Camp is officially open.

Pointing Trail Tater toward Plymouth

Arrival: about 2:10 PM

We pulled into Plymouth at about 2:10 this afternoon. On the ride up, it poured. Then it poured again—and again. As we got closer to Plymouth it stopped, then started once more, and finally stopped long enough for us to build camp.

We got Trail Tater parked and leveled, then set up the tents. Before long the canopy was up, the chairs were gathered around the fire ring, and our little Plymouth camp had taken shape beneath the pines.

The afternoon stayed overcast with a slight breeze. With camp complete, we went in search of food—just like my forefathers did when they came here, although we had a truck and GPS to help us along.

Tonight's weather

From the camp kitchen

The journey has begun

Months of planning became real today. Trail Tater is parked in Plymouth, the campfire ring is waiting, and the first page of this trip has officially been written.

Day Two · Thursday, July 30

Rain, Rocks & Rainbow Flames

Rain settled over Sandy Pond for much of the morning, but it never managed to dampen the Trail Tater spirit. Coffee stayed hot beneath the canopy, breakfast filled the air with the smell of pancakes and bacon, and wild turkeys wandered through camp as though they had come to inspect the newcomers.

What began as a wet day became one of the fullest days of the trip—part campground adventure, part family art project, and part old-fashioned evening around the fire.

Breakfast beneath the canopy

The Blackstone produced pancakes, bacon, and sausage while the rain fell beyond the shelter. The first pancake went to Sade, the newest member of the Trail Tater crew and a first-time Trail Tater adventurer.

Foraging, exploring & Enisketomp

With the rain still shaping the day, the crew headed out for a little modern-day “foraging” at Walmart, then visited Enisketomp—“Human Being”, Peter Wolf Toth's carved tribute to Indigenous people.

Back at Sandy Pond, the girls explored the trails near the pond. It is not the campground's swimming pond, but it gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs, look around, and discover more of the place we were calling home for the week. More turkeys appeared, another camper reported seeing a skunk, and Ken's own wildlife tally included a squirrel—Stewie would have considered that a major sighting.

Rainy-day rock painting

The afternoon's rain brought everyone back beneath the canopy, where the picnic table became an art studio. Paints, brushes, paper plates, and campground stones covered the table as the crew turned ordinary rocks into little pieces of Trail Tater history.

The idea had a lovely beginning: painted rocks had been waiting around the campground when the crew arrived. Rather than simply keeping the surprise, everyone decided to pass it along. When the new rocks were finished, they were hidden around Sandy Pond for future campers to discover.

This week's Trail Tater Crew

Every person helps turn a campsite into a story. This Plymouth adventure belongs to:

Billie feeds the crew

As evening approached, Billie took charge of camp kitchen. She handled the kabobs on the grill while cooking corn on the cob on the Blackstone, keeping both stations moving and making sure the entire crew was fed.

She deserves an extra nod for stepping up and turning a damp camping day into a proper family meal. The smell of dinner drifting through camp was every bit as welcome as the clearing sky.

Firemaster takes over

Once dinner was finished, Ken resumed his official role as Firemaster. The fire began small, caught steadily, and soon filled the truck-rim fire ring with a strong evening blaze.

Trail Tater's eye color was put to a crew vote. Red won the night. From now on, everyone gets a vote—and should the count ever tie, the Firemaster holds the deciding ballot.

Rainbow flames

After dinner was safely finished, Rainbow Flame Crystals went into the fire. Blues and greens began appearing beneath the familiar orange flames, growing brighter as darkness settled over the campsite.

The effect turned an already good campfire into the perfect finale for a day that had started with steady rain.

Tonight's weather

Day Two complete

It started with rain on the canopy and ended with red eyes glowing through the trees. In between came pancakes, turkeys, exploring, painted rocks left for strangers, a meal cooked by Billie, and a rainbow campfire built by the Firemaster. Day Two did not merely survive the weather—it became one of the trip's best stories.

Day Three · Friday, July 31

The bright orb returns

Day Three began with a strange and unfamiliar sight above Sandy Pond: a warm, bright orb peeking through the pines—and not a single droplet of water pummeling us from above.

After two rain-soaked days, patches of blue sky appeared between the trees. Sunlight reflected across the hood of the Ram, the campground began drying out, and the entire morning felt like Plymouth had finally remembered it was summertime.

