Typical Day on the Road

August 2007

Aug. 1

Returned to the RV store near Providence to pick up the shelf for our refrigerator, at long last. Then to Panera to finish the podcast, and then a brief visit to the YMCA before heading on to Connecticut to spend the night before tomorrow's show. Visited Laurie, who's been a big booster of ours for several years, along with her kids (of which she has three now). Laurie and her friend Ammy (who's also been a perennial fan along with her two daughters, who visited tonight as well) are the wives of naval men who are both stationed on submarines.

Aug. 2

A return engagement for the Ledyard Library this morning, then we spent the afternoon touring Mystic Seaport with Ammy and her daughters Samantha and Tabitha. It's a living history center, a recreated 19th Century seaport village. We particularly enjoyed being able to go aboard the Charles W. Morgan, an actual whaling ship built in 1841 that's been well preserved and resotred to give visitors a glimpse into the life of a whaler-sailor of the era. Saw a performance by a trio of actors of a (more or less) true story about a woman who disguised herself as a man and signed aboard a whaling ship. We decided it might be a good tale to use in this week's podcast.

After saying our goodbyes, we drove to New London to catch a performance of "As You Like It" by a local Shakespeare company. We had a very hard time finding the performance venue, and the company wasn't answering its phone. Finally stopped at a fire house where a couple of firefighters were playing bagpipes in front (definitely something you don't see every day),and got directions to the outdoor theatre along the Thames River (and unlike residents in the old London, the residents here pronounce it like it's spelled). It sounds very romantic, but there were some definite drawbacks. Directly behind the audience was the Amtrak station, where commuter trains noisily huffed and puffed throughout the show. And next to it was a ferry terminal, so ferries to Martha's Vineyard or Long Island were noisily pulling in and out behind the actors all night. And in the middle of the performance, two police cars pulled in behind us with lights flashing to roust a group of vagrants loitering at a picnic table over on the side. But despite all these distractions, the cast was well focused.

Aug. 3

After doing some Internet work and banking, etc., we drove back to Cassia's house. Later on, we had some visitors: Jeanne, Kiaya and Chris, whom we had not seen in a few years. (Kiaya once lived in Norton and knew Cassia.)

Kimberly and Jeanne (with twin braids)

Aug. 4

Spent the entire day "at home" on our computers, trying to beat the intense heat. We're enjoying the electricity generously provided by Cassia's parents Carol and Jeff, while Zephyr wreaks all kinds of mayhem with Cassia and Daniel.

Aug. 5

Spent the entire day computerizing again. At least K and D did. Z went with everyone else to a demolition derby, and came home with delightful tales of watching vehicles slam into each other. Some of them were even pulling trailers, and at one point, a car drove completely through one of them. Such fun.

Aug. 6

Drove to Needham, where we performed at a summer camp for chestnut Hill School. Then on to Trader Joe's and YMCA.

Aug. 7

Picked up Cassia and Daniel and drove them to Quincy (they pronounce it "Quinzy" around these parts) where we did our many-eth performance at the library. What a debt we owe this librarian -- after our first appearance here several years ago, she spread the word about us, and the result has been several years of repeat engagements at a number of Massachusetts libraries. Thanks a heap!

After dropping off Cassia and Daniel, we headed north so we would not have to drive through Boston tomorrow morning during "rush" hour. But we took a wrong exit, ending up in the middle of town, and had a very hard time threading our way through Boston back to the freeway. There were so many one-way streets and so many closed freeway ramps that we were reminded of an old song that rhymed "Boston" with "lost in".

Aug. 8

After spending the morning doing computer work in Swampscott, we headed on to Salem, where we checked into the campground on Winter Island. Dennis took the obligatory dip at Waikiki Beach (obviously named by someone with a wicked sense of humor), and a brief rainstorm came along, leaving just about the most vivid rainbow ever formed.

We also noted that the Rebel Shakespeare Company, a summer program for young actors, was rehearsing a show in the park, just like the last time we were in town.

Aug. 9

Checked out of the campground, and went to dump our tanks at the nearby municipal waste station. In the process, Dennis accidentally pulled the hose off the coupling and, in an incident worthy of the movie "RV", got his arm splattered with waste, much to the amusement of the rest of the family.

