June 29, 2014 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Having Rally Friends at the Campsite

What a fantastic weekend!!! Our friends Jo and Ben who we met in the rally came to visit us and we had an amazing time. Jo and Ben are both nurses and Jo is also a psychologist (which comes in handy as I am dealing with empty nest syndrome and house selling stress lol). They decided they wanted to try travel nursing so they sold their house in the mountains near Colorado (in three days grrr) and started working on the road out of their Arctic Fox. They are very experienced campers but new to the Full Time RV lifestyle and picked the coast of Maine as their first assignment. Ben is a trauma nurse so it’s easier for him to find contracts, but it was a bit tougher for Jo as she is not licensed as a psychologist in Maine and had not practiced nursing in a year or so. Plus people think postcard New England ,and it is beautiful, but culturally and environmentally it’s quite a bit different from the wide spaces of the west they are used to.

Luckily we can relate. Even though we have lived here for 14 years, it’s still very different from the Midwest environment we are used to. The main thing about New England if you have to think in terms of the 5 states (New Hampshire, Mass, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island). There are lots of cool stuff to do, but you need to cover all the states to see everything. They’ve been staying pretty close to home in Maine, but we gave them some of our favorites including Newport, RI, Mount Washington, and Stowe Vermont. Those are places we have gone back to over and over and still enjoy. They did get to see Moosehead Lake and saw a family of moose, which I am incredibly jealous of, and had a wonderful camping experience new Acadia National park. Not only do they have their 5th wheel but they also have a second truck with a pop-up camper on the back. They take the little truck (with their two dogs) everywhere and it allows them to boon dock and reach areas they could never get to with the big trailer…brilliant!!

Jo and Anubis the sweetest 12-year-old rescue dog

Ben and Peyton a beautiful Malamute rescue who is high-spirited but very friendly

We spent Saturday talking to Jo and Ben from 9am to 10 pm and never ran out of things to talk about. We are fascinated by their new lifestyle and what it takes to work on the road. It’s a weird dynamic because despite what it looks like you are not on vacation. You take your real life issues with you, but you have a freedom and flexibility that few who live in a sticks and bricks house will ever know. Most of the couples we met at the rally are either retired or have sufficient investments that working is somewhat optional. Jo and Ben are still carrying some student debt so working is a requirement for them. It was great talking to them though because despite the challenges they are making it work and I find them extremely inspirational as a couple. Plus they are both really interesting people and very fun to hang out with.

Jo brought haddock with her straight from a dockside stand close to Kennebunkport where they are staying. I went to the local farm around the corner from our house and bought all the fresh vegetables they had so we had a fantastic meal. I made this yummy salad with fresh lettuce (amazing), radishes, and green onions straight from the ground.

Farm fresh salad with Olive Garden dressing

I have been wanting to learn how to cook fish on the grill..and Ben is a super fisherman…so Jo marinated it and Ben set to showing me how to cook it. One problem, the Coleman grill we have only used twice would not stay lit…so Ben and Lee troubleshoot it while Jo and I laughed a lot. The wine made things quite merry 🙂 Here’s some pictures showing the troubleshooting and how it stopped working in mid-grilling and we had to move the fish to the fire and then back again to the grill once they got it going again. Despite the cooking crazy the fish was amazing!!!

Ben cooking the fish

Grill stops working

Ben’s trying to fix it

Jo always cool steps in to save the fish

Jo and Ben transferring fish back to grill…thank heavens they are nurses…. see the surgical precision of the transfer It’s like it was a transplant heart 🙂

Right after dinner we got a call from Kelly and Bill and Cori and Greg. They were two other couples we had met at the rally and coincidentally were getting together Saturday night. I know I’ve said it before but the quality of the friendships we made from the rally are beyond anything I have ever experienced in a group setting. We all love the same things. We will be driving up to visit them in Maine in a few weeks and four couples will be meeting in Pennsylvania in August. Also many of us have signed up for the RV-Dreams reunion rally in May. Love, love, love these friends!!

Lessons Learned

You can use tortilla chips or Doritos as fire starters. Seriously we tried it and they burn great and for a while. Potato chips on the other hand not so much
Check out TravelTax.com for an accountant Jo and Ben recommends who specializes in providing tax assistance to people who travel and work.

Barb’s Cucumber Salad

This is super simple and one of Lee’s all time favorites. or best taste use farmer’s market cucumbers.

