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We arrived at the White Oak Campground on Thursday, November 8th. For 
the next week, we did a variety of things in this "Land of the Amish". We were here primarily to visit with Peg's sister-in-law, Debbie, new husband Earl and all the nieces, nephews and their families. So Debbie decided to have an early Thanksgiving Dinner for all of us. It was great and all of the family were together at the same time.
That was November 11th which happened to be my birthday. The big 52 this year! Brien, Peg's nephew, had a birthday coming on Nov 17th and Peg's birthday is on November 18th so a cake was made to celebrate all three birthdays. A nice and unexpected topping to the day which consisted of food, talk and a good time.
At the campground, a jam session with local musicians took place and Peg and I decided to check it out. They mostly played country songs and some bluegrass and it was a nice treat on a cold, rainy day. Many of the neighbors to the campground came by to hear the tunes as they do every weekend.
Peg and I also included some work in this visit. We shot footage and did an interview for our
American RVer show at the visitor center for Lancaster and the Pennsylvania Dutch country. We then traveled around the county shooting "B" roll footage to go with the interview. We saw of lot of neat things including covered bridges (three of them actually) in some remote locations. We had to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Factory in Lititz, PA. We actually interviewed the manager for American RVer and we then took a tour of the facility. Of course we had to sample the 
inventory!!
The weather was turning colder so we decided to start our trek south and try to find some warmer weather. Heading to Virginia, near the Cumberland Gap next. On the way, we plan on stopping at the Natural Bridge, in Virginia......
Our final visit in Connecticut was to my Auntie Marie's home. Had to use
the GPS for this visit! We arrived at 3:00 pm and both my Auntie Marie and cousin Jim were home. It was great to see them both again. We caught up on whats been happening in both our lives. My aunt has had several surgeries in the past few years but she really looks good for her age (83 years young - Sorry Auntie Marie...).
My cousin Rose Marie (named after my mother Rose) 
arrived and she looked like she hasn't aged a day! She bears a striking resemblance to my mother. A short time later, my cousin Frank showed up and then my cousin Bob came home from work. What a surprise to see all my cousins together. Of course Peg and I were invited to dinner. What do you have at an Italian household for dinner. Lasagna and red wine of course!! The food and conversation was wonderful and I am so glad we stopped to say "hello". Auntie Marie has always been one of my favorite aunts!
After removing the ice from our slide awnings in the morning, we headed out for Pennsylvania. What the heck are we doing in the northeast at this time of year anyway???
Well it was off to the Foxwoods Casino today. Yes we felt we would help them out and contribute our hard earned dollars to their cause. And we did!
Foxwoods is pretty impressive for an establishment in the middle of nowhere. It looked kind of like a glass palace. There were actually three casinos housed in the same facility. They also have a theater, entertainment in the Atrium and many, many, MANY slot machines! We arrived at 12 noon and left about 9pm! No, we did not gamble all that time. We called Peg's cousins and were hanging out waiting for them to arrive and meet us for dinner.
Of course we had to kill some time by feeding the one arm bandits. Actually, most of the slot machines do not have "arms" anymore. I hate to say it but it took us a while to figure out how to play the slot machines. They were more complicated than I remember. You can not use single quarters, nickels, dimes anymore. You have to put in a $5 bill (minimum) to play. Interesting!
Peg's cousins, Marty and Linda arrived about dinner time and we all had dinner together at the Hard Rock Café, also housed in the Foxwoods building. This is quite a complex! Linda, thank you for the picture of our dinner with you and cousin Marty at the Hard Rock!
Tomorrow, we visit my Auntie Marie and all her children (my cousins), in Shelton, Ct.
We keep saying to people we meet, "Home is where we park it!"
So...This time we parked our motorhome in Wales, Massachusetts. This is located close to the border of Connecticut. We decided this would be a good central point to do some visiting. We stayed at the Oak Haven campground and it became our home for a few days. We were the only campers in the park!
Peg and I wanted to visit my Aunt Irene in Putnam, Ct. Actually, Aunt Irene is really my 2nd cousin but we have always call her auntie! Her son, Dennis, wife Marilyn, sons Jeff and Mathew (and their two poodles, Jack and Ginger) live near her and we stopped by to see
them all as well as Dennis' business. We heard (from other cousins) about Dennis the Cupola King! Had to check this out. It was a really nice visit and Dennis showed us his cupola shop and some examples of his work. Wow! What great work. He builds them for folks all over the country. Want a cupola? Check out the website at www.classiccupolas.com.
We moved the RV into Connecticut to a campground called Aces High. It got its name from being close to the Indian run casinos (Foxwoods and Mohican Sun). The campground was nice and it actually had a few residents there. Not too many of us in New England with RV's this time of the year. It is definitely getting colder...
On Sunday Nov 4th, we visited with my cousins Bill and Lyndell for brunch
at the Terra Mar restaurant located at a marina on the Connecticut River. What a great location and what great food. A over abundance of great food! We enjoyed the food and the conversation for several hours. It was nice seeing both of them and catching up on their lives and those of their family. We all went back to the motorhome for a "tour" before they headed back to their home. Even their dog, Dakota came along. Tomorrow, we head to the casino!!
We have been enjoying friends and family while in upstate New York. Our 
friends, Don and Barb, found the Saratoga RV park for us to camp in. They are officially closed, but about five campers are still here. It's really nice, level spots, well laid out, some wooded and
some clear spots with lots of space between sites. We visited with Jim's elementary school buddy Tony and his wife Debbie. What fun. They came to our home! Jim also got to see Dan, an old friend from TV8. They had a good evening together while I stayed home receuperating from a cold. (Thanks Bruce!) It has been fun watching the local news stations as our former anchor, sports anchor, and weather man are all on the Albany stations. 
On Saturday, Oct. 27 we drove to Jim's hometown, Gloversville to see his brother Bob and his wife Karen and daughters Elizabeth and Ann Margaret. Ann Margaret's husband Pete and one of their daughters,Lauren, also came to see us. It is great to catch up and be reminded of how
important family is.
Sunday found us deep into the north country, in Hebron, visiting friends, Sandy and Fred. They took us 
four-wheeling on their hilly property. Even though it was past peak leaf season, it was still beautiful looking out towards the mountains. We couldn't have asked for a better day.
Roy Estes and his dog Snert. Roy is also a full time RVer we had met at Buddy Gregg Motorhomes in Knoxville, TN. Roy had invited us to use his "pad" to hook up and visit, so we decided to take him up on that. Roy took 
us to a natural bridge in Jonesville and we hiked off the road and down to the creek bed and the natural wonder under the road. Peg posed for an exploration picture!!
the Santa Parade in downtown Kingsport. This is a big event here and people were lined up along all the major streets in the town. This is one of the stops of the famous 'Santa Train' and people receive gifts and food from Santa's helpers on the train.
Roy took us to several places for breakfast and dinner and we enjoyed roaming around Jonesville where Roy's pad is. I even got to drive Roy's Monaco Windsor motorhome over to the Thanksgiving meal since he had just had a operation a few days earlier and was not suppose to drive for another day or so. We are heading to Pigeon Forge, TN from here for a weeks stay...