After a thorough cleanup, we headed into town, and finally managed to wrangle a parking space (no mean feat in Salem) near the Front Street Coffee House, where we holed up for a couple of hours with our laptops. Zephyr also dropped by to say howdy at Witch Village, where we all worked a couple of Halloweens ago. Then it was on to the Salem Library for our third appearance, to another appreciative audience.

Aug. 10

Spent the ENTIRE DAY ensconced in Panera in Quincy, doing computer work. Ouch, our sore bottoms.

Aug. 11

Began driving south to Cape Cod. Stopped in Hanover, where conveniently there are a Trader Joe's and a Panera next to each other, so we took advantage of both.

Drove on to Hyannis, hoping to hit the Cape Cod YMCA, but upon arrival we found that it had closed at 5:00, contrary to the YMCA's website, which stated a 9:00 closing time. Since the parking lot was abandoned, we decided it would be a good place to rehearse "Following the Buzz", the Japanese tale we used to do (and in fact which we performed in Japan) but which we haven't performed in some time, but which we are scheduled to perform soon in Sacramento. Along came a man in a pickup truck who apparently worked there, and told us that the place was closed, and that the police would be coming through later. This is what we in our family have always referred to as a "welcoming committee".

Aug. 12

Checked into the campground at Nickerson State Park, where a new office has been built to replace the one that burned down the last time we were here. With no electricity, we decided it would be a good time to reorganize the trailer, so we pulled everything out and repacked it, except for about 50 pounds of garbage, which we decided to leave out.

In the evening, we had a great time watching a disc of bloopers and outtakes from Red skelton's old TV show.

Aug. 13

D and K took a pleasant bike ride along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, while Z (who is not that keen on biking) stayed at the campsite, where he took a computer into the bathroom, plugged it into the outlet, and edited our latest podcast. Upon returning to the campsite, we discovered that the nearby beach -- on a lake rather than the ocean -- is much cleaner and nicer than we imagined, so Dennis went for a swim. Kimberly, who enjoys lying in her hammock, decided to sleep in it tonight, with nothing but trees and stars overhead.

Aug. 14

Left Nickerson and Cape Cod. Did laundry, then back to the Cohasset Library for our second appearance of the summer. After which we headed to Cassia's house to park for the night, and pack for our second trip to California.

Aug. 15

Up before the chickens, and Cassia's dad Jeff drove us to Logan Airport. We managed to beat rush hour traffic and get there plenty early, even though we had to turn back after about 10 minutes when we learned that Zephyr didn't pack his costume. (He thought his parents had taken care of that detail for him.) One of the bags we checked was a golf club bag. No, we're not golfers, but we purchased this item a couple of days ago because it was the perfect container for our new banners and the microphone stands to support them, plus whatever props we can stuff in.

Our airline this time was Jet Blue, which claims to have more leg room than any other line. It just might be true; we certainly were infinitely more comfortable than last time. Kimberly, of course, brought along her laptop, hoping to plug into an outlet in the waiting area and get online. But the computer cord suddenly ceased functioning, and she had no battery power. She consoled herself by walking down to the Palm Pilot outlet in the airport and buying a chip that enabled her to get online with her handheld device.

This time we changed planes in Long Beach, which might be California's fourth-largest city, but still has the dinkiest airport this side of the Outback. We did manage to find a spot, however, to practice swing dancing, which we hear will be a part of the conference we are about to attend.

After being picked up in Sacramento, we were taken to Trader Joe's to get some food for the weekend, and we were also provided with an ice chest for our hotel room. We were also taken to Fry's electronics, where Kimberly bought a new computer cord, and then we were dropped at the Sacramento Radisson for the 2007 Home School Conference.

Aug. 16

Being in Sacramento for a few days, we booked some additional performances at a couple of local libraries. So today, we loaded our gear into a borrowed car and drove to the Antelope/North Highlands Branch, where we've performed many times before. Kimberly's high school friend Tania was there.

After running some errands, we went back to our hotel, where we were joined by our "adopted daughter" Ellie.

