Our family visit was a great blessing for us.  Catching up is so much better in person :)  This was a visit to Hannah and Charles' home...complete with dinner and dessert.  Charles is a chef, professionally, and we ALWAYS enjoy everything he prepares :) :) :) 

Connie is also quite the cook.  She is always trying something new!  Here is Tom's birthday cake and it was very tasty :)  Good job Connie!!!  Being the baby adult in the family Tom enjoys reminding Connie of the 2 and 1/2 weeks of seniority she has over him.  And as a former lineman for the Ohio State Buckeyes...how can one argue?

I get the chance to walk Kit Kat (Connie's German Shepard / Husky / extremely strong dog) most mornings.  This is one of our turn around spots, marked by this observant spectator.  She did a double take the first time she saw this pig :)

We stayed the better part of a month, camped out in front of Connie and Tom's home.  We had a wonderful time and added many ducks to our collection (details to follow one day).  We left and landed back here at Cook Forest SP in Cooksburg, PA for 2 nights.

While there we had an oil change/routine service on our truck and stopped here for dinner.

Next stop was here at Eddy Acres (Boondockers Welcome) in Chester, Vermont.  It was a very, VERY, quiet place...no noise...anywhere :)

Well...maybe some noise somewhere, as this fella has ears up.

This is pretty cool!  A year and a half ago our dear friends Kathy and Chick broke an ear off a cactus at his cousin Jim's homestead.  Chick said "just stick it in some dirt".  We carried it around for what seemed like an eternity, planted in this cup.  I was mustering up the nerve to toss it and then it decided to send out a sprout.  COOL!

I failed to get any pictures from Timberlake Home, a Boondockers Welcome in Livermore, ME.

Next we landed back in Lubec, ME, for 9 days to go whale watching and enjoy cool weather.

Our whale boat excursion took us through a confluence of several rivers that created the "Old Sow" whirlpool.  We did see a few Minke whales.  They are the smallest baleen whales in North America.  The overcast skies made it very difficult to focus a camera but at least we did see a few.  Sea lions and Bald Eagles were also spotted.

Another lighthouse on Campobello Island, New Brunswick.  This East Quoddy lighthouse was built on the north side of Campobello, on a small tidal islet connected to the primary landmass, guiding entry into Passamaquoddy Bay.

This little guy almost went unnoticed.

From Lubec we went to a private campground in Grand Isle, ME.  We'll probably stay 'til 8 August.

About 2 months ago we experienced scalloping of out 2 front trailer tires.  One became severe enough to warrant swapping out with the spare.  After much research we decided to start with suspecting our shock struts as to causing the problem.  Upon removal we discovered 2 struts with sheared shafts.  We replaced them and expect to install 4 new tires next week.  The trailer does have over 41,000 miles and we have hit way too many bad potholes and dips in the road.

We miss Julie dearly and lift her husband, Don, and family in prayer.