Clear Coat, Paint, Side Trip, and a Terrible Surprise

We had our appointment with a paint shop in Indiana that we had corresponded with earlier in the year.  We pulled into Mike's Custom Painting on a Sunday night and plugged into their provided electrical.

We spent an uneventful night with the understanding we would be there through Monday and would pack then and determine where we would go over the next 7-12 days.  At 8am the next morning we were met by 2 people who went over the coach with us.  We pointed out the rear end which was the worst part on the coach and then went around discussing all the other places that could use work to replace the peeling clear coat and in some cases even deteriorating paint.  We had a definite budget on this and told them obviously we couldn't have it all done since it would be way more than discussed.  Amazingly they said they thought they could do it all for the original estimate including repairing a broken wheel well!

If you look close you can see all the tape
marking the issue areas

But then came the big surprise, they said we plan to get it in the shop in an hour or so, oh wow!  Here we were fat, dumb, and happy thinking we had all day to pack, but we weren't going to look a gift horse in its mouth, so a packing we went.  They thought it would take 8 working days, but indicated it might be sooner.  In an hour or so we were packed, had all the food stuff we thought we needed, stuff for 2 weeks, truck full, and reminded them 5 times to be sure it stayed plugged in for the fridge and batteries.  And off we went to..........where?

I should back up a little bit, we did have at least one plan.  I had been having a lot of issues with my right shoulder and my left leg, enough that it was really impacting what I could do and what I couldn't do.  My shoulder was treated a little over a year ago for bursitis and I thought it had returned, but my leg was driving me crazy.  I made an appointment at the ortho doc to check on both back in Atlanta:-)  But here we were heading south a full day early to where.  We knew we'd be staying at AirBnB's and VRBO's, no hotels, so we could cook and not worry about going out all the time, also it was roughly 670 miles to Atlanta so we wanted to do the trip in at least 2 legs.  So we drove until lunch time, and while we ate we searched for a place to stay.

We found a nice place in Williamstown, KY and by 6pm we were settled in having a drink and cigar, thinking wow.

We had already booked a place in Ellijay, GA for 2 nights and decided to see if we could add a day since we were earlier than we thought.  That worked out so we stayed at a cute new modern place in the middle of the woods.

We even managed to meet Karen and Tom for lunch on our extra day.

Then came my doctor's appointment, X-rays were taken of my left leg and hip and a review of my shoulder was made, sure enough the bursitis had returned so I got another shot, and have to say it made a world of difference, then on to my leg.  Not good, unless you count the fact of knowing what is wrong is good, I need a hip replacement due to osteoarthritis.  So now we are working on the logistics of that.

With that done we were on our way to visit with friends, John and Diane.  We had a great visit to include a delicious dinner, cigars, camaraderie, and John even included a blind bourbon tasting.  What a hoot, he had picked 3 bourbons, but he didn't know which was which, and I of course had no idea period.  Diane poured and marked the glasses and John and I got down to it.  

The fun began, we both agreed on the number 3 of the group, but we both went back and forth between the other two.  It was fun discussing the relative merits of each and finally we each chose.  John said when we started he had chosen, a mid range bourbon, a top shelf bourbon and a cheaper bourbon.  Interestingly we both chose as last, the mid range bourbon, and each of us struggled between the last 2, finally I chose B, then C, and John picked C, then B, but we both agreed it was almost too close to call.

For the bourbon drinkers, we both chose the Old Forester as last, and funny enough we struggled between the awesome Weller 12 and the more inexpensive Green River, John, much to his chagrin picking the Green River number one, while I lucked out and chose the Weller:-)

So after a great time and breakfast we headed back to the north because we were still confident they were going to be early and we wanted to make sure we were back, so that night we stayed at a not so hot place in Elizabethtown, KY, but we made the most of it.

Sunday and Monday we found a really cute place in Winona Lake, IN, a very nice community.  We had been told they thought it would be ready at noon on Tuesday.

Then, after checking out, and heading for lunch, unfortunately came the call telling us our coach would not be ready until Friday noon, they were having a couple issues with color:-(

We tried to rebook the place we were in, booked. Couldn't find anything except a just okay place in Barbee Lake, it worked but we both agreed we had to find something a little better for the next two nights.

Looks okay here, but a basic camp at best

We did end up finding a nicer place back in the Winona Lake area for the two nights, but as Friday approached we got more and more anxious about whether it would be ready.  So all checked out on Friday and at lunch at 11:15, the phone rang, our hearts sunk, but we were told our coach was ready for pick up anytime, that just left us to worry that the colors matched on the ride over to the shop.  We got there and wow, the coach looked terrific, it did take a little longer, but they did it within their original estimate! 

Looks like brand new!

We headed up to Elkhart to a campground and unfortunately found out they had hit a switch at our entry door, intentionally or accidentally that turned off the power in the basement and to our full of New England seafood, meat, local pork, etc, freezer and we lost it all.  Estimate a more than $700 loss, unfortunately a sad finale to this whole saga.

