Sunday September 30th

Today was moving day. I was up early since my neighbor’s young boys don’t know the meaning of quiet hours. They were up talking to each other and their parents at a volume that a fire and brimstone preacher only dreams about shortly after seven this morning. I had plenty of time to prepare for my planned noon departure. I actually left early around 11:30AM.

My site, number 263, for the next two weeks at the Boston-Cape Cod KOA in Middleboro MA.

When I got hooked up and tested my spliced electrical connection to the towed car, I was missing the left directional signal and the tail lights. I decided that would have to do, since any attempt to fix it better stood a very good chance of losing what I already had. As it turns out I didn’t have any lights on the towed car by the time I finished my journey. While it’s not the safest thing and would warrant a ticket if I got stopped, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. Unlike a trailer that blocks all of the lights on the back of the towed vehicle the motorhome lights are all visible around and above the closely following towed car. I need to order a new cable before I move on in two weeks.

My concerns about Patriots game traffic were not realized. The exit from the interstate for the stadium was empty when I passed by half an hour before the game. The biggest traffic issue was at the Interstate 290 interchange with Interstate 495. The traffic heading west toward Worcester and points beyond had the south bound lanes of I-495 crawling for a couple of miles. I arrived at the Boston-Cape Cod KOA in Middleboro MA just before 1PM.

I’ve stayed at this campground many times over the years. They have been improving the facilities over the last few years. It has around 250 sites with perhaps half filled when I arrived this afternoon. I think many of the trailers will be empty during the week. As the afternoon went on people were buttoning up their outdoor furniture and leaving. Many campgrounds run specials in the fall that allow people to leave their RVs on the site for use on the weekends for a fixed price.

Saturday September 29th 2018

It was a beautiful fall day with high temperatures in the mid to upper sixties. The heavily wooded area here in the campground hides the day’s characteristics well. It stays dark later in the morning and gets dark earlier in the evening. When you leave the park you find a much brighter day.

Today’s surprise from the wet ground.

I spent most of the day working on tasks that I need to accomplish before I move tomorrow. I’ve been here two weeks, but between the rain and trips to southern New Hampshire it seems a lot shorter. On the other hand, the amount of stuff I’ve gotten out of cabinets and not put away looks more like I’ve been here for two months.

I have a noon check out time to meet tomorrow. That’s normally plenty of time, but I have to test my spliced electric connection between the motor home and towed car once I get everything hooked up. I really should have just ordered a new cable as soon as I got here, but I thought it would be easy to splice. What I’ve been able to accomplish is only going to be temporary. I have to order a new cable.

I’ll be leaving as close to the noon check out as possible. My travel route takes me through all of the traffic heading for the Patriots football game. If I leave at noon, most of the people should already be in the stadium for the 1PM game when I get into the Foxborough area. Overall, I’m only traveling about seventy miles. I’ll be there for another two weeks. It means a little more travel to get to some of the areas I want to visit while here, but closer to some of the areas I really enjoy being a tourist.

One of the flower beds that didn’t get impacted by all of the rain over the last couple of weeks.

Friday September 28th 2018

There may have been an occasional light shower during the night, but the real rain began at the breakfast hour. It continued at various intensities until early afternoon. From the TV reports it appears the bulk of the storm passed to the south of this location. Today’s temperature barely made it into the sixties.

This little creature was making enough noise to wake the dead. Something must of had it spooked.

I didn’t do anything exciting today. Mostly I worked on little maintenance tasks like the splice to the electric cord that connects the motorhome and the towed car. It’s one of those do a little bit and put it aside kind of tasks. It will be finished tomorrow so I can use it on Sunday which is moving day.

One expected task was putting air in the car tires. When I went to run an errand the tire pressure warning light came on as I was leaving the campground. I returned to my campsite to use the compressor to top off the tires. It took a little longer than expected because the last rain shower of the day decided to open up right about that time. After the rain stopped it only took a few minutes to top off the tire pressure. It is probably another indicator of cooler temperatures, but I’ll watch to see if I have a leak.