Aug. 17

Today the Conference got into full swing, and the first thing up, Dennis had a writing workshop, and then he and Kimberly taught mask-making. Both went quite well.

This afternoon, we drove to Rancho Cordova Library, where we've performed many, many times before. Afterward, the most excellent librarian Tim had us (and Ellie, who was a volunteer at this library when she was in high school) over to his house for dinner.

Aug. 18

Started our day at the conference with all three of us presenting a discussion called "Across America", about our life on the road. It was well attended, and the group was very interested in what we had to say, and asked a good many stimulating questions.

In the afternoon, we performed three stories: "Following the Buzz" (the Japanese tale we hadn't done in several months because it was part of our last production); "The Golden Pitcher" (from Mongolia) and "Simple Ivan" (from Russia). We'd only planned on doing two stories, but we added the third at Zephyr's insistence. Again, we had a large and appreciative turnout.

In the evening, there was a "black and white ball" for teens, but if the name suggests formality to you, think again. Meanwhile, a band played in the courtyard so everyone else could loosen their backbones as well; and Dennis, Kimberly and Ellie dropped by and ended up inventing a whole bunch of new dances.

Aug. 19

Kimberly taught workshops in sign language and physical comedy, and then we were essentially done with the conference. Kimberly's parents dropped by, along with our nephew and niece Joey and Jenny, all of whom reported that they had shaken hands with Bill Clinton, campaigning for his wife, in Reno yesterday.

Kimberly's brother, niece and mom drop by HSC

Meanwhile, Zephyr caught a ride to the airport, where he'll catch a plane to Portland, where he'll catch a bus to Eugene, where his uncle will give him a ride to the park, where he'll catch a bus to the coast, where he'll attend Not Back to School Camp, where he'll spend a week with other homeschooled teens as he did last year.

Aug. 20

So the HSC is all wrapped up, and we had a great time. We also reconnected with a few people we knew from our days in Los Angeles a decade ago. (Although we were still living in an RV and still touring part of the time, we based ourselves out of L.A. and worked in the film industry for a couple of years. That's why we have a mailing address in Burbank instead of San Francisco, where we started out. And whenever possible, we took Zephyr to the bi-weekly homeschool day at Mountain View Park in Burbank, where he made many friends.) Kids that we remember as toddlers are now strapping teens.

Kimberly's parents picked us up at the hotel and drove us to DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) so K could renew her driver's license -- it expires in October and we won't be back in California until the spring. Based on our past encounters with that agency in S.F. and L.A., we were prepared to be there several hours. But the process only took about 15 minutes, even though there was quite a line ahead of her. It appears that one bureaucratic operation at least is actually becoming more efficient!

We then went to another hotel, where we all shared a large room. We also had Kimberly's brother and his two kids over to swim in the pool.

Aug. 21

Kimberly's parents drove us to the airport (with more luggage than we came out with, thanks in part to their having picked up at our request a box of our cassettes from our storage unit) after some confusion about our departure time that caused us to panic. We were scheduled to leave at 1:15. No, wait -- the email said 11:15. Yikes! No, wait -- the airline schedule says 1:15 after all. Phew! So we had plenty of time after checking in to pick up some burritos from La Salsa, to supplement our cuisine of pretzels. After a plane change in Salt Lake City, we headed on to Boston, and for once everything was on time. We arrived in Boston close to midnight, and got a splendid view of the city, as the flight path to Logan Airport goes very close to the heart of town. Jeff and Carol, who have been babysitting our RV on their Country spread near Norton, picked us up and drove us back home.

Aug. 22

Said goodbye to Jeff and Carol (Cassia, like Zephyr, is at Not Back To School Camp in Oregon), then headed out to catch up on some errands.

