We rolled out around 7am. Chris and I left the kids alone to continue sleeping (or rest, or fake-sleep). We drove 538 miles in 12 hours, only stopping for gas twice.
oops missed RI
Attempting to avoid the George Washington bridge this time with a recommendation from Cousin Charlie for the Tappan Zee bridge. We used google for directions which required us to take a "parkway" and there were no other reasonable routes, so I checked another app for height restrictions and found it clear, nothing under 13', so we went.... and got booted off the parkway for weight restrictions. There's got to be a better app we can use for this kind of stuff! The sign said "NO TRUCKS" and a weight limit. We don't always follow truck signs but this one was pretty specific. We had to immediately exit into a little neighborhood and we didn't know where to go! Thankfully there was an open parking lot right off and we stopped for a moment to do some road reasearch. And we are feeling bummed because our day is still early and we still have a LOT of driving to do today and we are worried it's going to be 8 or 9 pm when we get there. I manually read the map and navigated Chris to another direction before we could let Google navigation take over again. That was a half hour off the parkway in lost time and distance.
The NJ toll was $36. The NY toll said "we will bill you" ... so who knows what they will charge us! ugh. There was a web site to search your plate and pay but can't do it same day, or we can just wait 30 days to see if they send us a bill in the mail (we are actually wondering if they take pictures from the front or rear because it's hard to see the Jeep plate with the bike rack on).
Trying to keep the drive interesting, we play DJ for places, so when we drove past a sign for Hackensack, we played the song by Fountain of Wayne.
Today was the first time we encountered a lane width warning: 8'0". We had seen bridge and construction warnings, but hard to know where in a new-to-us place, and we were still seeing RV's and big trucks pass us from that direction. I was driving this time and went for it. Chris about had a heart attack in the passenger seat as I passed the concrete barricade on the right; it definitely feels like you are on top of it from the passenger side. In general he is good to help me with driving tips since I am the less experienced driver of the two of us. I was glad to know he was watching, but also had to remind him that I was confident. And glad no other large vehicle tried going the opposite direction at the same time.
Today we are thankful for Susan to have found our campground and coordinate family time this week. We got there before dark and were able to visit with DD and Erika tonight (Doug works late, and Alex is working in VT during the week). Our campground is literally 3 minutes from DD's and we have sites next to each other, within view of and short walk to the lake.
**TUE 7/2 - THUR 7/4 C&K escape date / kids stay at campground by DD's with Grammy & Grampy
Chris & Karen hopped over to Portsmith, NH, just a half hour away. We stayed at the Wentworth Hotel, which is historic or something. It is beautiful inside and out. We got massages in the morning, took poolside naps, and had a slow formal dinner.
While we were gone, Susan stayed in our MH with the kids for 2 nights. Grammy and Grampy took the kids to swim at the lake in the campground on Tuesday, and drove to Concord to see the capitol and Susan's sister Aunt Judy and Uncle Homie on Wednesday. They stumbled upon a holiday 4th of July event and saw fireworks and got yummy popcorn.
**THUR 7/4 Ragdoll Daisy
This morning Addisyn, Piper, and Marissa proudly took Daisy out for a walk, one of the things they love to be able to help with. Susan and Bernie were back at the motorhome getting dressed and ready to take the kids out to breakfast at the restaurant where cousin Erika works. Plans suddenly changed when another camper's Pit Bull apparently didn't like the way Daisy looked at it, lunged the length of its long rope leash, and bit and thrashed poor little Daisy like a ragdoll! The owner had to pry the dog off and apparently has an injury to attend to herself over the incident. Daisy and the girls made it the short distance back to the motorhome in shocked horror over what they just saw. Susan and Bernie had to wrap Daisy up in a towel to contain her bleeding and torn body, shockingly figure out what happened, and exchange information with the other owners. At the same time, as Chris and I are packing up to check out of the hotel, a very upset Addisyn called Chris to relay the news and ask for help figuring out what to do and finding an animal hospital to take Daisy to. We used google maps to find a 24 hour hospital that is open on a holiday, and we met them there. There wasn't time to research one place from another, so we are grateful that this is a clean and caring place.
