Our trip in review so far.........

By the time we got to Asheville for Christmas holiday ,we had traveled a little over 10,000 miles from July 1st thru Nov. 15th, 2010. We have been to 19 states and 4 Canadian Provinces.
 The following is a compilation of" best ofs" and" worst ofs" as we experienced them. If there are two answers it's because we experienced things differently,  go figure.

Best Grocery Store-  Ingles Supermarkets ( They are all over the south and originated in Asheville,NC, who knew we have been spoiled)

2nd Best Grocery Store- Hannaford's ( found in the Northest)

Astonishing  Natural Phenomenon- Tidal Bore in New Brunswick, Canada

Best scenic drive-   Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Best and Cheapest Lobster-  Maine, Maine, Maine, Maine!!!

Friendliest People-  Michigan or Maine

Who smokes the most-    St. John, New Brunswick

Best Fishing- A lake in northern Wisconsin that must never be revealed

Favorite Tree-   Magnolia Trees or for Rob, the tree that he shot his 455 pound bear from

Biggest dissappointment-   Amish Country in Lancaster county in Pennsylvania-(way to commercial, isn't that an oxymoron?)

Best Blue Crab- Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Best overall campground- South Higgins Lake State Park, Michigan  or Campbell Point Campground, Shell Knob, Missouri

Worst Campground-Tapps Rv Park, Asheville NC.  Not only is it a crappy park but the owner is looney tunes

Best cheese- Vermont white aged cheddar. Rob says Wisconsin

Best beaches- Outer Banks, NC (one side has great waves and beaches you can drive on, other side is calm and both sides the dogs can run free because there are hardly any people)

South Maine coast and Boston, MA

We picked up Jack and Laura at the airport in Portland, Maine on Sept. 30th at noon. We were camped 30 miles away in Wells. Before we left Portland we made a trip to the wharf to pick up a dozen 1 pound lobsters to go with the clams Rob and I had harvested for this occasion. The rest of our first glorious day together was spent cooking and eating, having cocktails and playing our favorite game, Uker. Always guys against the girls, Laura and I should have stopped after the first two games. Just a little sidebar, Rob and I dug up way too many clams, the first batch we cooked of about 4 dozen would have been more than enough, but we had to cook all of them, which was probably another 7 dozen and none of us wanted to eat them because we were stuffed to the brim , I just wanted to throw them away but Rob insisted that we make good use of them so they were shucked and are currently in the freezer. I don't care if I ever see another clam.

Day two was the rainy day, but we didn't let that stop us. We headed south of Wells and went to the Kittery Trading Post and the little seaside town of York, where we went to an absolutely beautiful light house on Cape Neddick nicknamed the Nubbles Lighthouse. We then went on to Portsmouth in New Hampshire. All along the way stopping and shopping, we found an unbelievable pastry shop and picked up the best seafood chowder for dinner at the Maine diner in Wells.

Day three we went north to Kennebuck, Kennebunkport (the Bushes were not in town),Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough and then to Portland for dinner. We had all been told to have dinner at DeMillo's Restauant which is an Italian restaurant on a retired car ferry in the harbor. The food was mediocre but we still had a big time. There was a big yacht parked right next door called "Casino Royale" and decked out in all kinds of James Bond decor. When we went outside the entire crew of the yacht were standing on the upper deck taking pictures and waving up to the sky. We turned around to see and it was a 727 coming in for a landing at the nearby airport. Boy did we ever want to know who was on that airplane. Course we later googled it, and it was someone we had never heard of. The man apparently has the largest car dealership in the country as well as a dozen others. I was convinced it was John Travolta, you know, flying his own plane, doing a fly by of his yacht and his adoring crew enthusiastically awaiting his arrival. Our fantasy was far better than the reality.

Day four was a trip to Boston. Jack was particularily excited about this leg of the trip. We all would have liked to see the Red Sox play at Fenway but it wasn't to be. First we went to brunch and then did a two hour walking tour which was led by a young woman who was extraordinary at her job. She was dressed in 1700 period attire and had the accent and attitude to match. We got the REAL scoop on  our nations history and got to see some pretty amazing landmarks. Paul Revere's home, the oldest  running tavern  in America "The Bell in Hand", Old North Church (where they signaled the British are coming) and so many other little tidbits. It was  great!  Then on to Little Italy with our Italian friends, Jack and Laura. Here we sampled all kinds of Italian fare and drink and it was all mighty fine.

 Day 5 was hitting all the shops we missed on the way back to the airport for Jack and Laura's 6:00 p.m. flight. Laura went home with all kinds of goodies. We had such a wonderful time with our dear friends and I am positive we all gained several pounds. Thank you Jack and Laura for spending some time with us out here on the trail, it gave Rob and I a much needed break from each other.We do love you guys.

Clamming in Frenchmen Bay - Maine

   It's hard to believe that we've been parked for a week already. The weather has been mostly dreary and cold but we still found a lot of time to get out and do the things that we wanted to do.
   When we arrived back in the U.S., there were very few trees that had started to change colors but with the week of off and on cold showers, the colors are really starting to pop which adds another element to an already beautiful area. Unfortunately because of the constant over cast skies and fog which is prevalent almost every morning and evening, the opportunity to take some really good pictures has not presented itself.

   One of the things that Deb wanted to do is to go clamming while we were here so last Thursday we set out to find a place to dig. After visiting the town hall in Harrington, we were told the very confusing rules that this town had just to get a license to dig. I would explain it, but there is absolutely no way that anybody could possibly understand what we had been told, including whoever the idiots were who wrote them.
   The very nice lady at the Harrington town hall did give us the information that we needed. She told us to go to the town of Sullivan about 20 miles southwest of here. She told us that we could buy a license over the counter which is good for one year for just $11, so off we went.
    I didn't know where the town hall was but all of these little coastal towns are very small so I was confident that we would easily find it. We drove thru Sullivan on the main road (U.S. Hwy 1) but did not see the town hall so I turned inland one block over and started back in the direction that we came from. About two blocks down, we passed a young family in their yard but decided to stop and back up to ask them the location of the town hall. After getting quick directions, I asked the man if he knew anything about clamming. A big smile spread across his face and he said that he knew a little bit. I explained that we were from NC and wanted to go dig some clams after we bought our license at the town hall and asked if he would tell us a place that we could go find some. As it turned out, he was the regional director in charge of shellfish for the State of Maine. What are the odds of that????
  He told us exactly where to go, how big the clams would be in that area and then proceeded to tell us where we would need to go to find mussels. The clams were easy to find but hard on the knees and the back. After about 5 dozen, we decided to go down the road to where he said we could find mussels. Holy cow, did we ever find mussels! I could have filled the back of my pickup truck in about a half hour if I wanted to. They were everywhere and you could just walk along and pick them up two dozen at a time.
We collected about 7 dozen, went home and cooked them all up along with the 4 lobsters that we bought for $4.25 a pound. I never knew that a person could get stuffed on lobsters, clams, and mussels. Deb used the leftovers to make seafood gumbo the next night.

   Tomorrow we move to another coastal community south of Portland so, despite the intermitant showers, Deb and I took off early this morning at low tide to dig a bunch of clams to take with us when we go. Jack and Laura Camaratta are flying in from Nashville to meet us on Thursday so we wanted to stockpile a supply for when they are here. After about 2-1/2 hours, we had the equivalent of about 4 gallons of clams in the cooler. Unforunately by then the tide had come in too far for me to collect any mussels to go with them.
   We've been told that we can buy a "lobster car" at the next place where we are going for $50. For that, you get  13 one pound lobsters so I guess that we will have enough to stuff ourselves again!