2 medium-sized cucumbers
1 small white onion or half of a medium-sized
1 cup mayonnaise you can substitute lite mayo or Miracle Whip but I like to use the real stuff
1/3 cup of cider vinegar
Pepper

Cut off ends of cucumbers and then use knife to cut a portion of the peel on the outside…2-3 long slices not required just makes it look a little prettier
Cut thin slices of cucumber
Cut onion into small squares about 1″ or long slivers
Mix onions and cucumbers in a plastic bowl with a lid
Add Mayonnaise
Add cider vinegar
Sprinkle with pepper
Place lid on bowl and shake
Open and sprinkler more pepper
Shake again. Continue until you can see some pepper flakes in the sauce.

Barb’s Cucumber Salad

Ben’s Grilled Haddock

2 pounds haddock as fresh as you can find (you can also use halibut or tilapia)
8 TBL Olive Oil
2 TBL Lemon Juice
1 tsp Basil you can double to taste
1 tsp Parsley you can double to taste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Foil

Mix all ingredients (except for fish and foil); blend well
Place marinade in large Ziploc Freezer bag
Place fish in bag
Shake gently to cover fish with marinade
Marinade 30 minutes
Place fish on foil sheet and the cover with another piece of foil sealing the edges tightly to make a packet
Place fish on pre heated grill over medium heat and shut lid
Cook for 5 minutes, turn packet, and cook for another 5 minutes
Remove from grill and serve.

Fish before we wrapped it in foil

Fish after being cooked

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June 22, 2014 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Having Parents at the Campsite

This weekend was a fun four-day weekend because my youngest daughter graduated from high school. Huge plus of a seasonal site is we had somewhere to take my Dad and Step mom during down times to just hang out and the lake was great for the teenagers to lay out and have some fun with the boat. Thursday night when my dad came in we all hung around the campfire and Lee and I made chicken, corn on the cob (wrapped in bacon), and crunchy cole slaw. It was an inexpensive way to feed 7 people and my dad got to see our camper. He was very surprised as he is not internet savvy at all and has only heard me talk about it over the phone. I don’t think he had any idea how luxurious it is and he was duly impressed 🙂 Here’s some pictures.

Carol (my beautiful step mom) , Kay, and Lee

Kay’s graduation cake

Jake hanging out by the fire

Friday was the graduation so we hung out closer to home, but on Saturday we all went out and spent some time by the lake then had a great dinner in town in the evening. The kids had an awesome time boating, swimming, and diving…and I finally swum out to the diving platform myself. Was a little chilly but I made it!!

Katy and Jake

Katy was definitely in charge of this twosome!!

Dad, Katy, and Jake..they kayaked the entire lake

Dad helping Katy up…the dock is pretty wobbly

Kyrston and Jake on the diving platform

Doing flips!!

It was a great weekend…although light on the actual camper time due to other commitments…but it was great getting to show my dad what I’ve been talking so much about. Plus all my kids are now graduated!!!! Hooray we made it

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June 15, 2014 by Lee and Tracy

Paddling on the Ashuelot River

This weekend the forecast said bright and sunny but it changed a bit and we were back to some rain. It’s funny how the camping experience changes on rainy days and one of the drawbacks of a seasonal site is you can’t plan your camping tips around the weather. When we went into the camper thee was a definite rotten food smell. This was new as the camper has still maintained its “new camper” smell this whole time but we could smell it. After checking the fridge we discovered the smell was coming from the sink. During the week, Lee came out and drained and flushed the tanks and although he had put some water in the black tank (you must do this to avid hardened pyramids of poo) he did not put any water in the grey tank. I put some chemicals down it and once we took our showers Saturday morning the smell finally dissipated, but definitely a lesson learned is to leave some water in BOTH tanks. Part of the problem with being parked seasonally is there is no motion to agitate the water and clean the sides of the tanks. The sensors in the grey tank say 2/3 full even when its empty so there is definitely residue of some sort stuck to the sides. We do the best we can not to let any food particles go down the sink, but seriously this is next to impossible.

