Past the pivot point: Summer goals amidst a time of upheaval
Continued from A Summer to Remember in 2025
The first 9 weeks of our summer consisted of leaving the West, traveling across the country, stopping in the Midwest for repairs and cats, and then making our way to our home state of Massachusetts. Already, the summer was crazy. We covered a lot of miles while trying to avoid burnout. We started the summer not even knowing we'd be returning to New England with 2 cats! This would have been more than enough for us to remember our summer, but on the other side of our return home, life hit us hard and left things in disarray.
The upheaval caused us to take a break from the blog, and we chose to not write about what happened so our posts wouldn't fall too far behind. Besides, while we like to be real here on the blog, we also don't want to be Debbie Downers too much. However, if you'd like to hear our update, we discussed it during our subscribers-only livestream on September 15.
Looking back, we noticed that we hit a pivot point somewhere between getting the cats and returning to our home-base. We knew our summer goals wouldn't be the top priority because we'd be helping our furbabies adjust to their new lives, but this ended up being the least of our worries. The closer we got to MA, the more exhausted we felt, and we couldn't wait to get back to our home-base. Once back, we could resume our summer activities and check more off our list. Despite our circumstances, we did pretty well keeping up with our goals, at least at first.
Hornstra Ice Cream
Our first item marked off the list was what remains our favorite ice cream in the country – and we don't see this ever changing since we're 47 states in! Every year we joke that noooo, Hornstra is just built up in our minds because it's our local dairy farm! But then every year we take those first bites and remember, nope, it's just that good. Don't take our word for it. If you're ever venturing south of Boston, stop and have a taste for yourself! The ice cream stand is open seasonally, but the farm market is open year-round and sells quarts as well as some of the best ice cream cookie sandwiches ever. You can also meet the cows! We are huge advocates of clean eating and say that dairy just tastes different when the cows are happy. Hornstra Farms is extra diligent in the care of their cattle, and this treatment helps them stay ahead of most illnesses and infections that often afflict corporate farm cows. The proof of their health is in the taste. We both opted for waffle cones. I got 2 of my go-to flavors, purple cow (black raspberry with milk and white chocolate chips) and their summer seasonal raspberry cheesecake, the best cheesecake ice cream I've ever had, hands down. Anthony got regular black raspberry and peach.
We will admit, though, that we come here for the food and not so much the experience. As we ate our ice cream, we remarked how the farm could do some improvements that would create a more welcoming environment, like create a picnic area in the field...or even just let visitors go in the field. Unlike other farms in the Northeast, people can't really treat a visit here as as a full excursion (unless you're attending as a field trip or group going on a tour). There aren't many places to sit outside and eat, and most of us just grab our goodies and eat in our vehicles. It's not a big deal for us because the ice cream is enough, but if we were hosting out-of-towners and they wanted a dairy farm recommendation that's more experiential, we have our picks, and this isn't it.
Watch the Sunset
This year taught us that seeing the sunset and watching the sunset are very different. We saw a lot of sunsets when we happened to be out doing other things, like this orange fireball in Ohio when we took Tanner out for a romp in the yard.
But we made an agreement that watching the sunset meant actually setting out for the sole purpose of soaking in the fading daylight. On our 5th night after arriving back to MA, we went to one of our favorite nearby parks for a quick walk, then set ourselves up on the dock to welcome dusk.
That was the only time we watched the sunset without multitasking with another activity. For much of the summer, we were positioned so far north that the sun set extremely late, around the time we already begin winding down our evenings. The rest of the time, we had other priorities. It's too bad because the stillness probably would have been good for us, but at least when we did set out to watch the sunset, we got a good one.
Buy and Play a New Board Game
In the spirit of slowing down this summer, we thought introducing a new board game to our lives would be a fun activity. We're fans of board games, but it's surprisingly difficult to find actual good ones. We've had far too many that either lack in game theory so that rules are missing, we find loopholes, or the entire play breaks down. Others we grow bored of because we end up knowing every card or learning every strategy. However, when a game is good, we will play it constantly. We had our work cut out for us this summer. Every once in a while when we were shopping, we'd browse the game aisle to see if anything caught our eye, but no such luck. Then one day, I was on Amazon ordering something unrelated, when Moose Master came up. It's technically a card game, but for this purpose we meant any non-digital game, whether it has a literal board or not. It looked fun and the rules were flexible enough that, if not sufficient for us, we could adapt them. I placed the order. Only problem was, the game is for 3+ people, and we're only 2 of us, with no socializing for the foreseeable future. When we got back to MA, we enlisted my brother as our 3rd player to help us test out the game. Yes, we did end up adapting some rules, mostly to accommodate the fact that we were 3 adults playing, but the game is fun. It combines strategy and silliness, and we think it's great for both groups of adults and families with kids.
