Ginny-B Campout, July 14-17, 2011

We just came back from a camp-out with Seaport Sams to Ginny-B CG in Foster RI.  Click the colage above for an enlargement, and click title link to transport to the full Picasa Web Album of snapshots from this event.

Off the communications grid for a few days...

We're heading out to Ginny-B Campground in Foster RI for the long weekend.  It's a great campground BUT it's located in communications hell.  Barely any cell coverage at all, regardless of who you're using.  We go there once a year and it's kind of good to get unavailable for a few days:)....  We'll eat well, swop lies and tales with good friends and get some reading in.  What's not to like? :)

Summer and the living isn't always easy...

So, I started out digging out the power washer from the shed...getting that running and stopping the hoses from leaking...it's amazing how things can go to hell in a basket just sitting there...

Long story short we've started power washing the house, and then I diverted to the awning and roof of the rig...thank God David took pity on the old man and helped out!

The problem with reading a really good book......

The problem with reading a really good book is that it spoils you for a long time.  It creates a bit of havoc in your routine in that you put off things that need doing, go to bed later than you should and get up earlier than you want to…ignore those around you and generally turn into a very un-social person for a period of time.  Thank you very much Wally Lamb!

“I Know This Much Is True” by Wally Lamb is the book, the really good book, I refer to.  It’s probably my favorite book ever, and I read a lot. The problem with having a favorite book that is 897 pages long is that you KNOW that every time you re-read it (and you will) you’re going to piss off your family, friends, and associates for a week as you turn inward.  That having been said, knowing this book is on my bookshelf is like knowing you have money in the bank….it’s reassuring to know she’s there and she gets better with age.  We’re planning on moving to Florida in the next few years, and its books like this that will force me to box up and ship the library.  I can’t imagine NOT having them close by.  Our family is into e-books (Kindle, I-Pad’s, I-Phone’s  etc) but the physical books we have seem to connect us to our earlier days, our journey through life as our tastes in books and our interests expanded and contracted over time. Does that make any sense?

I’m sure some of the appeal of “I Know This Much Is True” is the location of the novel (SE CT) and the former Norwich Hospital which is in our town of Preston.  Also  in the work the Mohegan tribe is coming of age with its new Mohegan Sun Casino and some of the characters in the novel are Mohegan’s….as is our oldest son Anthony (adopted at age 3 and a half, found his biological parents at age 21 just before the Tribe was federally recognized and the Casino approved)… But even if we lived in Los Angeles and had no family connection with the Tribe…the story of the Birdsey brothers would be as compelling.  It’s a book that grabs you early on and doesn’t let go.  Initially I found myself “speed reading” a bit just dying to find out what was going to happen next, which is OK as the next time(s) you go in you can sip rather than slurp….enjoy the progression rather than race to the summit if you will, and the subsequent reads don’t disappoint as you find things you missed during the first trip.

If you haven’t read I Know This Much Is True you have something to really look forward to…enjoy it!  I do.

2011 RI Samboree

Click the title link to view a short clip from the 2011 RI Good Sam Samboree we just attended this weekend.

Picasa Web Album from the 2011 CT Good Sam Samboree

Kincaid waiting patiently in the rig....

Click the title link to transport to a Picasa Web Album of photo's and video clips from the 2011 CT Samboree, a Good Sam affair that was held the weekend of June 11th, 2011 at the Brooklyn Fairgrounds in Brooklyn CT.

Images from the 2011 CT Good Sam Samboree

Click the Title link to view to short YouTube clip from our 2011 CT Samboree that was held at the Brooklyn Fairgrounds in Brooklyn CT.

Panoramic image from the 2011 CT Samboree

Additional Panoramic image from the 2011 CT Samboree