was about one-third full. While the pool was filling, Theresa took advantage of Memorial Day sales to finally buy some summer clothes, and Meagan got a cool new toy -- an iPhone -- thereby ending months of inadvertent butt-dialing of her friends and relations. Oh, and the apps are fun too. Really fun. We think she may put it down someday soon, but we're not holding our breath.

May 26, 2012 -- Earning Our Keep

Saturday morning was a time for yard work. While Marianne worked on the garden, Meagan and Scott shoveled mulch to prepare the surface for Lake Cattywampus. Theresa did arts & crafts indoors, out of the heat, and made necklaces for our lovely hostesses, which we then forgot to photograph. (Meagan, Marianne, if you'd like to send us photos we'll happily post them here.) Scott also did some work inside the house, fixing latches on two rooms which had not been re-assembled quite correctly after renovation work was done on the house a few years ago. Everyone was happy with Scott's work except the cats and dogs, who greatly prefer entering and exiting whatever rooms they like, whenever they like. Sorry furbabies! In the evening, Camp M&M hosted a party by the campfire with friends and neighbors. There were copious amounts of delicious grilled food, washed down with delicious local beer, followed by a dip in the hot tub and some campfire chat. Could there be a more perfect way to spend a Saturday? We think not.

May 25, 2012 (continued) -- Camp M&M field trip to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Fun fact: Did you know that Mister Rogers was from Pittsburgh? And that he modeled the neighborhood trolley on the Incline Railways there? For a little history on the Inclines, click here. Pittsburgh has two parts: a city by the river, and neighborhoods on the bluffs overlooking the river. The Incline Railways were built to ferry commuters back and forth between the two. After a driving tour (which called upon Marianne's mad driving skills), we rode the Duquesne Incline down and back up, and got some really stunning views of the rivers and skyline on the way. Scott got these great photos from the top of the bluff near the entrance to the Duquesne Incline:

Here's a view down the tracks from inside the Incline car:

We then had a scrumptious early dinner at Kaya Restaurant in Pittsburgh's Strip District (not stripper district, get yer minds out of the gutter, kids). Last but certainly not least, we stopped in at East End Brewing Co. for refills on some local suds. The brewery has “growlers” (half-gallon bottles) of their special brews which repeat customers can clean and bring back for refills. It's environmentally friendly as well as being a social event for the regulars like Meagan and Marianne. It was fun talking with the brewery guys, tasting the various beers, and hipster-watching. Growlers are very hipster. Who knew?

May 25, 2012 -- Natrona Heights, PA (greater Pittsburgh)

Due to the loss of a day's travel time, Syracuse was scrubbed from the itinerary and we headed directly to Camp M&M, also known as the home of Meagan and Marianne. We were enticed out of the camper for the weekend due to the high temperatures (90s F with high humidity) and central AC inside the “camp,” which in truth is a gorgeous house, so it didn't take much enticing. Between the AC, the friendly reception, and the adorable dogs, cats, and chickens (yes, chickens!), it was going to be hard to get us to leave...

May 24, 2012 -- Glenville, NY

We were up early, much refreshed after a good night's sleep. As we made the final preparations for departure, we had a visit from a tiny well-wisher who, as it turns out, had been worried about Theresa since the previous morning when she witnessed her slip and fall. Little Ginny (three years old and made of cute, with adorable strawberry-blonde pigtails) picked wildflowers for us and came by with her Grandma to see for herself that Theresa was OK.

And with that, we were off, driving several hours before stopping off at a Wal-Mart for the night.

May 23, 2012 -- Dain Bramaged (or, The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men)

Writing this from the banks of the Mohawk, despite the fact that we were actually supposed to be on the road for Pittsburgh today. There was a little bump in the road however (or more precisely a little bump on the head, in the road). Theresa had almost finished prepping the outside of the trailer for departure and went down to empty the trash and recycling. With the amount of rain we've had lately, it was slippery going and she went down, bumping her head quite hard on the blacktop. She was fortunately not knocked out, and there was no blood, but immediately, a VERY impressive-sized bump appeared on her head -- a handful. Some kindly fellow RVers came on the run to help her out of the mud and get her cleaned off. Because of the size of the bump, we decided it would be best to get her checked out, so EMTs were called and we visited the fine folks in the ER at Schenectady's Ellis Hospital. A couple hours, a prescription, and a clean bill of health later, we are cooling our heels back at Arrowhead and will be departing in the morning for Syracuse, then Pittsburgh (God willin' and the creek don't rise).

May 20, 2012 -- total peace & quiet

Today, most folks who were here for the weekend were gone by noon. We have one neighbor, four sites over, who is quiet; other than that the only communications we've been getting are through twitter (the avian kind, not the social media kind). When we were not riding Fred & George around the campground, we spent most of the day looking like this. Bliss!

