Wednesday, June 25, 2014
The L@dyBug’s Mystic Adventure: Part Two
I've blogged about the second half of our trip over at my personal site. The post was too photo heavy to try and reproduce it here since I could not just copy.
Go HERE to read and enjoy!
Posted under: General Topics • by Lynne on 06/25/2014 at 07:27 AM
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014
The L@dyBug in Mystic, CT
I've had several nudges from both my sister and my husband to blog about our trip to Mystic last weekend. It's hard to believe that was one week ago! I swear, the older I get the quicker time passes by. I have no excuses for not blogging about it. Lazyiness, perhaps.
The weather was not great when we started out and it was pouring rain. The trip was supposed to take a little over three hours. It ended up more like 4 hours, 45 minutes. There was an accident that snarled traffic in which we sat in a hour long "stau" (traffic jam) and then we hit several other slow-downs because of construction and sheer volume of traffic. I-95 is a mess between here and just past New Haven, CT. So very populated! We finally arrived at our destination and friend Carolyn was right there to meet us while we were checking in.
So far our two outings with the L@dyBug have been after the area we are going to has been inundated with rain. Such was the case last weekend as well. I had reserved a really nice, secluded spot in the campground. When we arrived we were informed that they had to move us because our reserved campsite was water-logged. Bummer. They gave us our choice of several spots and we chose one that had a vacant area on one side. There were even cows in the pasture across from our spot.
The campground was a really nice one. There are part of the Sun RV Resorts and I can say that I will seek out a franchise of theirs again. All the sites were a good distance away from the neighbor's and included wi-fi and cable TV. There were no sewer hook-ups because they are on a septic system -- something we are finding very common here in the east. Not a problem, we just dump our grey and black water at the dump station on our way out. The restrooms were clean and well kept, the pool looked beautiful (we did not partake) and they were building a mini putt-putt course. They had lots of things for kids to do, and a great store where we bought a coaxial cable for the cable TV which we had yet to purchase, and also had to purchase another water hose for hooking up to the water since ours would not reach. We also realized we had forgotten to throw in our bed pillows. Doh ! ~ (hitting forehead).
We were certainly a duck out of water here since everybody else's rig (RV speak) was much bigger than ours. We had several people comment that they loved our "rig". How many people can say their tow vehicle is twice the size of the trailer they are towing?
<snip> see that trailer behind us? The guy was a cigar smoker and his disgusting smoke wafted our way more than once. And, I might add, I always get the seat on the plane with a little kid "kicker" or tray-snapper behind me. sigh.
Because we were afraid of the forecast which was calling for heavy rain overnight, we did not put up the awning. I think she looks so cute without it! The rain we were so hoping would not happen and spoil our little cook-out, did indeed not happen. It was a little rushed given our late arrival and I wish we had had more time to unwind and just chill with Carolyn. But, it worked. Carolyn opted to drive back and forth each day since she was only an hour away, so we wrapped up our evening early so she could avoid the impending storm that the radar was showing.
To be continued ...
Posted under: General Topics • by Lynne on 06/24/2014 at 06:10 AM
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Thursday, June 12, 2014
Off to Mystic, CT!
On Friday we are off for a 3-day weekend event to Mystic, CT with the L@dybug. This will be our first time out without the dogs along. We are meeting up with friend Carolyn (who lives in Rhode Island). For once we are headed her direciton instead of her coming our way.
The weather looks a bit iffy right now for our planned BBQ at the campsite tomorrow night, but we have a back-up plan of Pasta Pomodoro inside. We are hoping the rain passes and we can still have our little grill-out.
I'm not quite sure what we are going to do while there, but there are plenty of things to see and do, some of which will depend on the weather. I know they have a wonderful aquarium, and of course walking along the sea front. Mystic Pizza is on our menu plan, I mean how could we not go and see the shrine of the movie? We've heard good and not so good things about it but we are going anyway for lunch on Saturday. Dinner out on Saturday night for some fresh seafood!
