Sept 11th to 13th - Maine to Vermont

Sept 11th - Thurs - Bangor
“Catch up” day today. Terry helped Terry H install a Sirius satellite radio system in his truck and then Judy & I took the truck to do laundry while the guys installed the rest of the Sirius system in their 5th wheel. The RV park only had a couple of washers so we went to a laundromat. We ran a couple of other errands and got back in time to each make a late lunch. Terry had taken the truck to a car wash but it still looked dirty so he dry washed it by the time I had lunch ready.
I pulled out the sewing machine and did some mending while Terry took a nap. We walked around the park before dinner and picked the brains of some people from Texas about where to stay for the winter.
We keep changing our minds about where we are going next and Terry & Judy haven’t decided when they are heading more west than south. So we did a bunch more research about where to go and where to stay.

Sept 12th - Fri - to New Hampshire
We finally decided to go to Vermont with Terry & Judy staying with us for a while longer. Terry & I had an eventful day:
-we decided to go against Wanda’s directions and use a main highway rather than a state road. Oops, turned out to be the turnpike (toll highway). Good news was a toll of only $1.50.
-when we were going through downtown Lewiston , a delivery truck blocked the street and I had to get out and watch to make sure the truck’s mirrors would clear our awning arms - an inch to spare!
-pulled in for diesel a few blocks later and another truck was blocking the only diesel pump while the driver was inside getting something to eat - a 10 minute wait.
-Wanda directed us on a route that ended up having a bridge closure and we had to come about 7 miles back and take a different route - passed “bridge closed” sign on the next highway.
-Terry saw Terry & Judy’s rig parked in the lot of a closed store in Gorham and decided to pull over and see if they were OK. Pulled into a dead end street and had a heck of a time turning around in a small cul de sac. I heard a strange noise and when he got straightened out, we discovered that we had an inverted spring on the driver’s side of the 5th wheel and the tires were right together and rubbing.
Anyone who knows Terry will know before they read this that he set to work to fix the spring! I walked back and found Terry & Judy just finishing lunch in a restaurant and told them our sad tale. Terry H borrowed a couple of jacks from a nearby repair shop and a couple of residents of the dead end street showed up with another jack and other tools as needed - and with much needed opinions on what needed to be done. About 2 ½ hours later, Terry was filthy & exhausted and the rig was back together. The locals directed us to a WalMart where we gratefully stayed the night.
We had a drink and went to see what McDonalds had to offer. No McDonalds at this WalMart so we bought deli lasagna, salad mix & bread. While the lasagna was cooking, we taught Terry & Judy how to play the card game Golf. Had a great evening.

Sept 13th - Sat - to Vermont
Terry & I had a terrible night’s sleep. The WalMart closed at 10 and it was very quiet but I woke at one and was awake more than asleep for the rest of the night. Terry had several mosquito bites that he kept scratching. Got up early and walked to get coffee & doughnuts for all of us. On the road about 8:30. Terry pulled off into a viewpoint about 9 to check the tires and they were back together and rubbing again. We all wanted to cry! This time Terry finally found a broken shackle on the rear wheel which was jammed ahead of where it belonged. We made a few phone calls and decided to try to drive about 2 miles to a small town. No go - the tires started smoking not far down the road so we slowly backed down the road to the viewpoint again.
Terry considered taking one tire off and limping in on the other tire but figured the axle might drop down. Tried driving up on a ramp to release weight on a tire and only succeeding in breaking a chock that I had placed on the other side. Then we placed a couple of boards on the ground between the tires and Terry jerked ahead which succeeded in moving the back axle enough to separate the tires. Then the Terrys drove in Terry H’s rig to the small town to check out the road (in case we had to stop again) and tracked down a welder who would fix the rig. We used some tie-downs to tie the axle to the bicycle rack hitch to hopefully keep it from moving forward again and drove slowly about 8 miles to the welder’s shop.
Success! 4 hours later we were on the road again with a secure shackle created by our welder. We decided to go to the RV park in Vermont that we were headed for yesterday so only had about an hour drive - which was plenty after what we had been through the last 2 days.
Vermont is beautiful. Still lots of trees but more rolling hills than in New Hampshire and farms are starting to show up. Sunshine also helps make scenery more attractive.