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Muffin Monday on the Patio
We never use our patio in summer as often as we expect, much due to the hot weather. When a nice day comes along, we typically opt to adventure elsewhere. Unless it's a work day that happens to be beautiful out, the ramp door stays closed. This year, we knew that patio days would be few and far between because we'd be moving so fast. The near-100% relative humidity in the Midwest didn't help, either. We didn't put our patio down until we got back to our home-base. We did use it a few times before the screen broke (story for another time), and one of those days was a Monday. You know what that means!
Muffin Monday started as a fluke. We were staying at Mountain Lake Resort in Lancaster, NH in a gorgeous site with pond views. Among their many amenities, we read that they offer made-to-order muffins, where you place an order the day before, and the muffins are ready for you the next morning. We didn't need any convincing to partake, and we chose to have our muffins on a Monday, when we'd be chilling in the rig getting our work day started.
We had a lot of patio days during our stay. It was fall and the weather was pristine. This is also the stay where we saw the northern lights for the first time, if that gives any indication to the clear skies and crisp temperatures. With our patio facing the water, we set up our camping table and had the most peaceful breakfast. This is exactly what the camping life is all about for us.
Relevant Read:
Nicole Anderson
We know we'll never re-create that Muffin Monday, but if we can line everything up to have a patio day on a Monday, with muffins for breakfast, it means we're doing something to start our week right. Once settled in at our home-base, we bought blueberry muffins from Montilio's Bakery, a small regional chain on the South Shore. Locals who have been around for a while remember Jordan Marsh, a department store founded in 1841 and eventually becoming part of the Macy's Corporation until closing in 1996. The shopping was only part of the puzzle, as Jordan Marsh drew people in with a rather unique advertising perk: scrumptious blueberry muffins. When the company ceased operations, New Englanders lamented the fact that they would no longer have access to a variety of reasonably-priced wardrobe and home enhancers, but the real disappointment was the loss of the muffins. Thankfully, the recipe lived on, and a few places still sell Jordan Marsh muffins, Montilio's being one of them, and Jordan's Furniture being another (no relation to Jordan Marsh despite the same name). Getting a little taste of a New England staple gave me that little extra sense of home.
This was also the first time the kitties saw the patio. They weren't as curious as Lily was the first time she realized our back opened, but they enjoyed the fresh air. Tanner, too.
Then came our 2-week delay in going to NH, during which we completed no more goals. We knew then that we wouldn't check off every item on our list, but we felt OK about it. Our eyes were on the prize, which was finally getting up to the mountains and up to our land.
Make Progress on the Land
Speaking of the land, one of the main reasons for returning to New England in the summer was so we could start lining up consults with various professionals we'll need to get our site prep and future builds. These are tough feats when we're far away. Due to our delay, we needed to get creative and make progress remotely. We did some research on companies that can help with site preparation and contacted a few. We hoped to have some walk-throughs of the property before Labor Day Weekend, but they got pushed back.
Relevant Read:
Nicole Anderson
After we got to NH, Anthony devoted a few days to clearing the brush that had grown in the spring and summer. We booked a campsite at one of our go-to campgrounds near the land to give Anthony time to mow the growth on our driveway path and the area where we like to park. He rented a brush hog and did some clearing the Friday of Labor Day Weekend. We moved the rig over to the land that Saturday, after which Anthony cleared even more. Initially, we weren't going to consider this "progress" on the land because we felt like we were returning to baseline, clearing the growth and getting it back to its state from last fall. However, Anthony got in the groove and ended up hogging even more than what was clear last year when we purchased the lot.
We're considering our strides a "progress in progress." Each little step feeds into the biggest goal of all: building our mountain cabin, followed by our dream home. We have a long road ahead, but every one of these steps helps us feel like we're getting just that much closer.
