MAP DOTS

My brother likes to call me an Ostrich, and rightfully so sometimes.  I don’t think I’ve listened to, or looked at the news in the past couple weeks.  There’s not much I can do about the junk that qualifies as news anyway.  The occasional worldly impacting stuff will find it’s way to me, if it’s really that important.  Texas is that important and I find it hard to write about our adventures when so many people have lost their homes and livelihood.  I can only hope that our Government continues to learn from past recovery/relief efforts and can help these people as quickly and as efficiently as possible.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Texas.

We left Prince Edward Island the other day and I buried a piece of my heart there.  I also buried a promise to myself that someday I would return to retrieve it.  Before going to PEI, Laura and I had thought about what we would tell folks, when asked, “what was your favorite part of the trip?”  We had both agreed that, while it has all been wonderful, nothing really stood out as a front runner.  That was until PEI.  For me personally, it hit me on the ferry ride over.  There was a very subtle magic in the air and the closer we got to the island, the bigger my smile kept getting.

It’s as close as you can get to Ireland/Scotland, without crossing the Atlantic.  A very Celtic nature about the people, their food and even their Canadian/Irish accents.  The countryside farms made me want to change my occupation and the little city of Charlottetown, made me want to change my zip code.  This is a blog, not a book, so let me keep it brief and just say that if you ever (and I mean ever), get an opportunity to come to PEI, please do.

We left yesterday morning, and finally started our trek West.  It was a 9hr drive to Quebec City and as quickly as I wanted that long drive to end, I literally (and purposely) missed my exit off of PEI.  I just couldn’t leave.  But thankfully I married a very level headed woman all those years ago.  “Tony, we need to go, she said sternly.  We’ll come back, I promise”.  Alright, let’s go 🙁

As soon as we crossed into Quebec, the English language ceased to exist.  This entire territory of Quebec has an identity crisis.  They are Canadian, but resent anything that isn’t French.  Ooh la la!  I think I just found a new city to help mend my broken heart.  Old Quebec City, c’est magnifigue!

Again, in the interest of brevity, I recommend you read-up on this walled city yourself.  It is incredible.  Laura and I went into the Petit Champlain Quartier for a stroll, a little shopping and the fantastic dinner.  Over a bottle of wine and the absolute greatest terrine of fios gras of my life, Laura and I made a promise to return within the next couple of years.  This town has so much history and beauty to offer, that one night was just a tease.

Au revoir Quebec.  Au revoir.

PHOTOS FROM PEI 

 

PHOTOS FROM QUEBEC CITY

 

 

 

Because running out of roads is not an excuse.

Because driving thousands and thousands of miles, just isn’t doing it for me any longer.

Because it’s there and I’m here.

Because, Y Not?

Hey, I’ve got an idea.  Lets put the bus, on a boat.  Sounds a like a solid plan to me.  Famous last words as we sail off for Prince Edward Island.

Yes this entire excursion was concocted over a couple of liberally poured libations and a telling conversation with our campsite neighbors last night.  The shrill screech of the 6am alarm, brought a face-slapping reality to the whole plan.  If we were going to make the 9:30 ferry, we needed to be wheels-up by 7am.  One quick hit of the snooze button, two cups of coffee, four bags of dog poop and we were 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  Let’s do this!

We made such great time getting to the ferry landing, that we actually had a shot of making the 8am boat, as we watched it push away from the dock.  No worries, we’ve got an RV, a generator, a bag full of K-Cups and the interweb.  While everyone else waits the next 1.5 hours in their cars, I’ll write this post, play a game with Laura, walk the dogs and otherwise prepare ourselves for a fun-filled day on PEI.  Which by the way, looks lovely.  The plan is to pull into the KOA campground around noon and chillax for a while.  We’ll feed the dogs early, then Laura and I will catch an Uber into Charlottetown for a stroll, some shopping and a kick ass dinner.  Maybe even a drink or two, we’ll see.

I promise, we are turing West soon.

IMG_9042

 

NEVER bring a gun into Canada.