Aug. 23

Drove to Falmouth, on Cape Cod, and made plans to visit Martha's Vineyard tomorrow on our bicycles. The plan was to leave our RV and trailer in the ferry parking lot, catch the ferry over with our bikes, spend the day biking around, then catch the ferry back at night. But we learned that, contrary to our expectations, it's acceptable to leave your vehicle in the lot overnight, or as long as you want, as long as you're willing to pay the piper. We further learned, also contrary to expectation, that the one campground on the island has a vacancy for tomorrow night (a Friday during the summer!). So we scrambled to make some last-minute preparations to camp overnight on Martha's Vineyard. This included purchasing a two-person tent small enough to carry on our bikes. And we had to buy it at the only tent-carrying store we could find open at that hour. But we did manage to assemble everything we needed, so tomorrow is a go.

Aug. 24

Loading our ample gear onto our bikes, we loaded our bikes onto the ferry -- which, Kimberly was delighted to note, offered free wi-fi, so she was able to do some online work with her handheld during the pleasant 45-minute ride to Martha's Vineyard. Well, it's pleasant in every respect except the price; it's 7 bucks per person and 3 bucks per bicycle each way. But if we'd brought the RV and trailer, the total would have been about 80 dollars! (Don't faint yet -- taking them on the ferry to Nantucket could cost as much as $120. EACH WAY!)

Arriving on the island, we finally found our way to the campground, which was only a couple of miles, but nobody seemed to know where it was except the man in the information booth. One thing that became apparent to us was that traffic on the island is much heavier than we'd imagined. In fact, traffic jams seem to be the norm, at least at this time of year. So we were grateful to be on bikes.

The campground was a whopping 46 dollars, just for a place to pitch a tent, but with no other options we paid it and pitched it. Then we unloaded as much of our burden as we could and set out exploring the vineyard on pedal power.

Our meandering took us through Edgartown, past the lighthouse and the ferry to Chappaquiddick. (How odd it appears to have another separate island only 500 feet from this one.) And when we passed by the beach, Dennis couldn't resist taking a dip (he'd brought along swimming trunks to be prepared), and the water wasn't as cold as expected, but the surf was incredibly strong -- it sent someone's stray foam "boogie board" slamming into his legs with such force that it completely bowled him over.

We'd brought food for lunch, but we were out pedaling for so long that the dinner hour approached, so we rode into Oak Bluffs looking for a decent place to eat. we settled upon Zapotec, an excellent (if somewhat overpriced, like everything else for lightyears around) Mexican restaurant with an excellent vegetable burrito. Next door was an ice cream parlor, so we had to spring for dessert as well. Good stuff, but servings WAY too big.

Across the street was the Flying Horses Carousel, built in 1876, the oldest continuosuly operating carousel in the nation. But the line was far too long for us to want to wait around and ride it.

Aug. 25

We'd tentatively planned to attend a performance by a children's theatre company this morning at an amphitheatre in Vineyard Haven. But we got a later start then expected (we're a bit rusty at striking camp, and we'd never done so on bikes) and once we did get started, we couldn't find ANYONE who could tell us where the place was. (What is it with getting directions around here? Wouldn't you think that people who live on a little island would know their way around it??) By the time we finally figured it out (we think) it was too late to get there on time by pedal power, so we blew it off and just biked around the island for most of the day. Our route took us by the airport -- yes, this island has its own airport, and there were even a couple of fairly large jets docked out there.

When lunch time came, we stopped on the grounds of a charming little hostel next to the bike path and used a picnic table outside to heat up food on our little camping stove. Then it was off for more biking, until we finally stopped to rest at a coffee shop to wait for the ferry. We also finally found some cold watermelon, which Dennis had been craving for 2 or 3 days.

We didn't learn about it until later, but while we were biking, the entire Clinton family was appearing at a fundraiser in Oak Bluffs. We're not particularly drawn to politicians, and we're certainly not game to shell out 100 bucks to see them, but it was interesting that we crossed paths with President Clinton one week after Kimberly's parents did on the other side of the continent.

The ferry back was rather crowded; in fact, earlier we'd heard someone comment that they'd wanted to take a trip to the mainland, but couldn't get a ferry reservation, and we realized that island residents must find it problematic to make a spontaneous jaunt to Boston or wherever.

Almost as soon as the ferry was underway, we encounterted a pea soup fog that brought welcome reflief from the heat, and persisted well after we got off the ferry and rode the mile or so along the shore from the terminal to the parking lot where our home on wheels awaited us.