We were able to grill out burgers Friday night though and after 25 years of marriage I have finally gotten Lee to watch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. For those who are fans getting him through Season 1 was a challenge, but we finally hit season 2 and he likes it better. This was the thing my girls and I did together growing up and we are all huge fans of the show, so it’s nice to be able to finally share that with Lee. So far that’s been our rainy night activity 🙂

Saturday we woke up and it was cool and overcast. Lee put the boat in the truck, but I wasn’t thrilled about paddling in the weather…but we waited it out and around 12:30 drove down to the Ashuelot River. We put into the river by Matthews Road i( right by one of the 7 covered bridges in Swanzey) and although there isn’t an official boat launch there we managed to navigate the mud and get it into the water. Our plan was to paddle upriver until we got tired and then turn around and float/paddle back. I will say I love going downstream, but not as big of a fan of going upstream 🙂 That’s work!! IT was absolutely beautiful though and although somewhat overcast we had a wonderful time.

The covered bridge by the river entrance

Pretty view of covered bridge through the trees

View of the bridge from the river

As you can see from the construction its old

The water was muddy from the rain

We paddled right under this tree hanging out over the water

We saw a turtle on this log but it jumped off before I could get a picture

On the way back we decided to get a little adventurous and went into a couple of alcoves and side streams. It’s fun but you couldn’t really see how deep it was so we had to really communicate in order not to get stuck . We also saw along the river bank some mussel shells. I had no idea the river had muscles in it…so I looked it up when we got back and they are Eastern Elliptio Mussels . The animals apparently know because there were lots of shells along the river bank. We went over to the bank at one point so I could get a rock for my collection and we saw many of them. All in all it was super relaxing and after two paddling trips I am definitely hooked…although my arms and shoulders are sore again today 🙂

We went down this side stream to the left as far as we could go

Who new the river had elliptio mussles?? The animals apparently

We got back to the campsite and I started to get things ready for dinner for our friends Mark and Cricket. As you know if you’ve been reading I like to try out new recipes, especially foods made over the campfire, but I have only subjected Lee to the results of those experiments. Mark and Cricket are the mellowest couple we know so I thought I would try out some new items on them. I did warn them though that usually I only had a 50% success rate 🙂 Cricket and Mark came about 6pm and Cricket brought me some flowers from her yard as a housewarming gift. So sweet and very beautiful. Plus the little flower holder does two things…looks pretty and doubles as a small vase.

Housewarming gift from Cricket and Mark

We took them on a tour and Lee and I watched the food until finally everything was done. Turns out I had some good karma coming for being adventuresome because they liked everything!! Chicken, Baked potatoes, Grilled Carrots, and Bacon wrapped corn on the cob all were declared winners! The bacon wrapped corn was particularly interesting. It had some kick because of the chili powder and the bacon flavor enhanced rather than drowning out the taste of the fresh corn. I am a corn purist being brought up in the heartland but this was really good. If your interested in the recipes I have them below.

Mark and Cricket eating

Chicken, Corn on the cob, carrots, and baked potatoes 100% cooked over the fire

After dinner we stayed up talking for a long time. One of the things I don’t like about our seasonal site is we are surrounded by VERY loud neighbors. On the nights they are in sounds like they have 20 people at their sites. The conversation is pleasant not obnoxious but they are loud. One of the coolest things about having people over to visit is it helps tune out what they are doing…although we all know how to use an appropriate level outside voice lol. Again, one of the downsides of a seasonal site. When we had loud neighbors last summer we shrugged it off for just one weekend and moved on, but these folks are for the summer. They are nice people don’t get me wrong, but we like to camp for the nature and relaxation and they are definitely in the camping to socialize/party group. All in all it was a another great weekend though and it was so nice that Cricket and Mark came out to share it with us.

Lesson Learned

Do not empty the grey tank completely or you will get a rotten food smell

Bacon Wrapped Corn

4 ears of fresh corn
4 bacon strips
2 TBL chili powder

1. Husk the corn and place on a large piece of foil

2. Wrap corn in a piece of bacon

3. Sprinkler with chili powder

4. Close the corn in foil and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Flip once after 10 minutes

Preparing corn for the grill

Potatoes Baked in Foil

I’ve tried several recipes to make baked potatoes on the grill and this one actually worked. This is how we’ve always made potatoes in the oven and it works equally well over a campfire

4 medium Idaho potatoes
butter

1. Scrub potatoes and poke with a knife to create a steam release

2. Place on large piece of heavy-duty foil folded over to double thickness

3. Rub potatoes with butter or margarine (use your hands it’s fun and makes your hands soft)

4. Wrap potatoes completely

5. Place potatoes directly on coals on the outside edges of the campfire

6. Cook for 1 hour turning every 15 minutes

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June 7, 2014 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Paddling in our Sea Eagle Kayak

Finally a weekend without rain…hooray. Absolutely beautiful 80 degrees and we got to pull out the Sea Eagle Kayak we bought after the rally that has been sitting in a box mocking me 🙂 It absolutely lived up to its press. VERY easy to blow up and relatively light weight.

