June 18, 2023 HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE! Bob and I both slept like logs last night after a very long day yesterday. We had a relaxing morning, but skipped our special Sunday breakfast which we will have tomorrow when we have more time to enjoy it. Something else we skipped was Auggie’s 13th birthday on June 16th. BAD PARENTS! We were so engulfed in the air bag problem and totally forgot. So later on today, we will celebrate with his favorite wet, dog food cake and special birthday treats. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET AUGGIE DOGGIE!
The sun came out this morning and after the rain we had yesterday, it was a good start to the day! Other campers were out and about enjoying the start of Father’s Day. The campground was having a hay ride for the campers to celebrate the dads. We got ready and pulled out of the campground at 11:00. We still had to go slow on the narrow road leading out of the campground to avoid those low hanging branches, but at least today, we could enjoy the beauty of the woods without any rain to blur our view.
We hopped on I-84 right out of Willington and would be driving the interstate most of today. The terrain was hillier and forested compared to our drive yesterday, but there seemed to be dark clouds waiting for us off to the north.
It was only 18 miles to the border of Massachusetts and we crossed the border at 11:30.
There was a lot of traffic on I-90 (toll) leaving Worchester. Those overhead toll-by-transponder or plate recorders save a lot of time and make things go a lot faster.
We called ahead to the campground to ask if we could arrive before the 2:00 check-in time and they said it was not a problem. The day was off to a good start! It was a beautiful drive with lots of small lakes, forested rolling hillsides, and rocky outcroppings.
There were not a lot of highway changes or any large cities to drive through today. It should be an easy drive. With the stop-and-go traffic we had all day yesterday and a strong crosswind, we got only 8 mpg. Today, we had a lot of up and down in the hills, but we also had a strong tailwind and still only got 8.8 mpg. It must have been all the up and down that affected the mileage because our average is 10 mph on a good day. We hopped on I-495 north toward Salisbury, MA located near the coast.
We crossed over the Merrimack River 3 different times in the town of Lawrence. The Merrimack River winds throughout the area and empties into the Gulf of Maine.
We had some light sprinkles as rain showers popped up near the coast. We arrived in Salisbury’s Beach Rose RV Park at 1:30 just like we thought we would. It is advertised as the closest private park to the Atlantic Ocean.
We stopped at the cute little office to check in.
We were escorted to site #44. It’s a nice site with plenty of space between sites and lots of grass for Auggie.
Since we are celebrating Auggie’s birthday today, he got to do whatever he wanted to do which was spend all day outside with us. The temp was 66 degrees with partly sunny skies, so it was very pleasant sitting outside. I did a few loads of wash while we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. It was good to know we were going to be staying in one place for 3 nights. The campground was full with locals celebrating Father’s Day with their families. Bob got a call from his daughter to wish him a “Happy Father’s Day”. Auggie got his special birthday dinner of canned wet dog food mixed in with his dry kibble bits and shaped like a cake. He usually gets a candle too, but I didn’t have one with us. We sang “Happy Birthday” as he anxiously awaited his dinner. He also got some special birthday treats!
Bob grilled steak for dinner–his choice for Father’s Day– and we took our evening walk around the campground. The park only has 50 sites so it was a short walk around the campsites, but it has a very nice heated swimming pool, a huge off-leash dog park, and rec room that we checked out. They keep the grounds very nicely manicured.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, so we’ll take a short drive to Gloucester–America’s oldest seaport and active working waterfront. If you watch the TV show “Wicked Tuna”, this is one of the ports they leave from as they fish for Bluefin tuna, the biggest tuna in the sea at 200-800 lbs. each. Bob watches that show regularly and wanted to visit the town he’s always hearing about. There are also a few lighthouses in the area so those are on my list of things to see. We look forward to exploring the area.