Disconnect to Connect

~Wednesday, October 6, 2021~

Day 479 (Travel Day)

Our power was down to 5% this morning, so we decided to top off with a 30-minute generator run. Sadie had her chipmunk chasing fest while we broke down camp to move out of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and head to the Green Mountains of Vermont. This would be our second time in Vermont, but a first with Billie Jean and Hank, and Sadie. The drive to our campground at Little River State Park in Waterbury was about 3 hours. There were 3 route choices where the fastest route always is the more appealing one. But when you see a “possibility of unpaved roads' ' flashing on your navigation screen, it’s the one you want to avoid. So we went with the second choice which was only a 5 minute longer route. And since we’re in New England, we can just imagine that those “unpaved roads'' might have a covered bridge or two? Not worth the risk. Along the way, there were a few hilly sections where Hank was giving us his “all”, but that’s why we bought a diesel!

Once we arrived, it didn’t take long to realize that we were in a more remote campground area than the last one, as my reception of 1 bar quickly dwindled to zilch. Of course this only adds to my frustration when I am not able to keep up with our travel blog, so hope you guys understand when there’s a delay in posts. The good news is that I can continue to write from my laptop as I am able to work “offline” with my Google Docs. That has really been a lifesaver. Otherwise, it would be pen to paper which is not always a bad alternative, but extends the process.

While we were patiently waiting for our water tank to fill up at the dump station, an interesting trailer showed up; one we’d never seen before. Meet George and Marika from Saranac, New York. I believe she is Dutch because of her accent. Interestingly enough, we seem to meet the nicest people at dump stations?! He looked the college professor type, and his wife athletic (I’d say both were in their late 60’s). And each of them, the epitome of health with the attitude of “use it or lose it”. Shall we call them outdoor junkies? Their favorite activity...cycling. He was the most relaxed individual (almost Sloth like), and she, a bouncing kangaroo. (I use animal analogies a lot when describing people). They say opposites attract...right? Anyway, their Burstner mini-trailer (a German brand which they call “caravans”), arrived about a month ago at the Port of New York right to their specifications. This is their second trip using it, so they were still in learning mode. And George couldn’t wait for us to look inside, as he proceeded to tell us about all the bells and whistles of this unique trailer. Marika on the other hand, was more interested in finding the water hose to fill their 10-gallon tank and get down to business. We loaned them ours. I felt bad they had to wait so long for us to fill up our 40-gallons with the water pressure so low. It must have taken 15 minutes longer than the usual 5. Well, at least it gave us time to talk to such an interesting couple. Evidently, their daughters are former Olympic athletes competing in downhill skiing where they trained at Lake Placid (where we just were a few months ago). In her cute accent, Marika told her husband to stop talking our ears off and that they needed to get going since they still had to set up and get their bike ride in before sunset. They’re only here a few days, which was all that was available with last minute booking. Though here for a limited time, they at least got a lakeview site which is mostly occupied by tent campers. Aah...the advantages of having a small rig. Hope to see them again.

There are times when we arrive at new sites, that we’re completely giddy and times not so much. Today’s arrival was a “ho-hum” response, but I think it’s a site we’ll grow to like. Let’s stay positive. Since we booked so long ago, we’re trying to remember the “why” we picked it due to the fact it’s right on the corner, pretty exposed to thru traffic in the campground. Or maybe we wanted to be close to a water spigot since we are boondocking once again. Or it could be the simple fact that there was very little availability. Whatever the case may be, we can’t remember. The nice part about it is we have more sunlight for those solar panels and sloped forest on 2 sides of us which provide a playground for Sadie and some privacy. We can’t see any neighbors. And we’re just a hop, skip, jump to the Waterbury Reservoir's beach

which looks more like a lake. Sadie will hopefully get her water time in on our hiking adventures instead, since they do not allow swimming.

We were both exhausted with Jeff having a horrible night sleep, and me staying up way too late, obsessed with my cross-stitch project. So an early dinner it was. As we proceeded to go through the fridge to see what we could rummage together for our mini-pizzas, we realized how nice it was to see the back and sides of the fridge. It’s usually so tightly packed since it’s so small. Obviously a shopping day will be in order for tomorrow. But it is nice once in a while, to just clean out “what you got”, forcing you to be creative in the cooking department. We absolutely hate wasting food.