Try a Local Restaurant in Our New Home Region
During our few days in NH, we had to choose which summer goals to complete and which to forgo. Given our mental and physical state at the time, eating seemed a lot more manageable than trekking up mountains. Before the Labor Day Weekend rush, we went out for breakfast at Benton's Sugar Shack in Thornton. Northern New England has no shortage of delicious pancake houses, and we'd try them all if we could. Benton's isn't the most famous in the area, but it's the most local to our future homestead, and it does have some claims to fame. It's a family operation that has been producing pure maple syrup for 6 generations and over 150 years. Some say it's the state's best maple syrup, but can anyone really achieve this accolade?
The setting was exactly what we want from a pancake house: rustic country decor, homey atmosphere, and wafting smells of fresh coffee, pancakes, and bacon. The entry area has a little gift shop with shelves full of syrup and merch for sale.
The staff here isn't playing around. We were asked for our drink orders before we finished sliding into the booth, and the whole meal took us just over a half-hour. With service this quick, sometimes the food quality lacks, but not in this case. Everything was hot, fresh, and flavorful. I ordered the classic white bread French toast with bacon (which I gave to Anthony) and homefries. Anthony got the Big Jim omelet, which has cheddar and sausage gravy, with homefries, a grilled biscuit, and corned beef hash. We also got a single pancake side because we had to try their pancakes!
We think part of their ability to maintain a quick turnaround is the fact that they serve their food on paper plates with plastic utensils. Should be fine since all the food is soft, but not so much.
It was a fun time, though, and we desperately needed it.
Get Out on the Water
Breakfast was just one part of a deliberate attempt to find relaxation amidst the chaos of our lives. We followed our meal up with a trip to Franconia Notch State Park to check off another summer goal that had eluded us all season long. Somehow, we had not been "on the water" in all 3,000+ miles and 18 states, unless we count our geothermal crater swim, but that already has a check mark and really doesn't deserve another. Of the remaining goals, "get out on the water" was the only one that didn't need to be completed in NH, but at the same point, the state has both the coast and some fabulous lakes. We weren't exactly sure at first what we'd choose to do, but suddenly I recalled seeing pedal boats on Echo Lake on previous drives up and down I-93. Whenever I'd see them, I'd think about how fun it would be to pedal with those mountain views. We couldn't go at a better time. The weather was perfect and we'd beat the Labor Day crowds.
The store at Echo Lake Beach rents kayaks and canoes in addition to the pedal boats. The beach also has a swimming area. It's next to the interstate but still incredibly peaceful. Echo Lake lies at the base of Cannon Mountain and is spring-fed. For the first part of our boat ride, we were the only ones on the lake. Well, the only humans.
The serenity of pedaling the lake and watching the loons was unmatched. At times, we stopped pedaling and just drifted whichever way the nearest spring was shifting the water. We watched the Cannon Mountain trams travel up and down their cables. We saw hikers enjoying the view from Artist's Bluff. Soon, more pedalers and paddlers came, plus a couple of swimmers, but the peacefulness remained. This was exactly what we needed, some time spent in nature, surrounded by our favorite mountains in our favorite place.
That was the last summer goal we checked off, leaving our 2 hikes incomplete. If we had spent more time in NH like we planned, we undoubtedly would have succeeded in completing the full 20/20, but since so many of our goals required us to be in NH, some of them had to give. We know that our hikes will happen, likely sometime soon. Once we get through our upheaval and take some easier hikes as warmups, we'll be ready for the mountains again. We love having a 4000-footer as a goal because those mountains are the quintessential NH hike. We hope to someday accomplish hiking all 48 of them, but we have a ways to go. As for Stinson Mountain, this is a smaller mountain and not too difficult a hike. It's also a mountain that was never on our radar until we bought our land, which happens to have a view of it. Now we have a love for it, and therefore, motivation to climb it. We know that, just because the "official" stretch of summer has ended, doesn't mean we won't have plenty of opportunities to complete our list. After all, the fall weather typically lends itself to these opportunities better than summer.
Summer didn't go the way we hoped, but we have lots to look forward to. We're back in our happy place for our favorite season. We get to show our cats more of New England, as we all continue deepening our bond with one another. And we can finally start planning for the next chapter of our lives, where full-time RV life will give way to the mountain life, and we will learn how to merge the two in the way that works best for us.