On July 1st we headed to the Boston, MA area and stayed in a campground in Littleton, MA.  Our adventures in Littleton included a lot of rain, mud, and mosquitoes. We were staying at the Minuteman Campground which was approximately 30 minutes from Boston. Our campground here did not have sewer hookups so we had to conserve on our shower and toilet waste use.  We can store 40 gallons of “black” waste (toilet) and 60 gallons of “Grey” waste (shower and sink water) on the motorhome before we have to dump. We can usually go pretty good 3-4 days with restricted use before dumping. Luckily most campgrounds have sewer at the site so we don’t have to worry about it.

Thursday we spent working around the motorhome and letting the kids rent free movies from the camp store.  The weather was rainy and it was a good day to do nothing.

Friday was a special day as it was Carson’s birthday.  He wanted to go to Chuck E Cheeses for lunch so at around 10:00 we were eating pizza and playing games.  We had a good time.

After the party we made our first trip into Boston.  We drove to the closest parking lot for the public transportation called the “T” and the ride was another 30 minutes into Boston.  We went into Boston to explore the Freedom Trail to learn more about the history of Boston. The night before we downloaded online an MP3 walking tour of the Freedom Trail to listen to the historic points on the trail on our BlackBerry instead of taking a group tour. We visited Dunkin Doughnuts for an afternoon “pick me up” and to keep the boys from complaining. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday there was also an open air market where you could find all types of produce. The street was lined with small markets selling meats including local seafood, cheese and breads. These shops were slightly cleaner than the ones in Philadelphia but you still wondered the “freshness of the food”. The boys were no longer enjoying the walk after about 3 hours so after we looked at the building where Paul Revere once lived we decided to find the closest “T” stop for our ride back to the packing lot.

On the way home from Boston we stopped at a grocery store and picked up cake and ice cream to have a birthday party for Carson.

We left the campground around 10:30 on July 4^th to travel into Boston to see the July 4^th Celebration. We arrived in Boston around 12:30 and decided that we would stay in the Esplanade area where most of the celebration along with fireworks would take place. Lunch consisted of pizza slices and chicken tenders with fries eaten next to the river and it was really nice to see sunshine for the first time since we arrived in the Boston area.  The Pops concert started around 8:00 pm but the fireworks were not scheduled to start until 10:30pm. The Boston Pops along with Neal Diamond started in the Esplanade which you needed a wrist band to save a spot. Since the fireworks could not be seen from the same area where the Pops were playing we decided to try to find a place to sit along the Hudson River bank to watch the fireworks. We were extremely lucky when a large group decided they did not need all the area that they had roped off and we were passing by when they un-roped an area that was an excellent spot for viewing fireworks.

The only small details was that fireworks did not start for another 8.5 hours. We took turns walking around to stretch our legs so that the time would pass quicker along with playing Uno and Rummy. In order not to completely blow our dining out budget we carried snacks with us along with peanut and jelly sandwiches to eat for dinner. This was a huge savings since our lunch was expensive for the amount of food they ate. After all the anticipation the fireworks started at exactly 10:30 not a minute earlier and it could not have been a minute later or Carson would have been asleep. The fireworks lasted until 11:30 and then thousands of people began to file out of the downtown area. There were Boston police officers keeping everyone orderly as they walked through one exit toward the nearest “T” station. Carson was getting a free ride on Brian’s back and everyone else tried to pull together every ounce of energy to walk to the nearest green line for our long ride back to the packing lot. Some guys at the station offered us a Red Bull Cola which was a backup if it was needed for the drive home.  The train ride was very crowded and took almost an hour to get back to our parking lot and as you can imagine Carson went to sleep as soon as there was a seat available. We arrived back in the campground at 1:45 am, exhausted, hungry and in great need of a shower. Both Zachary and Carson were asleep in the backseat and needed help getting in the bed. Finally, at 2:30 am we finally went to bed and made sure that there were no alarms set and we could sleep as long as possible.

At 10:30 am on Sunday morning our day started with a walk to Dunkin Doughnuts for donuts and a large black coffee. Yes, we have had Dunkin Donuts in every city we have visited since we left North Carolina, not by choice but due to convenience. There is one on almost every corner including next to our campground in Littleton, MA. To be honest, we rather have Krispy Kreme any day!  Our Sunday was spent sitting outside, a visit to the pool and playground along with cleaning up for our move the next day.

Monday, July 6^th, we loaded up and headed west to Lake George, NY for several days in the Adirondack mountains.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Everyday Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.