Hootie Blog

We're in Indiana!

Greetings from the farmlands and RV Manufacturing capitol of the US!  We are camped at the lovely Monaco/Holiday Rambler customer service campground!  It has hookups!  They come pick up your coach from you at 6:30 am and work on it, then bring it back around 2:30.  Meanwhile, you can have a factory tour, go sightseeing, or wait in the very nice customer lounge.  I think some of these retired people just like hanging out here and have things fixed one lightbulb at a time.  Harold is thrilled because the technician said our coach "drives like sh-t."  Finally someone said it isn't just him and they can fix it.  This is well worth cutting the east coast part of our trip two days short. 

Meanwhile, we have seen alot of Mennonite and Amish homes.  Beautiful farmhouses and great barns.  When I grow up, I definitely want to have a barn.

Romantic Niagara Falls

Sunday we left Salisbury Massachusetts and headed West.  Destination Niagara Falls, New York.  I think we only got lost once.  Just as we turned onto the last parkway the Niagara State Park, Harold came to a screeching stop.  There was an overpass bridge in front of us that said 12' 0"!  I quickly grabbed the owners manual which said we were 12'3" and we didn't know if that was with or without the satellite dome and air conditioners.  Harold and Ian unhitched the jeep and sent me off down the highway.  Harold called the local version of highway patrol and they sent out a squad car. 
The onramp we had just come down was one of those circular ones, with other traffic merging into it.  We couldn't back up it and couldn't fit under the bridge.  The officer stopped traffic, had Harold cross over to the left side where the bridge was higher, and then stop.  The officer then climbed up onto the top of the motorhome to check for clearance.  Fortunately the bridge was higher than the sign said and we were able to continue on.
Niagara Falls was well worth it.  We went on the Maid of the Mist, which is a tour boat that takes you down around the bottom of the falls.  It was gorgeous and very very wet.  Even Happy Harold liked it.  And after that, we avoided the undercrossings.

Boston Duck Tour

Sunday we took a Duck Tour.  Ducks are World War II amphibious vehicles converted into crazy tour bus/boats.  Our driver was The Great Garibaldi, a former magician, who landed on his head onto a Duck after a trick went wrong.  Doctors said he'd never be normal again and the Duck people felt so bad they hired him as a driver.  He was very funny.  Did you know the Red Sox won the world series in 2004?  The highlight of our tour for both Garibaldi (who is folically challenenged) and Harold and Ian was seeing a yellow Lamborghini.  "On our right is the original Cheers, Whoa, here comes a Lamborghini.  Get your cameras ready, a Lamborghini!  Oh, Boston Common on the left, LOOK AT THAT LAMBORGHINI!"  Did you know the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004? and we saw a Lamborghini!  Ian got to drive the boat, that was pretty cool too.

After the tour, we drove out to Lexington & Concord.  We went to the Old North Bridge,  where the first shots were fired by the Colonists against the British regulars.  We learned that Paul Revere would not have shouted "The British are coming!"  because everyone considered themselves British.  He would have said "The Regulars are coming!"  meaning the British Regulars or Regular Army.  As opposed to the Colonial Militia, or MinuteMen.  I liked seeing the forest and countryside and could imagine these country farmers hiding in the brush and picking off the Red Coats as they marched by.  "The shot that was heard 'round the world" has more significance for me now. 

Boston, Jack and Peter

Saturday we drove (thru the torrential rain, remnants of tropical storm Beryl) into Boston to meet our friends, the Kelley family.  They took us to lunch at the historic Warren Tavern in Charlestown.  This place was built in 1780 by Samuel Adams and named after his friend Dr. Warren who died in the battle of Bunker Hill which actually happened at Breeds Hill.  Pretty cool.  Ian had Shepards Pie (a traditional tavern type dish) and I had, what else, more lobstah!  This time on a salad.  I also tried apple cider, and not the kind Hannah drinks. 

Jack, who is almost three, had a little plastic container of salad he had brought with him.  It wasn't his salad though, it was Peters.  Peter (named after Peter Rabbit) was a lady bug inside the container.  Peter fell off the table several times, fell out of the stroller, was shaken up, admired and once we thought a waitress had taken him away.  After a day of sightseeing with Billy, Michelle, Jack and Peter, Ian convinced Jack to let Peter fly home with a promise of finding him a new pet. True to his word, after a great Italian dinner at a mom and pop type restaurant in the north side, cannolis from the Italian bakery, a new pet was found while eating the pastries in a park.  I'm not sure what kind of flying insect they caught, but Jack was happy. 

Even with the intermittant rain, we had a great day in Boston.  Billy is an excellant tour guide.  He showed us Fenway Park, took us on a walking tour of Harvard Yard, and bought us a Guiness in a real Irish pub.  We went to the Naval  yard and saw the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides), walked around Faneuil Hall and the Holocaust Memorial.  We really enjoyed our day and having a native Bostonian as a tour guide, we didn't get lost once.

Okay, so going home we accidently went to Gloucester.  About 17 miles in the wrong direction, which meant 17 miles back again.  But it was still a great day!

Poor Frankie by Ian

This is Ian, reporting here in beautifull and rainy Maine. We woke up on friday at arround 11:00, ok maybe I was pushing 11:40, But you didn't hear that. So we "climbed" into the jeep and started for the beach, and after an afternoon of exploration, we found a cool resturaunt with a live regae singer.  When the Romanian waitress came over to take the orders Mom took a chance and ordered naked lobster.  That means lobster with no potatoes or vegetables.  Like they say, when in Rome...  Dinner was served and that is when we met Frankie, the lobster.  Poor Frankie, he never had a chance.  Mom said that she was afraid of her food.  I just asked her to turn it around because Frankie was staring at me.  There was mom, a lobster and a family with no clue.  Thats when the man with no heart came and ripped him apart.  We gave him a proper burial in the salad bowl and covered him with a napkin sheet.  Mom seemed to enjoy Frankie alot more than we did.  When it was all over, we paid the bill, waved goodbye, and went for ice cream in honor of Frankie.

