Going to Bean Town for Flo's 91st Birthday

Mama Jewell is going to be 91 so it is time to go back to Boston to see friends and family.   Had to leave the RV home for this journey......took to the sky instead.

It is a wonderful time to visit Boston.  The weather is great, the foliage is just starting to pop and many of the tourists are gone.

We visited all the old haunts.  Walt and I met there 42 YEARS AGO!!!  Cheers (called the Bullfinch Pub then), Durgin Park, Fenway, etc.

We found a winery in Amesbury Massachusetts called the Jewell Towne Vineyards.  It is located in the "Jewell Historic District".  We went there for a visit and bought some of the wine.  The farm house dates back to 1795 and Benjamin Jewell. 

 

 

Had to eat at Friendly's, Duncan Donuts and have at least one serving of fried clams and a big Lobster Roll!! 

Drove around the area and found wonderful scenery, even some very spooky places.

Flo had a good time visiting her sister-in-laws; Terry and Ruth.  They are 89, 90 and 91.  They all outlived their Jewell husbands and are going strong.  All of the Jewell's got together for "supper" at Aunt Ruths!

We have arrived home from our Pacific Northwest Trip.  83 days, 4436 miles and 655 gallons of fuel and visited 6 states.

Pacific Northwest Trip; Chehalis, SIlver Lake Washington and Mount Saint Helens

We are gradually heading home.  Weather continues to be wonderful.  We found another RV Resort with an 18 hole golf course and restaurant.  Riverside Golf and RV in Chehalis Washington.  We stayed a week because it was so nice.  They gave us a golf cart for our entire stay and the prices were great.

Left on 7/19 for a short drive down to Silver Lake Washington to meet up with my sister and her husband.  We want to visit Mt St Helens and we found a nice park called Silver Cove RV Campground.  Our campground had a large osprey nest.  The two juveniles were being abandoned by their parents while we were there.   They were not happy to be left behind. 


Mt St Helens was spectacular.  Hard to imagine the devastation to this area 31 years ago.   Nature has rebounded well.

 

 

Fourth of July in Montana then on to Washington State

We stayed on at Flathead Lake until July 5th.  Tons of fireworks up here.  Everyone is setting them off.  There was a nice firework display provided by the local county/city folk.   It was on a barge out on Flathead Lake.  The firework display didn't start until 11pm!!   Way up here, it isn't dark until then.

Our neighbors at the Lakeside RV Park told us about a great RV/Golf resort near Spokane.  We spent 5 days there and enjoyed the weather and the golf.  Great sites and inexpensive too.  Saw a beautiful duck on the course.  We think it is a Ruddy duck.  Look at his beautiful blue beak.

Smoke was pestered by some Killdeer birds that were nesting nearby.  They tried to lure him away by pretending to be injured. Quite a display they put on.

Next stop Seattle area.  Stayed at the Bremerton Elks club.  Weather is great here too.  Enjoyed the ferry ride to Seattle and the Pike Place Market.  The very first Starbucks was near the market.  Long line to get in.  Don't understand why???

We also went to Renton Washington to visit the Kenworth assembly plant.  Because Walt owns a Kenworth, they gave us a private tour. 

Found another RV/Golf resort in Chehalis, Washington.   Riverside RV and Golf.  Can't get over the prices up here.  $20 round of golf with a cart!!  Great greens too.  Golfed at least 9 holes each day.  The locals say that the best weather is July and August....the rest of the time it is wet here.

Next stop, Mount St. Helens.

Flathead Lake, Montana and Glacier National Park

We are staying in Lakeside Montana until after the 4th of July. We have a nice park across from the lake. Fireworks are planned for the 4th.

Lots of Osprey nests and fields of mustard. Spectacular scenery.

Glacier National Park is breathtaking! We were here in 1974 when we moved from Boston. We traveled in a Pinto station wagon then because of the gas crisis. Remember that?

We stopped at many of the overlook areas.  One was along McDonald Lake and I was able to capture the reflection of the mountains in the image of the lake. See below.

Weather right now is fantastic. At lake level 85 but up at Glacier it was around 70 and perfect for sightseeing. We did the drive to the "Road to the Sun".  Waterfalls and glaciers at every turn.

We saw wild horses and big horn sheep.

We have only been here a few days.  I am sure we will enjoy our stay at Glacier National Park!

 

 



Where is Greybull Wyoming?

We left Jackson Hole and traveled thru Yellowstone exiting the East entrance.  Needed to go over the Sylvan Pass at 8500 feet. Good roads thankfully.  Plan was to stay in Cody but we went on to Greybull a few miles more.  Stayed in the KOA there.  It was the second KOA in the nation.  A couple from the Netherlands bought it a few years ago and they have made it really nice.  Wonderful warm pool, big level pull thrus.  As former full time RVers, they know how to set up a nice campground.  Be sure to check this place out it you find yourself in this neck of the woods.  Click on KOA below to go to their website.

Lots to see around there too. Wild horses, dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs.

Leaving for Gillette we went over the Powder River Pass in the Big Horn Mountains 9666 feet.  The jake break sure came in handy on the way down!

