For the past number of years I have donated money to the Plymouth State Thanksgiving Basket program to help those less fortunate.  This year I didn't have the money to do it.  But I went to the Water Street Rescue Mission in Lancaster and volunteered my time to help feed the homeless and less fortunate in the area.  I was given several responsibilities and feel really good about having done that.  It was nourishing to my soul to have served...

Today I had my Thanksgiving meal at the Neptune Diner in Lancaster.  Some may remember it as a 24 hour place near F&M called Lum's.  As I sat by myself, and please, I like spending holidays like this by myself, I thought about how I never really like going around the table and each person saying what they are thankful for. I am thankful for much...friends, family, food, shelter, Ozzy...but, also, I thought that I am thankful for my intelligence, imagination, resourcefulness and resiliency. I don't know if this is another display of my own self-centeredness, but that's the way I feel.  And, I think that everyone should reflect and be thankful for who they are for the qualities they possess.  Hope all have a roof over their head, a warm place and food to eat. Peace...

It's Saturday and Ozzy and I will be back on the road tomorrow.  Have had a warm and dry stay under Judy Watson's roof and on her couch.  Not sure where we're headed from here but it is time to hit the road again...weather will moderate for a few days which will be nice.  May head to the Jersey shore and maybe back to Delaware where I enjoyed my stay last week.  I ordered a new pair of glasses from JCPenney in Lancaster and it will be another week before they are ready.  So, I will still be hovering in the PA DE area for at least another week.  I will be teaching in January in Plymouth and am looking forward to going back for a while.

My Sunday update is being written in Starbucks, Newark, Delaware. Spent the night in the van at a Flying J (appropriately named) truck stop in North East, Maryland (descriptive of where in Maryland it is and the name of the town.)  It was a warm night in the van, 35 degrees and Ozzy and I slept well.

I didn't really like my MD experience all that much.  Went to Havre de Grace which looked like a nice town on the Chesapeake, but, Ozzy and I went looking for an area to camp and in the process (excuse my language) it cost us $8.00 to cross a bridge...$8.00 to cross a fucking bridge??!!?!  It would have cost us $43 for a state park campsite...$43 for a fucking campsite??!!?!  or, over $100 for a motel room, even with my telling the people I was a member of AARP and the discount they would have given me...over $100 for a fucking bed for the night??!!?!  Stopped at the truck stop where the young woman behind the counter basically said, park anywhere!!!  So a good night after all.  Also, had a pretty good seafood, scallop dinner in North East.

It was a really nice drive from Gettysburg yesterday to Maryland.  Crossed the Mason/Dixon Line and paid $2.79 a gallon for gas.

Gettysburg was a good experience...took the auto tour of the battlefields.  Really is a very moving experience.  I'm not usually a souvenir buyer but I bought myself a multiple blade knife which has my name and Gettysburg carved into it which I thught would make a nice addition to my survival kit.  In my left front jeans pocket I always carry a nail clipper, a lighter and a capo...now I have added my Gettysburg knife to the mix...should be ready for all occasions.

Newark, Delaware looks nice and I will explore for a bit.  This is as south as I will go this tour before I go back to NH in January for the month.  DC when I head south after January.  Should be in at least the 50's today for temperature.  Things are heating up.

I've been having a really great time in Pennsylvania, meeting up with old friends, seeing the sights and playing and listening to music.  I've been able to get out of the cold staying on Judy Watson's couch for a number of cold nights...of course, she was more concerned about Ozzy being in the cold than me...Last night I stayed in Merry Mark's guestrrom with Ozzy and today am in Gettysburg.  I think I'll stay here for at least a couple of days.  Slept in the van in Dewie Marietta's driveway which was really comfortable...if it's not too cold, I like sleeping in the van, it's home...met up with Jill Yescalis in a nice little coffee place, Skinny Park Juice and visited with Joel Haimes at his house.  It's been great seeing everyone.

I played an open mic at 551West in Lancaster which was fun.  As my students would say, I was killin' it!

