Back Home Again!

And after saying goodbye to all the alpacas, and our gracious hosts (Red and Connie), at Misty Acres Farm in Augusta, Maine, we were back on the road this morning. The final leg of our winter getaway!

Happiness is...coming home after a long day on the road and your neighbours who've been looking after your house for the last several months have left YOU flowers and a card.

Have I mentioned that we have the BEST neighbours? Thank you Brenda and Doug...love you guys.

And that's a wrap for 'Maritimers Chasing The Sun - Season 1'!

As we sit back and relax, we can't help but relive and reminisce about our trip...so many great memories...so much good food...and new friendships that will last a lifetime.

Miss Kelly is Chilling

It's a 'ruff' life 😊

And yes, she needs a good brushing.

Several expectant Alpaca Mothers

Visited with the very pregnant girls this morning...no babies overnight! 😔

Alpacas!

We left the Boston area this morning and headed north. Have to make one more stop on the way home at one of our favourite places - Misty Acres Alpaca Farm!

They are so beautiful.

Several of "the ladies" are pregnant and overdue...it would be so awesome to see a birth or at least a newborn!  This is Tag...she is very pregnant!

We found Misty Acres last year through the Harvest Host program (if you are an RVer, check it out - a network of farms, breweries and wineries that offer spaces for RVers to stop for a night) and we loved it here. The owners are wonderful!

Sam Adams Brewery

Had a great tour of the Boston Samuel Adams Brewery today with Dan as our tour guide.

It's free! It's fun! You get to sample free beer!

The Boston Brewery opened in 1988 and is where all new beers have been created with the exception of the Boston Lager, which was created in founder Jim Koch's kitchen. There are larger Sam Adams brewery locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but the Boston location is the "test kitchen" where they come up with all the new flavours. We got to try the Boston 26.2 Brew created to celebrate the Boston Marathon...so tasty and light!

We've always been Sam Adams fans...now we're even bigger fans! Thanks Sam Adams!

Packing up the trailer now for tomorrow's departure from Boston. Our winter excursion is winding down...and we'll soon be back home in New Brunswick

Trader Joe's

Rainy day = a trip to Trader Joe's! I love Trader Joe's.

Will they ever come to Canada? Please?? Probably not, but it's just as well...I'd be there every day.

Quincy Market

Oh Boston, how I've missed you! It was so nice to get back to one of my favourite cities!

We didn't have a lot of time today, so had to prioritize...head for the food!  Missing my Louisiana friends, so had some Cajun mac and cheese at Quincy Market...YUM!

Then we walked over to Little Italy in the north end.

This place is amazing! We stopped at Mike's Pastry Shop to get some cannoli...the Florentine Cannoli is so freakin' good! These little white boxes are what dreams are made of 😄

Oh, and a chocolate dipped macaroon from Quincy Market, too. That might have to wait until tomorrow.

So happy that these 3 are almost back to normal after their horrible GI ordeal.

Kelly really gave us a scare - we weren't sure if the old girl would make it.  A trip to the vet, some meds and some special food and she was back to her old self! Unfortunately, she had to share her special food with her fur siblings. We believe it was their food that caused the issue. I read many comments on the IAMS site from people describing the same symptoms. A change of food seemed to solve the problem.

More Sick Dogs

The dogs found the campground petting zoo out front...and made some new friends!

Well, here's a riddle for you:
What's worse than a dog with diarrhea?
Answer:
Three dogs with diarrhea!!
Yup, we are traveling in a camper, with now not one, not two, but three dogs, that have diarrhea. Nice!

Kelly's on the Rebound

Just laying low today hanging with the puppies. Kelly seems to be getting better so that's good news!

Miss Kelly is Sick :-(

Not much happening today. Our old girl, Kelly, is under the weather. Diarrhea for the past couple of days, then last night she vomited! So, a trip today to the animal hospital to find out there's nothing to be alarmed about, just a bug apparently. Hopefully she will soon be on the mend!

Hello Boston!

Chance is navigating today...lol!

We left Greenville, VA yesterday morning and were heading for Boston, but along the way we decided we should break up the trip. We stopped at a Walmart National Park last night and it worked out perfectly.

We're now set up at the Circle CG Campground in Boston, MA.

We love Boston! We visit so often it feels like our second hometown!

Leaving 'The South'

I always enjoy driving through the scenic Shenandoah River Valley of Virginia.

Crossed the Mason-Dixon Line earlier today...sadly, that means we're no longer in the South  😞

Washington, DC

Drove into Washington, DC today to explore the city. There are so many cool things to see!

The White House Visitor's Center was interesting - the display with the quote from Teddy Roosevelt regarding his daughter Anne made me laugh.  😊

The Washington Monument is closed indefinitely for maintenance, so you can only take pictures from outside. When it was completed in 1884, it was the tallest building in the world.

The Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool are beautiful.

It was built in 1914 as a memorial to the slain President. The 36 columns surrounding the monument represent the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death. Lincoln hated slavery - he saw it as hypocritical for a nation founded on the "all men created equal" principle - and he used his power of office to abolish slavery and freed the slaves. Many years later, Martin Luther King Jr. would give his "I Have A Dream" speech from the steps of this very memorial.

The Three Soldiers statue stands nearby and is meant to complement the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

It's meant to portray the major ethnic groups who fought in the war - European American, African American and Latino American - and is based on the likeness of actual soldiers.

Cool Day in Virginia

A little cool today here in Virginia...only 11°C. I actually had to wear jeans instead of shorts! Haven't done that in months!

Greenville Family Campground

We're heading north now and as we crossed the Virginia state line from North Carolina, we started checking ahead with campgrounds but a lot of them were seem to be full 😒 I'm guessing this must be a favourite route for returning snowbirds.

Eventually we found a place to stay in northern Virginia. We're now set up at the Greenville Family Campground - perched at the edge of a big farm - in a community called Haymarket.

It's a great spot...just don't ask this city boy to milk the cows!

Sparky's

Loaded up and we're on the road again! No reservations...no itinerary. And no idea where we'll stop for the night. May end up at Walmart National Park...we'll see!

Okay, so when you see highway signs for 25 miles advertising everything from barbecue to cowboy boots to fireworks to fudge to shark's teeth, you gotta stop!

L
Aaaaand...looks like it'll be Camp Walmart for us tonight!

Last Day in Huntington Beach

Last full day in Huntington Beach State Park.

Beautiful morning to spend some time on the beach. Saw this little gator near the path to the beach...isn't he cute?

Took a bike ride along the trails...beautiful, winding trails through the woods and through Murrell's Inlet. The beautiful homes and flowering shrubs were breathtaking. Sad to leave, but we'll be back.

Sticky Fingers Ribhouse

Good morning from the South Carolina coast, and a lovely way to start my birthday...sharing a beautiful sunrise on the beach!

No trip to the South is complete until we've had dinner at Sticky Fingers Ribhouse!! So gooood!! Sticky Fingers have awesome ribs and the BEST sweet tea we've ever tasted (we could drink pitchers of the stuff!).

The food is absolutely delicious and the service is excellent.

Then stopped for a shake at Steak and Shake on the way home for dessert.

Eventually we got back to the trailer to relax on the beach. This is a rough life indeed...how do we do this, day after day after day? ;-)

Sandpiper Trail

After a couple days of rain, and being stuck inside the camper, we were suffering from cabin fever! So it was good to finally have a decent day to get outside...perfect day in fact to hike the Sandpiper Trail, and take the long way around to the beach!

I've seen many tributes this week for the junior hockey players that died in Saskatchewan, but none as powerful as this one. A true Canadian moment.  😭

Quick Tour of the Campground

A few sights from the campground...

Laundry Day

It's a cold, rainy day out there...good day to do laundry. Gotta get it done sooner or later, might as well be today!

Chilly Day on the Beach

A bit chilly at 45°F (7°C) early this morning here in South Carolina, so it was a coffee and Bailey's kinda morning. 😄

Later today we went for a walk on the beach...not the best of beach days...4C here right now with a windchill of -1. Only two other people on the beach...probably Canadians...lol

Travel Day...Savannah, GA to Murrell's Inlet, SC

At this point we've completed a full loop of the south eastern US...
Florida --> Alabama --> Mississippi -->Louisiana --> Alabama --> Georgia :-) I must say the winters down here are much nicer than back home.

Sad to leave beautiful Savannah...love this city. Our campground was so peaceful and pretty and only about 15 minutes from downtown Savannah. And this city knows how to handle tourism! Parking in most places is $1 an hour and they have FREE shuttles that run through most of the city core. Can't wait to come back.

We packed up this morning for our long slow journey up the east coast back to the homeland!

This afternoon we arrived at first stopover - Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina! These sites are so big!

We've been coming here for several years. Love the park...love the campground...love the beach 😃

Bonaventure Cemetery

This is the main path down through the center of the Bonaventure Cemetery here in Savannah, Georgia. I love how the trees have grown over the road.

It's absolutely gorgeous here! So beautiful in fact, producers of the movie 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' shot scenes here!

We discovered some amazing figurines as we strolled through the cemetery...

The following figure is probably the most famous and most visited in Bonaventure. This is a life size, and very much life-like, carving of Gracie Watson. Sadly she died at a very young age and now she's left here all alone. 

She passed away at the age of 6 from complications of pneumonia. Her father fell into a state of deep depression. He had been a hotel manager at a large hotel in Savannah where Gracie was the center of attention. She was quite a little performer and she enjoyed spending time in the hotel lobby singing and dancing for the guests as they came and went. After her death, he was so distraught, he left his job. He and his wife decided to move back to New England where he eventually found work and remained there for the rest of their lives. After their deaths, they were buried in New England. Leaving poor little Gracie to spend eternity here in Bonaventure alone.