Hold that thought for now, we’ll get back to that later.

So we rolled-up shop and left Boston after one last dinner with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins.  They also have a couple of Doodles, so it was full-on party mode for the dogs that last night.  It was adorable on steroids.  It was also great to see everybody one last time.  We’re very fortunate to have such awesome relatives.

The plan was to head into Maine for a lobster roll, then to Vermont for a few days before crossing into Canada, near Montreal.  But Nooooooo.  Tony just had to call an audible and make things really adventurous.  How does Halifax, Nova Scotia sound?  Like I always say, “Y not?”

North we go, up through Maine, where we stayed on this drop-dead gorgeous lake for the night.  Cobbosseecontee Lake.  It was a little out of the way, but picture perfect and worth the effort.  We also happened to stop at a famous little roadside seafood shack from back in the Day.  A quick pig-out on crab cakes and lobsters rolls, then a to-go lobster for dinner.  Cuz, that’s how we roll.  The next morning (yesterday), we headed to the border at Saint Stephens, Canada after picking up some last minute provisions at Ye Olde Walmart.

Now, about the gun.  I own one and I travel with it for personal protection.  I’ve spent too many sleepless nights in shady truck stops and parking lots, not to keep some form of protection with us.  I gave a lot of thought to this before we took the trip and I did my fair share of research.  I found that if you declare your handgun, fill out the proper forms, demonstrate that it is safely secured, don’t have a criminal record and pay a $25 fee, you can be granted a 60 day permit.

“Sir, I will need you to pull your vehicle over to bay 7 for secondary inspection.  You will leave your weapon in the vehicle and proceed into the building where you will be met by a Customs Officer.  Do you understand?”

Guess what?  Guns are NOT permitted to enter into Canada.  Apparently this form is for competition shooters or someone other than stupid Californians.  They were actually pretty cool about the whole thing.  Since I had declared it to them, I was not in any trouble.  But I did have to return to the US with it.  They said this happens a lot and there is a store in the town of Calais (about 2 miles away) that will ship my gun home for me.  So after an extensive background check on both Laura and I, we were asked to leave the Country.  Haha, how many of you can say you got kicked out of Canada?

Finally, we got back to the border crossing, sans pistol, and made our way to Saint Martins, New Brunswick.  We found the Century Farm Campground on the Bay of Fundy, dropped the jacks, cracked a couple of cold ones and fire-up that Walmart pizza.  What a day!

But wait, there’s more….  The fog was so thick last night, that we really couldn’t see much out in front of us.  My bearings were totally off.  But the low drone of the fog horn and the North Atlantic winds all night, helped rock us to sleep.  When morning broke, and the dogs needed out, we were welcomed to Canada (officially), by a 1/4 mile low tide, a light rain, mild fog and a moon-scape view.  It was simply jaw-dropping.

This is where it all started for Laura and I.  Our love, our 1st child, our careers.  Damn that all went so fast.  We’ve got a lot of respect for this base.  It was a very special place and time and we couldn’t be more proud of our service and our Air Force.

Tidbit:  It’s said, that the front gate of Hanscom AFB (shown below), is where Paul Revere ended his ride.

Curious about the pictures of the apartments there?  Well, both of those apartments, hold a very dear and special place in hearts.  It was in the living room of the upper unit, where I proposed to my beautiful wife.  And it was the lower apartment where we brought home our first child.

 

 

The day started early with the typical dog(s) walk, breakfast and lots of coffee.  Laura had put a special plan together for a day of playing hooky.  (Although I did cheat and take a couple of work calls).  We needed to head out early for Provincetown since it was over an hour drive and Carnival just ended.  We had no idea what traffic was going to be like.  So load in the dogs and let’s get going.

Laura had been here before, but in all the years I lived in Boston, I’d never gone.  I’d like to also shamefully admit here, that I’d never been to a Sox game at Fenway either.  I’m embarrassed, but I did get to see the Celtics play, at the Garden, before they tore it down.  So I got that going for me.  P-Town, here I come.

