New Jesey....continued...Really???

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day, crisp chill in the air, blue skies above us......perfect day to head to the NJ shore!

 

We chose to stay in the same campground we have stayed in the past, unfortunately they have gone down hill so it will be the last time we stay there.  Best thing about the campground was the location....only 15 minutes to the shore!

 

We unpacked,  set up camp..........

 

                                               

 and headed down to the board walk for some pizza and cheese steak!

 

                                                                                               

 

 
                                                                   

The next day we were blessed with another day of great weather....Joe decided to relax with a cup of coffee......while I look for local estate sales to go to.....we LOVE estate sales!
                                                                          


Bingo!  Only 10 minutes around the corner was an estate sale.  And it was the mother load of sales.  A hoarders house, inside and outside. 



                                                 
We loaded up with an old wrought iron gate door, old tools, a singer sewing machine table and a wooden tool box, just to name a few things.  We ended up going back to the campground, unloaded the car and went back again!  We felt like true pickers digging through the house and yard, making deals and finding some really cool old items that will fit perfectly into our new home.  Where ever that may be:)



Each night that the weather is good, which has been most of our trip thankfully, we sit outside and have dinner, then sit by the fire.  It has been my favorite part of our trip. 



                    

                                                                    



                                                     
Joe and Tina's brother live in New Jersey and invited us to a family dinner, inviting their younger brother and their kids.  It was really great seeing them and watching Gabe interact with his cousins.....

Smiles all around.... Big glasses of Sangria and home made pasta and meatballs!

Tina sandwiched between her brother Nick and soon to be sister in law Jackie.....also enjoying the red wine....Jackie not Tina.  Looks like she could use a glass though!

 

Get the Rosmini boys together and watch out.......

 

 

 

Late night, but as you can see Gabe had a great time:)

 

 
The next day we were headed to my best friend Carolyn's house for a few days......we parked the RV in her driveway behind a beautiful flower trellis and wildlife all around us......some more alive than others:(

Carolyn owns a ceramic store called "Family Clay Time".....we love going there, we are like kids in a candy store! 
But we still had to do school and....    

Work........

And when Carolyn's kids, Gabe's best friends Carly and Robbie, came home it was time to play:)

 

Joe found time to make his own pottery....a beautiful something.......or other:)

I have been friends with Carolyn for over 18 years....

We worked together, had kids together, we both are married to bald Italian hot headed men and we went through Carolyn's breast cancer.  She means the world to me.  And it has nothing to do with the special surprises she always has waiting for me....

 

 

It is actually bribery, you see Carolyn has been trying to get us to move back to NJ from the day after we moved 11 years ago.  She will send Joe packages at Christmas filled with his favorite goodies, going through him to get to me.  But this jersey girl is now a Florida girl and moving back to the cold north is not worth all the goodies she can send us!  Not that we want her to stop sending them:)

 

It was a perfect night to sit outside around the campfire and roast marshmallows.....

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

 

 

 

 .......some more burnt than others! YUMMY!

 

Each time we visit we pick something fun for all of us to do......so we all loaded into the car and went apple picking.....

 

half of the farm was turned into a vineyard.....my kind of farm!

 

                                                                          

 

 

 

With the 3 dozen apples Carolyn had us all pick, we went home and made caramel apples, not just any type of caramel apples but caramel apples covered in candy pieces:)

It was time to head south and out of New Jersey....finally!  We had our fill of cheese steaks and donuts (well for the time being at least), we made sure we loaded up at the grocery store with all the goodies we can't find down south, we enjoyed the Jersey Shore for a few days and visited our friends and family.  There was nothing left to do but say goodbye.  Joe and Carolyn's husband Layne had to wipe some tears from their eyes as we drove away.....two peas in a pod those boys are!

It was finally time for us to go home hunting!  Off to South Carolina to find the perfect one.....with a few stops along the way.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Friends, Cheese Steaks and Wine

 

We had a pretty peaceful ride down through Connecticut into New York.....

 

 

Then it all changed......

 

 

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic.....and tunnels......

 

 

Which was a little nerve wracking because there was quite a few army vehicles all around us....

 

 

 

When they came up besides us we were eye level with them.....

 

 

Up over the George Washington Bridge..........

 

Into a state that I did not miss..........

 Along the NJ Turnpike we had the view over to New York and the 2 missing buildings in the skyline......

 

and more traffic down the turnpike.....

 

 

We pulled off into the rest area and de-stressed with a yummy homemade lunch of cheese, crackers, carrots, pepperoni and farmers cheese!

 

Tina continued to work through lunch.....

 

 

Once off of the NJ Turnpike the scenery started to change......

 

We drove through small farm towns.......

 

 

And quaint down towns......

 

 

some more funky than others......

 

Until we found what we were looking for.....

 

 

our Harvest Host for the night, Bellview Winery.

 

 

 

It was a small family run winery located in Landisville NJ.

We had looked them up in our Harvest Host directory and it sounded great.  We had yet to stay in an actual "Winery" and were excited to see what that entailed......

 

 

 

 

Matt our Harvest Host told us we could park anywhere on the property that we wanted to.....so we drove through the rows of grapes hanging from the vine until we found the big open field....

 

 

 

                                                                           

 

 

After we were settled, we hoped in the car and headed out.....to find.....

 

 

We heard the angels singing when this (meaning 4) was delivered to our table!

 

We ended up eating only about 15 minutes from where we had first lived in New Jersey! Needless to say there wasn't a lot of talking going on for the first 10 minutes......

 

 

 

 

                                                                 

 

 

Our bellies were full, which was perfect because our next stop was the grocery store.  Yes, my favorite place to be!

 I was on the phone with my best friend, Carolyn, (who happens to live less than 15 minutes away from the grocery store) who was giving me moral support while trying to corral both Tina and Joe....

not the easiest thing to do.....

 

trying to get them to the check out line.......

as you can see we made sure we had the essentials....burgers, toliet paper and marshmellows...... 

 

 When she tells me she is there...in the parking lot;)  It was such an awesome surprise!  I didn't think we would get to see each other for a few more days, even though we were so close to where she lived, we weren't going to be in town for longer than just some groceries and then head back down 40 minutes to the campground.  But she didn't want to wait:)  Could you really blame her though!

 

 It was after 900pm and we had to say our goodbyes in the parking lot of Shop Rite:(   We had a long drive back to the camper and had to turn down the offer of donuts and catching up at her house:(  Plus there was the whole, "we just went grocery shopping and the ice cream was beginning to melt" cry that Joe was making.  So we went our separate ways for the night......but would see them in a few days down the shore at the next campground!