July 5, 2017 – On Monday, July 3rd, we left West
Point as we continued our way to Canada.
Our next stop was the FamCamp at Hanscom AFB, MA. This is old stomping grounds for us as, while
I Was in the USAF, we were stationed here twice. Once from 1977 to 1981 and again from 1985 to
1988 and we continued to live in the area until we moved to Florida in 1993. Arriving at the base we were somewhat nervous
as this is the one location on our trip that did not accept reservations, but everything
went well and we were able to get a choice of campsites either in the woods or
out in a grass field. I opted for the
woods and here we are all set up on our campsite.
This stop gave us a chance to visit with some old friends
and to drive by our old houses to see what they look like now. So, on Tuesday, we headed up to Westford
where we had lived from 1977 to 1981.
The street we lived on was great for the kids. It was a cul-de-sac with
a total of 8 houses, most with kids, and behind us was 13 acres of woods. Our boys used to race their big wheels down
the hill and then spin out in the turnaround at the bottom. Here are a couple of photos of this house.
We also stopped in and visited with Rich and Peg Hebert who
are still living in the house across the street from where we lived. Anyone who has lived in this area of New England
will know that one of the favorites in this area is ice cream. Every town
worthy of its name has at least one ice cream stand. In Westford, it is Kimball’s and so we had to
stop for an ice cream. Kimball’s was
opened in 1939 and started out as a local dairy farm that also sold ice
cream. Today 78 years later, it is a
major operation with about 20 service windows, each manned by 2 or 3 people and
there are always lines. They now also
have a seafood restaurant, miniature golf, batting cages, event tents,
etc. Here is a photo of Kimball’s ice cream
stand.
Our next stop was to visit our old house in Groton where we
lived from 1985 to 1993. This was also a
great location with a fishing pond down the end of the street where Greg and I
used to put in our canoe and catch lot of pan fish. Down the other end of our development was an
abandoned railroad right of way along the Nashua River where we used to go
cross country skiing in the winter. Number
of changes in the house. The large pin
oak and Norwegian maple I had planted in the front yard are gone and they’ve
added pool in the back yard. Here are a
couple of photos of that house.
We next drove to Hollis, NH where our old next-door
neighbors from Westford now live. Ray
and Claire Wheeler had 2 kids the same ages as ours and we used to do a lot
with them and go camping with them in the summers. Ray is now a Deacon in the Church and serving
in a parish in NH.
On Wednesday, we did a commissary run to restock our pantry
and then went out to Legal Seafood for lunch.
For those that have never heard of Legal Seafood, it is a Boston
restaurant chain that is world famous for their New England clam chowder. Needless to say, we had some.
Tomorrow morning, we break camp and head to Bar Harbor,
Maine where we are planning on visiting Acadia National Park.
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