Cold and colder

It is getting quite cold here. Not exactly surprising but still a bit hard to get used to. The sun was out today, which was nice, while we walked up and down Commercial Street handing out flyers for the shows. There were good crowds at all the shows today and the tips were good. But we’re just not sure about this regular work thing, can’t say we like it. We definitely make more with Bernie’s handyperson work and enjoy it more. We do like helping out and being there for the performers. There is always something they need or something to do.

Today was the last show for KISS. Tomorrow we won't have to flyer for them and Bernie won’t have to work the 4:00 pm show anymore. In a way it’s sad but we are kind of ready for the week to be over and to get back on the road.

After the last show tonight, we went to get nachos for dinner and then went to Spiritus for dessert. They make the best brownie sundaes. It is a neat place with cool artwork and other things to see. It's also the only place that's open late, so that's where everyone goes.

Another comedy show

Today was our first and only day off this week. We slept in and then decided to go to the beach. But we didn’t make it. Bernie remembered that KISS didn’t have a cocktail waitress for the 4:00 pm show so she filled in. After the show we mingled a bit and by the time it was all over, it was too late and too cold to go to the beach.

Instead we found the cheapest restaurant on the beach where we shared a gorgonzola burger while looking out on the ocean. Then we rode our bikes back to Bella, where we got ready to go to a comedy show. Susan and Kristin from KISS invited us to go with them and got us tickets, which was very kind of them. We enjoyed the show and afterwards we all headed to the wine bar at the Vixen to hang out for a little while and enjoy the music.

Goodies in the mail

Today we headed to the post office so we could get Bernie's package. Bernie was very excited when she found there were two packages and not just the one she was expecting. Her mom sent all kinds of goodies. Bernie likes to color and play with stuff, anything to keep her busy. She can’t sit still for long so anything to distract her while we are driving is good. Her mom sent her mints and gum too. The box of winter stuff happened to have some black clothing too so Bernie got to wear something different to work tonight.

At work there was a big commotion during the first show because someone passed out. Bernie helped carry the lady out and call 911. After she threw up she woke up and was able to talk. It was scary but everyone was glad she was better.

Even though we are working we are meeting lots of new people and lots of great musicians. After work we went to Spiritus, a pizza and ice cream place. We each had a slice of pizza and then shared a brownie sundae. It was very good. Then we bicycled around town for a while to work it off. It was a great ending to the long day.

The day ends in worship

Today was a typical work day for us here in Provincetown. First, Bernie went to the post office in search of a box her mom had sent her with winter clothes. After biking through cold weather Bernie found out when she got there that it was Columbus Day and the post office was closed. Next she headed to the thrift store to get a long sleeve shirt because the weather is pretty cold here. When she got there she found out they are closed on Mondays. Finally she went to the gas station to get milk which was actually open and she was able to accomplish one of her errands for the day.

When she got back to Bella, she dumped the melted ice and got more ice for our food. Then she started her shift at the Vixen. Bernie helped set up for the shows and then cocktailed for three shows: Jennie McNulty, Judy Gold, and The Atomic Bombshells. Tips have been pretty good and Bernie is getting along really well with everyone.

After work, Bernie hung out upstairs in the wine bar with some new friends. They listened to music and talked. Unfortunately for Bernie the bartender made her a drink she had never had before. Halfway through it she could not feel her hands or feet and the room started spinning. This was only her second drink of the night but it must have been powerful. This led to a night on the bathroom floor for Bernie, worshiping the porcelain god.

Two comedy shows

Another beautiful day, if a little cold. In the afternoon we handed out flyers for a couple of hours, there are a lot of people on the streets. Later we went to work. Again Bernie waitressed the 4:00 pm show and Mar worked the door.

Then we worked two stand up comedy shows in a row and were able to watch them too, which was great. Mar was the ticket taker and Bernie was the usher. The comedians were Jennie McNulty and Paula Poundstone, they were both very funny.

After that Mar worked security upstairs in the wine bar till 1:00 am. We had a great time tonight watching the musicians and hanging out. Though we are working we are having a ton of fun and meeting a lot of cool people.

