Jun 16, 2013 - Flat Buzzy Adventures

Welcome to the adventure page of Flat Buzzy. For those of you who don't know him.....Flat Buzzy was the brain child of a warped mind (Jim Petrecca) and takes the place of my partner, Brian Carvale, when he is not around. Flat Buzzy has decided to stow away on the trip across America and like the famous WALDO.........Flat Buzzy will surely show up in some very interesting places. Stay tuned campers, for the continuing saga of FLAT BUZZY................

Jun 8, 2013 - Carlisle, PA to Toms River, NJ

It was very heavy overcast this morning but at least it wasn't raining. We had to pay one toll on the PA turnpike, $18.50. After crossing the Delaware River and the state line into New Jersey, Dave got into the wrong lane getting on the turnpike so we got no ticket! You need a ticket when you get on the turnpike so you can get off the turnpike. We drove all of about 2 miles and we had to get off the turnpike. $30.85!!! That's right, if you have no ticket saying where you got ON, you pay for having been on the turnpike the entire distance...

May 30, 2013 - Jersey City, NJ (across from New York)

5/30/13, Thursday From Andrews AFB, we headed out of D.C. to Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. We stayed in the Liberty Harbor RV Park. The downside of the park is that it is basically a parking lot with very narrow spaces in a working shipyard. It also cost $80 per night for "full" hookups (which were not as it was only Electric and Water; no sewer). On the positive side it was 5 minutes from the Statue of Liberty and also the Metro and Ferry which take you into New York City if you want. On our way...

May 23, 2013 - A 'Catch up' Enrty

Hi, We have been real busy here in New Jersey since Mothers Day. We did a lot of visiting and Ruth Ann has been spending a lot of time with our new great-granddaughter and her Mom and our soon to be married grand daughter Allyson. I have been putting in my work hours and went down to Atlantic City to work 2 days with the group face to face. This past weekend Brad, Dean, Jory and I drive Brad's truck to Linwood Michigan for the annual Saginaw Bay fishing trip. We left Wednesday evening and got back Sunday night about 10PM. This was a...

May 15, 2013 - Shakedown trip

After working for a couple days at home, flushing the anti-freeze and sanitizing the water systems, checking the refrigerator, the Gulfstream was ready to hit the road. Drove to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation in northern Morris County where they have RV sites and hooked up to water and electric. Everything worked well except for the micro-convection oven which has a 59 second run time before it shuts off. Took a while to get the convection oven hot enough to heat up the pasta casserole I brought for dinner. Weather was great, sunny and warm...

May 13, 2013 - Family Time, The Dogs, and Brooklyn

The next few days on our trip north revolve around catching up with family. From Cape May we drove to a campground near my sister’s home in New Egypt (also NJ). We had a great time catching up with Janet & her husband Dave – talking about her kids, our kids, and our parents, but mostly we just enjoyed watching her beagle, Molly, and Suzie play. Molly is just under 2 and has been pretty wild even for Suzie, but this time they seemed to really hit it off. They are the same size and pretty much the same temperament, so they’d tear around the...

May 12, 2013 - Ruth Ann has a Great Mother's Day

We both flew from Seattle to Neptune City, New Jersey on Friday. We had fine flights and got in only about an hour after our scheduled arrival time. We have been visiting with three of our Kids and five of our grand kids since then. ALSO, We attended our first great grand daughter's baptism today. The service was followed by a wonderful luncheon party at Jeanette and John's home. The baby Dalis Rose was a very well behaved and beautiful celebrant. The party was attended by all her relatives and friends that could make it and she was passed...

May 11, 2013 - And Too Refined!

Another adventure awaited us as we left Delaware to drive to New Jersey. We had 2 options – to either drive from Rehoboth Beach the length of Delaware and then south again through New Jersey to Cape May which was our next stop, or taking the ferry across which takes about 90 minutes. Naturally, we wanted to take the ferry, but at $81 for the motorhome, the car, and the 2 of us that seemed a little hefty. So Buzz sat down and figured the mileage, and the tolls, if we drove around instead and luckily the ferry won. So we made the reservation...

May 7, 2013 - Paterson Great Falls

The hospital where I was born no longer exists. I was saddened to learn of the demise of Paterson General Hospital during my visit to this city today. I was delighted, however, to see the original plaque of PGH in the Paterson Museum which Mary and I went to after our tour of the Paterson Great Falls. The PGF park ranger gave an informative and enthusiastic tour - one of the best I've experienced. She told us of the lunch that Washington and Hamilton shared by the falls. Hamilton was very impressed by the power of the Passaic River....

May 6, 2013 - Greenwood

Pleasant Days was the name that the original owner, Joseph Day, gave to this 80 acre parcel of land when he purchased it in 1906. The house that he built was destroyed by a fire in 1911. Day replaced it with a 28 room Italianate mansion that cost him - at that time - over one million dollars. By the time Peter Blanchard and wife bought the property in 1949 the mansion was in great disrepair. They had it torn down and replaced it with a smaller Georgian Revival style home and changed the name of the estate to Greenwood. In 2000, Peter...

May 5, 2013 - Van Vleck House And Garden

It was a beautiful day for a walk so after church, Mary and I went to the Van Vleck house and garden. Joseph Van Vleck, Jr. built this home in 1916 . Three generations of Van Vlecks lived here until 1993 when the heirs turned the property over to the Montclair Foundation. The house sits on 5.8 acres mostly filled with azaleas and rhododendrons. Joseph's son Howard, and his family, moved into the house in 1939. Howard was an architect but left that field to pursue gardening and painting. He created many hybridized rhododendrons that are...

May 4, 2013 - Grounds For Sculpture - Part II

Mary had planned to visit Grounds For Sculpture during my visit and was disappointed that I stopped on my way north. I certainly didn't mind going back - it is a fantastic place. The weather was ideal today so off we went - couldn't ask for a better day to explore this beautiful spot. Our docent went in a completely different direction than Elaine, my docent last Wednesday, so I got to hear about pieces I had not seen before. Lunch was a debacle but the manager made amends by comping the meal and giving us free passes for our next visit. I...