More people left the park this morning than I expected, but the campground is now full for the weekend. A steady flow of arrivals started midway through the afternoon. The arrivals even included one of the European tour groups in the red buses with built in sleepers and outdoor kitchens. I see one of two of these units every year usually with German tourists.

The wet weather has brought a lot of ground fungus.

Thursday September 27th 2018

Last nights line of thunderstorms in the area cooled and dried out the atmosphere. It was a nice cool partly cloudy day. Tomorrow the weather roller coaster is forecast to be back to rain. A flash flood watch has been issued for the area.

A “little” fall color.

One positive result of the cooler rainy weather is the foliage starting to turn. When I’ve been out the last couple of days, I’ve seen trees starting to show some color. It is primarily the trees in the swampy areas that are starting to turn dull red. Some years I’ve seen this level of change in August. The foliage forecasts say the peak will be more than two weeks late this year. It may start to turn faster now that the cooler weather seems to have settled in. I also think bright colors may not happen this year.

The campground really emptied out this morning. When I walked around at mid day there were only three RVs in my section of the campground. Other areas had a few more occupied sites, but overall it looked very empty. In the early afternoon new residents started to arrive. Many of the new arrivals have local plates so they are probably here for the weekend. I only saw a few empty sites on my evening walk around the park. A few of the new arrivals didn’t fully setup so they are likely just overnight guests. That will leave room for tomorrows arrivals.

All of the nice baskets of flower blossoms I was enjoying and taking pictures of last week look pretty sad now. We haven’t had a frost yet, but I think they’ve been flooded out by the rain. Even the pool that was half empty and covered last week is now covered with more water above the cover than under it. The excessive amount of rain this month still doesn’t compare with the rain in the Mid Atlantic states, but it is having an impact in this area too.

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Wednesday September 26th 2018

Yesterday’s heavy rain ended with the day. During the night only an occasional light shower fell. In the morning it was warm and humid with some low level clouds and an occasional sprinkle. The sun started breaking through the clouds off and on starting in the mid morning. The temperature peaked in the eighties. It was a one day return to summer weather. A line of storms is passing through the area tonight ushering in a return to cooler temperatures.

Blue sky through the trees and clouds after yesterday’s storm..

I went back to familiar ground in southern New Hampshire and got a long over due haircut this afternoon. I’ve needed a hair cut for a couple of months now but haven’t found a good place during any of my longer stops. It has been a long time since my hair was as long as it got this time. I try to use one of the national franchise chains. The similarity resulting from the franchise provides a level of comfort and confidence in the end result.

When I got back to the campground this afternoon there were a lot of open sites. Today’s travelers arrived later than during the past few days. They were still arriving as night arrived and many looked like they weren’t staying more than overnight. When they don’t unhook the trailer from the tow vehicle, it is usually a sign of an overnight stay.

This campground has some narrow roads and some tight corners. The staff escorts everyone to their site to make sure they can navigate the campground. This afternoon I watched one arrival with a fifth wheel trailer have difficulty backing into their site. The site has accommodated similar and bigger units during my stay here. For some reason this driver had a great deal of difficulty getting backed in. What was surprising to me is how calm the driver remained. He got out looked around at all the terrain and calmly talked with his copilot then tried again. I suspect one of his issues was the slight up hill slope and loose gravel. He may not of had enough truck for the situation. I didn’t watch the whole time, but it took the entire twenty minutes I was cooking supper for him to get settled. They didn’t unhook so they will probably be leaving in the morning. That’s just one of the little things that entertain me. It isn’t nearly as entertaining when I’m the one having a hard time backing into a site.

As I’ve been writing this blog entry the forecast evening line of storms has arrived. The sound of thunder and the rain on the roof is making it hard to hear the TV. Hopefully it will end before I go to bed.

