Tag / vacation

by JM

Winter Paradise

Paradise Island, Bahamas (December 18th, 2022)

Balmy Bahamas….

The wind was the focus for the week, with 30 to 40 MPH steady gust whe we got there. When we booked the trip in early 2022 we thought a family vacation would be a nice get-away from the snow in the Northeast. Truth be told, the sun shined for most a few days during our time but the wind just kept wiping around.

We stayed at the RIU on Paradise Island which is on Cabbage Beach on the island. The food was fantastic and the service was great. Facilities where completely clean and maid service gave us the attention we expected from a hotel like this. The RUI is a adult only all-inclusive at this location. It’s just a few down the beach from Atlantis Grand Resort. TIP: If you can walk a few hotel length on the beach through the sand, you can save yourself $30 bucks in taxi fees getting to Atlantis…. Ask me how I know? haha. Another TIP we heard from locals: If you book a night at The Best Western on Paradise Island you can get into the water park for free. Water park is like $200/day for an adult.

As for the seas, it was white capping on the water as far as we could see for the first few days. So on a morning mid-trip, we saw it wasn’t white-capping, we booked a snorkel trip. One of the items on our bucket list. So, we travelled to the other side of the island to catch the boat and what do we run into when out on the sea, dark clouds rolling towards us like a freight train with what? Freak’n Wind, creating another white-cap situation at all the stops on the boat. Snorkeling is not enjoyable and you end up with saltwater in your breather tube more than you care for. There was at least 4 people throwing up on the boat at different times on the trip.

Travelling back towards the airport we made sure everyone brought and wore their ugly sweater on the plane. This was a hit from multiple people at the airport seeing all of us together in having the christmas spirit.

Balmy Bahamas to the Balmy Northeast we go!!!

by JM

Maine’s Amazing OOB’s

2013 Summer Vacation ColiageOld Orchard Beach, ME (July 8th – 14th ) – Hours of planning for a week of vacation. The hours were mostly spent getting the RV ready for another 2-hour road journey to Maine.
Although this ride was going to be a bit more comforting… why, you ask? Because I had all new Bilstein shocks installed on the rig. Making the ride, turns and swaying much more tolerable.
Since Tami and I got away last weekend at Gunstock Mountain Campground in Gilford, NH a month prior, we found out that our hot water tank was shot too. Water just leaked out the back of the RV like the American-side of Niagara Falls. gushing big time…
Fast-forward, I ordered a new tank online and installed it with my Dad a few days before vacation (end of June). We connected the water line to shoreline water and bingo, I hear the tank filling (good sound) and I don’t see water dripping out the back…but,  I see water pouring out mid-ship. When I do an inspection of the bedroom, I find that the shower pipes have cracked spilling water all over the carpet.  Looks like this project will have to wait till after vacation.
During vacation, the weather on either side of the weekdays was sunny nice and warm. The weekday was cloudy and rainy almost every day. This created a challenge in keeping the boys tent dry and tended to be a bit chilly at night. You know that feeling of cold and wet. It’s not fun for anyone.

Tami’s Dad ended up in the hospital, so she went back home to attend to him for a couple of days. The boys and I caught the trolley that dropped us off downtown. We did some window shopping, ate some fried dough, walked on the pier, they went on the carnival rides, plus learned and briefly played a French Canadian game called Pétanque, also played mini golf, and ate some pizza.

All us boys had to use this in our shorts based on our bathing suits kept rubbing on our crouch

All us boys had to use this in our shorts based on our bathing suits kept rubbing on our crouch

We all had a day at Funtown / Splashtown in Saco on Thursday. The day started cloudy and it did rain for a bit but then the sun broke through and it was hot and humid for most of the day.

Jim took down 4 lobsters and a bowl of steamers during the week. Meanwhile, we cooked on the open fire a few nights with chicken that we had marinating for days. Have to say, there’s nothing like grilling on an open fire.

Marcus skinned his elbow from falling off his scooter barreling  down a steep hill at the campground with his buddy, Adrian.

When Marcus was at his Dad’s, Tami and I went out to “The Pier” for some nightlife and you can see Tami taking a injected shot from the Shot Girl.

In closing, we has a fun time together and look forward to the next camping adventure.  🙂

by JM

South Carolina on 2 Wheels

Myrtle Beach, SC (August 2013) – Tami and I wanted for a few years now to take a long distance motorcycle ride together.   So, given the chance with short notice, we decided to go to a dream location of Tami’s, Myrtle Beach, SC and we had only 5-days.

I made sure that our oils where changes for the 2,000 mile trip and that our bikes where in good general working order to make the adventure.   We planned everything, well almost everything;  we’ll get into that in a bit.  From the packing standpoint, we agreed that I’d carrier most of the baggage, as I had the HD luggage that fit perfectly into my saddlebags (Thx Craigslist). and I’d strap the rest to the backseat of my ride.

We started out in the afternoon and wanted to get past NYC and into NJ for the night. It was a bit difficult when we started, it was raining and we thought that doing 55 – 65 mph on the highway would be fine with the yellow rain-suits from Walmart that Tami purchased that morning.  NOT THE CASE.  We looked like halloween zombies on motorcycles as the rain suits ripped to sheds.  We just faced the rain with clothes on our backs.  The rain finally stopped about 30-mins after this.  It was a bit tense in NYC as Rte 95 was under construction with deep groove roads, you know the grooves I’m talking about, the ones just before they lay new asphalt, the ones the huge machine that grinds the road.  Yes, grooves was one challenge, another was what seem to be speed bumps that we leaped over.  Not really speed bumps, but joins in the road that acted like jumps at 55+ mph.  To add to our wide eyed irises was that it was dark.  The sun was almost over the horizon, the street lights are on and car are whizzing by us like we’re standing still, crossing lanes like it was a NASCAR race.  We got into NJ and stopped for the evening as we where tired from driving 8+ hours.

We started the following day and we wanted to make it to MB in good time.   It didn’t rain a bit from NJ to SC or till we got 45 mins from our MB hotel.   Again, this was 10pm at night and its pitch black out on wet country-like roads that connected these small towns together.  Not the most fun in the rain, but we were excited to get to the beach, even if it was dark.   Let me remind you or explain to non-riders that when its wet / cold and your covering your nose and mouth from rain that feels like pins and needles hitting your face…… plus your body is warmer, it creates glass/goggles to fog up quickly.   Meaning, I can’t see squat in front of me….  Let me tell you, we slept good that night.

It rained the following day, so we checked out the beach on foot and we walked down the boulevard in/out of the shops.  Checked out the Landshark Bar (Jimmy Buffet owned) and had some lunch next to the huge ferris wheel and park.  If it was a warm sunny day, this would be the bar to be at….  right on the beach.  We jumped into a shop and Tami even tried on some SWEET footwear!!!

Finally, we had a great time on this trip and look forward to the next bike trip.

by JM

GO ZIP IT!!!!

Jim, Tami, Marcus and Lexi in all the safety harnesses getting ready to go up the mountain.

Jim, Tami, Marcus, and Lexi all geared up to head up the mountain for a thrill.

 Gilford, NH (June 30th, 2012) –

What a thrill!!!  None of us had ever done this before.  At first it was very intimidating to on the top of the mountain and mostly well over the tree line to start the descend.

Gunstock Mountain is a 2,300 ft NH mountain and is located in in the hart of NH lakes region which houses the 4th longest zipline in the world and claims to be the longest zip line canopy tour in the continental United States!  The mountain has 5 seperate lines that gradually gets longer and faster as you gain experience with the equipment. Speaking of faster it gets up to 55 mph.