A proper Blackstone breakfast

With dry weather overhead, the Blackstone went back to work. Breakfast included bacon, sausage links, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and a sausage-and-cheddar omelet.

Then Sade added a new chapter to Trail Tater culinary history by creating the first-ever Trail Tater banana omelet. Whether it becomes a treasured tradition or remains a legendary Plymouth experiment, Sade can forever claim the honor of inventing it.

Day Three is underway

With everyone fed and the rain finally behind us, the Trail Tater crew was ready to head out and explore. The morning update ends here—but Plymouth, family history, and whatever adventures await are just beginning.

Day Three · Massachusetts joins the map

A Trail Tater tradition continues

With the sun finally shining and the camper dry, Billie was able to do something she had been waiting to do since we arrived: add Massachusetts to Trail Tater's travel map.

Massachusetts now joins Connecticut, the place where every Trail Tater journey begins, as the second state on the map.

One small detail made this sticker especially fitting for the Plymouth adventure. Sailing across Massachusetts is a familiar ship—the Mayflower. Some stickers simply mark where we have traveled. This one marks where part of our family's story began.

Day Three · Afternoon

Pilgrim Hall Museum

This afternoon became something far more personal than a museum visit.

Walking through Pilgrim Hall Museum was not simply a matter of looking at old objects behind glass. It felt like stepping into the world our family came from.

In the museum's first gallery, photography was not permitted. One display focused on the servants of Plymouth Colony, and only two men were given individual descriptions: John Howland and George Soule. Knowing that both are our direct ancestors transformed that display from history into family.

Nearby, it was impossible not to think of Elizabeth Tilley. She crossed the Atlantic as a young girl, lost both of her parents during the first terrible winter, and later married John Howland. Her courage and endurance helped shape generations that followed.

Hands across four centuries

There are photographs that record where you went. Then there are photographs that record what you felt.

At Pilgrim Hall Museum, every member of the Trail Tater crew placed a hand on an authentic fragment of Plymouth Rock at the same time. For most visitors, it is an important piece of American history. For us, it was something more.

More than four centuries ago, John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, and George Soule arrived in this place carrying hope, uncertainty, and the determination to begin again. Generations later, their descendants stood together and reached out to touch a piece of that same story.

Eight hands. One family. Four centuries apart, yet connected by a single stone.

The human side of history

The museum's furniture, books, chests, tools, and household objects made colonial life feel real rather than distant. These were not royal treasures. They were practical belongings used by people building new lives in an unfamiliar place.

Billie spotted an original early gravestone displayed indoors and immediately pointed it out to me. For a cemetery superintendent, that was one of the museum's quiet highlights. It was also a reminder of how much cemetery history she has absorbed simply by exploring old burying grounds with me.

Day Three · Plymouth Waterfront

From the museum to the waterfront

Billie later shared three photographs from our walk along Plymouth's waterfront: the masts of Mayflower II rising above the parking lot, the old Plymouth Rock marker, and the famous stone itself beneath the portico.

Seeing the museum's touchable fragment first and the waterfront rock later tied the afternoon together. One was a moment we could share with our hands; the other was the landmark that generations have traveled to see.

What Plymouth Rock means to us

Whether Plymouth Rock marks the exact place where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore matters less than what it has come to represent.

It stands for hope carried across an ocean, for families willing to risk everything in search of a better future, and for the quiet courage required to begin again in an unfamiliar land.

For our family, the rock is more than a landmark. It is a tangible link to the place where the journeys of John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, and George Soule became part of the story that, generations later, led to all of us standing there together.

History is not only found in books. Sometimes it is found beneath the hands of those who have come home to remember.

Day Three · Evening

Blue eyes for the night watch

After a full afternoon surrounded by Plymouth history, the Trail Tater crew returned to Sandy Pond for an easy campground supper. Three large pizzas from the campground general store—only $9.99 each—made dinner wonderfully simple before Tracy and the girls headed out for a haunted tour.

Back at the campsite, the crew chose blue for Trail Tater’s eyes. Glowing through the front window and reflected across the hood of the truck, the lights gave our little camper the look of a friendly night watchman keeping an eye on camp beneath the pines.

Day Four · Saturday, August 1

A clear morning around Sandy Pond

Last night brought a brief downpour followed by intermittent showers, but by morning the clouds had moved on and the campground was drying beneath blue sky and sunshine.