Lee pumping up the Sea Eagle Kayak

Lee putting together the Sea Eagle

The Boat all blown up!!

Lots of space for two in the boat

We put it in the truck and drove down to the camp office. I posted my sign with our two kayaks for sale $100 each or $150 for both. The owner of the campground came right out and wanted to know if her husband could go look at the, Absolutely they have only been used twice and although they are short are in great shape. We went down to the lake and immediately two women said “I want one” and “Where did you get that?” Inflatible Boats 4 Less .com is the answer. 🙂 The lake was gorgeous with some absolutely beautiful views.

Swanzey Lake Views

Four golden retrievers playing in their space of lake they looked so happy 🙂

The lake has an inlet that goes to a small waterfall

Lee paddling…look at that smile

I was lounging 🙂

Homemade NH diving board on a rock…this cracked me up

Close up of diving board

By the time we got back from our boating trip the owner of the campground came out with check in hand to buy the kayaks!! Fantastic and $150 is exactly what we need to buy the sail that goes with the Sea Eagle we have. Super excited!!! Here’s a link to what the sail looks like. Since we had worked out our arms we decided to take a bike ride and work on our legs a bit. It didn’t last too long…I am definitely out of biking practice. I was making spaghetti for dinner and realized I didn’t have cherry tomatoes for the salad so we jumped in the truck and ran to the store. On the way we stopped at the liquor store which I have been in 1 time in 13 years. I am not making that up…I am not much of a drinker often a month or two can go by without me having a drink, but Lee had bought some alcohol and I thought why not. Turns out the only thing inexpensive in New Hampshire is booze lol. The liquor stores are state-run and the prices were really good. So now we own more booze than we have owned in one sitting in 25 years of marriage. This is not an exaggeration. Plus I am trying the boxed wine because Lee doesn’t care for wine and I won’t drink a bottle by myself so I thought I would give the boxed wine a try. (Update: Never became a fan of boxed wine. Never found one that tasted good. So I keep a few bottles in the liquor cabinet and one in the fridge. Space is limited but some things are worth it!!) Here’s some pictures proving that apparently I have decided to become a heavy drinker 🙂

Lots of Liquor

The funniest thing was when we bought beer at the grocery store…oh yes there is beer also. The kid at the checkout looked at me and carded us. I haven’t been carded in a really long time and of course had no purse with me. But Lee grinned and pulled out his driver’s license. I asked him how long it had been since he had been carded and he said “About 50 pounds ago,” which cracked the kids up and made me laugh.

Dinner that night was great. I like to make my spaghetti sauce in big batches and freeze it. Perfect for the camper as I thawed out a small bag full and we have a lovely dinner of salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread. The carbs really hit the spot after today’s workout. The spaghetti I make is a family recipe that is in its fourth generation..my grandmother, my mom, myself, and now my girls all cook it. Having this meal in particular really made the new RV feel like a home and both Lee and I really enjoyed it.

Spaghetti Sauce

These are the single batch recipe quantities (feeds a family of five). I always triple the batch and freeze it. Now with the two of us 5 ladle fulls in a Ziploc bag is perfect for one meal.

1 pound of hamburger
1 can tomato sauce (32 oz)
1 can tomato paste (12 0z)
120z water
1 TBL onion salt
1 TBL garlic salt
1 TBL oregano or Italian seasoning mix
1 TBL parmesan cheese
1 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper

1. Brown the ground beef

2. While browning beef place tomato sauce and tomato paste in large pot

3. Fill empty tomato paste can with water and let stand

4. Add all seasoning

5. Add water and any remaining tomato paste from can

6. Drain beef well and add to sauce

7. Mix thoroughly with a large slotted spoon

8. Bring sauce to a light boil then simmer. (Stir frequently to ensure sauce does not burn)

9. Remove from heat and let sit over night

10. Separate enough sauce for dinner, freeze remainder.

Spaghetti Dinner

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June 1, 2014 by Lee and Tracy

One Year Camping Anniversary

One year ago this weekend, Lee and I had our very first camping adventure here at Swanzey Lake Campground. It’s been an amazing year so I thought I would take a second and recap what we have done. If you looking for the full read…check out the Key Moments tab. In one week we decided to buy a camper, found one, bought it, and had our first camping experience. Last summer we went camping over 13 weekends and visited 9 states. We saw our daughter in Wisconsin, went to the ocean in Maine, and saw the Olympic village in Lake Placid…just to mention a few highlights. What we knew by the end of the summer was that we love camping and being together just the two of us. The summer allowed us to reconnect to one another.

