Sojourn Days 71-80
Day 71 September 28 Day 71………it does not seem possible that we have been gone that long. We have driven 9500 miles so far. Intermittent showers are predicted, and the highs have been in the 50s and 60s. We drove south on state route 116 and it was so nice to be on nothing but country roads with little to no traffic. Stopped at the Yankee Candle company’s huge complex for a break in the driving. It sprawled forever, and the shoppers were in a frenzy filling up their carts. We fortunately have no place to store things like that, so we were not caught up with the temptation.
We found a campground near Brookfield, Massachusetts to our liking. Had camp fare for dinner and built a nice fire. The weather promises to be nice tomorrow. We are south of the best fall colors now and doubt if we will wait for the ‘peak’ zone to catch up with us.
Day 72 September 29 The plan for today is to drive into Boston, look around a little then head south toward Cape Cod.
The drive approaching Boston was very pleasant, and much like we expected with the typical Cape Cod style of homes, many with white picket, or stone fences. We understand that there is a storm off of the coast, and it has been very gusty and cool.
We were thrilled to be driving into Boston on Saturday, (a non working day) and had plans to see many of the historical sites until we encountered unbelievable congestion, roads closed for construction, traffic in gridlock, detours, one way roads leading to nowhere, and people EVERYWHERE. We tried to find Fenway Park and failed but we were able to drive by Harvard University by accident. After a couple of hours, we both wanted out of town and could not get out fast enough. What little we did see was nice enough, however, I guess in the past couple of months, we nomads are much happier on remote back roads and far away from major towns. It was a good sign though to see the residents of Boston out and enjoying the sun and the fall activities.
There is a road sign that is used frequently in the state and it warns you that it is “Thickly Settled”. We will probably always think of trying to get around Boston in that term. Barney commented that he thought it was worse than trying to drive in NYC. I would agree.
We spent the night in Plymouth, MA, drove through
the town on our way to the Lobster Hut for dinner, saw what is left of Plymouth Rock, (it is one third its original size with people chipping it away) and hunkered down to watch a movie. The weather report on the news said that NH and VT were expecting lows in the 20s tonight. We were there at just the right time.
Day 73 September 30 Over breakfast this morning, we remembered that day 73 was how long we were gone on our Alaska trip. We have driven 9800 miles. Today’s weather is to be overcast, mid 50s and wind gusts of 45-50 MPH on Cape Cod, which is where we are headed. Thar she blows!
It was too windy and cool to enjoy being outside today although it was a pleasant ride driving through Cape Cod. We spent the night in a motel near Hyannis and will hope for better weather tomorrow.
Day 74 October 1 After an awful night of not sleeping well in the motel, we had breakfast nearby, and then drove into Hyannis where Barney got a haircut, while I checked out the shops in town. We drove through many of the surrounding streets to see how the “rich folks” live, drove through Woods Hole and since they had halted the ferries to Martha’s Vineyard due to the rough seas, decided to go on to Newport, Rhode Island.
Day 75 October 2 BLUE SKIES! We were thrilled to see the sun after the past couple of dreary days. First stop was the library to check our email, and then on to the road tour that had been suggested by the Visitor Center yesterday. Newport, is a beautiful old city. Of course, we ended up
on Bellevue 
Avenue which is the primary street of the mansions built for summer homes by the elite society in the 1800s. We elected to tour the Breakers which was built by the Vanderbilts in 1895. It has over 138,000 square feet, had 70 rooms, 27 fireplaces, 5 floors, unbelievable amounts of imported materials, and priceless artwork. The Vanderbilts would spend only 6 weeks there each summer.
We spent the night in Westerly, RI. Today we passed 10,000 miles on the trip meter.
Day 76 October 3 Today is a real milestone for Barney. We crossed into Connecticut, and he can now claim that he has been in all 50 states. I am missing only Hawaii and I will be able to join him with that distinction soon we hope.
The closer we got to NYC, the heavier the traffic became. We have been spoiled by staying on scenic back roads with little to no traffic, so it became a test of nerves to cope with bumper to bumper vehicles all of which were driving at least 10 MPH over the speed limit. The one bright spot was getting on the Merritt Parkway which was solid greenery on both sides of the road and a maximum speed of 55 MPH.
Neither of us had a desire to go into NYC on this trip. Perhaps at a later time.
After days and weeks of being in jeans and a sweatshirt, we were back in 
shorts today. Not a cloud in the sky, just warm sunshine. We drove through Connecticut and into New York state. We stayed just north of the Big Apple and found a campground in
Florida. Florida New York that is. As we left the registration office and were heading up the hill to our site, a number of deer came out of the woods to greet us. Later we had a campfire and enjoyed the cool evening. We were able to go without the electric blanket in the van all night long and the windows were wide open. We haven’t been able to do that since PEI, as best we can remember.
