Ivoryton, Connecticut Day 3 (GA574)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I may be here until March 4th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted August 9, 2013…

 

 

 

The motorhome is parked at my son’s home in Ivoryton, Connecticut. We are planning to depart for the west coast next Monday.

 

 

In preparation for our departure from New England next Monday, yesterday Mary and I returned to my favorite bookstore in the whole world…The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut. I bought 10 books, About six weeks ago I went to The Book Barn and bought 19 books. In many years of travel I’ve been in many a used bookstore and this one is the best!

 

 

If you are a regular follower of my blog,you know that I’m an avid reader…reading on average about a book or two a week during the course of a year. As I travel I frequently have a problem finding books I like to read and frequently have to pay what I consider to be an excessive price. But…I don’t have those problems at The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut. They have over 500,000 books and all paperbacks are only $1.00!

 

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

The Book Barn is my favorite book store in the whole world…

The main building…

One of about six satellite buildings…

 

 

Here’s their website link…
http://www.bookbarnniantic.com/

 

 

Why is a good book like an RV???? Because both can take you to wonderful places!!!!

An RV takes you physically and a good book tales you mentally!!!!

 

 

Enjoying a good book is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Connecticut. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/the-best-book-store/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 62 degrees.

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

THE BEST BOOK STORE

The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut, looks like a garden when you drive up. That’s because it IS a garden, and a quaint place where book lovers hang out, trade and buy books. And, yes, there is a barn, and many other sheds and shacks and benches and…well it is different by all accounts. So follow me for an abbreviated look.

Your first stop is a buy and sell counter with the above sign. You grab a number if you have books loaded in your car. When the counter is clear of book sorting, and your number is called, you can unload your books on the counter. If you have bags full you can carry in one hand, you don’t need a number. That was us, we turned in about 30 books.

Now its time to go shopping. You have to choose from roughly 350,000 volumes, mostly paper back. I chuckle at their designations. Perhaps you like books that bite?

Or maybe chick lit? A little building I love to browse. In one mystery barn, the alphabet stopped at G and was continued on over to another barn. Despite the widespread collections, everything is pretty easy to find with good signage and able helpers.

I have no clue what Paranormal Romance is but others must. I was after books by a new for me author, Iris Johansen. I found one in the latest arrivals kiosk, right out front at the entrance. Is she mystery or adventure thriller?  Hard to tell, maybe a little of both.

I followed the garden path.

Beauty in bloom.

A gargoyle overlooks a quiet pond. A person could easily spend a quiet day here in the garden reading.

And, they make it easy to shop with children. Besides the Peanut Butter Shanty, there are rideable and pushable toys at various wide sections of walkway, wagons to sit in and places to read for kids.  A penned goat to pet and many cats.

Then there are the graveyards.

Hey, fell victim to a dangling participle. What a hoot.

And cookbook Ken whose love of food did him in. You may have to double-click the photos to read the inscriptions.

Hovering over the graveyards, two skeletons with the sign, Death By Kindle. I expect they are writer’s skeletons.

It was at the haunted book shop building that I found 14 Iris Johansen books I hadn’t read. That’s because I’ve only read one and she’s  written about 40 books. I can see I’m going to have fun for weeks for my fourteen dollars.

Many cats sleep among the shade plants, but this one would be my choice. It was a fun day. The barn has two more stores in town and between the three, they have an average total of 500,000 books. Today, we were supposed to go raspberry and blueberry picking with Jim’s grand-daughter, Jaime, but it is raining and looks to continue for the rest of the day. Iris Johansen will keep me entertained.

If You Love To Read…You Should Read This!

In yesterday’s Blog posting I spoke of a new problem I had just developed. I had just accidentally discovered the author Michael Connelly and now I wanted find all of his about 25 books so I can read them in the order as written to follow the character’s development.

If you are a long-time reader of my Blog, you might remember this May 31, 2010 entry about my favorite bookstore in all of the United States…The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/ramblinman/2010/05/31/my-favorite-book-store/

They have over 350,000 books and their paperbacks are only $1.00 each.

In two trips to the Book Barn last summer, I bought  total of 67 books!

Here’s their website link…
http://www.bookbarnniantic.com/

So…back to my problem. I didn’t know if The Book Barn offered this service, so I decided to send them an Email and ask. I told them of my interest in acquiring books by Micheal Connelly and could they ship them to me?

