Poconos to our original start point in Keyport New Jersey

July 09 - 20 Saturday, 2013   

So, after our friends left the resort we mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  One day we walked the nature trail and another we walked the entire resort.  I got play a couple more water volleyball sets and Patty did a couple of Karaokes.  Then it was time to pick up and get ready to leave for NJ.

Teepee along the nature trail at Sunny Rest Resort

Eazy trail, the one we took.  About 2 miles.

Hard trail.

Friday July 12th we hitched up the RV and took off for Keyport NJ where we originally started our RV life.  Keyport is about 110 miles from our site in the Poconos so it was a very short pull.  We didn’t, however, do a real good job of making the best of the short trip.  The biggest mistake was not topping off the fuel tank before we left.  I had just under a half tank that should get me 130 miles and I only needed to get 110.  Yah, I know, doesn’t leave much room for error.  So then the error happened.  I didn’t realize that the exit for I78 and US22 were the same exit so I drove past the exit that I should have taken.  This added about 30 miles to the trip and with many stop lights to use up more fuel. 

Now I needed to get fuel in NJ with the RV connected to the truck.  I really don’t like getting fuel with the RV connected to the truck.  We found a Flying J which we have a credit card with to get some of their high priced fuel.  We got this card just for this purpose as the card gives us a $.06 per gallon discount.  This makes their expensive fuel at least tolerable. Just a note about using Flying Js and their cousin Pilot, they are truck stops so I know they can handle our rig once I pull off to get fuel.   Other cheaper gas stations have diesel but most we can’t get into or out of with the RV attached.  There is nothing worse than to pull off the highway and waste time and fuel trying to find an accessible gas station.  One of the bad things about truck stops (and it happened this time) is that they can be very slow.  Truckers use a lot of the time at the fuel stop to stretch and go to the bathroom and whatever. We waited behind a truck for ½ hour before we got to the pump.  So now the 110 mile 2 hour trip took us 4 hours.  We still arrived before a lot of the Friday  rush hour shoretraffic on the Parkway.  

Just a little about where we are here in Keyport NJ.  We have great friends (Cindy and Rob) here that agreed a few years ago that we could park in their driveway when we were in the area.  There are really not any places to park close to the shore in north/central NJ.  Last year, before we got the RV, they shared the cost with us to have 50A RV service put in their driveway for us.  For their share, they will ultimately use the service for a hot tub someday in the future.

Our site in Rob and Cindy's driveway in Keyport NJ

After arrival, Patty’s son Chas came over for a visit.  It had been 7 months since they were together. We later went to see his new apartment which is now in Keyport; he was in New Brunswick.  This apartment is so much nicer than the old one.

Saturday the 13th we went to a pig roast at our friends Dan and Diane’s house in Vernon NJ about 70 miles north and west from Keyport.  We decided to get a hotel room close so we didn’t need to drive back after we had too much fun!  The pig roast was also a birthday party for Dan.  They really do a very nice event!  Thanks to Dan and Diane for the invitation and the good time.

The pig roaster

The pig being roasted.  Nice tan there Pig!

Live music at the pig roast

Sunday the 14th started the heat wave here with 7 days above 90.  We have had 2 days at 100 this week as well! This weather has been much more oppressive that anything we had in Florida, at least up to the 2nd week in June down there.

Monday the 15th we had a service appointment with a local RV dealer to get the wheel bearings repacked and to have the fridge handles replaced under warranty.  The appointment was at 8:15 am and was about 25 miles away so we left at 7 am to get there.  We did really good and arrived at 7:50 am.  They open at 8am and there was already a small crowd waiting to check-in once they opened.  I made this appointment 3 months ago because I know it is usually very difficult to get in to a dealer for anything in the summer in the Northeast.  We wanted more stuff done under warranty but we were unable a month ago to add any work to the appointment.  We are now getting the other stuff done in upstate New York next month.  We were done and back to Keyport by noon the same day.

Our RV house waiting for service in Lakewood NJ

Monday evening we went to a Melissa Etheridge concert at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank NJ.  We had great seats 17 rows from the stage directly in the center.  She really is a great performer.  She played the drums, piano, harmonica, and a 6, 12 and 18 string guitar (2 necks).  Since she "came out" years ago her audience was made up of a lot of lesbians which we are fine with.  It's just that now we were in the minority.  It was a great show, we not disappointed.

Very hard to take pictures of her with all of the lights on her

Tuesday the 16th was a domestic chore day.  We got a months’ worth of laundry done and got food shopping out of the way for a while.  After helping get the laundry into the Laundromat I went around the corner and did the food shopping.  I was wheeling the food out to the truck when Patty called and said she was done with the laundry, great timing!  Both chores completed in less than 2 hours and again back to the rig and out of the heat by noon.

This is how we keep track of stuff we need when we go shopping.  Before we go out I take a picture with my phone and we use that as our list.  Looks like I wrote most of those due to the handwriting 

Wednesday the 17th we drove to Chas’s store (Batteries Plus) to get a new battery for our portable inverter.  We are planning to use it connected to either the truck batteries or the RV battery to watch TV when we boondock at the Albuquerque NM balloon festival in October.  This is our cheap way to just slightly boondock.   We just want the ability to watch a little TV if we want to without the generator at night.

That evening we went to the free beach concert at Sandy Hook.  The wind was coming off the ocean so it very nice to be there.  We met up some friends, John and Diana and had a great time with Country Rock music.

Patty and Diana at the beach concert

The stage with the nice sunset.

Looking back at the crowd at the beach concert

Thursday the 18th we went to the beach for the first time since last year.  We were a little apprehensive as the temperature was going to be 100 with the wind coming off of land most of the day.  This could mean we have the sand flies to deal with as well as the high temperature.  For those that don’t know about the beach we go to, it’s named Gunnison and it is located on the National Park Sandy Hook AKA Fort Hancock.  Gunnison is sanctioned by the national park service as clothing optional.  Since it is clothing optional it is located very far from the other beaches in the park.  The ocean is located about a mile from the parking lot and most of that distance is sand.  This walk is sometimes referred to as the heart attack hike and today with 100 degree air temperature and the sand temperature at 125 degrees, it certainly lived up to that! Patty even got a heat blister on her toe.

We drove through Highlands NJ the town where we were renting before we moved into the RV.  This town was under 9 feet of ocean water during the Hurricane Sandy.  Note the sign on the now abandoned house.

Thats our flag shadow in the foreground.  Picture taken from our chairs in the sand/water at Gunnison Beach on Sandy Hook NJ

We met up with old friends Paul, Warren, John, DJ, Yan, and Carl to name a few.  We had a great spot on the beach close enough to put your feet in the water. By the end of the day the wind was again coming off the water so it was very comfortable.  We finished the evening at a Karaoke bar, MJs with Cindy and Rob.

Friday the 19th I played golf with the group of friends that I worked with at New Jersey Transit.  I played with John, Tom G, Joe, Tom V, and Dan.  Again, the temperature was 100 degrees.  Funny thing was that we were just about the only people on the course on a Friday.  Seems nobody wanted to play golf when it is that hot.   We still had a great time and got caught up on each other’s lives. After the golf we retreated to a local pub and had an early dinner with a few brews!  All is good!  PS: Paul, we missed you.

From left, Dan, Tom V, and Joe with the driver

From left, Tom G and John

Today, Saturday the 20th we plan to visit with Chas and go to birthday dinner for our friend Risa. Today is supposed to be the last day of the heat wave here.  This afternoon we are to get big thunderstorms as the cold from comes in.  We have the proverbial hatches battened down. 

Stay tuned!