Drove from Christiana, PA to Gettysburg on secondary roads which was a great drive.  Just took the auto tour of the battlefield and quick walk through of museum.  Might go down into Maryland and Delaware tomorrow or next day...What did Delaware?  Idaho, Alaska.

Wanna do my Sunday update...

Spent the night on a couch in Lancaster, PA thanks to Judy Watson.

Went to a club in Lancaster called Tellus360 where I saw a really good band from Boston called Session Americana.  They were lots of fun and I talked to some of them after the gig.  Some knew Bill Morrissey and one of them writes songs with Mark Erelli who has done a tribute to Bill.  Just lots of fun and the kind of music I have been hoping to see on my travels.  Energy and improvisation...just playing to jam and have a good time...guitar, bass, small drum set, mandolin, fiddle, harmonica, keys...just lots of old time feel.

Today I will probably take Ozzy back to a great dog park in Lancaster where it is covered with astroturf, green for grass and blue for water.  A bridge to walk on, water to drink, just a great place for Ozzy.

Gonna give Dewie a call in a bit, see what she's up to.  Probably do laundry to today while I think about what to do for the next few weeks.  Gonna be cold and wet, but then it will moderate again and don't know whether I want to go more south and then come north or if I want to just weather it here.

Ozzy and I are healthy and Ozzy is liking Judy Watson and feeling comfortable.

I am in a motel room outside of Scranton, PA.  Spent last night at a truck stop outside of Saratoga Springs, NY.  Lovely ride through the Catskills into the Poconos today.  First snow of the season in most places and just beautiful frosting all over.  The whole northeast Appalachian chain is really terrific.  From Whites, to Greens, to Berkshires, to Catskills, to Poconos. Drove into Honesdale, PA where I found a natural foods cafe and deli and had a good healthy lunch.

Decided to visit the camp I went to when I was a child.  People wonder why I am as independent and resourceful as I am and I think that much of it stems from me going to Snow Hill Camp in Lake Como, PA.  It was an 8 week sleep away camp that I first went to when I was 5 years old!  Went there for many years.  The only thing I couldn't learn to do was swim!  I was a real nature boy catching snakes, fish, preying mantises, salamanders, frogs, etc.  Hiked, camped, rode horses, did it all, but could not learn to swim and to this day I don't.

As I post this, Ozzy is asleep on a real bed. I paid an extra $10 for him.  I just took a hot shower and am going to just enjoy being off the road and out of the van for the rest of the day.   

A midweek post...sometimes I have a plan and sometimes a plan has me!


Went to KIA in Concord to have a tune-up done on the van.  In order to access the plugs, you need to take the manifold off!!!  So, labor will be...and, you need a new throttle sensor, couple tires don't look so good really should have new ones...so, don't even guess amount of money it cost me...too much!!


So left Concord feeling really poor, not in a good mood at all!  Drove to Keene where I spent the night.  Tried to find a place in a Keene State College lot, but, the officer on duty was not very friendly and said no way could stay in any lot.  So, I found a space on second floor of parking garage and slept pretty well.  Got up and thought that Ozzy and I would go to Brattleboro for breakfast.  Five miles outside of Keene my check engine light came on...not happy at all!  Decided to go back to Concord, go to an auto parts place and have the code read...would then decide whether I needed to do damage at Concord KIA or not.  Code was for oxygen sensor, nothing to do with yesterday's work.


Had breakfast in Concord and drove back to Keene.  When I was in Keene the day before I noticed RetroMusic on Main Street which didn't open until 11.  Well now I return to Keene around 11 and would check out RetroMusic.  Those of you following the blog know that I have a guitar that I've been trying to sell that no one wants to buy.


Pulled into Keene around 10:30 and got a call from someone in Lancaster, PA, Mary Cae Williams who I knew 45 years ago.  She is now director of a Montessori School in Lancaster and we had a great discussion, some of which was about the possibility of me doing some work in the school when I get down there.  Nothing firm but a very positive conversation with possibilities.  Now feeling a bit better.  Still money, or lack of it, is a constant weight on my mind.


