Two Old People, an Old Dog and an RV
This blog started by following Joe and Fran (the two old people) and Buddy (the old dog) on an RV trip from Long Beach Island, N.J. to the west coast and back.
We hoped to publish pictures, and share our adventures while we were gone. We returned home in May of 2014 and published our trip under the title "California, Here We Come!"
We hoped to publish pictures, and share our adventures while we were gone. We returned home in May of 2014 and published our trip under the title "California, Here We Come!"
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Summer 2016 We have had one hot summer here on LBI; unusually hot. The air conditioning has been running almost continually and we have spent more time inside than we would like. It is now mid August and the green head flies, accompanied by black flies are compounding our misery. Joe and I are fortunate in that we can sit in our living room and view our little bay beach from the coolness of our condo. We have grown peppers and tomatoes quite successfully this summer in our earth boxes and have enjoyed the sweetness that only comes from tomatoes picked off the vine moments before being eaten. I added seaweed to the soil and that seemed to help. Summer usually sees us stay home, except for our annual trip to the Outer Banks with Jamie and his family. This year we did take an RV trip to upstate New York and camped at two lovely campgrounds. The first one, near Rhinebeck, NY had pretty sites and a beautiful pool, surrounded by flowers. After two nights there, we traveled to the Essex, NY area and stayed at a campground on Lake Champlain. My cousin, Sally, has a summer home in Essex and we had a lovely visit with her. We loved the house, with its charm and attractive setting right in the Old Village of Essex. Dinner was at a restaurant right on the lake, where we had good food and caught up on each other's news. After two days at our campsite, we traveled south, stayed one night in Rhinebeck again, where I enjoyed another swim in their pool. We did not, however, escape the heat in NY. It was as hot there as it was at home! Unusual, but I guess we were just lucky! Here are some pictures of our NY trip: |
Outer Banks
The second week of August we traveled to the Outer Banks of NC by way of the Eastern Shore of Virginia where we were able to spend the night with my cousins; three siblings who live on the same street on the beautiful DelMarVa Penninsula. We always enjoy seeing them and catching up. Cousins were an important part of my childhood and to see four of them this summer was really great.
We arrived at the big, big house near the ocean in Corolla,NC on Sunday and joined our son Jamie and his wife Nancy, their five daughters, and the girls's friends. Their were 15 females and two males in the house. Ellie had her three best friends, the twins had their lifelong friend, Jane, cousin Bailey was with us and Lulu had her friend Delaney. The old folks were Jamie and Nancy, Nancy's friend Tara and Mary Ellen, Nancy's mother and us,
We had a fantastic week....not one cross word amongst all those girls! We spent a lot of time at the beach, some time at the pool and watched the Olympics every night. Our last night we had our traditional pizza delivered to the beach.
Buddy did not come with us; he spent the week in doggy care and seemed none the worse for it. Here are some pictures of our beach adventure:
Summer is officially over, Labor Day weekend is behind us, as is the tropical storm Hermine, which thankfully did not do any damage! I am getting ready for a ten day trip to Scotland with my sister, so the next pictures you see may be from Inverness!
Fall 2016
I returned home from Scotland a few days ago, to find rainy weather on the Island. Curiously, the weather in Scotland was mostly sunny. My sister, Alice, and I traveled there prepared for bad weather and were very pleasantly surprised. We made our base in Edinburgh and took two tours outside the city. The first was to Lindisfarne, which was interesting to us because a branch of our family, the Cuthbert, hail from there.
Lindisfarne is in England, so we crossed the Tweed River and after an hour or so, were able to drive over the causeway to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne. The Island is cut off by the tide twice a day, so timing is crucial.
I returned home from Scotland a few days ago, to find rainy weather on the Island. Curiously, the weather in Scotland was mostly sunny. My sister, Alice, and I traveled there prepared for bad weather and were very pleasantly surprised. We made our base in Edinburgh and took two tours outside the city. The first was to Lindisfarne, which was interesting to us because a branch of our family, the Cuthbert, hail from there.
Lindisfarne is in England, so we crossed the Tweed River and after an hour or so, were able to drive over the causeway to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne. The Island is cut off by the tide twice a day, so timing is crucial.
The same day we visited Lindisfarne, we also traveled to Alnwick Castle, a short drive away. This castle has been in the same family for 700 years and is open to the public in the summer only. It is currently owned by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. It has been used by film companies, Harry Potter especially. It also appeared in two Downton Abbey episodes. We were able to tour the public rooms of the castle, bu no pictures were allowed. We saw costumes from Downton Abbey and also a long table in the dining room formally set with placecards for Lady Edith, Lady Mary, etc. The castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens and I took some pictures there.
We found Edinburgh to be a delightful city, with friendly people and surprisingly good food. Our hotel was just a few steps to the Royal Mile, where all the shops and old buildings make a lovely place to explore. We especially loved the closes - little alley ways that run off the main street. We took a tour of the underground: The Real Mary King's Close which was fascinating. Under a present newer building is a warren of rooms. Our guide took us through the old places there, including a house with some original plaster on the ceiling. She told us about black plague and the doctor with an extraordinary face mask who tended the sick. We later went to the Poets' Museum in an historic old house with rooms devoted to three poets: R.L. Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns. Scott is especially revered in Scotland and there is a very large monument to him which we visited. Apparently, Sir Scott was able to retrieve the honors (Scotland's crown, sceptre and stone) from the Tower of London after they had disappeared and were feared lost forever. Here are a few pictures:
