Mason Watching the Onion Volcano

The food was pretty good except I had to remind him twice not to put sesame seeds in any of my dishes (because of my diverticulosis). He did so I couldn’t eat my veggies or my fried rice. I went there mainly for the seafood, and had only planned to eat a few bites of rice anyway, so I gave my sesame-seed-laden dishes to Richard. The grilled shrimp was amazing! Max tried it, and then kept asking me for more (he’d ordered steak). He’s previously only eaten fried shrimp so we were pleased he was being adventurous. In fact, he’s tried a lot of new things on this trip and he’s liked most of them!

On Sunday, we took the day off. After a quick trip to the health food store, Max rode his bike most of the afternoon. We then went to the beach for a couple of hours.

C-c-cold Water!

Max’s “Kingdom”

We took the kites along but there was almost no wind. The water was very similar in color to the sky and the waves were very small. It was quiet and beautiful and several horses walked by (with their riders, of course), while we were there. It was a perfect day!!!

Life is Good! Hey, somebody’s gotta sit here, right? Why not us? (Horses are in the background.)

Max dug “a hole for Mason’s butt”…so we called it his “butt hole.”

That evening, Max rode his bike some more while I cooked my high-protein, sweet pancakes for the boys, along with a side of cinnamon apples.

WIRELESSTRIPS HIGH-PROTEIN (SWEET!) PANCAKES
(for kids like Mason who won’t eat meat!)

2 c. flour
2 T. baking powder
2 T. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. powdered sugar or sugar (we get the raw, organic sugar)
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and wet ingredients in another bowl. Then, mix all together in the large bowl. Add more milk or flour, if necessary, to get the batter to the right consistency.

I melt butter in the pan instead of oil (for more protein) but both work just fine. Heat your non-stick pan (or griddle) to medium or medium-high. (I like a higher heat because I’m busy and I like to cook them faster. Just be sure to keep an eye on them!). Test one pancake first, just to make sure the batter is thick enough. Cook until light brown, flip, and cook on other side until light brown and cooked through.

Mason (age three) likes the dollar-sized pancakes. I put the leftovers in a Ziploc bag, throw it in the freezer, and heat them up in the microwave for him (about 45 seconds) whenever he wants one. He’ll eat them for any meal and they make great grab-and-go snacks since he doesn’t eat them with syrup. Max (age eight) will only eat his with real “Maine Maple syrup.” Yeah, he’s spoiled.

For our dinner, I heated up some butternut squash soup, and made grilled cheese sandwiches with light wheat bread and pepperjack cheese.

Monday dawned with a heavy sky, and thunder in the distance. My mom sent me a text early, saying they might get “up to six inches of snow” tomorrow. I texted back, asking her if she’d called Al Gore yet. See, Mom lives in Texas, just about an hour and a half north of Houston.

They’ve already gotten snow and sleet this year, which is very, very unusual. I can count on less than one hand the number of times we had snow there when I was growing up. Now, they might get an actual, bonafide snowstorm? Wow!!! I think global warming is something cooked up by corporations and governments to further their own revenues…and I’m not just using one snowstorm as the basis for my beliefs. Oh, just got a picture from Mom. Here it is:

Anyway, I just hope all that snow falls out of those clouds before that front reaches us here in South Carolina!

I’ve posted even more pictures HERE.

PREVIOUS POSTS FROM THIS TRIP:

Our on-board washer/dryer combo is great for washing clothes, but it sucks at drying. It can take four to five hours to dry a small load. Don’t ever let any RV salesman try to tell you otherwise when they’re selling you one of these little washer/dryer combos!

I wash small loads, one after another, and I then hang them up all over the RV to dry. The clothes dry much faster in the RV in the winter (when there’s low humidity and the heater is running) than they do in the summer (when the humidity is high). Many campgrounds no longer allow campers to hang clothes outdoors. So, this is what our RV looks like on laundry day. I always pray our neighboring campers don’t pop over for a meet and greet on laundry day!

Typical Laundry Day in the RV

When the first load of laundry was finished, the washing machine stopped spinning and the light started blinking. Mason (age 3) always gets excited when this happens and yells, “The dishes are done!” Yes, I typed that correctly. I’ve correct him numerous times but he still insists on yelling “DISHES!” instead of “CLOTHES!” He loves helping me load the washing machine, putting the soap and fabric softener in, and then hanging up the clothes using hangers and clothes pins. When space is limited, you have to get pretty creative when drying clothes in an RV. I can make a small clothesline in the bedroom out of any long, thin, stringy item I can find, including dental floss. I hang large items on hangers, and slip those into the reinforced areas of the ceiling vents, as well as on any cabinet or doorknob. I have enough hangers and clothes pins to hang four small loads of laundry at one time. The clothes were all dry by bedtime last night and today we all have clean underwear (and everything else).

Mason is doing MUCH better. His cough is almost gone and he still hasn’t complained about that ear infection.

Our friend back home who was hit by a car this week is home now, after surgery to install a shiny new rod in her leg. I guess airport metal detectors will now take on an entirely new meaning for her. She has a long road to recovery but she’s in good spirits and she’s young and strong and I am amazed at her spirit and determination. We are so proud of her!

Okay, now on to the TEASE I eluded to in the title. Father Winter has come back to tease us. If you recall, we named this our “NO MORE SNOW!” trip. On the first three days of our trip, it SNOWED. When we got to my sister’s house in Virginia, we had to delay our departure because of a huge SNOWSTORM that dumped 10 inches on us one day. Last week, we finally got south of the snow line somewhere in North Carolina. We had two pretty big days of rain and wind here in South Carolina and the temperatures have been a bit chilly…but the 40s are NOTHING compared to the temps back home in Bangor (which usually stay below freezing – far below – this time of year).

A couple of days ago, Richard said we might get snow on Friday night. At first, I thought he was teasing me. He wasn’t. I checked the weather last night and we were under a Winter Storm Watch. Today, we are under a Winter Storm Warning! We’re supposed to get 2-4 inches by tomorrow morning. NOT FUNNY!! We can already feel it coming. The sky has been deeply overcast all day and the heater in the RV has been clicking on much more frequently. I put on my thick, fleece socks and the boys are cuddled up in bed, watching a new Max and Ruby DVD. We have plenty of food and water in case we get stuck for a couple of days. Luckily, I planned ahead and all my Valentine’s Day goodies have already been purchased and hidden in the RV. (I made the Valentine’s Day bags for our loved ones at home before we left Bangor almost three weeks ago.) Richard ran some errands this morning, and even went by the craft store to buy more batting for me. The boys have asked me to make sock dollies for them like the one I made for our nephew.

It’s important that we have everything we need now because our tow-vehicle is a rear-wheel drive and it is almost impossible to control in the snow. Richard just left to pick up a spare external tank of propane because it’s actually easier to do that than to pack up the RV and drive it to the propane station here at the campground. So, we’ll have extra propane for heat in case we lose power. In the RV, we can choose to heat the RV and the water with electricity or propane, or both. Using both comes in handy if you want to take a shower that lasts longer than five minutes.

We’re having homemade pizza for dinner tonight. The boys are pretty excited about that…and so am I! I’m pretty sure Richard is ready for Valentine’s Day, too. I just looked out the bathroom window and this is what I saw. Heh…

PREVIOUS POSTS FROM THIS TRIP:

UPDATE: Sunday, January 24, 2010

We are scheduled to leave tomorrow. Just learned we’re under a flood watch and a high wind watch for tomorrow as well. “High wind” – the enemy of RVers everywhere. Should be exciting!!

Our drive was a long one and relatively uneventful, except for the mad dash we made through the rest area at lunch time. It was pouring (AGAIN!) and the wind was blowing so hard that the umbrella I was sharing with Mason turned inside-out, much to his glee. The rest stop (it was one in Maine) was PACKED! We bought our food and dashed back through the rain to the RV so we could eat in relative quiet.

The steroids kept Richard’s vasculitis at bay and, while he’s still itchy, he does seem to be better. He wants to wait to see if it’ll go away completely before we see a specialist but I’d feel better getting a diagnosis (or at least trying to) so we can avoid this in the future. He hates being itchy and I hate staying up all night worrying about my honey.

Percy must be getting used to our long trips because, while he did jump on me and bark when we got home, he didn’t pee on me like last time. He’s such a good doggie and he loves his Mommy so much.

The big kids were happy to see us and even more happy to get their souveniers. I always try to buy them a thing or two on our trips. I didn’t get them much this time because I’d planned to go shopping in Connecticut but those plans were squashed because of our early return.

LESSONS LEARNED ON THE 2009 COUNTRY ROADS TRIP:

If it’s raining when you leave home, that rain will likely follow you on your entire trip.

Free wifi SUCKS. Fee-based wifi is better (sometimes). Neither can be counted on to work all the time and your 3G connection is only as good as the closest cell tower. And, when a campground employee tells you their wifi works just fine, don’t believe them and always have a backup means of getting online.

Chainsaws should not be allowed in campgrounds.

The “scenic route” is beautiful, but hard on the RV.

The little numbers 1 and 2 on your gear shift are for going downhill! Wow!!

If a highway sign advises you to use the highway, USE THE HIGHWAY.

If the guests at a campground scare you, you might want to leave early.

There is no shortage of lightning bugs in the East in July.

Bats aren’t very afraid of people.

If it’s raining and dark, STAY ON THE MAJOR HIGHWAY. If you are night blind, plan to arrive at your destination LONG before dark…just in case you get lost.

If Mason is on board, you can never have too many Band-Aids or Neosporin.

It’s hard to diet when visiting Aunt Wanda’s house!

I can survive without Cable TV for seven whole days!!

Murphy’s Law: As soon as you fix one broken thing on an RV, something else breaks.

You shouldn’t encourage your children to read other people’s tattoos.

Retired folks who volunteer are HAPPY folks!

The BEST highway signs are the Hospital highway signs.

And, never leave home without Benadryl!

Richard and Max are very interested in space. I used to work in the aerospace industry, for a company that made space shuttle and space station parts.  Richard and Max are curious about stars and planets while my interest in space has more of a human-interest angle. I think looking at stars and planets is kinda boring…but I think it would be cool to see and meet some aliens.

On Thursday, Richard had us scheduled to go see the the world’s largest fully steerable single aperture radio antenna. Call me dumb but I thought we were going to see some big radio antenna that broadcast music or news on a global scale or something. Max seemed more educated about it than I was.

So, Dale, Rita, Max, Mason, Richard and I all piled in the van for a one-hour drive into the mountains somewhere in a remote area of West Virginia. I took my lap desk and got some emails answered. Rita tried to take a nap. Mason watched videos on my phone…until the cell signal died. Max was just happy to be there with Grampa and Rita. Richard was helping Dale interpret the GPS directions.

We came over one mountain pass when I just happened to glance up, and saw what looked like a HUGE white satellite dish in the distance. Wow! I mean, it was beyond huge, and so white, like something from a movie! NOW I was interested!

We finally arrived at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank. There were lots of large structures that resembled satellite dishes. We went inside, and were delighted that a tour was just about to begin. The tours are free and start on the hour, each hour. We watched an interesting video where they taught us what radio waves are (well, those of us who didn’t know) and how they use those to determine what types of materials make up certain objects in space. For example, they can use radio telescopes to determine that, say, a specific star is made of hydrogen. It got a bit technical and I’m admittedly a hands-on, concrete learner. When things get a bit abstract, my eyes start to glaze over. That’s why I was always so bad at math. Contrary to the topic of my post here, they don’t search for E.T. at this facility. A group in California does that.

Anyway, the video ended and a nice young lady, who was an EXCELLENT tour guide by the way, answered questions and then did a couple of experiments. One involved putting a balloon in liquid nitrogen. The kids thought that was sooo cool (and so did I). When she was finished, she “dumped” the liquid nitrogen on the carpet and it instantly turned to gas. I could feel the cold on my ankles. That was neat, too. She went into great detail about how bad it is to use digital cameras and other electronics near the antenna. Scientists from all over the world submit proposals to a committee and they decide who gets to use the telescope. They then schedule each team on a specific day and for a specific period of time. They may get in 7 experiments per day. She explained that if one person used their digital camera too close to the telescope, or even a wireless Internet device inside the 10-mile safe zone, it could ruin the results of an experiment that a scientist had spent his whole life working toward. Needless to say, we kept our digital cameras and everything else off after we got inside the gates on the bus. You can see pictures I shot outside of the gates HERE and HERE.

When we were there, it was maintenance day and there were men literally hanging from the telescope, waaaay up high. One of them waved at all of us. The boys thought that was neat. Max asked the tour guide how the men got up there (there’s a type of elevator) and how they protected themselves from falling (they’re tethered). There were other radio telescopes there, too, including the one Grote Reber built in his backyard in 1937 after applying for, but not getting, a job at Bell Labs.

After the tour, we had to hit the gift shop, of course. We then drove back to Elkins. Grampa took Max and Mason to McDonalds. We never take them there (we stopped eating there after watching Fast Food Nation) so it was a big treat for them. We then drove to Hickory House Restaurant and had some delicious barbecue.

Back at the campground, we roasted marshmallows AGAIN. My diet starts…NEXT week.

We spent the entire day there and his sweet and funny wife, Wanda, fed us breakfast, lunch AND dinner. Breakfast was bagels and donut holes (much to Mason’s delight) and coffee. Lunch was hot dogs with all kinds of mixin’s for ‘em. Wanda made herself a chili slaw dog (hot dog with chili and coleslaw). I remembered I’d had one of those in North Carolina years ago and loved it so I made myself one as well. Okay, okay, that was my SECOND hot dog. I’d already eaten one the boring, old fashioned way, with ketchup and mustard.

While we chatted, Max and Mason had a grand time playing in their sandbox. I’m pretty sure we’ll be finding sand in all of Mason’s orifices for many days to come. They also rolled down the hill behind the house many, many times. Made me itch just watching them but they were having SO much fun! Mason kept skinning his knees and elbows. He was on the move all day long. He acquired several new Band-Aids to add to the ones he already had on from boo boo’s acquired on recent days of this trip.

After lunch, Richard took Max and Mason swimming. David, who is Tom and Wanda’s adult son…so I guess he’s Richard’s cousin…swam, too. Max jumped off a diving board for the very first time today! I got a great picture of it. I’ll try to post it tomorrow. David was there to “catch” him. He was so good with both the boys.

They all swam so long that Mason was exhausted when they finished. But, he still cried and cried when it was time to get out of the pool. After I put his clothes on, he almost immediately fell asleep. I laid him on their sofa and he slept for about two hours. I went to their front porch to call the kids back home because I could not only keep an eye on Mason through the screen door, but I could also watch a tractor pulling some gizmo that was bailing hay in the lot next door. I got SUCH a kick out of watching that machine work! It goes and goes, sucking up hay like a big vacuum and then, after several minutes, the tractor stopps and the gizmo poops out a round bale of hay in the back. Mason and Max got to watch, too, after Mason woke up.

Anyway, dinner was shaved roast beef sandwiches, sopped with gravy and nestled in hogie rolls. Pretty delicious. I think I could feel it all going straight to my arteries. Mmmm…. Now  THAT is down-home country cookin’!

We had such a wonderful day that there were tears when we had to say goodbye.

We topped off a perfect day by stopping at Dairy Queen on the way home. I’m pretty sure that Strawberry “CheeseQuake” Blizzard is already settled on my hips. Rita and I keep reminding each other, “We’re on vacation!!!”

Two mornings ago, we were woken up by somebody’s dog who had the most annoying, high pitched, screeching bark. This morning, one of the campground employees turned on a chainsaw just a few feet from our RV. I was NOT happy.

Max and Mason made a new friend last night, Lucas. He’d come to the playground when we were there, shyly shuffling his feet. Mason immediately said, “What’s your name?!” They all three played together for the next two hours and had a grand time. Lucas was six and had a walkie talkie on him, which he was using to talk to his dad, who was in their RV. I have no idea why any parent would allow a six-year-old to walk unsupervised through a campground. We’ve read that lots of child molestors live in campgrounds when they can’t find a place to live in towns, which regulate how close they can live to schools and such. We never let Max and Mason out of our sight. The world just isn’t what it was when we were young.

Anyway, we got some big news from home this morning! We recently adopted a stray cat that had moved into the hayloft above our garage (which used to be a barn). Frank and Ali took “Mollie” to the vet. They ran several tests. Mollie does not have heart worms, lieukemia or feline herpes. And, “Mollie” has been neutered. So, “Mollie” is now “Ollie.” Ollie is very friendly so we knew he’d had a previous home. We wonder if somebody had to dump him because of the economy. We’re happy to take him in.

We just crossed the Connecticut / New York state line. The country roads in Connecticut are beautiful! The farms are so large and well manicured. There are flowers everywhere right now. The corn looks a bit short for this time of year. Maybe they’ve been having too much rain, too. I sure wish we’d had more time to do some poking around in the small towns we passed through. But, Richard has us on a schedule and, since the wifi at the last campground didn’t work, we have to get to the next one so I can catch up on some work. Hey, gotta keep making money to pay for this gas guzzler!

UPDATE – After Midnight: We’re in New Jersey. The wifi at this campground is horrible. It cuts in and out and even disconnects you once an hour to make you log back in. Ridiculous. I spent most of the day switching back and forth between their wifi and the AT&T card, which isn’t great here, either. In fact, I spent more time wrestling with the connection than I did getting actual work done.

Richard fixed homemade pizza for dinner. That was a TREAT! At 8:00 p.m., we took Max and Mason to the pavilion to paint ceramics. You have to buy the figurines and the paint but it was super cheap and the boys had a great time.  They both picked trucks to paint and, miraculously, neither truck had broken by the time they went to bed tonight.

We also took them to the playground (Mason laughed SOOOO much on the swings!) and to see the farm animals that reside here. We walked around the campground just before dark and there were fireflies everywhere! The boys were thrilled!

This is a really nice campground. If the wifi worked, we might even be tempted to stay an extra day. I’m on the AT&T card right now. I have the best connection that I’ve had all day, probably because there’s less demand for the service right now. Richard would have to explain it. When it comes to electronics, I only know two things – either it works, or it doesn’t. Richard knows the the ifs, ands, hows and whys of it all. Sometimes he tries to explain it to me. I look at him and smile but all I can hear coming from his mouth is, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah….”

You can see our photostream from this trip (and past ones) here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94822774@N00/

Anyway, we arrived in New York City and ventured outside to the taxi line. Max’s eyes were huge, looking around at the huge buildings and the myriad of people. We had to explain everything to him, from the taxi line to the young men playing instruments on the sidewalk to the man loudly soliciting “donations.” He soaked it all in and was very comfortable with it all, even though it was so very different from our town.

It had been chilly that morning and it was now over 90 degrees outside. While I held Mason in what we call “the baby pack”, the woman behind us in line asked, “Don’t you think your baby is overdressed?”

Well, I had to admit she was right. He had on a t-shirt, thin pants, and socks. I removed the socks and smiled at her.

We got into the taxi and embarked on a very exciting ride to our hotel! The taxi driver dodged other taxes, busses, and people, ignoring lanes and even the occasional red light. Wow!! Max was too busy looking up at the buildings and electronic billboards to notice that his life was in danger.

