Where have I been for 7 weeks?

22 Aug 09—We finally arrive in Massachusetts! At Hanscom AFB in Bedford, MA to be exact. Marie and her kids and their kids, and Ellen and a couple of her kids come to see the RV. Little Jack has been waiting to see the RV and absolutely loves “the house on wheels” as he calls it. As everyone is standing outside, I have Cathy blow the air horn and scare everyone to death! Haha…To Jack this just means he loves the RV even more.

3 Aug to 6 Sep 09—Cathy and I spent 2 weeks up in Wells, ME, right on the ocean, at an Outdoor World campsite that my sister Ellen belongs to. It was a great area, and seeing as it was free, we couldn’t have been happier! Haha My sister Marie came up to visit for 2 days and we went to Moody Beach both days, but only got in the water the 1st day because after that it was even too cold for Marie to go into. The 1st day had some pretty good waves going, I guess from the storm that had just passed thru there before we got there. Cathy, of course, didn’t even go in the water the 1st day…not even her feet! So she took some pictures for us. We also drove up to Kennebunkport, where he Bush family “summers”, to see their house. The area is really nice, with lots of pretty big, old money houses. I went there with my brother Brian a couple years ago and was surprised at how close you can actually get to the Bush home.

Ellen and her daughter Maggie followed Marie up to Maine for 3 days with us…they have gone up tot this area for years…it mostly was either cloudy or raining while they were there, so we mostly played cards or watched movies.

On the 30th of August most of us gathered at my brother Brian’s cottage (his place was about 20 minutes from where Cathy and I were staying) for a family re-union…2 of my aunts, my sisters and brothers, and most of my nieces/nephews, grandnieces/nephew were able to come. I must admit that I really love being around the little kids, and the more I am around them the more I realize how much I missed by not being around when the older ones were growing up. It was a great day!

So the whole 1st week in Maine was taken up visiting with family, while the 2nd week was mostly taken up going to Lowes, Walmart, Target, etc., looking for area rugs, an outdoor grill, lawn chairs, etc. We also spent an inordinate amount of time talking on the phone to people trying to figure out how we were supposed to get our satellite TV to work. Everyone was telling us that to get service in an RV was not easy, and that was an understatement. Just to get local channels, never mind satellite stations, we had to buy a converter box because of the whole digital thing. Needless to say we left Maine and still had no satellite TV, so I was well into my 3rd week of travel with no CNN! I was not happy about this! (It wouldn’t actually be until 25 Sep that we got satellite…but I will tell you about that later.)

On 4 Sep Cathy and I actually got to go bike riding for the 1st time…this day was our 3 week anniversary of selling the house, so we were happy to finally have time to just take a leisurely ride to Ogunquit, ME, about 2 miles from Wells where we were staying. Ogunquit is very touristy, very pretty, and had a great area called the “Marginal Road” that is a one mile man-made road along the ocean with great views of the beaches and the hotels/houses in the area. Cathy and I just tied our bikes up to a street pole, walked the road and then had lunch at the end. Up to this point this was a great, relaxing day…and exactly how I envisioned my RVing time to be spent.

Of course at the end of the day my back brake on my bike broke, I had to leave it at a fix-it shop, and then I had to walk a mile back to the RV. Not that a mile was bad…but not how envisioned the end of my otherwise perfect day!

On the night of 4 Sep, Cathy and I rode down to the beach to see the fireworks they were shooting off in celebration of Labor Day weekend…tried to take some pictures on the cell phone, but they didn’t come out…it will be about 5 more weeks before we actually buy a decent camera!

On 6 Sep we travel back to Hanscom AFB, and on 8 Sep we decide to concentrate on getting satellite TV service. We know we need a satellite receiver box, and we are specifically trying to get Dish Network TV service, so Cathy ascertains after much research that the only Dish Network dealer is in the Somerville area of Boston. We drive to Somerville, probably a half hour from where we are staying, and using the GPS that Hallie got us, we determine that the address the dealer gave to Cathy on the phone is in reality a liquor store. We walk up and down the street, double-checking all the addresses, and then return to the liquor store. Not knowing what is going on, and because we don’t really know what else to do, we go into the liquor store and ask the older man and woman working there if the address we are looking for is indeed their address. These 2 people are either Indian or Pakistani, not really sure, but I say that because there was a little bit of a language barrier. Anyway, they say it is their address, and ask us who we are looking for…when we tell them they say they don’t know who that is…and with that Cathy walks outside to call the number to the dealer. As I wait inside, the older guy asks me what product I am looking for, and when I tell him both he and his wife start laughing, saying “Oh, oh, that is our son!” The guy gives me a business card with the liquor store on one side and the son’s “dealership” on the other. At this point Cathy is walking in the store as I am trying to walk out…she tells me that the son said he was on his way…that he had the receiver we wanted to buy in his truck and would be right there. So now Cathy and I are out on the street, waiting for some type of truck to pull up to the curb, and we are starting to wonder out loud if we should really be buying this from this guy. As we are wondering and laughing, out from inside the store comes the son with the receiver in his arms (he came in thru the back)…no box, just in a plastic bag…and he beckons us to the back of the store. I had to pass a delivery guy there and I told him under my breath that I felt like I was taking part in an illicit drug deal. Anyway, after much discussion, this guy wants to sell us the box for the price he discussed with Cathy on the phone, but he wanted to charge us separately for the remote controls and the wires we needed. This was just too much at this point, so after another full day of effort, we went home with no receiver. (We finally bought a receiver on-line and got it all hooked up 2 ½ weeks later!)

From 9 Sep till we left Massachusetts on 11 Oct—We went apple picking and for a hayride at the Honey Pot Hill in Stow, MA…thank God for the little kids, cause I really don’t think a bunch of adults would do this otherwise.

Cathy and I went to the JFK Library and Museum, which was very interesting…it seems like a different era, even though we grew up with it…so much innocence was lost! The most interesting thing I saw there was the map of the red states/blue states as to how the Electoral College bbroke down in that election. Notice how "Blue" the south was!!!

We had what I am calling the 1st Annual Byrnes Family 1/2Ball and Bar Championships! We had a ball playing, even though only Maggie and I could throw the 1/2ball…and Maggie needs a lot of practice before we play again! Maggie’s team killed my team, but I attribute that to my superior pitching abilities…her team had good great balls to hit…and did they ever!!! Cathy didn't play because she wasn't feeling well, but Chris played and I think he may have been a fcator at one point, but I can't remember what the circumstance was! haha

Cathy and I went to the Salem Witch Museum in Salem MA…that was pretty cool! And then we went to an old town they have created there to show what it would have been like to live there in 1630. Most of the presenters were well informed, but it really needed to be built up more to make it worth it.

In-between all this, I visited with my old and dear friends Patti, Mia, and Fifi who came to see the RV. Drove the RV to Sr Helen’s house so she and her friends Sr Claire and Sr Dianeta could see it…had my aunt Peg and cousin Mary out to see the RV with Patti, and visited almost daily with the rest of my sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews. We also washed and waxed the RV….exhausting! It took the 2 of us over 7 hours to do it, and I am in no hurry to do it again. We also finally got a travel plan to Florida, and we left Massachusetts on 11 Oct to get our trip started.