Went into RetroMusic around 11:15.  Brought my guitar in and to make a long story short Jeff bought the guitar from me for $1500!!  Ecstatic!!  Cashed the check...in order to deposit the money I needed to return to the north country to deposit in my bank.  Drove to Plymouth, which is where I left just yesterday morning to go to Concord.  Plymouth to Concord to Keene to Concord to Keene to Plymouth.


Up, down, up, down, up, down, up...$1500 goes a long way for me!!  Sometimes I have got a plan and sometimes a plans got me.

So when we last made contact we were on our way to Newport, RI.  Left Providence thinking I would have liked to have spent more time there...lots of colleges and universities to explore...but after being in Newport for a few days Providence lost most of its luster.  I did play an open mic in Providence at a place called the Spot...was a big hit and enjoyed myself.  Spent the night in the parking lot of  a 24 hour McDonalds.

Wasn't sure what I would find in Newport as I thought it would be a very rich and pricey town.  But, it turned into a really good three days and not what I thought it would be at all.  I surprised my friend Amie Archambault at her workplace, Pour Judgement, and she helped guide me through Newport.  It was really great to spend some time with her and to have a friend who could help with a hot shower and places to go and crash for the night.  Played an open mic, not as much fun as the one in Providence. The first night I spent on the street outside of her apartment, but she told me about a place called King's Beach off of Ocean Drive...what a great spot!!  (I am still having trouble posting photos on the blog.  Check my facebook posts for some.)  I crashed there for two nights.  Just me and Ozzy and the crashing waves.  I was the King...just call me Elvis.  Drove Ocean Drive and saw the mansions which gave rise to my preconceptions of Newport...amazing.)

Oh yeah, and Ozzy has had a number of great dog park adventures, in Providence and Newport.

[Just an aside...I have been down with the flu for about a week but spent almost a whole day in bed at King's Beach sleeping, watching videos and eating ibuprofen...feeling a lot better as I write this.]

I got on the road yesterday without any destination in mind.  Ended up in Storrs, Ct home of UConn.  I was really tired and thought I would try a new strategy.  I went to the UConn police station and told them I was a retired college professor traveling and sleeping in my van and wondered if there was some space they would allow me to park for the night.  Gave me a map, where I could park, places to eat and enjoy Storrs.  When I got to the place I watched and listened to the UConn marching band practicing Glory Glory Hallelieuah. Amen brother!  Very nice!  That's really using my degrees!! I will try this strategy again.

And talking about degrees, I think it was the coldest night yet on the road.  But, slept okay, Ozzy is still a happy boy and on to whatever is next...

A rare midweek post...
In Providence, RI...went through Amherst and Northhampton, MA a couple of days ago, headed for Newport RI today.  Having breakfast at a Whole Foods.  Ozzy got to run off-leash in a dog park.  Will fill in details on Sunday.  Played an open mic in Providence last night.
I would stay in Providence for a couple of days but finding a parking space is impossible and when you do you need more quarters than exist in circulation.

Hello All,  it is Saturday 11/1/14.  I am in Brattleboro, VT.  The weather has turned, it is wet and cold.  I had planned to end the day in Salem, MA today but weather.com showed terrible weather there so I decided to just go where the wind blew and blew me here Brattleboro...I've been here on several occasions always liked it here.  Just had a really good burrito at Milagros on Main St.

Yesterday I presented my workshop at the NH Council on the Arts conference in Greenfield, NH, somewhere between East and West Nowhereland.  Workshop went really well...22 participants including a number of dignitaries and my college mentor, Trish Lindbergh who loved it.  I'm proud of my standing and reputation as an educator.  Saw some former students, some friends and met some new people...new adjunct at PSU Chris Claxton a musician and Taylor O'Donnell a vocalist who blew
Me away...really the best singing I have heard in a long time.

I was going to stay at the conference through this afternoon but because of weather and other considerations it was just time to hit the road.

I went to the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH and saw the Escher exhibit which was beyond and description.  Unbelievable!!  You, yes you, MUST go see it.  What an honor to have been able to be so close.  You go to see shows like it and you understand the term "master"!!