More New York

Wednesday morning we drove straight into the city.  (The night before we had gotten lost in a thunder storm trying to get back to our camp, they didn't give us directions for getting back.)  Traffic was so bad that walking would have been faster, but we wouldn't have gotten the narrative.  New York's finest (NYPD) was running traffic drills.  All of a sudden you'd hear sirens and a whole line of squad cars would squeeze past the bus, pull to the curb and line up half on the sidewalk.  Then the officers would get out and stand around.  A few minutes  later, they's get back in, turn on their sirens and take off down the street (very slowly due to traffic) only to line up somewhere else.  I liked driving through the fashion district.  We decided to skip going to the top of the Empire State Building and stopped at Ground Zero.  It is humbling.  There are still cranes and bulldozers working on the rubble.  Some of the neighboring buildings have netting on their sides because they haven't been repaired yet.  Our next stop was Fort Clinton in Battery Park.  There we bought tickets and boarded a ferry for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Whereas we didn't have tickets to go inside the statue, we stayed on the ferry and got off at Ellis Island.  I didn't realize how difficult it was for these immigrants.  Doctors inspected them in what they called a six second physical.  A chalk mark was put on their coat if they required further medical inspections and they were pulled aside.  Often families had to wait around for days or weeks while someone was hospitalized or tested.  Some people were sent back to their countries if they couldn't prove they could support themselves or if single women didn't have prospective husbands or families to pick them up.

After the ferry, we hopped into a taxi, another adventure in itself, and hurried (ha!) to the East Side to meet a friend of Harold's and mine for dinner.  We ate at Sparks Steak  House.  It is a very elegant restaurant.  Kind of old world, gentlemen's club.  Being California tourists, we were very inappropriately dressed.  Randy said "fuh-get-about-it, I know the owner".  We also learned that "Big Paulie" a famous mob guy got whacked out in front of the restaurant.  I googled it and it's true.

Next we walked back to the West Side and Times Square.  Wow.  The lights, the noise, the shops, it was awesome.  We bought everyone various sized models of the Statue of Liberty and I Love NY T-shirts, so I'm sure you all can't wait. 

We only got lost twice getting back to the camp, but we hadn't seen Queens anyway.

The Big Apple

Monday evening we arrived at Florida, New York.  We were met at our campground by my dad, David, and two pizzas.  Dad had been at a race in Michigan and had to wait in Pennsylvania for his next weekend race, so we arranged to meet up in New York.  It was really nice to have him spend a couple more days with us, and he too hadn't been to New York.

Tuesday we all loaded up and went into "The Village of Florida" to Behrent's Speed, one of  Harold's customers.  We had a nice visit, their store is very impressive.  Ian was very excited to see Parker Pumper hoses and motors that he might have helped to make. 

Next we drove about 45 minutes into New York.  We had asked several people's advice about driving into the city.  They all said "take the train" but then when they found out we lived near Los Angeles, they said, "oh, you'll be fine".  It wasn't bad as long as you stayed on the outskirts.

We visited the retired aircraft carrier, Intrepid, now a museum in the Hudson Harbor.  It was pretty cool, again both physically and literally.  Outside it was about 100*, so we didn't spend too long on the upper deck.  This was the ship Nicholas Cage dove off of in National Treasure.  Later we went and found beer and lunch at a little greek restaurant.  Our waitress was from Poland, and had only been here for three weeks.  It was a very New York type experience.

Evening plans included a Harbor Cruise.  It was really a good way to watch the city "wake up" as all the lights came on.  We went under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Governor's Island. 

NYC Storm of the Century

Download Storm.wmv Tuesday night, leaving New York City in the jeep, it started to rain.  Then pour.  Thunder, Lightening, then we got lost.  Thank God we hadn't taken the top off the jeep like I'd suggested that morning.  Obviously we made it back to camp safely, but I think we were all a little nervous, but what a light show.  Ian took this recording with the camera.  I think you will get the effect.

Pennsylvania

On Monday, we left DC and drove up to Philadelphia.  This was an interesting adventure.  You can't park 60' of RV and Jeep just anywhere.  Also, it was the hottest day they had had in 5 years, according to the local news.  My interest in history was not popular that day.

After negotiating downtown P hiladelphia, with Motorhome and tow vehicle, the three of us were not feeling the "City of Brotherly Love".  Eventually, we paid $20 to leave the coach in a bus lot, unhitch the jeep, another $15 to park the jeep, and walk a couple blocks, in 102* heat.  At least, I,thought it was worth it.  We were able to schedule a tour of the old Pennsylvania State House, aka Indepedence Hall.  It was very cool inside, both air conditioned and historical.  Harold and Ian dozed through a Ranger talk about the Continental Congress, but debate whether the movie National Treasure was filmed on site.  (We asked the Ranger, and he said, all of the outdoor scenes were, but he didn't like the movie.)  I think the guys also liked the Liberty Bell.

National Cathedral in DC

We drove by the National  Cathedral in DC, and the bells were going off.  For a really long time.  We pulled over and a bit with the camera.  Harold is on the phone in the background.  They are doing construction and so we are looking over equipment and dirt.  Click here to hear the bellsDownload washingtondc_112.mpg