Weare, NH – First Two Weeks

Well, I made it to NH!  I’ve been here two weeks now, and as anticipated, time is flying by fast.  I’ve got a beautifully wooded camping site here at Autumn Hills, with access to a nice small lake for fishing and kayaking (neither of which I’ve done yet …).  I’ve been busy meeting up with family and friends, and so far, it’s been terrific!

Visiting with Family

Soon after I arrived here at the campground, I abandoned my RV and drove to York Beach, ME to spend the weekend with my brother Dick and sister-in-law Kathi at their beach house.  Always nice to get away and enjoy some sun at the beach.  For entertainment, my brother spent a couple of hours chasing a fly with an electrified swatter, only to be showed up later by this younger brother with a first-try kill in under 30 seconds.

Besides visiting with them, there was a large family gathering planned for Saturday night to have dinner out, then to attend a play featuring an up and coming actress named Moriel Behar, who happens to be the daughter of my cousin Marie-Claire.  It was a very entertaining show, and Moriel is a very talented young lady.  In addition, being able to see so many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins at this one venue was extremely fortunate.  Really enjoyed seeing all of them!  On Sunday, we had a terrific steak and lobster cookout, where we also taste-tested a bottle of Rhubarb wine that I brought from VT.  The results of the tasting were mixed, but overall I think it was a fairly good bottle of wine.

Later in the week after returning to the RV, I continued my family socializing.  My brother Don and his girlfriend Darlene came to spend the afternoon at the RV.  I gave them the grand tour of the RV and the surrounding campground and lake, then we had a terrific RV-cooked meal.  A couple days later, I drove down to MA to see my niece (2nd cousin?) Erica.  I always look forward to catching up with her to see what’s new in her life.  She’s a bit of a truck lover, and got just a little too excited about my big-boy truck.  No Erica, you can’t take it home with you!

Catching Up With Long Lost Folks

Now that I’m retired and have nothing but time on my hand, one of my to-do’s while I’m traveling across the country is to reconnect with folks I’ve not seen in a very long time.  To that end, I’ve reached out to several folks here in NH that I’ve not seen in decades.  One such person is Laura – my high school sweetheart.  We reconnected via Facebook many years ago, but it has been decades since we’ve seen each other.  In fact, Laura was quick to remind me that the last time we were together was 35 years ago when we broke up.  Thankfully, those wounds have long since healed, and we can now look back and fondly reminisce those crazy days.  She came up to the RV for the afternoon and dinner.   I was very happy that I was also able to also meet her spouse Cindy.  We all enjoyed chatting about what we’ve each been up to these past many years, then ventured to the old days and covered topics such as our CB Radio romance, the fun we had in the Explorers, and also other friends we had back in the day.  It was a wonderful day of catching up and seeing her again.

Another person I reached out to was someone who I can honestly say was my first elementary school childhood crush.  Theresa (Terry in the old days) was someone that I always admired.  It’s been about 38 years since we’ve last seen each other, and it was absolutely wonderful reconnecting.  I had the pleasure of hosting her and her husband Miles over at the RV for dinner, then later in the week stopped by their house to visit some more, and to see some of Miles’ toys.  Again, we had wonderful conversations catching up with each other.  We looked at some old elementary school class photos, trying to remember who everyone was.  As time passes, some of the names are certainly fading.  I was also treated to a ride in their ’52 MG TD, and wow was that a thrill!  I really enjoyed spending time with them and appreciate their hospitality!

Visiting Ex Co-Workers

I’ve also had the pleasure of catching up with some of the co-workers from GDIT.  I drove down to Westwood, MA one work day, and had lunch with David and Pete (sorry – I forgot to get a picture!).  In addition to general catch up conversation, I got an ear full of the current happenings with the company and the IT team in particular.  Overall, I walked away from that lunch feeling even better about my decision to retire (sorry guys)!  But it was sure nice seeing them again, and I wish them continued success.

I also got invited to dinner at the house of another one of my past co-wokers.  It was really nice seeing Al again, and meeting his terrific wife Fran.  He is no longer with GDIT, and is now blazing new trails in a senior IT position with a new company.  We both commiserated with how happy each of us are no longer being with GDIT.  I wish Al great success in his new position, and thanks again for the hospitality.

I Did A Good Thing – But Made A Girl Cry

Between lunch with the GDIT guys and dinner with Al, I had some time to kill.  So, I wandered around the town of Westwood visiting some of the area stores.  One of the stores I went to was an Amazon Bookstore, where I was surprised to find a particular book I recognized.  As you might imagine, I follow several RV related blogs and Facebook groups.  One of the blogs I follow is a husband and wife team (Heath and Alyssa) who are 20-somethings living full-time on the road working to establish a sustainable income to support their nomadic lifestyle.  They are the founders of the RV Entrepreneur Facebook group, and have a very large following of others who want to earn and live on the road.  Anyway, Alyssa wrote and self-published a book titled “The Beginners Guide To Living In An RV” which was released earlier this year (I’ve got and read the Kindle edition).  I happened to see the book in the Amazon bookstore, so I thought I’d take a few pictures and send them to Alyssa to document what I thought was simply just another siting of her book in a bookstore.  Well, as it turns out, she had no idea her book was in any bookstore, and was absolutely floored to learn that it was.  She cried in joy to learn about this, and her husband interviewed her during her cry and posted it on their Facebook page.  When you watch the video, the “random guy” she is referring to is me!  You can watch the video by clicking HERE.

Two Weeks To Go

Well, I’ve got to get this blog published so that I can continue my quest to see and catch up with as many family and friends as possible.  Thanks for giving this Blog a read, and until next time, safe travels!