Year 5, Day 42, “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 6/11/2025. The Wellington – Rockaway, NJ to Tannersville, PA outlets. We walked through the outlet stores. Although, we actually had more fun watching the little birds.

Then it was on to Green Lane, PA for Julianna’s moving up family celebration.

I have avoided mentioning that Koral was in a accident last weekend. After being stabilized in one hospital she was sent to a trauma center. There she was stabilized and moved to an ER room. She was in the ER and released to a pediatric room for a day. But last night she was put into ICU. It is very scary!!

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 41, “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 6/10/2025. The Wellington – Rockaway, NJ day. Rockaway Hilton Garden Inn Breakfast.

Then met up with Ann for lunch at the Barn Kitchen and Bar on Green Pond Road. I was so excited to visit that I forgot to take pictures of us. Look they had Dolores Tacos on the menu. There was also a really nice outside seating area with a pup menu.

Later in the day we walked the mall. So funny we can remember the Rockaway mall being built. WE ARE OLD!!!

Another good future design.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 40, “Living the Dream”. Monday, 6/9/2025. The Wellington – This morning we visited The Nashua National Fish Hatchery. This hatchery is one of the oldest national fish hatcheries still operating today. It was established in 1898. Programs at the hatchery support Atlantic salmon and landlocked salmon. They also support American shad and other aquatic species restoration efforts in many New England water bodies. They opened at 8am, but the place was empty and the water runways had no water. We walked around outside the Hatchery for a short time.

Then we dropped Mary off at her home and drove back to Rockaway, New Jersey.

This trip we have been in ten states (KY, WV, MD, PA, NJ, NY, VT, NH, MA, and CT). This is a nice little design. How about we build four of these on the back 40.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 39, “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 6/8/2025. The Wellington – Stayed in Nashua, New Hampshire last night and headed to Rye, New Hampshire after breakfast. Rye, New Hampshire is located on the Atlantic Ocean in Rockingham County. It has eight miles of coast line which is the longest in NH. New Hampshire has 17 miles of coastline. Two thirds of the town’s 35.5 square miles is water. Rye was the site of the first settlement in New Hampshire in 1623. We are taking a boat tour on Uncle Oscar called Isles Tour & Star Island Walkabout. The trip to Rye was rural and beautiful with huge homes with huge Rhododendrons in their yards. In Rye we are an hour away from Boston and 5 1/2 miles from the Isles of Shoals. Rye is mainly a residential town.

Our day consists of a narrated tour of this group of nine islands. These nine islands lay six miles southeast of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor, five of the nine islands are in Maine (Duck, Appledore, Smuttynose, Malaga, and Cedar) and four are in New Hampshire (Star, Lunging, White, and Seaveys). It is a natural habitat for many species of marine life and has a remarkable history. Star, Cedar, Smuttynose and Malaga are situated such that they create a small harbor, known as Gosport Harbor.

We docked at Star Island for an island walking tour of Gosport. Star Island is owned and operated by the nonprofit Star Island Corporation and is currently a conference center. It is also home to a marine biology center operated by Cornell University. From 1623 until 1872, Star Island supported fishermen and their families. In the 1600s, the island was the busiest fishing port on the East coast. Oceanic House was built on Star Island in 1872. It advertised as “an ideal summer resort of the highest class and full of historic associations. Preeminently the place for the tired worker. No noise, no dust, no trolleys.” It was a beautiful gorgeous day. The flowers, the views, the sea air, and the boat ride were restoring. We could not get the full experience as the dining hall was not open yet. This weekend was the first weekend that the boat tours out to the island started for the 2025 season. The official season runs mid June through mid September. I am set to come again, but for now this was perfect.

The island has the John Smith Monument which is the tallest gravestone in New Hampshire

Star Island’s sustainability program is intense. Toilets are flushed with salt water. Rainwater is collected in a cistern for filtration to use as drinking water in taps, showers, and laundry. A solar array delivers up to 60% of Star Island’s energy needs. When the back-up diesel generator is used, “waste heat” is reclaimed to heat water for several uses. Used glass bottles are crushed and used for sand/gravel fill. Cardboard and paper are shredded and used for compost and chicken bedding. Food waste is composted and used to process and provide food.

The Isle of Shoals lighthouse is located on White Island. We could see the light house from Star Island. White Island is the southernmost of the Isles of Shoals. The current lighthouse is actually the 2nd built on site in 1859. The first light house was built in 1820. The Coast Guard currently operates the light house. Before the Coast Guard took it over it was operated by family. White island is not open to the public.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 38, “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 6/7/2025. The Wellington – After breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn in Rockaway, NJ we picked up my brother Manuel. It was a rainy foggy long 206 mile drive to Wilmington, Vermont located in southern Vermont from Rockaway, New Jersey. We passed through the historical downtown area of Wilmington.