We rented a little Nissan Versa for the next few days, which worked really well for carting the canines.  Plenty of room, although they always seem to lay right on top of each other.  We could have rented a moped and they would have fit.  Then of course they bark at each other the whole time, about “get off of me” and “she’s touching me” kinda stuff.  Damn kids.

Oh yeah, P-Town.  So the week-long Carnival Festival had just ended the night before and the town was still recovering from it’s hangover.  There were thousands of people out strolling, tourist shopping and a Drag Queen charity brunch down the street.  So there were plenty of beautiful ladies strutting down Commercial St.  It was really fun to see and I can only imagine what a party it must have been, the night before.

The dogs got a ton of attention.  Commercial St. was just a giant sidewalk, with the occasional truck passing by.  Everybody wanted to pet the pups and chat about their dogs.  Have you ever noticed how dogs can bring out the conversation in people?  I’m guilty.  We grabbed a couple cocktails and some chowder, took a few pix and strolled for a couple hours.  This is a town I can come back to, (without the kids next time).  We’d love to ferry in from Logan, rent some bikes and stay for a long weekend.  This is a very cool town with a great vibe.

On our way back, Laura had scouted this place called Moby Dick’s Seafood and we stopped in for the best Lobster Bisque I’ve ever had.  And the 1/2 lb Lobsta Roll was killer too.  This place was awesome and deserving of their high Interweb ratings.  All of this seafood had us craving more, so once we got back to Plymouth, we found a seafood market that seemed to be located at the end of the world.  The Lobster Pound.  It was downright perfect.  For $40, we bought a feast of clams, scallops and crab cakes.  Took it back to the RV, got my Chef skills going, finished watching the latest Fast & Furious movie, killed a nice bottle of Justin and listened to a musical symphony of a rain storm for the rest of the night.

Today we head to Littleton for a couple nights, just a few towns over from where we used to live.  Can’t wait to see the old digs.

 

 

 

Not much of a day yesterday, other than hitting the corners of another four states.  I can tell you, that of all the states we’ve driven through, I think Pennsylvania has the worst drivers.  They’re completely careless and clueless.  You can also feel the differences now, in the people.  Throughout the South, it was “hi, how are you”.  A little wave or gesture, just to say, I acknowledge you.  As we’ve moved North, that custom became must less appreciated or returned.  Now, it flat-out just doesn’t exist.  I feel like an ass when I acknowledge someone.  I guess I’ll try to keep doing it, just to annoy them 😎

We did have dinner at this cool restaurant last night called The Oyster Club.  Our day ended in Mystic, CT and we’ve been cooking for ourselves (in the RV) since Sunday.  So a little fine dining and craft cocktails were in order.

The restaurant has a separate section outside on the roof, connected to a tree, overlooking the harbor, called the Treehouse.  The weather was perfection, the drinks quenching and their version of a Rhode Island Clam Chowder was new to me.  It was similar to a creamy New England Chowda, but without the cream.  More of a stock base.  It was OK, but had plenty of potential to become great (if I was in the kitchen cooking it 😜)

We’re gonna slow down a bit and spend the next 4-5 days back home.  In Boston.  We rented a caaa and plan on hitting some old favorites.  We’ll keep you posted.  Cheers!

Side Note: We drove within an hour of Maddie’s place in Brooklyn today.  It was tough not to turn right as we got off the Tappan Zee Bridge, and just head straight down there.

 

 

BAM!  Yesterday was a milestone day for me personally.  I traveled to (and set foot in), my 50th and final US State, West Virginia.   Laura has one state left on her bucket list, Kentucky.  We won’t make it there on this trip, but I’m sure I can find time for a quick weekend jaunt, next Spring (Derby Day????).  As a Red, White and Blue-Blooded American, I can’t explain how much it means to me, to have visited all 50 States.  The diversity, topography, people, agriculture….  I could go on and on.  It’s just such an incredible opportunity and I cherish it deeply.