FMCA rally is almost over

We will be headed to Montana in the morning.  We have had fun here in Gillette.  2300 rigs here for the convention.  My head is spinning from all the computer classes I have taken.  Movie Maker, Picasa, how to make a blog, smartphone, google maps to name a few.  If you ever attend an FMCA rally and see classes given by Geeks on Tour, be sure to attend. Check out their website by clicking the word Geeks above.

We have looked at coaches.  We also bought a week in Refuge RV and Golf resort in Lake Havasu for a good price. We will use it next spring.  More once we reach Montana.

Our Next RV

Jewell's First Blog

We are at the FMCA Rally in Gillette Wyoming.  Many of the seminars we attended are on topics like photo editing, smartphone technology, wifi versus cellular connectivity, etc.  One course was on how to set up your own BLOG.  We were impressed with how easy it was to set up and we think it will be a good way to catalog our travels and share our experiences with our family and friends.

So, our BLOG name is Jewell On Tour and our web address is JewellOT@blogspot.com.

Jackson Hole Wyoming, Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

We spent 3 days here.  Wonderful views.  Mountains, streams and lakes amazing.  Saw elk, prong horn deer and buffalo.  Didn't get to see any bears.

Experienced our first hail storm in Jackson Hole.  No damage thankfully.



We enjoyed the Tetons more than Yellowstone.  Found it to be much more picturesque.



Jenny Lake was beautiful.  There is a very small chapel in Grand Teton park called the Chapel of Transfigration.  Here is a picture from inside of the chapel looking at the Tetons. 

Blenders Annual Memorial Day Get-to-gether

We kicked off our summer trip in Plymouth, CA at 49er village.  A group of RV friends gather each year and we call ourselves the Blenders. 

Watching the Indy and Daytona race is part of the fun.  Bean bag and bocce tournaments supplement the fun. 

 

Food is abundant and includes shrimp/fish tacos, omelets in a bag and long cakes.

2013 Winter Trip; Nashville Story and Homeward Bound

Now the rig is turned west and we are getting out before tornado season starts in the Oklahoma/Tennessee area.

We didn’t get far before we ran into engine trouble.  Walt started to see smoke from the tail pipe off and on.   We looked up International service centers and found one in Nashville.  Cumberland International told us to come right in.  Now the going gets tough!!   We were there 18 days!   We were “fixed” 3 times and sent on our way only have to come right back with the same issue.  Towed again too!!  Hotel life with a cat is not our cup of tea.  Good news, we were stuck in Nashville.  Could be worse places to be stuck.

 

 

 Really enjoyed the town.  Did you know they have a Parthenon??  We didn’t either.   It was built for a Centennial Celebration in 1897.

 

Got to check out the American Pickers store here.  They have a shop here in an old Marathon automobile factory.  Didn’t get to see Mike, Frank or Danielle.  Click on American above to go to their website.

 

Have you ever seen a bike riding dog with dreadlocks?  We did.  Here he is.

 

 

While there, we met a up and coming singer.   Their RV was parked next to ours with her name across the back.  Charee White.  She was recording her second CD and was kind enough to sing for us and give us a CD.  Lovely young lady. We hope she makes it to the big-time.

 

We headed home a bit later than we wanted to.  Tornado season has started.  Just getting out of here in time.

So, arrived home  April 19^th.

 

Gone 109 days, 8230  miles,  14 states and 1091 gallons of fuel.  We will be home a month and then head out again for our Pacific Northwest trip.

2013 Winter Cross Country Trip; St. Augustine, Savannah, Tybee Island, Charleston, Myrtle Beach & Mooresville

After 7 weeks in Florida, we are now heading northward.  We visited St Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, Tybee Island, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach before heading inland to visit the Meesters’ in Mooresville, NC.

St. Augustine is a very pretty city.  It is the oldest European settled & continuously inhabited city in the USA.  Architecture is heavily influenced from its time being under Spanish rule.  

Savannah was also very  beautiful. The live oaks (term meaning they don't drop their leaves) are everywhere and lovely Spanish moss hangs from them.  Every few blocks there is a square or park in the city that date back to when the city was first designed. They call these parks the Jewels of the City.

We drove to Tybee Island to visit the lighthouse and beach.  Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs on this beach every year.  Click on Tybee above to go to a website about their turtle protection program.

We moved up to the Charleston area and found a wonderful county park with large spaces, full hookups and lots of bird life. We saw male and female cardinals, wood storks in trees and many egrets sunning themselves in the trees.  Also, great hiking trails. 

 

The name of the park is James Island County Park. Click on the word James on the left to go to their website.

We went out to a plantation that still had their authentic slave quarters.  They had a very informative visitor program to talk about slave and plantation life.

We stayed next in Myrtle Beach at Ocean Lakes Campground.  Needed to get a little more of the Atlantic Ocean before we head westward. 

We golfed there and a big squirrel ran up to us.  He was really big and had this white nose.  We had never seen one like it before.  We didn't know if we needed to run or feed him. Turns out, he was a Eastern FOX Squirrel and very friendly.

Next stop Moorseville, NC to see our friends Joe and Linda Meesters.  

We were the first of their RV friends to plug into their new RV spot. 

While there, we drove up to Mt Airey,  NC the real “Mayberry USA” and  home town of Andy Griffith, Opie and Aunt Bee.  Had our first PORK CHOP SANDWICH for $4.05 and it was real good too. Breaded pork, chili, cole slaw and mustard.