Bairnhess RV Adventures: Family, Friends and Lots of Laughter

Galloway, NJ May 18 - 28, 2013

We left the great state of Pennsylvania and headed to the little state of New Jersey with much anticipation and anxiety. After all of the traffic and road rage we faced in Maryland we were very leery of our drive into NJ. Every time we told someone where we were headed they would say “Why NJ?” and “Oh the drivers in NJ are worse than DC”. I was trying to get information for everyone whom had ever ventured into the northeast to determine the best and safest route. Our neighbor in PA had this great atlas designed for truckers which includes all of the truck routes as well as road restrictions for all 50 states. He let me borrow it and I mapped out a way to Galloway. We made it just fine and let out a sigh of relief.

We used the first couple of days to do some chores and to satisfy Peg’s craving for a veal parmesan wedge sandwich. I had a delicious Stromboli! Who knew we were in Italian country? Galloway was a great location; close to Atlantic City, Margate, Ocean City and Long Beach Island all planned stops in NJ.

Monday we drove down to Ocean City to see Peg’s Aunt Patti and her family: sons David and Michael his wife Elika and daughter Lila and Patti’s sister-in-law Eileen. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone and were not let down. We had a wonderful time getting to know everyone especially little Lila the most brilliant two year old on the planet. She can identify local birds by sound! It was a little chilly on the beach, but Michael braved the waters without us. Peg was feeling very old! Patti made us a delicious dinner and we had a grand time.

Did we get everyone?

Brilliant Lila!

The next day we decided to go to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge known for the diversity of birds. For once we were actually in the right place at the right time! They have an 8 mile drive through the wetlands which took us 3 hours! We were using our bino’s and bird book (thanks Alex and Jacob) to identify all of the birds. It was great fun. We then took Calcite and Zoe on a great hike through the tick invested wild. I must admit to having a tick phobia so I did not enjoy picking the 30 plus ticks off of them at the end of day. They are ugly little buggers.

I love the babies!

Can you see the ticks!

This guy was crossing the road

Wednesday was set aside to visit our friends Bob and Elaine in Margate. They are actually relatives of our good friends the Crouches. We visited Bob and Elaine whom at their winter rental on St Simon’s Island. We were excited to see their NJ house. They invited us and dogs over for a visit and dinner and a good time was had by all. They are great people and Bob kept us in stitches with his many colorful stories. Bob is a fabulous cook and made the best breaded veal ever! They graciously offered to keep the dogs for us the next day so we could take the train into Philadelphia even though their house is on the market and they had prospective buyers calling! They even dropped us at the train station so we wouldn’t have to park the BAT. It was a great day visiting Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross’ house and Ben Franklin’s grave. We did get caught in the pouring rain unawares and were soaked to the skin, so Peg seized the opportunity to get another souvenir sweatshirt! I love taking the train and subway anywhere such a great way to travel. I guess that what happens when you pull your house around the country. Elaine took us on a driving tour of Margate after picking us up at the bus station so we could see Lucy the Elephant and the “end of the island”. We were greeted at the door by two very happy dogs and Bob with a pre-dinner cocktail! Did I mention these are great people? We are so excited to say that they may be moving into our old neighborhood in Austin so we will get to see more of them woo hoo!

Elaine with her grand dogs!

End of the Island for MK

Margate's Famous Lucy

Liberty Bell much smaller than we thought

Ben Franklin's many accomplishments

Independence Hall

Friday was set aside for another trip to Ocean City to see Patti’s sister Anne and her husband Eric whom were coming up from Maryland for a visit. Unfortunately Eric was under the weather and couldn’t make it – we missed you guys! We still went to visit some more with Patti and David and even taught them to play Mexican Train. It was a great afternoon and it was fun getting to know David a little better. They also helped me plan the route to NY…. I do not like the cities!

We finished up our New Jersey stay with the Fanelli Finale! We drove to Long Beach Island (or LBI for those in the know) to visit Peg’s friends from college: Nancy Fanelli (Traits), Cathy Peterson (Fenton) and Dawn Kranzo (Quasar). Let me just say this…. Until this weekend I thought my Peg was the funniest person on the planet, well now I know where she was schooled! We had such a great time catching up on the 35 years that have passed and I haven’t laughed that much in a really long time. It was a great cure for the home-sickness I had been feeling. Here are some random quotes from the banter… “I wasn’t at your wedding… Peg! You were in my wedding” “zucchini 2.99; tomato 1.49; garlic .09” “the bagel shop will have it” “where’s Zoe?”. I heard stories about Peg’s personal ad (she still swears that didn’t happen); Peg dragging Fenton from the shower to the elevator naked; and a wild trip to Fort Lauderdale. Zoe managed to get through a two patio chair blockade and wonder out onto the highway. She was saved by Trish and Kas who called and texted until we answered (Peg was on the phone). We think she was trying to get back to the beach. She is the luckiest dog on the planet. It was such a great two days and I can’t wait to do it again.