We left New York anxious to get to Massachusetts and see lots of friends and family. We picked a route safe for our big rig and headed out. Our first stop was to be MacDonalds RV in Plainville, MA to get the repairs done from the blow out and the crazy African incident. As soon as we crossed the Mass state line I heard a loud BOOM and wouldn't you know it we blew another tire! This is the tire on the same side as the previous blow out which underwent all of the strain when the tire fell off. It blew a huge hole in the side wall and took out all the wiring for the frig and bedroom slide-out in the process. Seriously! Good Sam sent out a tow truck and he changed the tire and tucked the loose wires up so we could get to the RV place. Three slide-outs opened, but the refrigerator wouldn't come on. So we packed up a few things (in the blazing heat) and left Suni to be repaired. By a few things I mean.... cats, dogs, everything in the fridge etc. AAAAHHHHH
We had previously arranged to go to Peg's brother's house for dinner so we headed over with our menagerie in hopes that there would be room at the inn :). When we pulled into the driveway... Scott says "What happened to you?" We were dripping sweat and Peg was at her wits end. Cathy (Peg's sister in law) quickly made room in their fridge for our freshly purchased groceries, introduced Calcite and Zoe to Bailey and Bridgette (their two yellow labs), unloaded the cats into the guest room and tried to relax. Luckily the dogs were instant friends. Scott and Cathy were very gracious and opened their home to us for as long as we needed. We spent the evening catching up on the two years since our last visit and Cath whipped up some delicious turkey burgers for us to feast upon. We fell into bed pondering whether or not our adventures are worth it!
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| Happy Labradors! |
Old Friends, Janet, Suellen and Marianne
We headed back to Scott and Cathy's house for a little family reunion. Mom drove in from Martha's Vineyard and both kids took time out of their busy lives. We took advantage of the moment to celebrate mom's birthday. We had several great family dinners and lots of good times. Scott even took a little time off to spend with his mom and sister! It was great to spend time with Henry who is home from college for the summer and before heading out to his Marine Reserves duty. He and I have a running Spite and Malice (card game) competition going and he kicked my butt! I am anxiously awaiting a rematch. Elise is a very busy young lady taking pre-nursing classes and working two jobs! We so enjoyed watching the Bruins work their way to the Stanley Cup as a family. We can't remember the last time we were all together. I hope it happens again soon.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Elise and her favorite aunt
Brother and Sister - can you see the resemblance?
Henry the Handsome!
On Friday we packed up the menagerie and drove up to Gloucester, MA to see our friends Marc and Christina! We met Marc and Christina on our Backroad's Bike trip through Tuscany and we became fast friends. They have had quite a year in that they got a dog (Annie the border collie), moved from a New York City apartment to a gorgeous home in Gloucester, and had the beautiful baby Lillian Ruth. The first order of business was to introduce Calcite and Zoe to Annie always the most stressful part of any visit. There was lots of sniffing and tail-wagging and all was well. Their new home was built in 1904 complete with a guest house, carriage house, and on the most beautiful 11 acres overlooking the ocean. Peg loved working in the garden with Marc's mom Marle and helping Marc take down a hedge that was limiting the view. When Peg wasn't in the garden she was playing with the only baby that has ever liked her. She is the most beautiful, happy baby I have ever had the pleasure of meeting - besides my own of course. We shared her first cereal and pears! They treated us to an amazing lobster feast with homemade onion rings. Did I mention that Christina recently graduated from culinary school? We spent a wonderful four days being wined and dined. Christina took us into Rockport on our last day and we enjoyed walking around the cute little town and feasting on a waterside lunch! We had a hard time leaving this paradise.... the only thing that could pull us away was the Vineyard!
Ginsburg Big Top. There is an ocean view from the other side of the house.
The main room of the big house
One of the many beautiful gardens
Back garden stairs
BFF's in Rockport
Our young friends Christina, Marc and Annie
View from the guest commode! See the ocean?
Zoe thinks she is the baby
Calcite is not happy at all. She has only once laid her head on my stomach!
Since the trailer was still awaiting parts we decided to take advantage of the time to visit Mom and JT on the Vineyard. Peg was very excited to see her island, her mom and stepdad. We took the ferry over and have been in heaven ever since. The menagerie is enjoying the freedom of the open woods around the house and we are really enjoying our time with mom and JT. Hopefully we will get to go to Maine sometime, but this is not a bad place to be stuck.
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