Day 21 – Bellingham, Massachusetts

Do you realize that today we’ve been on the road for three weeks?  Doesn’t seem that long to me!  This trip has been clicking by pretty fast, if you ask me.  This is our last Boston day before we head down to Rhode Island and the folks take off for New York, and we made it as long a day as we could.  Don was up at five, Geri up before six, and Don and I were out for our walk by seven.  We could see that some of the other campers were fixing to vacate their sites already and head for home.  We got our collective acts together and piled into the truck before eight to head for Winchester. 

When we got there, we found that Rina had gone to the hospital to get treatment for a bad sinus infection that had developed overnight.  But Mike was ready go with us to downtown Winchester for the Memorial Day Parade and presentations.  We got parking places right near the parade route, and the folks headed for the local bagel shop to get some goodies.  I was very attentive to the bagel consumption, and Don rewarded me with a generous bite of his, which was very good.  We watched the parade go by, which included Thomas in his High School band uniform playing his trumpet, and everyone thought that they played very well.  We walked over to where the presentations were to be held, and met several very nice dogs along the way.  I got a lot of attention from people on the street, and several nice compliments on my manners and appearance.  The parade members showed up again, and played a few more pieces before the presentations started.  My folks found the program to be very well done and moving, with speeches by Iraq war veterans and readings from patriotic material.  They think very highly of Winchester, and are glad that Mike and Rina are living in such a lovely town. 

We cruised back to the house after the program was finished, and soon the whole gang was together again; Andrea was finally up and around, Nikki showed up, Rina got back from the hospital feeling much better, and Thomas had completed his duties with the band.  There was lots of discussion on who was going to go where and when, and when we would all reunite.  It was finally decided that the boys would go on an expedition to the USS Constitution, while Nikki and Geri would head out with me, drop me off to stay with Kevin, and do some more shopping.  That was fine with me, as Kevin is a really nice guy, and I enjoyed spending time with him.  When we got to his place, I had to do a full scale investigation of every nook and cranny to find where things were hidden, like treats.  Didn’t find any, but had fun playing with Kevin, and eventually laid down to nap for awhile.  I hope my snoring didn’t bother him too much.

Nikki and Geri eventually returned to pick me up and take me back to Mike and Rina’s; they were very pleased with the results of their shopping expedition.  Geri was particularly pleased to have found another pair of shoes that she liked and felt good, bringing the in-house total to 74 pairs.  Nikki had also gifted Geri with a speaker system with an amplifier, to work with the iPad in listening to radio stations that we can’t get on the car radio.  Sounds like a good thing.  Don and the boys showed up soon, and Don was terrifically pleased with their outing.  They had enjoyed a guided tour of the Constitution, which is apparently a very old Navy ship, but they had also received a personal guided tour of an engine room aboard an old Navy Destroyer, the Cassin Young.  Mike and Thomas seem to have enjoyed it, also.  Geri was glad that she hadn’t had to participate.

I had to stay at Mike and Rina’s while the whole family went off to have dinner together at an Italian Restaurant, but they were back before too long, and I got my dinner out of the truck.  We hung around the house for some time, until Geri and Don felt the need to head for the rig.  We had our goodbyes, and I was sad to leave the really nice people who had been so good to me and had given me such a fun time.  I could tell that Geri and Don were reluctant to leave, too, but had to get moving to meet their other commitments.  I sure hope we get back here soon!

So, tomorrow, we’re off to Rhode Island to meet with Joanne and Gracie, her young Black Lab.  Sounds like it might be fun!  I’ll give you a full report tomorrow!  See ya then!