On our way to Wilmington, Vermont we drove along the Hudson River and through Troy, New York.

For a while before we entered Vermont we had no telephone service. Where have we taken ourselves? From that point on, the road climbed to a very high elevation. There were lots of trees and no cell phone service. Everything is very green here. There are a lot of small motels and signs for cross country skiing. My ears popped a few times adjusting to the elevation of 2,400 feet in Woodford State Park. We currently live in Kentucky at 1,300 feet. Woodford State Park is 398 acres and has the highest elevation campground of any park in Vermont. Woodford is located on a mountain plateau surrounding Adams reservoir. High Point State Park in New Jersey where we lived near has an elevation of 1803 feet. We passed a few covered bridges that were blocked off before we headed onto Interstate 91 at Brattleboro, Vermont. Vermont has about 100 covered bridges. There used to be about 500. Pennsylvania has the most covered bridges out of all states with about 200. Covered bridges were built to protect their wooden trusses and decks from the elements in harsh weather areas. These coverings extended the lifespan of a bridge from around 20 years to 100 years. Covered bridges were usually painted red to make them look similar to a barn. Horses were less likely to be spooked by entering them then.

In Brattleboro, Vermont we changed direction and started heading to Nashua, New Hampshire to visit my sister Mary. The detour through Vermont was to add another state to our list of visited states. Now we can say we have been in 43 states. Seven more to go!! The main purpose of the trip is actually to get together with my brother and sister. It has been a few years since the three of us have been together.

Dinner at the Lost Cowboy. They had the longest bar I have ever seen.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 37, “Living the Dream”. Friday, 6/6/2025. The Wellington – Memories of PA into NJ over the Dingman’s bridge to Wantage.

Then lunch with friends. Of course no pictures boohoo. Have to describe us. Brenda is sweet, happy, energetic, loving, great friend, thin, looks younger everyday, and fun to be around. David is kind, sweet, gentle, easy to get along with, and a great craftsman. Lunch was wonderful, but mostly it was seeing old friends that made the day. We also had a demonstration of 2P-10 activator done by David. Very cool product.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 36, “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 6/5/2025. The Wellington – Last day of school for the boys.

Julianna’s 8th grade graduation.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 35, “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 6/4/2025. The Wellington – Busy day in PA – Mall, Olive Garden with Julianna, and flag football practice with Joshua.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 34, “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 6/3/2025. The Wellington – Driving Interstate 68 through Maryland there is no wind. The windmills are not moving. The hills and valleys of Maryland are beautiful. Interstate 68 is also called the National Freeway.

We arrived in time to attend Jacob’s soccer scrimmage.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 33, “Living the Dream”. Monday, 6/2/2025. The Wellington – Heading northeast to PA, NJ and NH.

Back home the bees are very happy.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 32, “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 6/1/2025. The Wellington – Broom mop wall hanger is hung in laundry center.

It is amazing how much control our phone has in our lives. You can open and close your garage doors. You can see and talk to people at your home. You can start your dishwasher and turn your home lights on and off. You can read your mail. You can access anything on your laptop. You can talk to people, video with people, and message people to connect instantly with them. You can order all kinds of items from multiple stores and restaurants and track those orders. You can get directions to anywhere and share locations with others. You can use it as an alarm clock, take pictures and videos, and play games alone or with others. You can use it as a calculator or even as a mirror. You can translate different languages, read books, and watch movies. You can keep up to date with current events. You can control floor cleaning in the house. You can use it as a dictionary and encyclopedia. You can listen to music and control your shopping list. You can keep track of appointments and receive notifications about them. You can control your home temperature. You can take a picture of anything and use that picture to get information about it. You can also store pictures and videos like a photo album. You can receive emergency alerts, use it as a timer, and use it as a flashlight. You can store addresses and phone numbers, test batteries in remote controls, and use it as a magnifier. You can get weather reports and store recipes. This list goes on and on. Now you understand why people are ALWAYS ON THEIR PHONE!!! IT is the Swiss army knife of technology.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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Year 5, Day 31, “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 5/31/2025. The Wellington – Clean up day.

Dorothy the Roomba has joined Miss Piggy. She is now cleaning the right hand side of the main level every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The Roombas keep our floors super clean and shiny.

This man was at the intersection by Walmart today instead of a pan handler.

Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.

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