Intrepid travellers go off grid

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Yesterday morning we left Camden and headed to Wolfeboro on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. It was a dreary day as we left and it rained pretty much all the way until we got there, when the clouds cleared leaving a cloudless and warm late afternoon. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by tree covered mountains and Wolfeboro is a great little town right on the edge. We had dinner out at a bar/restaurant and sat on the outside terrace almost touching the water with a clear view. Definitely the most picturesque place we have eaten so far. The campsite we stayed at was pretty grim, definitely the worst so far. It was generally grotty, so heavily wooded that it was dark even in bright sunshine and the mozzies had to be seen to be believed. Strangely though it had the nicest showers... the women's showers were even carpeted and a joy to use!! Next morning's target was the Quechee State Park in Vermont. Again it was overcast and raining most of the way. We stopped in Hanover en route, the centre of which is the Dartmouth College campus and really interesting, although cold and windy. Booking in at the state campsite, I asked if our allocated pitch had an electric hook up? 'No' came the answer. Water? 'Nope.' Now, Spencer is a big fan of The Discovery Channel and two of his favourite documentary subjects are Preppers (people who prepare for the end of civilisation and stock up on food, water, ammunition, etc) and Off Gridders (people, mostly in Alaska, who live largely on their own resources with no mains power, phones, etc etc). Faced with the prospect of being in our fully equipped RV for about eight hours, without hook ups but with a tank full of water, full battery power and a generator HE WAS HYSTERICAL. The camp rules say no generators after 6pm and we had several lengthy discussions about whether anyone was near enough to hear our generator and what would they do about it anyway? We must conserve power, no showers allowed in the RV and did I really need the lights on? I have now banned him from checking the battery level on the control panel (still at full strength) and am on the verge of confiscating the head torch after he made the bed wearing it.... Who needs the telly (very juicy, apparently) when one has such brilliant live entertainment? Apart from that, the best bit of the day was arriving in Quechee to a clear blue sky and lovely warm evening again... such a treat, two days in a row!! We went for a long walk to the Quechee Gorge and a dam that flows through the state park and back via a diner where we had beer and pizza. Not that off grid after all.

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