7-17-12

Dear Loved Ones,
We have left Vermont and are in a campground in New Boston, NH.  I am always looking for a campground out in the country in a not so populated area.  We are in the country surrounded by trees.  We have very poor cell phone reception and we had to buy internet service.  The Hot Spot on our phone didn't work.  That is the first time.  Maybe, I will have to consider being in a more civilized area.  It is has been very hot and muggy the last few days and not much breeze in campground.  All the trees must block the wind.
Today, we drove Portsmouth, NH.  It is close to the Atlantic Ocean.  We took a drive down the NH. coast.  I thought it was interesting the State parks were free but to park was 15.00 fee for access to the beaches.  The beaches were very crowded and all the resorts, rental houses were full.  Parking is at a premium wherever we go.  It is prime family vacation time.  There are alot of fish houses, lobster boils, choddar.  We must be in New England.
We were sorry to leave Vermont.  It was a beautiful with all the green mountains.  I really enjoyed talking to the maple sugar growers.  A sugar maple has to be 40 years old before it can be tapped.  They live up to 400 years.  That was a big surprise.  Sugar harvest last 5 or 6 weeks.  Fifty acres can have up to 1000 trees and they can support 2200 to 2500 sap pails.  Alot of the sugar groves are family operated and they sell from their front porches and their barns.  That's my History lesson for the day.
Thursday morning we leave for Maine.  We will have about 10 days in Maine split between two campgrounds.  The season is busy and we can't always get the sites we want or for the time we would like.  But it is exciting to hook up and see what the next one looks like and what we will find.  Every area we have been in has beauty and history.  The people have been great all along our travels.
After Maine we will go to Mass. for 5 days.  We are staying 30 minutes out of Boston.  The campgrounds is close to rail service into Boston.  We will pick up tours of Boston at the train station and there are kennels to board Bailey in the town where the campground is located.  So hope all the reservations go as we planned. 
We plan on being back in Iowa the last week of August.  Hope to be in Scott County Park near Bob. 
It always good to come back to the unit after a day of bumming and sight seeing,We had one couple tell us that being retired and traveling is a full time job.  They work very hard at it and I guess we are the same.  We are tired each evening and feel we have worked hard and it is so good to come into our unit and take our shoes off.
Tomorrow, we are going to do a little shopping.  We are looking for a tire gauge, hydraullic jack and small air compressor.  Hope we find the right sizes, latest styles and that they fit.  I never thought I would be excited shopping for tools.  OH, how the priorties change.
Please, excuse the spelling, the spell check isn't working.  There is always some glitch to contend with.  Love to all, Mother