Pretty sunset

On Monday we have an appointment to see if they can fix a leak on our slide out system, and then back to traveling

Enroute to Our Next Project

We left Maine with our very last "on the road" lobster rolls and made our way on a rainy day to Brattleboro, VT.  We had two things, actually 3 to do while there.  First was to go next door to a farm stand and get real tomatoes.  Second was to go to the Woodstock Farmer's Market and pick up some locally raised pork chops.  We hit pay dirt and got a dozen or so, also picked up some excellent fresh tuna for dinner, so along with the tomatoes, we had fresh green beans and rice as well.

Thirdly was to go into Manchester, VT to the Orvis Flagship store as well as their outlet.  Jan managed to find a few items.

Next was on to Buffalo to visit our son, Jason and his family, but this time unfortunately Joanne was away on business, and Jax was off with his grandmother, so it was quiet time with Jason.  He splurged and made us a wonderful prime rib one night!

Then on our last night Joanne got home so we got to see her for a little bit, and also her parent's, Joe and Donna.  It was short, but a nice visit nonetheless.

Joanne, Donna, and Joe

We bid them farewell and went into Pennsylvania to visit Jan's cousins, MaryBeth, her husband Jim, and Susan, and her husband Bob.  We had a wonderful time, the stories kept coming, we kept laughing and had a wonderful visit.  We went to Susan's for a delicious dinner the first night.

And this is how most of the time was spent:-)

Bob, Moi, and Jim

We had met MaryBeth and Jim in Maine for a short visit two years previously and somehow the subject of fishing had come up.  Jim mentioned that he went to Lake Erie often and would catch a bunch of walleye.  That prompted me to ask about walleye, you see I have heard for most of my life that walleye is probably the best eating fish in existence, and I, nor Jan had ever had an opportunity to taste any.  Sure enough they concurred with the deliciousness of it and let us know that if we made it there they would feed us some walleye.  Well, let me tell you, it is absolutely true, it is probably the very best fish we have ever eaten, and that includes a lot of saltwater fish, it was awesome, and they outdid themselves, perfectly delicious awesome dinner!  And did I take any pictures of the fish, no I didn't, I was too busy eating:-)

So after another great evening we bid them goodbye, headed down the road along with several pounds of frozen walleye, thank you again!!!

Moi, MaryBeth, Jim, Jan, Susan, and Bob

What a great time we had.  So now we have moved farther west into Ohio, then into Indiana where we have an appointment for some paint work on our motorhome.  I will have much more to share in a few days, our fingers are crossed.

Good Bye Maine

Getting ready to leave Moosehead Lake on our way to Stockton Springs we noticed our route took us right by a favorite restaurant of our's, Anglers, not that we hadn't already been there several times before:-)  We told each other that very soon all this wonderful food will be gone and they have one of the best haddock sandwiches anywhere and a large parking lot, hmm, sounds like a plan.

In the parking lot

The awesome haddock sandwiches

We had never been to the campground in Stockton Springs before, but it looked good on the website and had decent reviews, well, what a disappointment.  It is billed and called an RV resort, hah, no amenities at all, short narrow gravel sites, with grounds that didn't look like they had been tended to in weeks.  The only saving grace was its location and it was dark and quiet at night.  But it put us in position for our last few goals.  First was to go to an all time favorite, Bagaduce Lunch, awesome as usual!

A scrumptious lunch of clams, scallops, and onion rings!

Jan had a hair appointment to go to in Ellsworth and my job while she was there was to get our final good bye lobsters for dinner, and a couple more to make "on the road" lobster rolls.  Mission accomplished.  It really turned into a trek.  We have been visiting Ellsworth, Acadia, MDI since way back in the 70's, in fact we honeymooned in the area in 73, and each of us had visited as kids with our families.  Now just as you leave the mainland to MDI you go by Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound.  They have been there since 1956 serving lobsters in the rough, you pick out your lobster, they toss it in a burlap bag, cook it in boiling seawater over a wood fire, classic, and I can specifically remember eating there as a kid.  Anyway, they always have the freshest lobsters, any size, and they do something we have never seen anywhere else in our travels, they pile some seaweed into the bag after the lobsters for you to add to the water you boil them in, and we have found it gives them an amazing added flavor, so obviously that is where I went.  Jan's hair place was north of Ellsworth several miles and Trenton Bridge is 16 miles south of Ellsworth and it is high season, 45 minutes later I had the lobsters, I took a roundabout way back, helps to know the area, so made it back much quicker.  So that evening we had our lobster feast!

These are the 2 "little" guys 1.3 lbs each
for the on the road lobster rolls

These are the dinner feast ones, 3 lbs on the left and 2 lbs on the right:-)

The famous seaweed

A'boiling away

Tada!

The last couple bites, that's what bliss looks like:-)

And man o man were they fantastic, and if you ever get a chance to get seaweed, do it.

So one more day and one more thing to do, we wanted to go to Camden, walk around a bit and eat at a restaurant overlooking the beautiful Camden harbor, Waterfront.

Blackened haddock tacos

A haddock Rachel sandwich

And the very happy campers.

That brought us to the end of Maine, an excellent couple months worth.  So we are now making our way west with many more plans I will share as we go.

Oh yeah here were the lobsters destined for the rolls.

And here are our very last "on the road" home made lobster rolls, I can tell you we savored them:-)