Lots to do

First thing Bernie did today was set up chairs in the club for the shows of the day. Then we got on our bikes and headed down Commercial Street to hand out flyers for the shows.

Today there were a lot more people on the streets, almost too many to ride our bikes through. We handed out flyers for two hours then went back to the Vixen so Bernie could waitress and Mar could work the front door.

After the show we were free for the rest of the day. We went back to Bella and emptied our melted ice and got more so our food won’t go bad. Then Bernie made hamburgers and potatoes on the grill. After a fantastic dinner we decided to ride our bikes again to see more of Ptown.

Ptown is pretty unique. Even though it is right on the water you rarely get to see the ocean because of all the buildings and how close they are to each other. There are beach accesses here and there, between the buildings, and also a pier. There is a lot to see and do here, if you like shopping and clubbing. The good thing is you can walk or bike anywhere you need to go, everything is nearby.

We are so busy all day long, always lots to do. This is certainly a good experience for us.

Time to go to work

We can already tell this is going to be a nonstop rollercoaster week. We got up early and headed out to bike around Ptown to hand out flyers. When we got back we went to see the first show of Women's Week. It was a fantastic lineup of three independent female musicians. During the show, Bernie started practicing for her job as a cocktail waitress and did a great job!

After the show we cleaned up and put the chairs and tables away. Then we were told they might need one of us to work tonight. We went back to Bella and started dumping the melted ice and replacing it with new ice. Bernie went inside to get more ice and she was snatched up for help with bar stuff, it was time to go to work.

Bernie got to do a lot of different prep jobs, everything from rearranging the furniture and getting change, to cutting up lemons and limes. Up and down the stairs and the elevator, she was all over the place. Then she went outside to hand out flyers before the welcome party.

After work Bernie went to the wine bar upstairs. She socialized and relaxed for a bit. Then Mar joined her for some fun. Afterwards we took a nice long walk down Commercial Street and then back to Bella to shower and sleep.

Flying Bella

Today was a full and crazy day. Elizabeth and Elizabeth, who own a local B&B, knocked on our door. We had been in contact with them online before we got here and they came by this morning just to say hi and meet us.

Then we went to the local thrift shop to see if we could find cheap all black clothing for our gig at the Vixen. We have to wear all black because we are doing security and cocktail waitressing, at night. And during the day we'll be handing out flyers on the street for both the Vixen and Women’s KISS (Kickass Independent Songwriters Showcase).

After this we were lucky enough to get to shower upstairs in one of the rooms of the hotel where we are parked. This was great because a shower with real water pressure means that Mar got to wash her hair.

We are parked at such a steep incline that the fridge won’t work. Even the water pump won’t work unless the fresh water tank is full.

So Bernie tried to level Bella. She was able to get it about four inches off the ground and on the leveling stands when it shifted and fell. Thankfully no one was hurt. Mar was inside and had no idea what was happening. She just felt Bella flying, Bella crashing down. Bernie managed to let go of the jack and jump out of the way. However, one of the stands got caught under one of the tires and it is all bent, it will never be whole again. When Bella fell she ended up about a foot away from where she had been originally.

After this scare we gave up, we decided to leave Bella as is, and use ice to keep our food cold for now. Bernie headed to the hotel basement to fill up containers with ice for our food.

The next thing on our to do list was laundry. We were told there is only one laundromat in town, that a taxi ride there would cost about $5 one way, and that each machine would cost $4-5 each. This definitely doesn’t fit into our budget ….

We remembered that Susan (from KISS) had offered us the use of the washer and dryer at the house she’s renting for the week. We called her and she happened to be nearby, so she and Kristin picked us up and we went to their rental to do our laundry.

While we were there we helped them with some of the preparations for the KISS shows this week, while we did the laundry. When the laundry was done, we thought we’d grab a cab back to the hotel, but Susan and Kristin gave us a ride. And they also lent us a cooler since we have no fridge. It was really awesome of them. Thanks ladies!!

