Sunday morning was blissful. No rain during the night made the fire easy to start. Serenity surrounded me for hours as I started my day.
Tom and Chris’s grandson fished next to me as I wrote. He caught 2 fish in less than a minute. No lie, I witnessed it myself. As soon as he threw one back, he cast his line; immediately he had another one on the hook. At one point, I yelled over:
“I have never seen anyone catch as many fish as you have since I’ve been sitting here. How many?”
His quiet voice said, “Six.”
Not too long later, I heard Chris yell, “What is that? 6 or 7?” A.J. replied,, “Seven!”
Tom told me A.J. still has a couple of lessons to learn before taking off on his own. He doesn’t know how to put the worm on the hook or take the fish off. Both are essential lessons, not only in fishing but in life as well. No wonder boys love to go fishing with their Dads and Granddads; life lessons are taught.
He reeled in number eight as I closed my laptop for the day.
Sadness swept over me as I closed the slideouts. A piece of my heart is here in Aces High.
We pulled out just before 11:00. I walked the loop one last time as Ron hooked up the trailer. As I started on my stroll,, he yelled, “Wanna do me a favor.” My first selfish thought was, no. But knowing how hard he works makes that thought disappear.
He wanted me to return the gate card, “since I was heading that way.”
About halfway through the loop, I realized I was about to meet Daniella. She is the owner of this magnificent campground. She is the one who manages this oasis with an amazing amount of love. I was nervous. Successful women in business do work harder than men. Crucify me if you want for making that statement, but it doesn’t make the words less true. Raised in a male-dominated business family and twenty-five-plus years working in management, I don’t make that statement lightly. Women work hard for recognition, and Daniella deserves recognition for her accomplishments.
Right before I left, Chris came over and told me she’d sent Daniella parts of my blog. Apparently, someone gave this place a bad review,, and it hurt her deeply. Whoever that was, shame on them. Aces High is awesome.
Anyway, knowing Daniella read my blog made me nervous about meeting her.
She’s as lovely as her park. I met a guy from Norfolk who was in the office at the same time. He’s in Connecticut working for the summer. We both agreed, sometimes leaving Virginia is a good thing, like in the July heat.
Ron pulled up, I said my goodbyes, and we got on the road.
Ron said, “Mystic Seaport” as we drove by the exit heading north. Great memories now come from Mystic.
Passed into Rhode Island at 11:28 a.m.
Ron said at 12:03, “Get your camera, Providence.”
Since neither of us has been to RI before, we were excited. Exploring this great country together is such a privilege. Ron educates me on politics and the world. Before him, I lived in my self-centered world very happily. Now, because of him, I pray for people in Australia who were only allowed out of their house for an hour a day during COVID. Because of Ron, I know about the pastor in Canada who is in jail again because he held church. Ron reminds me daily the freedom we have in America wasn’t free; we shouldn’t take it for granted. Grabbing my camera to take pictures reminded me of those facts.
Ron said as we drove through Providence, “Looks a lot like Richmond, where you come down off 195.’ And when we were on our way out, he commented, “The whole thing looks like Richmond; same houses, same style.”
Driving through Fall River, RI, on our eastward trek to Massachusetts was a pleasant surprise. Quaint is the word that comes to mind. Peaceful is another.
We stopped at a Parking Area to make sandwiches. One of my favorite things about traveling with your house behind you is your kitchen and bathroom are always available. Ron and I love to stop at rest areas and make sandwiches when traveling; saves time and money. Plus, I love not having to use a public restroom. I’m not a snob; I peed in an outhouse in El Salvador and was grateful for the privacy. You go where you gotta go. But I love going to my own “home.”
Ron commented on the way into the “Parking Area,” “This is what we call a rest area down south.”
Traffic caused us to stop at the top of the bridge on the way into Cape Cod. After a brief moment of panic, I realized, “Wow, what a beautiful view.”
Crossing into Cape Cod, we had to endure a traffic circle. Nothing against traffic circles; they work great in the right places. Not every place needs a traffic circle, as in the entrance onto Cape Cod, in Ron’s opinion, “That was the worst designed traffic circle I’ve seen in my whole life.”
Driving out the Cape reminds us both of driving to Charlottesville on I-64 from Richmond.
At 1:49 p.m., Hunched over the wheel, Ron says, “Entering Brewster, incorporated 1803″ in his rendition of a proper British accent.
