Day 18 – Bellingham, Massachusetts

Dear Friends, I hope you’ll forgive me, but the hour is very late, we just got home, and I am dog-tired from all the excitement and good times today.  I just got my Going-To-Bed Cookies, and I’m going to do just that.  I’ll try to make up for lost time in the morning, assuming I can get Don to cooperate.  Maybe I’ll give him some of my cookies.  See you in the morning!

Good morning to all!  We’re all up and kinda busy, I’ve had my breakfast, and am feeling pretty bright eyed and bushy tailed, which is sort of natural for me.  I got Don to cease his morning browsing to assist me in finishing up our blog from last night (he was through with his comics, anyway), so here goes.

Yesterday morning, Don and I did a walking tour of the RV Park, which is quite large and has a lot of facilities for camper entertainment.  He didn’t take me over to see the farm animals they have here, so I’m going to try to get to that today.  After returning from our walk, Don attacked the bug accumulation on the front of the coach, which he has to do at every stop, while Geri and I did some cleanup on the interior.  We were getting close to lunch time when Don asked if Geri would like a hot dog from the place that Mike told us about yesterday; she declined, but said that he should go get one for himself.  He was off like a shot.  He was back a little less than an hour later, hauling a huge bun and an even huger hot dog, smothered with chili, up the steps.  He sat at the table working on it for quite a while, eventually consuming the whole thing!  In between bites, he told us about the guy that ran the hot dog stand, an ex-submarine sailor.  He and Don had a lot to talk about, as Don was involved in submarine construction for several years. 

It was getting pretty warm outside, so Geri suggested that we pull down the big awning on the side of the coach to get some shade.  We all trooped out to take part in the process, only to discover that the awning refused to unlock itself from the side of the coach, no matter how much coaxing we gave it.  May be time for another Pro to give us a hand.  Just then, who should show up but Granddaughter Nicole (Nikki in real life), who I was enormously glad to see, she’s one of my favorite people, ‘cause she’s always so happy and upbeat.  Geri immediately grabbed all of Nikki’s attention to give her iPhone lessons, which prevented her from giving me all the attention I deserved, but that was OK. 

It wasn’t much later that Mike showed up, with one of his buddies from work, Walter, who I really enjoyed meeting, he obviously appreciated my good attitude.  Another of Mike’s work friends, Alex, appeared a little later, and we all stood around engaging in man talk about cars and things.  I was really having a good time, drifting between the girls and the guys, getting lots of petting and adulation.  The party broke up after awhile, with Don going off with Mike to his office, and Geri heading out with Nikki for some shopping.  I was left to do some napping in the coach, which I think I needed. 

An hour or so later, Don appeared at the door of the rig, and invited me to get into the truck, which I was happy to do.  We drove out to the road, where we fell in behind Mike’s car to head for Winchester, where he lives.  The trip involved getting on the Massachusetts Turnpike, the toll road we were on yesterday.  When we got to the booth where the guy gives you a piece of paper, Mike cruised through on his pass, and Don got behind a guy who was having a nice conversation with the ticket handler in the booth.  For some reason, Don found this to be upsetting, and I heard prolonged honking of the truck’s horn, plus some unusual language coming from Don.  When we finally made it to the booth, there was more high volume, and one-sided, discussion.  It took awhile to catch up with Mike, but we lost him again at the toll collection end of the Pike, where the gal in the booth insisted on knowing if Don was having a good day; I’m not sure what he told her. 

Fortunately, Don knows the way to Mike’s house pretty well, and we got there before he did, mostly because Mike had stopped to get some supplies (beer) for Don.  When the front door opened, who did I see but Grandson Thomas (who I initially didn’t recognize because of his beard and mustache) and Granddaughter Andrea (who doesn’t have those things), which pleased me enormously, as they have been so kind and loving to me in the past.  I was really excited to be reunited with so many of my favorite people, and I ran around the house to show off my investigative skills.  Mike’s charming wife Rina showed up a few minutes later, and I was really happy to see her again; then Mike appeared, Geri and Nikki drove up, and the whole family was all in one place finally!  Don and Mike went down to the new garage to take inventory of all the cars and motorcycles, while Thomas and Andrea played with me in the back yard.  It was a really exciting and fun time, and I expended a lot of energy just running from group to group. 

After a while, I was escorted back to the truck, and we all caravanned off to a local grocery to get some food for me, as Don and Geri had miscommunicated regarding bringing some from the coach.  We met again in downtown Winchester, a lovely little village, where I got my dinner and they went into a Chinese restaurant for theirs.  After I got a much needed nap, they came out of the restaurant, and told me about how great their dinner was.  Sounded fine to me, even though I’m not a Pekinese.  We went for a little walk through the village, the kids got some ice cream, and we all visited some more, before getting back into the truck and heading out for Bellingham and our home on wheels.

A big, exciting day, reuniting with some dear people that I haven’t seen in years!  I loved every minute, and know that the rest of our time here is going to be lots of fun!  Will try to bring you today’s adventures this evening, if I’m not too tired again.  See ya!