Ptown here we come

We got up and got ready to leave. We are headed for Provincetown MA for Women’s Week. We drove about an hour and a half to get there. Once there we found it very hard to maneuver through town. These streets are tiny and narrow. Every building, everything is right next to each other. You can hardly tell one building from the next. After going around in circles a few times we found our destination, The Pilgrim House.

This hotel has a club called Vixen. The club’s manager was awesome and gave us both jobs for Women’s Week. The best part is that she petitioned her boss for us to stay in their very small parking lot behind the hotel. Parking is very hard to find in Ptown. He was gracious enough to say yes. It took some time but we finally maneuvered Bella into a very tight corner, we parked as close as possible to the back corner to be out of the way. We are not level at all though but as long as we sleep with our heads above our feet we should be fine.

Next we set out on foot to explore the area. After walking several blocks and checking out the town we headed back to Bella for dinner and rest.

Low clerance ahead

We drove from one end of Long Island to the other end. We took the parkway towards the ferry. We approached a bridge and saw the clearance was 9'6". We thought we might not make it but we did. Then the next bridge was even lower and again we made it.

The sign for third bridge said the clearance was 7' 7". We didn’t want to risk it. We quickly got off the exit and pulled in to a state park. We spent a half hour there on the laptops and phone trying to find out the height of the rest of the bridges.

We were at our wits end when we saw a police officer drive by. We flagged him down and he was a lifesaver. He was very helpful, checked the directions on our GPS, and told us that we could not go on any parkways in NY, campers are only allowed on highways. Finally someone knew what we needed to do, before we lost our top.

So we continued driving and made it to the ferry, which took us to CT in about an hour and twenty minutes.

Then we drove towards Cape Cod MA. We stopped at the last Walmart before the Cape but it was closed. So we went to the Stop and Shop next door for some groceries and lucky for us, they had a RedBox so we got a movie too.

Then we went back to Walmart and parked for the night.

Lights, camera, action

Today we drove to Atlantic City NJ, about half an hour away. What a place! Bright lights, beautiful beaches, and lots to do.

Our first stop was to see Lucy The Elephant. It was closed when we got there but we parked and we got to see her from the outside which was quite impressive.

On our way to The Strip we saw beautiful beaches and gorgeous houses. The houses are all different styles, almost all of them were two stories, but they were all different types and shapes.

Once in Atlantic City we headed down Pacific Avenue to check out all the hotels and see The Strip. There are flashing lights and interesting things to see everywhere.

We went to The Quarter next to the Tropicana Hotel. There we found a Cuban restaurant so of course we had to go in. It was excellent, the ambiance was quite nice, and we got really good service from our friendly server, Carl.

Then we walked through the casino at the Tropicana. We watched people playing at the tables and the slots. But neither one of us likes to gamble so we didn't spend any money.

Next we went downstairs to walk the famous Boardwalk. This is a cool place with lots of gift shops, pizza places, ice cream shops, and massage places. Unfortunately you can’t see the ocean from the Boardwalk because the dunes are too high.

It was getting late so we decided to hit the road. We drove to Long Island NY. We knew we should get gas before leaving NJ and it is a good thing we did. We paid $3.11 per gallon. During the rest of our drive we saw much higher prices so we were glad we filled up in NJ.

We found the first Walmart in Long Island and stopped for the night.

A bigger ferry

We woke up to a beautiful ocean, we were parked right next to the water. Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining but the wind was cool enough to keep you from getting too hot. Bernie went out to explore the island a little. Then we both went to watch the wind surfers.

On our way out of the island we stopped to dump and filled up our fresh water tank. While driving we saw a group of wild ponies, then right before we got to the exit, there was a lone pony eating grass by the side of the road. We parked right next to it and it didn’t even move, it was almost like a magical experience.

Then we drove to Lewes DE about an hour away, where we took the ferry to Cape May NJ. This ferry was much bigger than the other ferries we have taken. It was not as packed, there was plenty of room.

