VT - Woodford State Park

We were on site 66 at Woodford State Park in Bennington VT for Labor Day weekend.  A great site that we have been on before, not far form the campers beach on Adams Reservoir in the Green Mountains.

It was a rainy weekend, on an off showers and thunderstorms, but we made the most of it and did a lot of fun stuff despite the weather!

Theo walked on water...well, OK, maybe not, but this little "island" of rocks is cool:

We had fun swimming and playing with our new inflatable SUPs:

Took a couple of nice little hikes with the puppies:

And we rented a car and hit Bennington for some fun at the Garlic Festival: 

And Hemmings Motor News:

And The Apple Barn:

Decor: Storage Ottomans

These things are so useful!  Based on a recommendation on RV.net I bought this pair of Storage Ottomans form QVC.  So worth the $50 for them.  Since the cab doesn't have a whole lot of storage cubbies like our Tundra did, one ottoman is dedicated to atlases, maps, our canister of Jelly Bellies (a must-have for driver and co-pilot during the drive) and the windshield cover when not in use.  The other holds Theo's collection of DVDs and other miscellaneous junk wonderful items that a 9 year old acquires...including a few rocks a la Lucille Ball in "The Long Long Trailer" :)

The other nice thing is that we put one between the seats in the cab to keep our dogs at a safe distance from the driver and the top flips over to a nice tray, which is convenient when the ottoman is up in the cab.

CT - Hammonasset Beach State Park

We had a nice end-of-summer beach weekend close to home here in CT.  We're not huge beach lovers (we tend toward lakes and woods), so we kind of forget that this is a fun option so close to home!

The weather cooperated and gave us nice days with cool nights for great sleeping.  No hook ups, so it was nice to have the cool nights for sleeping without the crutch of A/C.

We were on site 20 in the Mohawk loop.  Nice spot that backed to some tall grasses.  View from the front of the site:

View from the back of the site:

This is a very open and busy campground, not a place to come if you don't like to see and hear neighbors or don't love tons of kids riding around on bikes, scooters, and skateboards.  Luckily we had our own pair of kids on skateboards (rip sticks, actually) since Theo brought along his friend, Baden.

The boys had a great time at the beach!

And rip-sticking some more!

And goofing around while showcasing a beautiful sunset :)

And I stopped to snap a couple of pics during my morning run:

CT - West Thompson Lake Campground

This little Army Corps of Engineers campground is an old favorite, but with our fish boy we tend to go other places since you can't swim here in the dammed lake (as in dam to hold the water back, not damn, LOL) Since Theo was off at scout camp for the week and we were taking Friday off to pick him up, we decided to go on a little overnight on Thursday after work.

We were on site 2 with water and electric.

We had a nice walk with the puppies then settled in for a nice fire before bedtime.

We had hoped that Friday's weather forecast would be wrong and that we'd be able to get out to play a round of disc golf and get out on the water to try our new inflatable SUP, but alas the rain came and didn't stop.  We did take a nice little rain hike, though!

Mod: Drying Rack

OK, well, not a mod-mod, but I think it is a clever dual use for our bike rack:

PVC pipes in the slots for the bikes!  We had the PVC lying around the basement (not sure what for...LOL) so Kevin cut them to uniform lengths and Viola!  Since our rack has slots for four bikes, we have a decent amount of drying space.  The only drawback over the rack we've been using for years is that we can't move it to under the awning if rain is in the forecast.  Previous rack from IKEA.  But I'm thinking we might be able to rig something with small tarp if we need to.

Decor: Smart Tiles Galley Backsplash

Being a tile lover (and DIY installer) at home, I was intrigued when I saw some folks on RV.net installing tile backsplashes in their RVs.  But what about the weight and the flex?!?!?!?  Nope, they're not real tiles, they're Smart Tiles - essentially dimensional vinyl stickers.  I think they look great, hopefully they'll hold to heat as advertised (I'm thinking about the heat build up while we're not using it and it is all closed up)...so time will tell on that.  But installation was easy peasy and they look so nice.

Before:

After:

Visit: Antietam Battlefield

Very interesting and sobering tour of the battlefield.  We rented a car (Enterprise picked us up at the campground) and did the audio CD tour of the battlefield.  The National Park Service does such an amazing job of keeping the grounds and honoring those who were killed and injured.

Monument to Clara Barton, the red cross at the base is made from bricks from the home where she was born:

The monument to Connecticut soldiers:

One of the upside down cannons marking a fallen General:

Burnside Bridge, the far tree was standing during the battle...amazing to think about what it has seen: