September 26, 2009 – On the road again

It was a beautiful clear morning as we begin to pack up the coach. Karen and Hamish stopped by for a last minute visit. Carol shared many of our photos with them, especially the ones of Hamish playing soccer.

A note here about money. I started to write “rip-offs” but it is different from that. It was in Nova Scotia I first really noticed that some campground operators are happy to take your cash and not give you a receipt. I don’t really need a receipt, I have the site; but where did the money go? Our campground in Bar Harbor was very proud to not take any plastic, but they never provided a receipt. If fact, if you needed change, it came from somewhere under the counter, not the cash register. Carol saw the same thing at the Sun Catcher store. She bought a trinket for 25 dollars. She gave the shop owner cash in the exact amount and he gave her the trinket in a bag. He provided no receipt and offered no receipt. In some ways, I really don’t care, more power to them in avoiding taxes. But, in good faith, I paid sales tax which may never have made it to the state’s coffers. As we were preparing to leave the campground in Bar Harbor, I wanted to get propane. So I filled up at the campground because it was there and it was convenient. The coach took eight gallons of propane and the bill was $34.00. Ouch! I had a chance later to ask Karen what she had paid for her propane. She had just bought 200 gallons at $2.40 per. Double Ouch!!

The drive from Bar Harbor to Middleton, N.H. was a fairly pleasant 273 miles. Carol kept trying to take pictures through the windshield or out the side, but it just didn’t work well. We had chosen a route which entered N.H. about mid state, and then turned south through the White Mountains. It was quite scenic with much more evidence of fall. There was quite a bit of rise and fall to the terrain, but nothing severe. We didn’t have many options to pull off the highway until we were into N.H. headed south. Then when I could, I did for Carol to get some shots. We drove by Mt. Washington, which has some of the severest weather in the northeast. There is an eight mile road to the top, but by then we were pressed for time.

It was after dark by the time we reached my nephew Jack’s home. Given that he lives well out in the country, he was kind enough to stand in the street and wave a flashlight so we could find the house. He and Cheryl prepared a wonderful dinner for the four of us and we chipped in with a bottle of wine. It was an evening of good food, good company, good wine, good conversation and a good night's sleep.