Posted under: General Topics • by Lynne on 06/12/2014 at 10:47 AM
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Sunday, May 18, 2014
Maiden Voyage in the LadyBug
This weekend was the maiden voyage of the LadyBug! We decided to just go simple and stay close to home and drive over the border to Pennsylvania to the Delware Water Gap. Not knowing much about campgrounds in the area I had made a reservation at a KOA in Stroudsburg, PA. Our spot was okay, not great, but for the amount of time that we had there it was fine. The bathrooms were very nice and clean with paintings of little chipmunks and such on the walls.
- We learned to pick out your own spot from the campground map online when making a reservation instead of letting them decide where you should be. This campground had some lovely, more private grassy sites in the back which we found while walking the dogs. (NOTE: sites 141-161)
We had been assigned another spot right next to this one but it was swamped with water left behind from their big rainstorm of the day before. Plus, this one was a pull-through and easier than backing in without much wiggle room. (NOTE: Site Number 1)
- However, we also learned you should check the site for good awning-pitching spots or you might just have to get creative with how you stake it out.
- And to not unhitch the trailer before you get it up on the leveling blocks. We thought we could pull her up, but it was too heavy.
Do you need a better look at our creativity? Hey, it worked! I swear, after 30 years of living in the "Rocky" Mountains of Colorado we never had this problem before!
The awning wasn't perfect and could have been stretched out a little more but it was the best we could do.
The dogs were very confused. First off, Bella could not fathom why that thing was following us. She did not have her normal view out the back window. mom, make it go away ... ! Then they had to stay in the truck while we got the awning and the x-pens set up so we had somewhere to put them. The minute they got into their little enclosure Bella figured out a way to sneak in-between the gap where the x-pens meet the trailer and out she went. We need to figure out a better way to handle this problem, but once they got used to the idea that this was their space we didn't have any more escapees.
- Do not feed the dogs upon arrival when they are too excited or puking up of dinner might occur.
I'm not sure why campgrounds have such late check-ins. We couldn't check in until 2:00 p.m. and we had to check out by 11:00 a.m. By the time we got in, got everything set up, etc., we didn't have much time to just sit and enjoy. A three-day weekend is definitely the best way to go so you get at least one full day around the campsite.
Our weather was a touch chilly but thankfully no rain. The downside was that most of the grassy areas were swampy from the rain and there were lots of puddles for Bella to explore.
We managed cooking and sleeping just fine and we were comfortable. I was very proud of how well behaved the girls were once we settled in. They didn't bark -- well, just a few barks when another dog walked by -- and quickly picked up on what we were doing. I'm not sure, however, that they understood exactly why we were doing what we were. Hailey actually took to it better than Bella did which was kind of surprising. I thought the old lady of the family would have a harder time adjusting than Bella who is so happy-go-lucky.
Can you see our ladbug spinner and our flag? Again, too rocky to push their stakes into the ground.
We had lots of people drive by and tell us how cute we were (meaning the LadyBug) and they loved our set-up. She draws a lot of attention!
She was no problem to tow and like a good little T@B, she went where she was towed to. All in all, a very successful and satisfactory maiden voyage! Next time we will aim for a forest campground instead of a family-oriented one. Dingman's Ferry Campground looked good when we drove by, or I should say what we couldn't see of it since it was back in the woods.
Next time out will be to Mystic, Connecticut in mid-June!
Posted under: General Topics • by Lynne on 05/18/2014 at 06:25 PM
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Sunday, March 02, 2014
Anticipation
And so begins our journeys with our cherry red T@B. Two weeks ago we ordered our T@B and are greatly anticipating its arrival. Right now we are locked into a particularly frigid and snowy New Jersey winter. We can only anticipate and dream what it will really be like if spring and summer ever arrive. Join us as we "feather our nest" and outfit our T@B with various accoutrements.
Posted under: General Topics • by Lynne on 03/02/2014 at 06:16 AM
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