At the end of the summer we decided we wanted more (including longer trips and more boon docking), so we went to Hershey RV show for two days and found the perfect 5th wheel for us. We ordered a new truck, ordered the new 5th wheel and endured a VERY long winter waiting to get out there again. Finally the 5th wheel came and we attended an amazing rally and met so many other people who are as passionate about camping as we are. So it’s been a year and we sit in the same site (this time as a seasonal) grateful for the many gifts last year brought us. Because we are selling our house and getting our last child to graduate HS we intentionally picked a campground 20 minutes from the house. I am going to wait a few more weekends before I compare seasonal camping to going to different sites.

One thing I can say is whether you are moving around or staying put camping is a really great way to spend the weekend. Because I have been traveling so much, I absolutely had to go into town this morning and run some errands and I went from super relaxes to stressed in no time at all. The lights and noise in a super store are jarring after the stillness of the campsite. Everyone waves in the campground…no waves out in the “real world” plus I saw some pretty rude behavior in a couple of stores you just don’t see in the campground. It’s funny because these are the same people who live in town but there is something about nature that seems to bring out the best in people. So how do I feel after a year…pretty darn awesome about the whole thing 🙂 It just gets better and better and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

One of the really fun parts of camping for me is trying out new recipes. Cooking was a chore with three kids but now I can really explore different foods and God love Lee for being willing to eat just about anything. So this weekend I had menus that were all new items. Most of them were a bust unfortunately…either didn’t taste that great or waaay more trouble than it was worth, but I did discover two winners and have listed the recipes below. It’s a lot of fun even if the experiments don’t turn out that great and it’s a good way to kill time on a rainy day. I love old cookbooks and found the following in one of the church cookbooks that people put out as fundraisers. The recipe was written by Ruth Arledge and I thought I would pass it along.

A Happy Home Recipe

4 cups of Love
2 cups of Loyalty
3 cups of Forgiveness
1 cup of Friendship (I add a second cup because I think it’s so important)
5 spoons of Hope
2 spoons of Tenderness
4 quarts of Faith
1 barrel of laughter

1. Take love and loyalty, mix it thoroughly with faith.

2. Blend it with tenderness, kindness, and understanding

3. Add friendship and hope, sprinkler abundantly with laughter

5. Bake with sunshine

Serve daily with generous helpings.

Sesame Scented Snow Pea Pods

Super easy and delicious

1/2 pound fresh snow pea pods
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Steam snow pea pods for 3 minutes. If you have a steamer for the microwave this works well. If you don’t have a steamer, blanch the snow pea pods in water for 1-2 minutes until bright green.
Drain peas and pat dry.
Place in bowl and toss lightly with sesame oil. If you have spray oil this works great. Squirt 3 times then toss then 3-4 times more to taste
Serve right away

Cinnamon-Seared Pound Cake

Simple to make and REALLY good. The grilled cinnamon flavor goes great with the strawberries and the bread has a little crunch.

1 16oz bag frozen strawberries (thawed)
1 10-1/2 oz package frozen pound cake – thawed (Sarah Lee is pretty yummy)
2 TBL butter (softened)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Whipped cream

Place undrained strawberries in blender and blend until smooth. Chill in refrigerator
Blend softened butter and cinnamon
Cut thin slice off each end of pound cake
Cut remaining cake into 6 slices
Spread butter on one side of each piece of pound cake
Place cake, buttered side down, on grill. Cook for one minute then flip and cook for two minutes
Place cake on plates with strawberry mixture and top with whip cream

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Camper Chronicles

Travel Tales from Working Full Time RVers

Month: June 2014

First Time Having Rally Friends at the Campsite

Lessons Learned

Barb’s Cucumber Salad

Ben’s Grilled Haddock

First Time Having Parents at the Campsite

Paddling on the Ashuelot River

Lesson Learned

Bacon Wrapped Corn

First Time Paddling in our Sea Eagle Kayak

Spaghetti Sauce

One Year Camping Anniversary

A Happy Home Recipe

Sesame Scented Snow Pea Pods

Cinnamon-Seared Pound Cake