Our site at Sweetwater Family Campground, T2, is literally 10 seconds from the camp office. The best thing about our current 2-day residence, it is secluded, which means the dogs can’t see anything. When the dog’s view is blocked, they don’t bark as much. Not yapping is a plus in our book. Therefore, we love secluded spots where the dogs can reign free in their pen.
After set-up, we always enjoy a moment of relaxation. Ron loves to have a beer and research the area. Within seconds of sitting in his blue rocker, he says, “Let me look at my phone and see all the stuff to do around here,” chuckling, he adds, “I love doing this. This is fun.”
And I love letting him. He always finds the coolest things to do. Ron looks at life differently than me. Where fools like me rush in, Ron treads lightly. He asks the right questions, which leads to the right answers. I don’t know how he does it or how to describe it. I know I love benefiting from his wisdom.
Today we’re 10 degrees cooler than home; tomorrow we’re supposed to be 20 degrees cooler. We are very much enjoying the cool weather.
As soon as we arrived, we loaded our bikes and went for a bike ride. While driving into Cape Cod (CC), we noticed the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT). Spanning twenty-five miles of Cape Cod, the CCRT connects six quaint New England towns. We rode 4.8 miles to Orleans, the next town over from Brewster, where Hog Heaven Brewery resides. More people had helmets than didn’t, which was the complete opposite of Hilton Head Island, where most people don’t wear helmets. Ron had a hard time keeping up with me on his electric bike, just saying:-).
HH Menu 
Outdoor seating 
Aren’t we cute:-)? 
Hog Heaven 
Coordinated photography. 
Cauliflower Fritters
On our ride back to Brewster, a young couple passed us on road bikes. They were fit and lean, to say the least. With a twinkle in his eye, Ron looks at me and, ,says, “Just like us, not an ounce of fat on them.” Puffing slightly on the uphill climb, I said, “I don’t think so.” We both laughed—my optimistic man, how I do love him.
Bucket list to ride to all of them. 
Toe still bruised and battered from my rainy fall.
We stopped for supplies at the Brewster Market. Firewood was $7.49 per pack, a dozen eggs, $3.69. We passed on the eggs but got three bundles of firewood. Then we found a roadside place that sold bundles for $15 but three times the size. We bought both and are mixing the dry, expensive wood with the cheap green wood. The fires are great.
And the market is one of the few places on earth that has a phone booth. Ron tried the phone, it didn’t work. His observant eyes noticed the booth. I walked right past the aging box.
Our campground has a thing for gnomes. Driving into the campground, the woodland natives are hidden in various places. Every time we drive in or out, we’re on the lookout for their smiling faces. Some are harder to spot than others. Makes for a fun game on the slow drive to the road.
Skaket Beach is one of Ron’s finds. Looking for a place to watch the sunset, he discovered this sound side gem. When the tide is out, you can walk over a 1/2 mile out to reach the water. We had never heard of such a thing and had to experience it. So off we went.
Finding words to describe this experience is difficult. As you can see in the video below, the people at the water’s edge look like dots. When we started walking towards them, we realized how far out they were. The top layer of mud was pinkish red around the tide pool’s edges but then became firmer and brown in between. Buggy is definitely accurate. The smell was a salt marshy, muddy, fish kind of smell, not pleasing to the aroma for me. Unfortunately, the sunset was hidden by the cloud covers.
I told Ron as we walked back to the beach, “The gray clouds make the sky seem really close.” Again, hard to explain, but the world felt a little claustrophobic with the heavy cloud coverage.
As luck would have it, we found a volcano lighting. On the way out to the water’s edge, we’d seen the sand sculpture, but we didn’t know it was an “event.” By the time we walked out to the water and back, the night was beginning to fall. Without knowing what we were doing, we time it perfectly to view the “lighting.”
Ron’s only comment, “The top needed to be bigger, but the red around the sides is cool.”
And another day came to an end. As I tell Ron, if I didn’t write all of these adventures down, we wouldn’t remember them. Too much happens in a day for us to possibly remember. So much of it is unexpected. No way in a million years did I think we would walk a mile to reach the water’s edge, nor see a volcano.
Thank God for this life. Never dull, always unpredictable, and done best together.
Beth how do you keep your camera so still in the volcano video???
We were standing on the beach in the crowd. I used my phone for the video. I’m getting good at holding still. When I was in school, I learned you need at least 10 seconds of video for editing. I’m constantly saying to Ron, “10 seconds.”. He knows that means quiet. So fun!