We arrived at the hotel and immediately called Scott, who said, “I’ll be there in 12 minutes!” He lives near Central Park so we got a hotel room very close to his place. He arrived soon after and we laughed and hugged and immediately bonded like old friends even though we’d never met face to face! Even Max and Mason treated him like family right away. Mason only gave his shy, eyelash-batting-glazed-stare for a couple of minutes.

We set off for Central Park, our destination being the penguin exhibit at the zoo. It was hot – oh so hot – and we stopped for drinks several times. Mason had three snowcones that day! Boy, those things sure can get messy when it’s 90 degrees outside.

At the zoo, the penguins were adorable! They’d swim right up to the glass and look at the children, nose to nose. It was so cute! Mason rubbed his hands on the glass and smiled and talked to them in his own language. Max laughed and pointed and talked to them, too. After we were sufficiently cooled off, we ventured back outside, squinting at the offensive sunshine. We saw a huge polar bear who was sitting in the water, staring at the visitors. Max was very impressed with the size of that teddy bear! We saw monkeys and sea lions and more and drank even more water and ate some ice cream. Scott was a sport and carried Mason at times, too. Mason’s very snuggly so I’m pretty sure he didn’t mind. Mason didn’t mind at all! He was having a great time with his new friend!

The air was starting to cool off a bit when we left the zoo, heading back to the hotel for a cooling period before dinner. The walk went by quickly and we were soon sitting in air-conditioned bliss. Richard checked his email and I fed and changed Mason while chatting with Scott, who was an excellent tour guide, by the way! He knows everything about that city!

Our dinner reservations were at 7:00 p.m., so we left shortly after 6:00. Max enjoyed watching Scott hail a cab (he did that for us a lot over the weekend).

Dinner was at ______________, where we had Dim Sum. We ordered an assortment of goodies, ate with gluttonous bliss, and then ordered all over again! It was delicious and so much fun! Scott has been to several countries and speaks three languages so there was never a lull in the conversation. He’s led a fascinating life so far and we were eager to hear some of his stories. Max, on the other hand, was more interested in Scott making him laugh as we’d told him how witty Scott is.

We left a pile of empty plates as we waddled out of the restaurant. We headed down the block, trying to burn off just a few of the calories we’d consumed.

After about half an hour, Max had to potty….bad. He never tells us when he first has to go. He waits until he REALLY has to go. We found a little cafe and were going to beg to use their restroom. However, from the sidewalk, we could see a display case just inside the door that contained a variety or homemade desserts. Yum! We walked in, sat ourselves down, and asked for the dessert menu (after racing to the bathroom with Max, of course). So, we ate and ate some more! I had ordered an iced coffee with caramel and it was delicious! I loved how the globs of caramel kept coming up the straw with the coffee. I know it sounds funny, but it was like eating my drink. Yum!

We left, singing the praises of that restaurant, and Scott hailed us another cab for the hotel. We were full and exhausted, but feeling very rested. Real vacations are great!

We unpacked and then dashed out for a quick dinner and a stop by the drug store for some toiletries. The restaurant we chose was in a strip center so we felt confident that wearing our casual clothes and lugging two young boys wouldn’t be a problem. We walked in and every table had a candle burning, a table cloth, and wine glasses. That’s a bad sign. swear the host ran his eyes over me, from head to foot, and then asked, “How many?”

We sat down to dinner and ordered Mason’s crackers right away, hoping he’d behave in this restaurant in particular, which was full of business people and other adults. It was quiet and very nice.

A few minutes later, a couple with an infant sat down next to us. I said, “Look, Mason! A baby!”

Mason smiled and stared. I asked how old the baby was. The mother said she was four months old. I said, “Oh, she’s big!” (And, she was!)

The father turned to me and replied, “She’s 26 inches long.. She was 20 inches when she was born.”

I smiled and said, “Oh, she’s going to be a basketball player!”

He frowned, sniffed, and, as he was turning back to his wine, said, “Or a ballet dancer.”

Richard and I smiled and smirked at each other. We definitely aren’t in Maine anymore!