With the weather cooperating, Ken took a walk around Sandy Pond to see more of the campground. The morning route passed a compact little camper tucked beneath the trees, the still-deflated jump pad, the canoe and kayak area, the fishing dock, and the campground's swimming beach.

Day Four morning

The rain cleared, the pond settled, and the morning walk added a few more pieces to the Sandy Pond story. By evening, another member of the crew checked in from his own vacation back in Connecticut.

Day Four · Meanwhile, back in Connecticut

Stewie had other plans

We had carefully planned our Plymouth vacation, but apparently Stewie had made vacation plans of his own.

While the Trail Tater crew explored museums, historic streets, Plymouth Rock, and Sandy Pond, Stewie spent his time making friends, playing, and enjoying the good life at Central Bark.

Judging by that smile, we may not be the only ones having a great trip.

Day Four · Evening

Green wins tonight's vote

The Trail Tater crew cast its nightly eye-color votes, and green carried the evening.

Glowing through the front window beneath the pines, the bright green eyes gave Trail Tater a cheerful, slightly mischievous look—as though the camper knew Stewie was off enjoying a vacation of his own.

Everyone gets a vote. Tonight, green was the clear choice.

Day Four evening update

From a calm morning beside Sandy Pond to a happy vacation report from Stewie and green eyes glowing at camp, Day Four ended with the whole Trail Tater family enjoying the trip—even the crew member who stayed home.

Day Five · Sunday, August 2

A birthday ambush at Trail Tater

Only today and tomorrow remain as full days in Plymouth, and Day Five began with the Trail Tater crew quietly turning the campsite into birthday headquarters.

In typical dad fashion, Ken returned just early enough to catch everyone setting up the green balloons, party hats, and Happy Birthday banner beneath the canopy. The surprise may have been discovered—but the crew still had one attack left.

Today's Plymouth weather

Forecast snapshot checked Sunday morning, August 2.

The current hourly forecast keeps the afternoon warm and mainly cloudy, giving the crew a reasonable shot at an ocean-beach outing while Ken continues plotting a daylight visit to Burial Hill.

The crew gets the last laugh

Catching the decorations did not save Ken from the real surprise. The crew launched a full green silly-string ambush, covering the birthday boy—and his beard—before placing a matching party hat on top.

The expression says everything: the unmistakable look of a dad who knows he has been thoroughly outmaneuvered by his own family.

Day Five plans

Day Five is underway

The birthday ambush has been sprung, the beach troops are preparing to advance, Burial Hill remains on the historian's list, and Philly cheesesteaks are waiting at the end of the day. Not a bad way to begin another year—or another Trail Tater chapter.

Day Five · Afternoon update

Seven of us climbed into Plymouth's history

After the birthday ambush at camp, seven members of the Trail Tater crew headed into Plymouth. The main destination for Ken was Burial Hill. The rest of the crew came along for the daylight visit, and several of them had already seen the hill after dark during the haunted tour.

The climb led through much more than a cemetery. Burial Hill was also the site of Plymouth's first fort, built in 1621, with the lower level used as a church. From there we walked among centuries of slate, marble, memorials, family names, military history, and some of the finest old New England gravestone carving we have seen on the trip.

Where the fort, church, and burying ground meet

A sign and stone marker identify the site of the first fort built in 1621. The hill once watched over the settlement and harbor; today its slopes preserve generations of Plymouth history.

The Howland family on Burial Hill

The most personal stop was the memorial to John Howland, whose survival after being swept from the Mayflower helped make our own family story possible. Nearby, a separate memorial names the ten children of John and Elizabeth Tilley Howland—the next generation through which their story continued.

History carved in stone

Burial Hill is an outdoor gallery of changing New England cemetery art. Winged skulls and crossbones speak plainly about mortality. Cherubs and soul effigies soften the message. Later stones introduce urns, drapery, columns, and more formal memorial designs.

The Cushman memorial

The towering Cushman obelisk tells several connected stories. Its panels remember Robert Cushman, his son Thomas, and Mary Allerton Cushman. Standing beside it gave the crew a sense of scale that photographs of the inscriptions alone cannot quite capture.

From the hill back to the harbor

After the cemetery walk, we followed the slope back toward the waterfront. Mayflower II stood in the harbor beneath a blue-and-clouded sky, and the crew gathered again beside Plymouth Rock. The day had come full circle—from the people buried on the hill to the harbor that shaped their story.