However the ocean must have been choppy because we were rocking. Neither of us thought we could handle it. We went upstairs to check out the facilities and hoped we would feel better up there. It didn’t seem to help much, it was hard to even walk straight.

We found a tv and sat down to watch some very interesting news stories on 60 Minutes. It helped to actually focus on the tv and we felt better.

When we got to NJ it was already nighttime so we found the closest Walmart where we purchased some groceries and then parked for the night.

Delmarva

Last night we had found the perfect parking spot, right across the pavilion where the Hispanic Heritage Celebration would be held today. Back home this festival is a huge one, they block off several streets downtown for a whole day. We hoped the Portsmouth celebration would be just like that.

However our hopes were crushed when we entered through the chain link fence and saw just a few food carts and some sponsor tables. We turned around, went right back to the ticket booth and asked for our money back. They gave us some trouble at first but in the end we did get our money back. What a disappointment that was.

The weather is nice, it is much warmer here. The sun is shinning and we can even wear shorts again.

We left Portsmouth and drove about half an hour towards the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. This is a 23 mile long bridge, with two tunnels and four man-made islands, that took us to the Delmarva Peninsula. Bernie had not been since she was a small child. Along the bridge we stopped at the fishing pier. No one caught anything while we were there so we have no exciting pictures.

After the bridge we headed to Assateague Island, where we saw deer, bunnies, two of the famous wild ponies, and even several crabs, including one on the sidewalk that was pretty far from the water. We read online that you can stay on the beach here which is open twenty-four hours. But we couldn't figure out how to get on the beach because by the time we got here it was already after dark. So we found a spot to park and hope to explore the area tomorrow.

New and improved

We woke up early again today so Camping World could finish up the work. Mar went back to the customer lounge but Bernie could not stay still today. She went outside to work on Bella. First she changed the oil in the generator. Then she cleaned the bugs off the windows and mirrors. Then she changed the engine oil. Then she filled up the fresh water tank. Then she installed a nifty new showerhead. And finally she put extensions on the tires so the tire pressure can be checked without having to take off the hubcaps.

Meanwhile a new tech was hard at work trying to figure out our electrical system. He was finally finished around five pm, another whole day for us at CW. We tested the system, we tested everything we could think to test. It all seems to work and we think we now have a complete system.

… and we were finally on the road again. We are headed to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia Beach. We drove about four hours tonight and we stopped in downtown Portsmouth for the night.

Right inverter, wrong outlet

Believe it or not we woke up at 8:30 am to give Camping World all day to work on Bella. Still half asleep we waddled our way to the customer lounge with our laptops and books and our morning coffee.

Mar spent the day working online. Bernie spent most of the day on the phone, taking care of stuff that she needed to get done. Throughout the day we met several people and had some great conversations about RVing. Someone we met today may even want to hire Bernie for a small job. Later, Tom, the manager, showed up with coffee and donuts for us. We were surprised and very thankful.

By late afternoon Bobby came to tell us it was all done. Bernie went out to look it over and Bobby showed her how everything works while they tested the system and wall outlets. Bobby also showed Bernie how to work the new lightning rod we had installed in the water heater so that we can save on propane, and then Bobby helped Bernie put a ninety degree elbow on the waste pipe. This will make things much easier when it’s time to dump.

As we were getting ready to go, we plugged in the laptops and noticed nothing happened. Turns out this is the only outlet Bobby and Bernie didn’t test. We got Bobby back out to look at it and he thought he figured it out but we would have to wait till tomorrow to take care of it because it was quitting time. So it looks like we will be getting another breaker tomorrow.

We went back to the CW parking lot, hooked up the electric, and got ready to spend the night … again.

So far so good

Around noon Bernie called Camping World to see if the new inverter they had ordered for us, had been delivered to the store. She was told it was already here so she woke up Mar and we got ready to go inside. We got the paperwork ready and Bobby, the tech, went to work on it. We spent the afternoon in the customer lounge. Around 5 pm (quitting time) Bobby said the good news was that the installation is going well, the bad news was he won't be able to finish up today, which means we went back outside to hook up the electric and spend another night in the CW parking lot. Tonight it was raining and it was pretty cold here in Virginia.

