Heavy rain came as Elsa made her presence known. Sleeping for me was difficult, not Ron. I woke up early and caught up on devotional writing while Ron and the pups snuggled in bed.
As the morning unfolded the rain never let up. Realizing the inevitable, we began to pack up in the downpour. Our Pop-Up-Pit, which I adore is difficult putting away when wet. Ashes cling to the wire mesh, refusing to let go. A few smacks against the garbage can got rid of them.
Thankfully, we packed the majority of our outside equipment last night.
Moody as Elsa is, she hasn’t stopped crying all morning. Hooking up in the rain is something no one wants to do. But then I always think of tent campers and remind myself, worse life situations exist.
Nothing was said when Ron shifted the truck into gear just before 10:43 a.m. Hurricane Elsa deposited rain on us all night. The remnants of her eye passing by us as we drove. Thankfully, no high winds accompanied the sometimes heavy downpour.
As Ron navigated the watery roads, he said, “This is going to suck, I’m glad we left a little early. I hope we don’t run into any water we can’t get through.” That’s when my prayers became more specific.
After tense minutes of driving through gusting winds and heavy downpours, Ron said, “She’s (LI) sending me off in style.”
Ron can officially say he drove the entire length of LI, dragging a fifth wheel behind him. Hurricane Elsa escorted us off the island, downgraded to a tropical storm by the time we met her. My bragging rights are as his co-pilot, helping navigate the roads.
Wineries are everywhere on LI, I had no idea. When we passed One Woman Winery, Ron said, “That’s a lotta work for one woman.” I’d have to agree.
Driving past Town Beach as we neared Orient Point put in perspective how close to the water the road is.
Sunflowers are everywhere on LI. I couldn’t get my camera working fast enough to take pictures of the cute stands we passed along the way. I never knew Sunflower mazes existed until I saw a sign advertising one. If I had known about their existence, I would have added the sunflower maze to my repertoire of experiences.
Arriving at the Cross Sound Ferry and hearing the attendant say, ” Yeah, you’re on the first boat out today, you’re good,” was music to our ears.
However, when he measured our length at 52 ft. instead of Ron’s guestimate of 45, not good. When he radioed whoever is in charge of loading the boat if the extra length was a problem, his first response was, “I’m going to have to say no.” Then, an angelic female voice said, ” I think we have two spots.”
Lifting his green, sweatshirt-covered arm and pointing to a side area, the attendant said, “Pull in front of that mustang, lane 13. We’ll try and get you on.”
And so we waited.
At 12:04 another gentleman clothed in forest green approached the truck. Ron saw him coming and rolled down the window, saying, “I think he’s coming for me.”
After a brief conversation between the two men, with me praying silently, we heard the words we hoped to hear, “You’re back on the 1:00.”
Thank God!
While waiting for the ferry, someone had a pizza delivered to their car. Ron thought this was brilliant.
When we parked on the ferry, I was busy making notes. Ron decided to get out and go exploring. Once finished writing down my thoughts, I decided to get some video footage of the water. Not realizing I wasn’t allowed on the car deck, I quickly drew the attention of an attendant who ushered me up to the passenger deck. I’m glad he did, otherwise I wouldn’t have enjoyed the hour and a half boat ride nearly as much.
Strolling around the upper deck, Ron says, “You gotta take a picture of me.”. Then he runs up the stairs and poses like in Titanic. I’m assuming he’s on ” King of the World” as they were in the movie. I got the picture:-)!
Wimbledon was on in the ferry lounge. Djokovich was playing Shapovolav in the second men’s semi-final of the day. Drinking a glass of wine while the boat gently rocked back and forth watching Wimbledon is a memory I won’t forget anytime soon. We dined on a chicken and cheese quesadilla and chocolate chip muffin.
Tight parking 
Crusader fit
Ron loved today’s travel, as he said, “Easy way to drive, drink a beer and watch tennis.” Once we were off the ferry, our campground was only 10 miles away.
“Puppies, we’re back on American soil,” Ron said as we drove off the ferry. Even though the drive was short, it was still a stressful travel day. Elsa made everything more complicated than we’d hoped. However, all things worked out for the good. We had no issues on the ferry, and the drive to the campground was simple.
Ace High RV is hands down the best campground we’ve discovered on this trip. When I saw site 49 and realized we were on the water, I was thrilled. Morning quiet time by the water is my favorite, the fire pit was waiting for me in the perfect position.
Typically, I help Ron back into the sites. We saw couples using their phones instead of yelling at each other and decided to try it. Unfortunately, I keep my phone on silent and didn’t answer immediately, which frustrated Ron. We went back to the old way of doing things. Yelling works so much better:-).
Wildwood didn’t have laundry facilities, which is unusual. I can’t think of another campground we’ve stayed at that didn’t. Therefore, first on the agenda was taking care of the essentials: laundry and firewood.
Of course, the whites didn’t dry entirely, we were antsy to go exploring, so we developed our own drying system:-). We found firewood about a mile from the campground, $20 filled up the front of the truck. The wood was a bit green, but once it got burning was fine.
We met our neighbors, Chris and Tom soon after arriving. As a permanent site, they were a wealth of knowledge for us. A lot of the campers here are either seasonal or permanent, and it’s no mystery why. The more we learned about Aces High, the more we loved it.
We learned about Niantic from Tom. Chris told us about the restaurants and boardwalk. Niantic is a small town surrounding the Niantic Bay off of the Atlantic. Cute shops line the main street, a boardwalk runs the length of the beach and Amtrak passes through regularly.
Dinner was at the Main Street Grille. Chris recommended the Black Sheep restaurant, she said their Cornbeef on Rye is amazing. However, we couldn’t find parking so we went across the street.
I was surprised when we sat down to dinner. We were only seated a few minutes when an Amtrak train whizzed by on the tracks that run beside the restaurant. The conductor tooted hello as they zoomed past. Not long after, another train chugged by us, again saying hello with a quick toot.
Driving to Niantic, Ron said, “This reminds me of PA a little bit, with the houses on the water.” In Pennsylvania where I’m from, houses and camps line the rivers. The same is true here.
After dinner, we strolled the boardwalk, dipped our toes in the water, and watched the train bridge descend. Not knowing what to expect, we both thoroughly enjoyed discovering Niantic. Parking for the beach is free, a tunnel takes you under the railroad the sand. Spanning a mile and a half, the boardwalk is a relaxing way to get in your steps for the day. We walked halfway, then strolled back along the water’s edge. The beach is rocky but had plenty of seashells to collect.
What started as a tense day with difficult driving, settled into a quiet evening by the fire.
Ron went to bed early, and I sat by the fire finishing yesterday’s blog. Nothing to complain about in our neck of woods. Lots to thank God for on this beautiful day.
Night everyone:-)!