New England Tour (NET) preview – revised

New England Tour plan

The “New England Tour” is how we are describing our summer in New England. In previous years we stayed all summer in a fixed location – the Minuteman Campground in Littleton MA. This year we will stay at that campground for just 9 nights; we will travel to 7 other spots for the rest of our stay and will leave earlier than usual – the end of July. So, briefly, this is what the NET looks like:

1. Pinewood Lodge Campground, Plymouth MA, for 24 nights. This is the longest stay on the NET. The primary reason for hanging out in southeast Massachusetts is to give me a base to do some genealogical research – primarily for Jett’s Mayflower ancestors, but also some of mine. My brother is also nearby and this will be an opportunity to catch up with him.
2. Normandy Farms Campground, Foxboro MA for 11 nights. We have stayed here before and love it. We are looking forward to enjoying the beautiful pools (if the weather improves), the snack bar, the disc golf course and the other amenities.
3. Beach Rose RV Park, Salisbury MA for 10 nights. This will be a good base for doing genealogical research on Jett’s Salem and Rowley ancestors and will get us close to Rockport for our annual visit. This seems to be the best of the Cape Ann campgrounds, so we thought we would give it a try.
4. Newfound RV Park, Bridgewater NH for 3 nights.  This is a quick trip to central NH, near Newfound Lake, to attend the Escapees Northeast Chapter 3 rally.  We attended one of these rallies before, up in Maine, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, so we are looking forward to renewing some acquaintances.
5. Sea-Vu West, Wells ME for 8 nights. We have long wanted to spend some time on the Maine coast and this will give us a few days near some great beaches as well as the beautiful beach towns of Ogunquit and Kennebunk. It is also near the gravesites of some of Jett’s Maine pioneer ancestors.
6. Saddleback Campground, Northwood MA for 9 nights. This takes us back to where it all started in the summer of 2012. It is very close to our sister-in-law’s summer cottage (where we expect to spend a lovely July 4th holiday). It is also close to a place where we can, if we choose, get some RV repairs done.  We could stay with our sister-in-law for a couple of days if necessary (right, sis?).
7. Minuteman Campground, Littleton MA for 9 nights. This is our old summer “home” so it will be nice to see the owners and, we hope, some old friends.  It is also relatively close to Boston so we will probably schedule some medical and dental appointments. Fun.
8. Pine Acres Family Camping Resort, Oakham MA for 14 nights. This is near Worcester where both Jett’s brother and my son live, so there will be some family time. It will also be a time to prepare for our next trip, the Second Trip West (STW). There are also more graves to find in the area near Worcester.

The path looks torturous, but in truth it is a rather short journey – just 445 miles.  We arrive May 5 (we are at the Pinewood Lodge Campground now) and depart August 1. The hops are short but the stays are long, totaling 88 nights. So while we are traveling more than usual this summer, it won’t be a lot of driving.

And we get to see parts of New England that we haven’t seen before, even though we have lived in the area most of our lives.