Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Our current plan is to leave our home in Estero, Florida on Saturday morning, May 28, 2016, (Memorial Day Weekend) pulling our small but cozy travel trailer heading north to parts mostly known. We decided to leave on Saturday because we are hoping that the traffic will be lighter. We must admit however, that this is kind of naïve on our part since our trip this summer is up the east coast of the United States (and Canada) and we fully expect that unlike last years trip out west, the traffic is going to be relatively heavy every day of the week.  I am actually a little nervous about this.  We are also nervous about campgrounds being harder to book on the east coast since the population is much larger in the eastern states.  The seaside RV parks as well as RV parks in historical areas are very popular during the summer months.  Time will tell I guess, whether we will have a problem in this regard.  In any case, our approach will be to relax, take our time, and not worry about what we may or may not encounter as we travel.

For those of you who did not follow our trip last summer out to our northwest coast, (Ouroregontrailtrip.blogspot.com), I probably should begin this blog with a brief description of our travel trailer followed by a general outline of the areas of our country and Canada that we plan to visit over the next three months or so.  Our travel trailer is what is known to many TV viewers as a "Tiny House."  It contains all of the features that one might expect to find in a typical home but at a vastly smaller size and price tag,  The outside measurements of the trailer including the trailer hitch are approximately 21' x 8'-6."  There is as you can see in the photograph above, an awning on the outside that adds to the size (at least emotionally) and on the inside we have a queen-size walk around bed, a kitchen with a sink, a two burner stovetop, a small refrigerator (propane or electric), and a microwave.  As you can also see in the above sketch of the trailer interior, there is a small kitchen table, as well as a separate bathroom with a shower, toilet, and vanity with a sink.  There is also a TV mounted on the wall above the dinette. Our travel trailer has air conditioning and a propane furnace.  The weight of the trailer is around 3,600 pounds which allows (barely) our Dodge Grand Caravan to pull the trailer with a minimal amount of difficulty.  We traveled last summer almost 11,000 miles and there were no problems with either the car or the trailer.

Out first major stop on our travels north will be in St Augustine, Florida,  From there we will follow the coast northward with stops at Hilton Head Island and nearby Beaufort in South Carolina.  We will then visit Kathy's sister in Wilmington, North Carolina on our way up to Hatteras and the Outer Banks.  From there we will travel into Virginia and up along the coastlines of Maryland and Delaware before making a large detour around the New York City area before entering into Connecticut.  From there we will be following the coast line through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts with stops at such places as Plymouth, Salem, Portland, and Bar Harbor, Maine before entering Canada.  We are meeting my sister Anne and her husband John in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 6th and spending a little over a week touring Nova Scotia with them before they return home.  Our travels will then continue with stops in Quebec City and Montreal before turning south for our long but yet so far unplanned slow trip back to Florida. Our focus besides just relaxing and enjoying ourselves, will be on the beautiful scenery, visiting famous lighthouses and other historical sites and perhaps even a visit or two to graveyards along the way to photograph the gravestones of some of my great, great, etc. grandparents (I am not kidding,) Also if I can talk Kathy into it while in Massachusetts we are going to seek out a hillside called Baker Hill located just north of Boston.  Baker Hill was named after my 9th great grandfather Edward Baker who came to America in the mid-1630s and lived on the hill bearing his name.  This is really going to be exciting. Maybe. Well, hopefully.

Traveling again with Kathy and I is our 12-year old dog and good friend, Cabo Baker, who while not particularly interested in lighthouses and the like, he does enjoy riding in the car and the occasional spraying of his scent around America's beautiful countryside.  We are lucky to have him with us.

Anyway, stay tuned, for beginning around June 1st we will start sending out emails each time we have completed a chapter describing our daily travels. The weather should be good and growing warmer as we travel north although it certainly will be much cooler than in southern Florida. We are looking forward to days in Nova Scotia in the low 70s and nights in the high 50s. We will include as many photographs in our blog as possible and hopefully not too much boring commentary although I may find that to be an almost impossible commitment. And so, farewell until we begin . . . . .