Day 77 October 4 While we were watching the Today program and having our coffee, a ground hog came out of the woods and entertained us with his antics. He could hear us, but since he could not see us, he showed no fear.
Arnold, our neighbor across the street came over to chat. He had a huge full size bus that we had admired last night all lit up inside with lots of glass and mirrors. They were from Washington state, and he told us that he had found a bargain when he only had to pay $390K for it. The “asking price” had been $470K, and that was “used”. He told us that some of them, brand new sell for over a million dollars. It always amazes us that the big guys even speak to us.
Our drive today was through some of the most beautiful areas that we had been on so far, and that is really saying something. Most of our route today was on 519 south. We came upon a deli in the middle of nowhere, and went in to see what they had for lunch. We ordered meatball subs, and ate them out on a deck overlooking a pond with a fountain, with leaves falling in the breeze. Great people, and wonderful lunch.
Spent the night in the Hampton Inn in York, PA. What a treat, what a room! We needed to be able to upload the websites for JAGA and our Sojourn 2001. We are expecting to be back in JAX the middle of next week.
Day 78 October 5 Arrived at our friends, the Wards’ home in Port Tobacco MD, around 2PM. The weather was nearly 80º and clear blue skies. We sat outside by the pool, and filled them in on places we had visited and things that we had done on our trip, specifically in Maine, which is where they are from. Much of our conversation also dealt with the current events and the impact that the attack had on their community. Jeff is a flight instructor at a local airport, and they are still unable to fly out of there due its close proximity to Washington, DC.
Packed up a few light refreshments, and loaded up their boat for a very pleasant ride down the Port Tobacco River and into the Potomac River. Our final destination was Captain Billy’s restaurant, where we watched a beautiful sunset, feasted on a variety of wonderful seafood and drank Margaritas. On our return trip, we were treated to a golden harvest moon, lots of stars, and even helped a sailboat get free from a sandbar so that added a little fun and excitement to the evening as well. What a wonderful, relaxing day.
Day 79 October 6 As predicted, when we woke up it was raining and the temperature was dropping rapidly with the cold front that was passing through. Bev must have gotten up at the “crack of dawn” and fixed a scrumptious breakfast. None of us thought we could have eaten again for a week when we went to bed, but we dug in and it was so good. Thanks so much Bev and Jeff, we had such a nice time.
Filled up the gas tank as soon as we crossed into Virginia and paid $1.059. What a pleasant surprise! That is the lowest price that we have paid on this trip and actually 10¢ less than we paid in the same place on our way north.
Earlier this year, I had heard from an old friend (Walt Goudy) from high school days, via the Internet. Walt and his wife Carolle live in Lovettsville, VA. Through email correspondence, and him following along on our travelogue, he told me that we had come within 10 miles of their home on our way up to Gettysburg. At 
that time he invited us to stop on our way back south, if we got close, so we took them up on the offer today. The last time we
saw each other was in high school (a couple of years ago, ha ha). The directions that Walt had sent were perfect, and the drive to their home was through lovely areas. They have a beautiful home sitting on a knoll, surrounded by 30 acres of land, complete with horses, dogs, cats, and frequent visits of deer.
The rest of the day was spent reminiscing about our old friends, school days, catching up on our families, and our lives over the years. Walt prepared his secret recipe for boiled shrimp, and along with a great salad and wine, we had a fun evening telling stories and enjoying their home.
Day 80 October 7 In the morning, Walt and Carolle fixed a large country breakfast for us all and then we were off to the 58th Annual Waterford Home and Craft Fair in the charming community of Waterford, 
Virginia. Most of the streets in this little historic town
(circa 1733) are completely closed to automobile traffic for the three day event. The fair included tours of many of the 18th and 19th century homes, arts and crafts exhibits, trade demonstrations, Civil War re-enactments and camps, music of that period, dancing and 
clogging, and of course many temptations to eat everything from crab cake sandwiches to German, Polish, and Lamb sausages, caramel corn, candy apples, ice cream, etc.
We spent the entire afternoon at the fair and when we were completely exhausted Walt took us for a driving tour of beautiful northern Virginia. We saw numerous large horse farms many of which are owned by the rich and famous. For as far as you can see, there are rolling hills with dark fences or stone ones that have been there for ages. This area is nothing but beauty everywhere you look. Arthur Godfrey also lived nearby in this beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain area.
Just before dark we headed to Middleburg for dinner at Mosby’s Tavern. While we were there, we heard that we had started bombing Afghanistan. After dinner and a little more touring we headed back home so we could watch CNN and get the latest news. We were all so worn out from a day filled with lots of walking, fresh air, and good food, that we turned in before 10 PM.