It has been quite a while since our last post. We have kept ourselves busy since our last post from the Atlantic provinces of Canada. So, where to begin?
The week after our trip to Canada, I was in the air again heading back to Austin for Regents Girls Basketball Camps for a week. We had 2nd through 5th Graders in the morning and 6th through 8th Graders in the afternoon. It was a tiring time but the kids were great and seemed to have a fun time.
It was blazing hot in Texas Hill Country during that time…105 degrees at the hottest. This heat combined with making sure the kids in camp were staying active and having fun just wore me out. At least I work for a school that has an air conditioned gym!
Candy stayed back in Maine during this time and unfortunately had to deal with some confused guy from a group home who tried to enter the RV at 1:30am. According to Candy, he was older and had some physical deformities that made him appear even scarier at 1:30 in the morning than he probably was. She decided to leave the camper after this and spend the next few nights in a hotel until I got back.
It was hard to be so far away and not be able to do something about this. The plan is to buy a weapon in the coming week or so. As my dad said recently, “I used to carry a cop with me for protection but he got too heavy, so now I carry a gun and you should too.” Good advice (if you are reading this, don’t gloat, Dad).
On June 27th, I had the opportunity to meet up with my cousin, Lt. Colonel Jeb Phillips, and his son, Nathan, in Bass Harbor, ME, just down the road from here. They had been camping across New England. Jeb has been stationed at Fort Drum, NY, recently.
I had not seen him for 20 years. We chatted and caught up on some great times and great people from the past. It really is amazing that we would meet again in Maine of all places. He has been in the Army since college and has been all over the world. Thanks, Jeb, for your service to our country. Hopefully we will see each other sooner than 20 years from now!
On June 28th, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of leaving Denver and living in the RV. It is really hard to believe it has been a year already. We have driven a lot of miles during this time (12,034 miles with the camper behind us) and been in five different time zones in the camper (Alaska, Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern) and an additional without the camper (Atlantic). In fact, the only time zone in North America that we did not reach was Newfoundland Time Zone.
We have been to 34 states and 3 Canadian provinces in the camper and 3 other Canadian provinces without it. We expect to hit Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and possibly Michigan on our way heading west in the next few weeks. 37 states are pretty good, huh? While we do not know how long we will live in the RV, we are thankful to have been given this chance.
On July 1st, I celebrated my 41st birthday. It is strange to think that I was in this area for the first time 20 years ago for my first summer at Raquette Lake. Time certainly does fly.
Candy and I spent the day touring Acadia National Park via Oli’s Trolley. Our tour guide was Santo, a retiree who was born and raised on a dairy farm in Connecticut. He was very knowledgeable and funny.
The park is one of the smallest National Parks and is made up of mostly donated land. Cadillac Mountain and Thunder Hole were pretty spectacular things to see. Cadillac Mountain is the tallest mountain along the eastern coast of the United States. During certain times of the year, it is the first place in the U.S. to see sunrise. Hop over to our Facebook page to see two new videos from our trip to Acadia!
Candy bought me a brand new steel string guitar for my birthday. I have been learning how to play two strings and six notes thus far and my fingers are actually not too sore now. It helps to have a good music teacher. I am really excited to learn something new and think I can really enjoy it as well. I have learned “Song of Joy” and “Skip to My Lou” so far…watch out Carlos Santana!
We went to see the fireworks in Bangor on the 4th. It was not the greatest show but it was neat to see the town’s people come out in droves for this show. They were lined up on every street in town.
Chase has had some issues with his health recently. He has lost some weight and has not been eating. Also, he has had some problems with his left back leg. We took him to the vet today to get him checked out. He should be okay with some rest, thank goodness. We did get to meet the vet’s clinic cat, Salmon, today. He was huge (weighed 28 pounds) and had paws like a bobcat. His picture is in the gallery.
We have not eaten any lobster yet but are planning to go to the RV resort’s lobster dinner on Tuesday.
We have plans to go to a minor league baseball game on our last day in Maine on July 16th with one of our friends from Colorado, Brian Pelletier. I will also go to visit Raquette Lake, NY for the first time in 11 years with Todd Williams, a long-time friend and fellow camp counselor, on July 17th. We will then head west from there to Minnesota.
We will continue to keep you up-to-date on what is going on. Enjoy the pictures from our phones and keep following along!
by tim
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