Exhale Tony.  Ease back on the throttle a bit now and tell everybody what else happened yesterday.

OK, so we also drove through 4 states (Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania), all within about 60 minutes.  That’s kinda rare, right?  All of this on our way to Chocolate Town USA, Hershey, PA.

We spent a little time there and toured the Museum (which I’m really glad we did).  There was so much that I did not know about Milton Hershey, that everybody should know.  Please take a moment and Wiki him here: Milton Hershey.  His Legacy is not his chocolate company.

After that it was a quick drive through the Penn Dutch country-side to a little town just outside of Allentown.  A nice rest for the night and now off, Into the Mystic.

 

 

Broke camp yesterday and said goodbye to the families.  We had an incredible time in the Outerbanks.  More so just being with the family, than any actual activities we did.  Don’t get me wrong, the area is pretty and there are a ton of things to do.  But for us, just hanging out with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins is all we care to do.  If any of you are reading this, Love & Misses.

So when I say we broke camp, I’m being facetious of course.  Our “camp” was a luxury house on the beach with all amenities.   The toughest part of packing-up, was figuring out whose shirts and shorts were left in the dryer.  I mean the house had an elevator.  Inside of it!  Seriously!

Since we had taken Liberty out of the boarding kennel a few days early, we just needed to grab Scratchy and the Doodles before we could officially hit the road.  As much as we were looking forward to seeing them, we had to remain calm or they would just feed off of our excitement.  Well, that didn’t work.  Those dogs are nothing but pure energy.

Finally, we headed out for the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia for a couple nights.  Hit a Walmart on the way for some supplies and enjoyed some really beautiful Virginia Farm Country.  The landscape finally changed from dead-flat (for the past 2.5 weeks), to small mountain ranges and rolling back roads.  Simply gorgeous.

We had made the mistake of thinking we could just pull into any RV Campground, docking for the night and paying the next morning.  As most RV places allow this.  But the Outlanders River Camp was a bit different.  It’s by reservation only and Californian’s without reservations will be shot on sight.  Just kidding.  But their after-hours check-in procedure did a very good job of scaring us into thinking we might be evicted in the middle of the night.  Well morning came and we were still here (and alive).  As I went to settle up with them this morning, they were apologizing to us as much as we were apologizing to them.  I like Virginians.

Today will be a stay-day.  Laura has some work to catch-up on and I’m taking the dogs down to the Shenandoah River for some much needed play time.  Happy Monday!

Northern Edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

 

 

 

“Hello
Is it me you’re looking for?
Cause I wonder where you are and I wonder what you do”

Lionel Richie

Sorry, we’ve been at the OBX Family Reunion now since Sunday, and everyday has been Go-Go-Go!.  Everybody is having such a great time, that there aren’t enough minutes in the day for chatting with you.  I’ll try harder I promise.  We all leave on Sunday, so I’ll make it up to you then.

So, we all pulled into this 10’000 sq/ft home with 18 master suites, movie theater, games rooms, GIANT hall of a living room, 1000 sq/ft kitchen, pool, etc…..  All right on the beach at Kill Devil Hills, just 1 mile away from where man first took flight, Kitty Hawk, NC.  We’ve got a total head count of 31 people, from 10 families.  It’s Relative Humidity at its best.  When relative get together, things got hot.

Lot’s of catching up to be done.  Too much drinking & eating.  WAY too much fun.  Just a side note, I think it’s one of the most wonderful things in the world, to have such a big, close family.  I understand that this is not the norm.  We are an exception to the rule.  Lots of people have families that don’t care or don’t get along.  But we have something very, very special, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

The dogs on the other hand, are not having such a great time.  We put them all in a boarding kennel for the week.  While the Doodles, are young enough to handle it, Libby and Scratchy are having a tougher time.  Last night we took Libby out early and she’ll stay in the house with us for the rest of our nights here.  Too much stress on the old girl.

Well, coffee is in hand.  It’s 8am and time to run-a-muck.  Later dudes!