I’m sitting here at dusk looking at the tiny Exeter River (maybe 30’ across) flow by. All I see are trees, bushes and water. Some of the bushes across the way have white blooms on them. It’s a peaceful ending to what was unexpectedly a hectic day.
We left our campground south of Boston and drove around Boston on I-495, staying out of the city. Technically our next campground was 2 hours away. I’m just glad that we got a fairly early start, as traffic was horrible. There was also construction, which really slows things down.
We’re spending the night near Exeter, New Hampshire, where we have a lovely riverside site. But somehow we managed to miss our exit from the interstate (and the phone didn’t correct us!). We got off an exit or two later, where there was a sign indicating a TA gas station. Since they typically service semi trucks, we knew they would have diesel and we also needed DEF (which I can’t explain but our diesel engine needs periodically).
There must be major anti signage laws in New England, as we’ve noticed this before. There was one sign indicating TA to the left, and all we could see was a Sunoco station. And the trees are dense here and the roads aren’t straight, so we couldn’t see ahead. Finally we pulled into a Lowes to check online and we still had a mile or so to go. When we go to the intersection, we still couldn’t see the station (mind you, this is a large truck stop) and there’s one small sign, slightly larger than your normal Exit sign, indicating we should turn left. Finally we saw the entrance and pulled in. Whew!
Except trouble was just beginning. The DEF goes into the engine compartment, so Steve had pulled up short so he could put the DEF in. But at this station, before you can buy DEF you have to buy diesel, which we didn’t know until we went inside. By this time, it’s well past noon (we should have been parked by about 11), so I’m scrounging in the truck stop for something for lunch, while Steve’s maneuvering the truck and filling it in the appropriate order. But at least we have the DEF we’ll need to get through Canada. It’s hard to get in the states but even harder in Canada.
So we’re off, back down the interstate to the correct exit and get off. Then we have to drive through Exeter to get to the campground. The town was established in 1639 and a lot of the roads seem to follow the paths and trails from those days – narrow and twisting. It’s actually quite a lovely town with many older homes that have been well taken care of. But it can be nerve racking to drive a trailer through.
We finally pull in and our spot is lovely! Tranquil and peaceful. Just what we needed. We relax for a bit and then head into town for dinner. We usually use TripAdvisor to help us find a good place to eat and it didn’t let us down. They sent us to a place called the Lobster Boat (which was in a strip mall). Steve had “lazy lobster” (lobster meat out of the shell and broiled) and I had swordfish. It was a casual place with good food.
Down the way was a Great Clips, so we stopped in and got our hair cut before we headed home to relax and watch the river.
I’ll try and get some details of our recent stops posted in the next few days, but wanted to share my lazy river view with you.
Take care,
Deb
