Summer Travel Map

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Seafood Fest and Independence Day

July 4, 2010
Broad Brook, CT

Another week has passed and we're now celebrating Independence Day. Wow, time really flies when you're having fun! Let's see; what kind of fun did we have?

Last Sunday, Al and I helped out the local Athletic Booster Club. Al's friend, Ted, runs an annual golf outing followed by a steak dinner. Al and I cooked the steaks while Ted took care of the sides and salad. 110 rib-eyes + 4 trays of pasta + two trays of potatoes + 2 green-bean-casserole + 2 salads later, everyone was full to the brim. And we managed to get it all done while keeping an eye on the threatening sky and not getting wet.

Monday and Tuesday were "leftover days". In addition to what Ted sent us home with on Sunday, he stopped by with more food. Steaks one night and pasta the other; gotta love that.

Wednesday, I was "back on the clock", getting back to our to-do list. This time, it was changing the brake shoes on the Rover's Parking Brake. Well, trying to anyway. OK, I'll admit that twice (that I can remember) in the last 5+ years, I've hooked the Rover to the back of the coach and driven for a short distance with the Parking Brake still on. As you can imagine, that falls under the heading of "nothing good can come of this", and the last time (when we were leaving Livingston, TX, in May) pretty much made it necessary to change the brakes. The Rover has 4-wheel disc brakes, but the Parking Brake is actually a small set of drum-style shoes inside the rear rotors. I ordered the shoes for a good price online, and they were waiting for me here in CT.

Well, I got an early start, parked in a shady spot, blocked the wheels and got the power tools out. With the 20-ton air-operated hydraulic jack, we were off the ground in no time. With the impact wrench, we sounded just like a NASCAR pit stop in progress. Having done a 4-wheel brake job 15 months ago, I knew exactly which wrenches were needed to pull off the caliper and pads, and the retaining bracket. Now, the rotor just slides off and --- hey, this baby's stuck! Some heavy persuasion with a large rubber mallet had no effect, so I put everything back together. "Plan A": devise a puller to pop the rotor loose. "Plan B": stop at a Land Rover Centre somewhere in our travels. Either way, done for the day.

Thursday and Friday turned out to be "Seafood Fest" days. You can't be in the Northeast and not have a seafood fest; it's a law or something. Since Pat & Al were off for the long weekend, we got started early. Thursday, we hit the road around noon for the Shore, specifically to Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank, CT (right next to Mystic). It being a weekday (and a beautiful one at that), the place wasn't crowded. We had our pick of outside tables and were soon enjoying appetizers (clams and mussels for Geri, Pat, and Al and oysters for me), followed by 2½-3 pound lobsters. Mmmm; that's eating. After eating, we hung out, let Al win three games in a row at the cribbage board, and watched a bunch of suits (literally - Abbott's is pretty rustic but these people were in suits, ties, Navy blazers, tasseled shoes and high heels) show up for a political fundraiser. Discretion being the better path, we chose not to crash the party or heckle, so we headed home (after a stop at the German Club for a brew).

Friday, Al and I headed out for some shopping, first to Table & Vine in Massachusetts (after all, states here are only slightly bigger than cities in AZ - and Mass has lower wine prices), then Costco, and finally Stew Leonard's in Newington. Stew's is kind of like Wegman's and Central Market: not quite Whole Foods but lots of fresh stuff. Al picked up four more lobsters ($4.99/pound - good price) specifically to harvest the meat for a later meal. I got King Crab legs, sea scallops, and shrimp, and they were all good that evening. Now, that's a Seafood Fest...

Yesterday, Al and I tackled the Rover Parking Brakes again. He borrowed a large gear puller from Ted, and it did the trick quite nicely. With the air tools, we made quick work of the shoe changes on both rear wheels. We still have to fine tune the adjustment on the Parking Brake, but that should be an easy task . Pat & Al took a Harley ride in the afternoon, and we grilled up a bunch of hot dogs, burgers, and sausage patties in the evening. It was also "movie night", so we retired to the "VIP Lounge" (aka the coach) with Pat's fresh-made strawberry-rhubarb pie. I'm still full this morning!

Today is "beach day", a sort on Independence Day tradition. Pat & Al left early for the Elks Lodge in Westbrook, CT, right on Long Island Sound. We're getting ready to leave now, and we'll spend the afternoon there. Later, we're supposed to stop at Ted's for a feed on the way home, so it'll be a full day.

1 comment:

Marlene said...

Oooh, you had left overs too. How I miss the northeast foods. Glad you are having a good time.