May 19, 2012 -- relaxing at home

Such a gorgeous day, and no time constraints on us whatsoever, added up to a really lovely time. After a quiet afternoon of lounging in the sun reading, we got out our picnic gear and had a cookout. In attendance were Paul, Jenny and Robin as well as Mike and Terri (more RPI alumni) with their charming sons Nick and A.J. Tricycles and bicycles were enjoyed by all, even Jenny who had never been on one before (go Jenny!). A.J. also enjoyed the trike because, try as we might, we could not convince him that he still knew how to ride a bike even though he had not been on one in several years.

Speaking of bikes, Scott has decided on names for our human-powered vehicles: Fred and George, after the red-haired twins in the Harry Potter movies. When asked which was which, he said, “I don't know; I never could tell them apart.” Scott called Fred/George into service a couple of times, to go and meet guests at the gate, as well as to haul two loads of firewood. It's so great to have bikes to get around the campground!

May 18, 2012 -- Hairspray!

Tonight was a time for re-connecting with friends and enjoying a night at the theater. We went to visit our friends, Paul & Jenny (who Scott knows from college) and their lovely daughter Robin. There was delicious BBQ chicken from Dinosaur BBQ, a New York institution. Then we saw a really wonderful production of Hairspray at the Schenectady Light Opera Company. The theater is small and the production was BIG. It was outstanding, with great acting, singing and dancing, and such a cute Edna that we just had to get a picture after the show.

May 17, 2012 -- at Arrowhead

Gorgeous day! Weather reports are predicting several days of fair weather, and we are delighted. Our campsite overlooks the Mohawk River, so we've seen some interesting-looking boats -- some look like oversized lobster boats, others are more like passenger party-boat affairs. There is a marina here, but not a lot of boats yet as they just opened for the season on Tuesday. Another thing we love about this campground is the fact that there are no streetlights in the park, so at night it actually gets dark. A lot of places do not have this luxury! Here it's quite rustic though (in a good way), with lots of tent sites and not a lot of full hookups. Sooo... now that we're all set up and ready to go, Scott logged into his computer for his first on-the-road day at work. Here he is, just before hitting the power switch:

Sadly, the internet connection is also a bit rustic. We brought a mobile hotspot with us, but it was only getting 2G coverage, and that was really slow until we hooked up our booster antenna. The booster antenna is on a magnetic base which is really great until you realize that the camper is aluminum so it won't stick. Our brilliant solution: Canned beets! Yes, you read that right. The can of beets is just heavy enough to stabilize the antenna, and just high enough to hold the antenna above the roof line so that we can get a signal from any direction. This solution was directly inspired by Mom, who as many of you know, used a can of B&M baked beans as a step stool for years in her kitchen. (Thanks for the idea Mom!) Once we get hungry for beets, I predict that we'll switch to B&M baked beans to hold the rooftop antenna. It just seems like the right thing to do.

May 16, 2012 -- to Glenville, NY

Having been to bed early the night before, getting up at 8:00ish felt like sleeping in. There was some rain on this trip, and some blustery winds, but soon we got the hang of driving with the trailer in less-than-ideal conditions. We got in to Glenville (near Albany) around 2 p.m. Severe thunderstorms were predicted, with DAMAGING WINDS! and GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL! and we thought, “here we go...” but the storms missed us and we passed a really lovely, quiet night at Arrowhead RV Park. Once the storm threat had passed, it was time to look for groceries. Our GPS located a Hannaford store about 5 miles away, so it was pretty much like shopping at home. Sweet! We are now well stocked for the week.

May 15, 2012 -- departure from South Portland

Wow! It has been a busy couple of weeks getting the camper ready. We actually moved in about the last week of April but had been living without running water (except for the flush, which does not require clean water). In between what felt like constant rain storms we managed to de-winterize the pipes, sanitize the onboard drinking water tank, de-clutter our cabinets and wash all the clothes and bedding that were stored in the camper over the course of the winter, refill our propane tanks and get furnace and stove working. Fortunately, no critters hibernated in our home (guess they preferred the woodshed next door) so cleanup was not too difficult. Huge thanks to Mom for the use of her side yard, kitchen, washing machine, dryer, garden hoses and outdoor electric outlets so that we could get everything done. You made our lives so much easier! Showers were predicted this morning but luckily they held off as we completed the final preparations of hooking the trailer up to the truck (which we did on the first try I might add) and so spirits were high as we started our trip. Our first stop was Cabela's in Scarborough. After three weeks of our living in the trailer, Charlie-In-The-Box “had to go.” We used their free sewer dumping station and hit the turnpike many pounds lighter. Once under way, I think we finally remembered to be tired from all the work of the past two days. We did not get far before pulling off for what we thought would be a rest and a snack at a truck rest area near North Andover, MA. Then it started raining, and since we did not have far to go on this first leg of our journey, we decided this would be a good place to put our feet up and relax for awhile. We ended up staying the night. For a truck rest stop, it was amazingly quiet (that, or we were both too tired to hear anything).

Almost ready!

We have spent this weekend (the first non-rainy days) organizing the back of the truck, the storage area, and inside. We're almost there! One more day at work, them Tuesday we are on the road. Wednesday we will be at a campground just west of Schenectady for a while, visiting friends and going to the local theater to see Hairspray. :)