Our Road Trips

7/4/2015

6/26/2015

The next morning, we broke camp and started our drive to Augusta, NJ for the Rock, Ribs & Ridges music festival. We are also meeting a group of friends from our cruises and also 3 of the couples we went to Alaska with last summer…should be a heck of a fun weekend, as long as the weather holds. It is about a 4 hour drive, so we broke it in half and had sandwiches & a break along the way. The traffic was pretty light until we got onto I-287 & I-80. But we made it about 4 and got set up next to Chance & Terry Eaton from Phoenix. They were having problems with both their truck and electric, so we are thankful. They towed away their truck and an electrician found the issues with their electric, so all is well until Monday. Also, Bud & Helen Jensen from Lansing, NY and their friends Mary Ellen & Ray Frederick, and Bill Beggs & Pat Chinn from Baltimore as well as about 50 friends from Simpleman Cruises were there, about 20 of which were camping near us, so it was going to be a heck of a fun weekend. The fun started early Friday evening with an acoustic set by Stolen Rhodes for just the campers…then back to the campground for partying until after 1 am. The guys from Stolen Rhodes even joined in.

Sat morning was visiting and getting ready for the first full day of music. The music started about noon and went all afternoon…Farmer Phil Band, Pat Travers Band, Preacher Stone, Blue Oyster Cult, & Lou Gramm (voice of Foreigner). It rained all afternoon, but our foresight made it a fun day, we had reserved a table for 10 inside a tent close to the stage. So while a lot of people were having a miserable day, we were sitting at a table with waitress service for both beer & food and dry as a bone…nice. The music was great, the company great, plenty of beer & 2 included BBQ dinners from the BBQ outfits at the show…what a great day!! After the music died, we all made our way back to camp and an evening of partying with our camp frynds and even a couple of the band members. It was a day to remember.

Sunday morning broke brighter, no rain but still cloudy. We ate some breakfast and got ready for day 2. Because it wasn’t raining, they had a table set up for us outside the tent…J. The music started late because the first band came an hour late. But they were pretty good, so the crowd got into the music and that it wasn’t raining, the day went well…Gary Douglas Band, Stolen Rhodes, Artimus Pyle Band, Marshall Tucker Band, and Charlie Daniels Band. Stolen Rhodes had a great set and got the crowd jumping…Artimus Pyle kept the crowd on their feet the whole set…it was a very fun afternoon. The rain held off all afternoon until we were walking back to the camper. We sat and talked for a couple of hours and as folks called it a night, Barb & I moved to the next party. We finally went to bed about 1 am and got some sleep…it was an amazingly fun weekend.

Monday morning, the sun is out and it is time to say our goodbyes. We have had a great time reacquainting with old friends and making new ones. We are headed to Vermont, Bud & Helen to NY, Bill & Pat to Baltimore, & Chance & Terry are staying put and waiting for their truck to get a new transmission…yikes $$$!! Our drive to Vermont was fine until the last mile, made a wrong turn and had to unhook the car & turn around…not good. But we got it done and pulled into Winhall Brook Army Corps of Engineers Park in Jamaica, VT. We will be here for 8 nights with a rushing brook that makes enough noise for me to hear, but with no TV or Internet…may do more traveling than we planned. It is July 4^th weekend coming up, this place and everywhere else will be full…we will play it by ear. Stay tuned.

Steve & Barb Larson