Connecticut: Week One

And the family visits continue. From Delaware we drove 4 and half hours north to Connecticut for another two weeks of family time. We had been dreading taking the Airstream on the New Jersey Turnpike with its zillion lanes of cars and rude drivers zipping around everywhere. But in the end it really wasn’t that bad. We got a shockingly early start on Sunday morning and managed to avoid any traffic issues. While there was nothing scenic or remarkable about the trip, it helped that it was a route we had driven before. Probably the most painful part of the entire drive was the over $50 in tolls that we had to pay. Ouch!

Crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge

In addition to beating the traffic, one of the reasons we wanted to get an early start was to ensure that we arrived with plenty of day light left to maneuver ourselves into what we knew would be a tricky courtesy camping spot. Neither Tim’s mom, or dad and step-mom, live where we can park the Airstream. With few campground or RV park options nearby, we were lucky that a family friend offered a spot in their yard. Their very beautiful yard I might add.

Pool side living

It did take some doing to get into our spot. We first had to drive up a narrow road on the side of their house and then back in at a tight angle on a steep incline. To prevent the rear bumper form digging into the ground as we backed down the hill we built a ramp for the side wheels. Luckily there was a huge pile of scrap lumber for us to use.

Tim building the ramp

I am happy to say that we did make it in, and using more scrap wood plus our lynx levelers got ourselves level side to side. It’s been a very peaceful place to stay. Every night we fall asleep to the sound of the frogs and running water in the nearby fish pond.

The weather was less than desirable last week with lots of cloudy, cool, and rainy days, which meant we haven’t yet enjoyed that inviting looking pool. We spent most of the week working and hanging out with family. Though we did get out one sunny afternoon for some strawberry picking. We picked 9 pounds of small, ultra-sweet berries that I packed up and froze for breakfast smoothies.

Hard at work

Over the weekend Alicia and kids came up and we got to spend a few more days with those crazy characters.

Crazy Kids

Group photos

We’ll be here through the end of the week, and now that the weather is improving we hope to spend more time outside (and maybe in the pool). Tim took Thursday & Friday off from work and we already have some fun things planned. More on that later…