Thankfully our kids were not injured in the incident themselves, but they are very much distraught over the trauma--they are replaying the horrifying scene in their minds. We gave the kids lots of hugs, made sure Susan and Bernie were okay, and then left the hospital with the kids for a needed distraction, and breakfast--they still haven't eaten a thing today and it's almost noon now. We made it to Erika's restaurant, Tuckers, with 30 min to spare before they closed early for the holiday. Erika sure is lucky to have a job that lets her work part-time and flexible with her school and travel (she is working nearly 7 days a week this summer in preparation for a semester abroad in France teaching English).
Returning back to camp and the scene of the crime brought it back to the forefront of the kids minds; we tried to gather facts from them as they retold the story. Marissa said the big dog "turned Daisy side to side". A couple of hours swimming at the lake was therapeutic and effective distraction. They swam and splashed and built sand castles and forgot all about it for a while. The owners of the other dog attempted to deflect blame (Daisy must have done something to provoke), but clearly understood their duty and responsibility to Daisy and paid the initial bill at the hospital (a $2,000 estimate).
Daisy, lucky to be alive, finally came home at almost 9pm with 50+ staples, stitches, and 2 drainage tubes. She is in so much pain and cries a high-pitched yelp if Susan so much as moves and hand from cradling Daisy in her arms. Luckily, Daisy has never been bothered by fireworks, as there are lots of them today; she's had enough trauma today.
**FRI 7/5 Massachusetts and Family Day at Laurie's
Susan had coordinated with Laurie and family for a day visit to Massachusetts. After yesterday's ordeal, we didn't know if they'd make it, but Daisy is doing okay. With her pain meds, she slept all night and her body could start healing. She can't hold up her body weight and collapsed on her right front paw when she tried. We went to Susan's parents' grave site at All Faiths Swedish Cemetery in Worcester, MA. (There's a lot of -berg, -strom, -lund, -gren, and -quist names.) Susan had brought a flat of $3 flowers (saying GG would be proud) and the Chris and the girls arranged them and he dug with a wooden spoon to plant them (making his mother so proud). Then we stopped by 9 Maxwell Street, the home Susan grew up in. We also found Charlie & Laurie's store Wachusett Wine & Spirits.
Laurie & Charlie did a wonderful job of hosting at their weekend lake house. Everyone was welcoming and friendly and did a beautiful job with the food too. We got to chit chat with Michael & Makayla, and Betty & Paul too. (Family picture is missing Paul because he came after work, and then they had a family emergency and had to leave right after dinner.) Marissa and Charlotte got along great. The kids loved the paddle boat and rafts. We rode in Charlie's canoe, a special treat because it is 100+ year old handmade canvas, and we had to be careful with it. Everyone else left but we stayed for fireworks--the next door neighbors were shooting them over the lake from their beach. We'd never been so close to big fireworks being lit before and didn't want to miss out; they did not disappoint! Since it doesn't get dark till 9ish, fireworks are late, and the kids were so tired and excited at the same time, we had to bribe them to sleep in the Jeep on the way home (back to camp). It was an hour and a half drive of the four hours we spent in the Jeep today; we got back to camp about 11:45pm.
**SAT 7/6 Afternoon at DD's & Fireworks at campground
We slept in, had family play time, another family reunion in the afternoon, and more fireworks!
The weather was nice, so found the basketball and a stray nerf football and we enjoyed outside family play time.
The weather was nice, so found the basketball and a stray nerf football and we enjoyed outside family play time.
We booked this campground for Saturday night because we heard they put on an annual fireworks show, but we weren't sure the storm was going to let it happen. We lucked out! We sat on the beach and watched them launch fire fireworks from the floating dock on the opposite side of the lake. It was pretty to see the light reflection on the water. We are so lucky to have a campsite so close to the water so we could easily walk down. This campground is pretty spread out and on a hill, so many people had to drive down.
This was a good day. Fun.
In the morning we had to say our goodbyes and wished each other safe travels.
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