Aug. 26

Back up to Hanover, where we spent the day doing office type chores.

Aug. 27

An even longer day at the office. And then about midnight we made our second trip to Logan Airport, this time to pick up Zephyr. His flight was on time, but then we had to wait about half an hour to get his luggage. He'd told us on the phone that he was thinking of dyeing his hair red while in Oregon, but when we saw him we were relieved to discover that it was not as severe as we'd feared -- he only had a few streaks that really didn't look bad at all.

Aug. 28

Spent half the day at the Panera in Quincy doing office work, then headed to Scituate (it's pronounced like situate) to do laundry at the laundromat by the ocean that we'd been to before. While there, we called a carpet cleaning service to see if they could come out and clean ours. While we were gone to California, it appears that our carpet somehow absorbed some rain, and there was a stench that we haven't been able to get rid of entirely, so it's time to call in the professionals. This company said that it would be unable to get to us today, but when we mentioned that we were headed for the Cape, they said one of their trucks could meet us there tomorrow morning.

So after finishing laundry, we drove on to Hyannis.

Aug. 29

So we waited a while to hear back from the carpet cleaning company, but didn't. So we went ahead and checked into the campground at Nickerson State Park and got our bikes all loaded up, and prepared for a ride. And then, just before we left, the carpet cleaners called! It was noon by then, and they said they could come out about 2:00. But we had to tell them we'd catch them later. Or not.

The Cape Cod Rail Trail is a very pleasant bike path, but it needs to be longer; we were biking all the way to the very tip of the Cape, a distance of about 35 miles. And only about 15 of it was on the trail; for the rest, we had to follow a road, and it was hillier than we anticipated, so we got quite a workout. Finally, in late afternoon, we arrived at our destination: another campground in Provincetown. After setting up our little tents and having a bite to eat, we set off on our bikes again, now considerably lightened, to explore this bustling, historic burg.

Provincetown is one of the most colorful towns we've ever been in, rather like Castro Street in San Francisco on Halloween. We were enchanted with it the first time we came a couple of years ago, and have been wanting to get back ever since. During the off-season, it has a population of only 3500, but during the summer it swells to 50,000. That makes biking down the street (and even more so DRIVING down the street) a bit of a challenge, because people don't stick to the sidewalks by any means. But just take your time and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells. To make the atmosphere even more festive, there was a full moon rising over the boats anchored in the harbor, and it was especially picturesque when it peeped between the three masts of an antique ship (based out of Wilmington, DE.) that had just returned passengers from a sailing cruise.

Aug. 30

Packed up our tents and other gear on our bikes again and headed back into town. Found a coffee and tea shop where Kimberly finally could purchase some bulk tea -- she's been out for several days, and she doesn't like the stuff in bags. Like many other establishments in town, this one offers free wi-fi, so you can bring along your computer or handheld device and get online. But this place also had its own laptops for customers to use, so Zephyr got on one of them, and then Dennis went in and, thinking that the one next to him was unoccupied, began using it. Then a lady who had been at the counter buying coffee returned and said that it was hers; but when Dennis started to leave, she insisted that he stay and finish what he was doing. Which was quite generous of her -- especially since it turns out that the laptop was literally hers -- she owned it.

We'd hoped on this visit to Provincetown to ascend to the top of Pilgrim Monument, the century-old, 252-ft. high tower commemorating the arival of the Mayflower in 1620. But we decided that the time to perform such a task was NOT on the same day as a 35-mile bike ride.

Actually, the ride back was a few miles shorter, because we took a shortcut, staying on the main road a litle longer. Thus, we passed by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, the major major theatre on Cape Cod which this season boasts an appearance by Julie Harris.

Back to our other campground, and after unpacking we decided we all needed showers; and since the showers were about a mile from our campsite, we went there -- how else -- on our bikes.

Aug. 31

After searching high and low and taking the place apart, Dennis has been unable to find Kimberly's brand new bag of tea, which he removed from the bike bag yesterday, but which appears subsequently to have slipped into The Twilight Zone, giving him a pass to the dog house.

Struck camp and headed to Hyannis, where we did some online work at Burrito Bistro.

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