Tuesday September 25th 2018

It wasn’t a very exciting day, so this blog entry is going to be on my thoughts on the weather’s influence on my behavior. It started to rain this morning about 8AM and has continued at various levels of intensity all day. The noise on the roof is a very good indicator of how hard it is raining. The louder the clatter the heavier the rain. I didn’t leave my RV home all day.

In a house or apartment you are not as aware of the outside weather. You usually don’t hear the rain on the roof and unlike an RV looking out the windows is often blocked by curtains or blinds. It is only after you decide to go out that you consider the weather. In an RV you know about the rain before you make the decision. Knowing that it is going to be wet and difficult driving triggers my procrastination impulse. If there isn’t a real reason for doing something in the rain, I’ll often put it off until another day.

I’ve always been aware of the weather. One of the reasons I began this lifestyle was to get out of the winters in the northeast. If snow was in the forecast I’d try to find a way to hibernate. Now that I don’t have snow to worry about I’m taking a similar approach to heavy rain. I really need a good reason to go out in the rain. I’ve had more full days of rain this year. I was in desert areas most of 2017. This year in the mid west and the east I’ve had a lot more rainy days, but still only a few have been full day rain events like today.

I think that most people living this lifestyle are more aware of the weather. You need to be for safety. RVs don’t handle weather extremes as well as houses and other buildings. The other aspect is you are usually closer to nature. Bright sunny days equate to an active and adventurous day. On cloudy and dull days you have to find other things to motivate you.

I have plenty of indoor entertainment. TV, DVDs and streaming media.

I spent most of the day watching TV. The Home and Garden Network and the Food Network are my fall backs during the day when a good repeat of a series isn’t available. I usually half watch the TV while reading or doing some other task. This evening the new Fall television season kept me entertained. The only difficulty was I had to turn up the volume to hear the shows over the rain on the roof.

Monday September 24th 2018

It wasn’t a very exciting day today. I spent most of my time trying to stay warm. By noon I gave in to the inevitable and turned on some heat. Admitting that cooler weather has arrived means the summer is over. I really don’t know where all the time went. It never got out of the fifties today. Tomorrow is forecast to be warmer, but three inches of rain is also in the forecast.

The campground emptied out even more this morning. Both of my nearby neighbors left before I got up. Why they would hit the road while the morning rush hour traffic was in full swing is beyond my comprehension. Shortly after two this afternoon a stead flow of RVs started arriving to fill many of the empty sites. Most of the arrivals were clearly travelers visiting New England in the fall. Some of the more distant license plates were from New Mexico, Oklahoma and more from California. I saw one plate that I initially thought was New York or possible Oregon, but turned out to be from Alaska. If they traveled from their home, they get the travel distant award, but there is the possibility that the RV stays in the lower forty eight and is used for fall, winter and spring travel. I saw several of those in Nevada last winter.

One sign of Fall is the change from wild flowers to wild fungus.

The cooler weather is causing many subtle changes in the forest that surrounds my campsite. There are more leaves on the ground and the local wildlife seems to have changed behavior. Last week the squirrels and chipmunks were very busy. Sitting outside it was possible to see them running around in all directions. Today it was hard to find any of them on the ground. The chipmunks were in their burrows and the squirrels were in the trees.

Two years ago I was here in the summer. There was a huge rafter of wild turkeys patrolling the perimeter of the campground. I expected to see a few turkeys this year, but so far I haven’t seen any. All I’ve seen in the campground are the squirrels, chipmunks
and an occasional bird. I enjoy seeing bigger birds and animals more than these creatures.

Sunday September 23rd 2018

When I got up this morning there was filtered sunshine coming into my RV home. The clouds soon increased enough that no direct sunlight made it through the trees. That didn’t help warm things up in the rig. The inside temperature started in the fifties and barely made it over seventy by the end of the day with the assistance of my electric fireplace heater. I never really felt warm all day. Tomorrow is forecast to be cooler so I’ll probably have to break out the electric space heater to take the chill off.

