MA - Wells State Park

We had site #22, it was a convenient pull-through (there are many pull-throughs at this park). Nice and close to the a playfield and restrooms, but no direct access to the water. We liked it, but I think we'll try for a waterfront spot next time.


We got out letterboxing - lots of boxes in this park! We hit one series of two and a second single one. We'll save the other ones for future adventures.


Theo finding our first box, which was exciting because we got to use his compass.

Our second box. What's a boy to do while mom stamps in to the log book? Well, climb a tree of course!

CT - New London "Grape Escape"

No official campground here - we had a great weekend visitng our friends Myra and Steve at their beach house (aka the Grape Escape) in New London and did the "camp driveway" thing in their driveway :)

Lucky for Theo - Ellie, Nate, and Jared were visitng for the weekend so he had buddies to play with!


The boys and a penguin at "Captain Scotty's"

It is so nice that Morgan was welcome (and got along swimmingly with the cats!) Once she settled in she really enjoyed the beach lifestyle.

And of course Theo was loving the beach!

VT - Little River State Park

We were on site #12. It was a HUGE site, we honestly think we could have just about pulled a wide u-turn rather than backing in. We were close to the swingset and comfort station, but far from the beach and boat launch. We left behind the yaks since we had touristy plans anyway, but next time we'll bring 'em and camp closer to the water.

Theo's running around...who is he playing with?

Aha...one of the ultra-tame chipmunks! They seemed to enjoy playing with Theo...and trying to get into our food.

My boys playing checkers at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury.

Of course we had to stop and pose for a good old cutout photo op.

the boys on the Ticonderoga at the Shelburne Museum. Very cool steamboat, and very cool museum!

Theo also got to try out a motorcycle at the Shelburne. What an eclectic mix of collections.

And of course, we visited Ben and Jerry's - yum!

Storage for Theo

We unscrewed the fiberboard covering over a dead section along the front of the camper and Kevin cut it to make an access door to the space. I then used my handy staple gun and attached some dollar store fabric containers to divide the space and keep Theo's "treasures" all organized.

Here's a shot of the space closed - Kevin put a finger hole in it so it can be opened more easily. We probably would have left the section out altogether, but since Morgan sleeps with Theo, we figured that we should cover it so she doesn't trip or twist a leg in there.

New Baggage Hatch

Since we've made our bed pretty much permanent in the rear, that back driver's side storage section has been very tough to access...thus was becoming wasted space. I ordered a hatch door off of eBay and we got brave and installed it. It really was an easy process! (especially with the right tools - thanks to our neighbor Joe and his jigsaw!)

A little nervewracking to cut into the side panel, but Kevin was a pro!


Theo enjoyed watching the blade cut through from the inside.


He also enjoyed inspecting the hole before the door went in.

Viola! It looks good and works like a charm!

Mariah Awning

After meeting the Retrac family at G@TG and seeing their awning, we decided that the Mariah awning was the way to go for us. So we got in touch with both Dean at Mariah in Ft. Worth and and Danny at Danny's Campers. As luck would have it, Danny had one that had been installed on a camper in his inventory, but was removed at customer request for delivery - and was discounted because it wasn't technically "new" (althought it had never even been deployed) - DISCOUNT, we'll take it!


Here's how the Scout looks with the new awning installed. A little heavier for lifting the roof, but still very manageable.

Here's the new awning - we'll need to mess with pole height and tension, but we both agree that it is better than anything we would have concocted...and we certainly have been noodling on designs over the past year.

Another view - Morgan gives it the seal of approval!

CT - West Thompson Lake Campground

We returned to the Army Corps of Engineers campground at West Thompson Lake for the 2nd Fourth of July weekend in a row with our friends Mindy, Shawn, and Leah!

I didn't take too many pictures since I forgot to charge the camera battery, but we had a great time and got out fishing and kayaking, and spent time chilling with good friends!


This time we had site #14, with great access to the playscape and comfort station.
Here's the view of the playscape from our picnic table. Theo and Leah played on it for HOURS. It was great being so close.

We checked out a basketball from the office and played some hoops - the hoop was just about the right height for Mom :) Still a little high for Theo and definitely too high for Leah. Daddy had no problem dunking on all of us!


Plastic bags filled with water (and pretend goldfish) and "collections" were one of the hits of the weekend.

Morgan, time to come out and get going home! She stayed in there the whole time I folded down and hitched up.

NY - Watkins Glen State Park

We had a great time at the PUX (popupexplorer.com) 2009 Gathering at the Glen (G@TG)! It was a whole lot of fun meeting fellow PUX-ers and the Glen was beautiful.



We had site #93 on the Mohawk loop, which is the only electrical loop and where the gathering was taking place. I think if it were just us going not for G@TG we'd forego the electric and camp in the Tuscarora loop - there is a primo playscape in the middle that we rode our bikes to.


Theo had a great time on the aforementioned playscape. There also was a great one near the pool that he loved. The playscape in the Mohawk loop is circa mom and dad's childhood, still fun...but the new ones were the clear winners in Theo's book.


Swimming was another highlight for Theo - this is the small...ahem...NOT baby pool. The other pool is olympic size and over Theo's head at the shallow end, after convincing him that he'd have a lot more freedom in the smaller pool we switched over and had a lot more fun.

Another highlight was the PUX pot luck...snow cones BEFORE dinner?!?!?

And here are some shots of our Gorge Trail hike. Simply amazing!

Yes...I was holding on very tightly!

A walk behind the falls and up the spiral staircase:

NH - Pillsbury State Park

We had site #2, right on Butterfield Pond.
Great site, very isolated from the others and a beautiful spot on the water.


There must have been something tasty right by our shore, these geese visited more than once.

A far off view of the Scout from the next section of Butterfield Pond, looking back through the narrows.

On a hike out to said narrows Morgan decided to walk through the muck rather than take the little foot bridge...of course Theo had to follow suit.

The fishermen return - plenty of perch and sunnies out there!

Morgan was really enjoying the water, it must feel good on her old joints. (Despite being mostly lab, she's never been a big water girl.)

We saw several loons - here's one looking for breakfast.

And here he is taking off over the water.

Happy Campers. You can see my Christmas gift in this shot -a propane-powered hot shower and shower tent, this was the first chance we've had to use it - it was sweet :)

Theo and Morgan on the shore - we had a great weekend!