Back to CW

Thanks to our trusty little earplugs we were able to catch up on our beauty sleep in the Walmart parking lot. This felt really good since we were completely exhausted from yesterday. When we woke up it was already midafternoon and after taking care of a few things, we got on the road again. We drove about three and a half hours to the Camping World in Winchester VA, where we hooked up the electric and parked for the night, so we can be here for our appointment tomorrow. They are supposed to replace our inverter and fix the electrical system in Bella. Wish us luck.

Sleepless in Douthat

By morning Bernie was tired and almost in tears. Mar, sleep deprived, said we should pull camp and find a dentist who will take care of that toothache today. We had already paid for one more night at the campground, but the office said we would not get a refund.

We packed up Bella and put the awning up. Word spread fast, by this time the girls heard of Bernie’s toothache and everyone tried to be helpful. Bobbie, who is a nurse, brought Bernie some gel for her toothache, which really helped.

We drove down the mountain and once we had phone reception we pulled over and started making phone calls. Finding a dentist proved harder than we expected. Using our road atlas and both laptops, we started calling the dentists closest to the campground, and kept extending the search area for more dentists to call.

Almost an hour later we found a dentist in West Virginia who had an opening at 2:30. This dentist was two hours away and it was almost 12:30 pm by then. Mar put pedal to the metal and we drove to Summersville WV. The drive from VA to WV was breathtaking, the trees have started to change colors and the views were beautiful. We boogied up and down mountains, and curves, and more curves, to make it to Bernie's appointment on time. We got there at 2:29 pm.

Once there we got more bad news. Bernie needed a root canal. The dentist recommended a specialist located forty-five minutes away who could see Bernie today. So we got back in Bella and headed down to Beckley WV.

Bernie was so worked up and nervous before even getting there. She hasn’t had good experiences with dentists in the past. But everyone was so nice and friendly there, from the moment we went in we were greeted warmly and made to feel welcome. Dr. Winkler and his wife have just recently opened this practice. He was extremely compassionate and caring with Bernie. The dentist and his assistant took extra time and explained everything that was happening. They did everything they could to help Bernie feel at ease.

If you are ever in WV and need a dentist, go see Fletcher and Fletcher in Summersville. If you are ever in WV and need a root canal, go see Dr. Winkler in Beckley.

Without having had any sleep in over 24 hours, Mar just couldn’t drive any more. After her root canal, Bernie needed some rest. Lucky for us there was a Walmart right across the street. We were tired and starving. We got some Taco Bell and ate so quick we were surprised when the bag emptied. We then found a spot to park for the night. Bernie is recovering and we hope to get some much needed rest tonight.

Good day. Not so good night.

Today was a good day. Mar finally got to sleep in. When Bernie got up she headed to meet the girls to go hiking. Later Bernie worked on Mar’s bike. She needed a little help, but luckily, Luann was ready and able to lend a hand. After they worked on the bike for about half an hour they realized there was an important part missing. So the bike went back on Bella until we can head to a bike store to get the part.

While Mar was still sleeping, Bernie went to explore the woods and found a stream that ran along the campground. She felt content to sit in the sun next to the stream and just listen to mother nature.

After her Zen moment Bernie headed back up to camp. She then worked on Bella, reorganizing stuff, cleaning, and fixing this and that, all kinds of things that are hard to find the time to do because we are never stopped long enough to do it.

In the evening we met the girls for dinner. Bernie ended up at the fire cooking the hamburgers for everyone. There were a couple new arrivals today. Everyone had fun telling stories, talking, joking, and getting to know one another.

After dinner we headed back to Bella and took our showers. Without internet access (of course) we went back to reading. Then Bernie noticed her tooth started hurting. The pain got more intense through the night and it would wake her up from time to time. By the time Mar was ready for bed, Bernie was up and couldn’t sleep any more, so Mar stayed up too. Mar didn’t get any sleep tonight, not a wink. This was not a good night.