I spent most of the day in front of the TV watching various sports. The NFL games formed the default channel selection, but I switched off to baseball and golf. Late in the afternoon I got caught up in the PGA Tour Championship. Watching Tiger Woods return to win a tournament after more than five years and several back surgeries was fun. The fact that he also almost won the FedEx Cup championship was just weird. How could a guy that was in twenty something position going into the final tournament leap frog so many players to end up in second place?

This evening I started with the Red Sox vs. Indians baseball game. Both teams have clinched their post season position. It was interesting watching them try not to get hurt playing out the season. When the Patriots vs. Lions football game started I switched to that game. I wasn’t up to watching the Patriots get crushed, so I switched back to the baseball game. It is still going in the eleventh inning as I’m writing this.

Power cable with six conductors. The abrasion at the bottom of the picture is the area that needs to be spliced.

While the games played on the TV, I worked on splicing the power cord that connects my Motorhome with the towed car. It got pinched between the hitch and the road last Sunday on my way here. Cutting back the wires to bare conductors and connecting like colored wires is the easy part. I need to figure out how to add some strain relief. The coiled characteristic of the cable requires it to be stretched to be connected. Without strain relief the splices will be pulled apart.

All of the weekenders have departed the campground along with a few of the travelers. It is as empty tonight as I’ve seen it since I arrived last Sunday. I suspect it will fill up as the week goes by.

A little bit of fall color above my campsite.

Saturday September 22nd 2018

The Autumnal Equinox may not have arrived until 9:54 Eastern Time this evening, but it sure seemed like fall all day. The air was far less humid and cooler this morning. The sun was hidden behind the clouds most of the day only allowing the temperature to reach the high sixties. There are frost warnings a little north of here tonight.

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Another sign of the season can be seen in the activities people are engaged in. This area of Massachusetts has a number of Apple and Peach Orchards. When I was out driving around today I came across a traffic jam around one of the pick your own places. A few miles down the road signs directed traffic toward another orchard. I remember as a young kid picking peaches and apples at a similar place. At that time my parents canned peaches so we had them available all winter. I remember it as a real production with lots of hot boiling water. Busy lives and readily available commercially canned peaches in the grocery store brought an end to the canning when I was still in elementary school. They continued to freeze vegetables from the garden for several more years, but even that eventually came to an end. I’ve never had any desire to pick up on the food processing habits of my youth.

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Here at the campground a few of the travelers departed this morning to be replaced with another set this afternoon. Surprisingly, there are eight RVs from California scattered around the park. Mostly I’m surprised by the number not the fact that Californians want to see New England and the fall foliage. If they linger in the northeast too long they won’t be able to return west along a northern route. The latest long range forecasts on TV call for significant early snow fall in the mid west. One forecast even called for snow in New England in October. Maybe I’m just obsessed with the weather forecasts.

Blossom of the day

Friday September 21st 2018

Today started with some sunshine then declined all day. A cold front moving in from the west pushed clouds into the area with the threat of rain and wind. The temperature peaked in the low seventies, but didn’t really feel that warm. The forecast seems to call for clearing but cooler conditions as fall arrives tomorrow.

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I don’t have much to write about in this blog entry. The day involved some TV in the morning and some driving back to southern New Hampshire in the afternoon. Once I got back to my RV home a spontaneous nap consumed more of the afternoon.

The campground is full for the weekend. It even looks like most of the cabins are occupied too. In addition to the many travelers from around North America there are plenty of weekenders from the nearby states. What was a quiet place all week is much noisier tonight. There are a few kids making kid type noises, but there are also several camping “buddies” that like to holler between sites. The good thing is I think the hollering is what brought me out of my spontaneous nap. Hopefully, they will be quieter in the morning, so I don’t wake up to their voices.

Blossom of the day.