2024 Summer Trip - Rhode Island - 2024/08/04

Jumping back to our summer of travel, it's time to continue on! We got all packed up and left our friends the Coutures, and headed out. 

Being at a Harvest Host, we didn't have a place to dump our tanks before we left. I called an RV park a little ways down the road and they wanted $20 to dump our tanks there. Luckily the water treatment plant is on the way out and they let you empty your RV tanks for free! 

T.P. Lane. Ha!

All they ask is for a donation to pay for the hoses that people inevitably run over. 

So where are we headed today? 

We've got an RV State Map on the side of the camper that needs filling in. We just picked up Vermont, but there's still a few more to go. Our travels are taking us down south, through New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and finally into Rhode Island. 

And here we are, New Hampshire. We stayed here previously at Sandy Beach Campground. 

Theresa - The hills here would be beautiful in the fall. 

Yes, I'm sure they would. 

Fuel stop. For both the Beast and the kids. 

And stopping a short time later for a restroom break. Who would have guessed.

The New Hampshire Welcome Center looks great inside! Like a little outdoor village! 

And they even have a Cider Donut shop! 

Onwards we head, now into Massachusetts. When we were here before, we stayed at Tuxbury Pond, right on the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Literally! Our RV was about 75 feet on the Massachusetts side! The kids had great memories of trick-or-treating here about a month early because the campground closed before Halloween.  

And finally we are in the home stretch, driving up to Rhode Island! 

Where are we staying? Theresa had the hardest time finding a place. For being such a small state, there weren't a lot of large RV parks. Eventually she settled on Wawaloam Campground.  

They even had a water slide, though we didn't get to check it out on this trip. 

Since we made it here with a little bit of daylight left, what do you want to do? 

Our Summer Fun Pass for Chuck E Cheese is still good, so, why not play some games. 

Ian crushing it on Pop the Lock. 

And Alli and Theresa battling at the Nerf Arcade. 

Good job bonus winner! 

There's even a Trader Joe's nearby! And it's got the best parking lot I've ever seen at a Trader Joe's! The running joke is that Trader Joe's looks for a place with terrible parking and then decides to build a store there. 

Sad that the cookies here are the "alternate" recipe and don't include coconut flakes. 

But here's something I'll enjoy! Black Truffle Cheese! That'll go great on my homemade burgers. 

While we're here in Rhode Island, why not do a project. 

The Beast is an awesome truck and we love driving it, but mostly during the day. At night, the headlights have been compared to "two flashlights taped to the front". The headlight are neither bright nor wide. That's something that we can fix. 

After watching some YouTube videos, T and I were confident that we could tackle the job ourselves. 

Now, I remember previously replacing a headlight and it required unscrewing the bulb on the back and twisting it back in. This one is a little more complicated. The top plastic flashing had to come off, and then the whole grill of the truck! 

From there, you can reach the bolts that hold the headlight into place. 

Testing it out before putting it all back together. Isn't Theresa super bright!

All reassembled with no extra pieces. 

And once night came around, I could tell a definite difference in the brightness. They still don't throw as wide as I'd like, but I'll settle for brightness for now. Just need to adjust them downwards so as not to blind oncoming drivers. 

The next morning, looking out the window, is that a bear?!?

No, just a very shaggy black dog that has gotten loose and is wandering around the campground. 

Hmm, yesterday was Sunday and I missed making pizza. Want to head back to Chuck E Cheese and have pizza?

Play a few more games. 

And then come home and do some Crunchlabs build boxes along with Mark Rober, where we learn different science and engineering skills. 

Today we're making a disk launcher. 

And of course we've got to play with it outside. 

Having a great summer already. 

Love this picture of him. 

Didn't we just have pizza for lunch? 

Doesn't matter. This pizza is homemade. It's different. It counts different. 

And since this is our last night in Rhode Island before we move along, better make sure we add our sticker! Can you even find it Ian? 

There we go! 

Not too many states left now! Tomorrow we drive to Connecticut!