A short while later I got a response from Julia at The Book Barn and she said yes, they could do that. She identified the titles they had in stock…I told her which ones I wanted…I gave her the shipping address…then called her at 860-739-5715 to provide the credit card information to complete the order. I’m getting 13 books for $13 and $4.50 shipping. Total order $17.50!

Then I asked if she could keep an eye out for the other titles I’ll be looking for and she said yes, she could do that. She’ll email me whenever they get a title I’m seeking.

So, if you are having problems locating a book or books…contact Julia at the above shown contact information and she’ll be glad to help you out.

Seems like in today’s world if I ask a company’s employee if they can do something for me, inevitability the answer is “no, we can’t do that!” How refreshing it is to have someone say…”Sure, we can do that!”

Well Done, Julia!

I sure wish there was a Book Barn in every town/city in which I visit!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

My Favorite Bookstore In The Whole World!

Jim says:

In preparation for our departure from New England one week from today, yesterday Mary and I returned to my favorite bookstore in the whole world…The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut. Shortly after our arrival in New England we last went to this bookstore on May 31, 2010 when I bought 47 books. In many years of travel I’ve been in many a used bookstore and this one is the best!

If you are a regular follower of my blog,you know that I’m an avid reader…reading on average about a book or two a week during the course of a year. As I travel I frequently have problem finding books I like to read and frequently have to pay what I consider to be an excessive price. But…I don’t have those problems at The Book Store in Niantic, Connecticut. They have over 350,000 books and all paperbacks are only $1.00! Yesterday I bought 16 more books!

The Book Barn is my favorite book store in the whole world.

The main building.

One of about six satellite buildings.

Here’s their website link…
http://www.bookbarnniantic.com/

Why is a good book like an RV???? Because both can take you to wonderful places!!!!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

PICNIC AND A BARN FULL OF BOOKS

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, Eric The Man had two ball games in a tournament, so everyone gathered at Groton Park for a bit of rest, fun and food between games. Joceylyn Jaillet used the time to burrow into a book. She kind of reminds me of myself at age 15.

And, on the subject of books, how do you peruse 350,000 books? Niantic, Connecticut has a famous book store, that has turned into three stores.
The main barn is not the whole story. Building after building has been added around the spacious garden grounds filled with every imaginable book.  Friendly benches, a children’s play area, several friendly cats, tables, coffee, cookies, flowers, settees invite you to linger and relax. Things are wonderfully organized in cozies, new items, old items; political or photography; children’s or teen’s. you might find one copy filed in fiction and the same book filed in poetry if it has both.

I found a copy of my newest favorite book, Bel Canto, so now I can return the one loaned to me by a friend. That, and a bagful of others. If your bag gets heavy, staff provides a cubby to hold your books while you continue your search. Jim needed help to lug his big box of books out to the Bronco. Oh, such hidden pleasure in those pages

Helpful, plentiful staff, and if you get tired of looking, you can always rest your eyes and throw a few balls into the basketball hoop in one of the courtyards, or stop for a game of chess or checkers.

Folks here have a great sense of humor. Every sign has at least one funny line. This place is such a treasure. The hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Open every day of the year except Christmas and Thanksgiving.

My Favorite Book Store…

Jim says:

Yesterday we whiled away the morning doing miscellaneous things…one of which was Mary ordering her tickets for another trip back to her home in California for a July 4th annual family reunion. She’ll be gone June 29-July 13. During that time I’ll hang out with my family here in Connecticut.

Then to a picnic for my grandson’s baseball team between a double-header baseball day.

Along the way to my favorite book store we passed the Millstone Nuclear power Station where I worked from 1966-69 and 1972-74. I was involved in the construction of this facility.

Millstone Nuclear Power Station.

Then to my favorite book store in the whole of the United States. If you are a regular follower of my blog,you know that I’m an avid reader…reading on average about a book a week during the course of a year. As I travel I frequently have problem finding books I like to read and frequently have to pay what I consider to be an excessive price. But…I don’t have those problems at The Book Store in Niantic, Connecticut. They have over 350,000 books and all paperbacks are only $1.00! Yesterday I bought 47 books!

The Book Barn is my favorite book store in the United States.

The main building.

One of about six satellite buildings.

Here’s their website link…
http://www.bookbarnniantic.com/

Why is a good book like an RV???? Because both can take you to wonderful places!!!!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com