Day Five afternoon update

Seven crew members climbed Burial Hill, found the Howland memorials, studied centuries of gravestone symbolism, stood at the site of Plymouth's first fort, explored the Cushman and Warren memorials, and returned to the waterfront beneath the masts of Mayflower II.

Tonight, the history books close and the Camp Chef opens: Philly cheesesteak sandwiches are still waiting back at camp.

Day Five · Final update

Orange eyes in the rain

Day Five began with green balloons, party hats, and a silly-string birthday ambush. It carried seven of us up Burial Hill, through the stories of the Howlands, Cushmans, Warrens, Plymouth’s first fort, and centuries of cemetery art. By evening, the rain had returned to Sandy Pond.

Droplets covered the hood of the Ram while Trail Tater’s orange eyes glowed through the front window. Their reflection shimmered across the wet paint, making the camper look as though she were quietly keeping watch over camp after one of the fullest days of the trip.

Day Five complete

This was the day Plymouth became more than a place we were visiting. We stood beside family memorials, read history carved into stone, laughed at a very questionable Pilgrim hat, and returned to our little home beneath the pines. Day Five earned its grand finale.

Day Six · Monday, August 3

A wet beginning to our last full day

Day Six began before sunrise with warm, damp air and rain around Sandy Pond. Today is our final full day in Plymouth, and the weather may have a strong vote in how the crew spends it.

Forecast checked at about 5:15 AM Monday.

Patchy fog and downpours could make roads and low spots messy, so today’s plans will need to stay flexible. The forecast calls for showers to remain possible into the evening before conditions begin improving overnight.

Weather source: National Weather Service forecast for Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Day Six is underway

The coffee was hot, the awning stayed safely rolled in because of the wind, and a passing shower briefly tried to make the final full Plymouth chapter wait. It did not succeed.

Day Six · Afternoon update

Inside the Jabez Howland House

Once the shower eased, the crew made it to the Jabez Howland House at 33 Sandwich Street. The seventeenth-century house is named for Jabez, the son of Mayflower passengers John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, and is preserved by the Pilgrim John Howland Society.

Inside, the Howland story became wonderfully physical. We walked beneath low, heavy beams and across wide floorboards, stood beside the enormous cooking hearth, saw spinning wheels and hand tools, examined archaeological finds from Rocky Nook, and read family history preserved in Bibles and handwritten letters.

After finding John Howland’s memorial and the marker for the ten Howland children on Burial Hill, this visit completed another part of the pilgrimage. Burial Hill gave us names in stone; the house gave those names rooms, tools, handwriting, and a hearth.

Day Seven · Tuesday, August 4

Breaking camp and pointing Trail Tater home

The final morning at Sandy Pond arrived bright and busy. There was no great abundance of photographs because everyone had a job, and the whole crew was working to turn a week-long campsite back into a road-ready caravan.

Lisa took on one of the jobs she genuinely enjoys: getting up on Trail Tater’s roof and clearing away the pine needles and campground debris before departure. Tents came down, gear was packed, bicycles were secured, and the little home beneath the pines slowly became a camper again.

The closing campground review

Sandy Pond earns five taters—and something more

Lisa and I agree that our campsite was awesome. The patio made the site feel more like an outdoor living room than a patch of ground, and the overall setup worked beautifully for Trail Tater, the tents, the crew, and the camp kitchen.

The general store also rescued Friday night with three large pizzas for the crew. They were inexpensive, convenient, and exactly what a hungry campsite needed.

Sandy Pond Campground is the first park to earn Trail Tater’s highest title: Super Tater Park. 🏆🥔

Open the complete Sandy Pond review →

The road home

We departed camp at about 10:30 AM. After dumping the tanks and making a few fuel stops, the crew and the newest kid aboard made it home at about 3:30 PM.

Once Trail Tater was parked and the bicycle rack was removed, it went onto the truck with Sade’s bicycle so Ken could bring her home to New Milford. After that mission was complete, Ken, Billie, and Eileen headed to Central Bark to collect the four-legged child of the family. Stewie’s vacation was officially over too.

Final truck fuel cost: $307.56 for the complete Plymouth trip.

The closing campfire

Home again

Trail Tater carried us to Plymouth, sheltered the crew through rain and wind, gave us a home beneath the pines, and waited patiently while we followed our family story through Pilgrim Hall, Burial Hill, the waterfront, and the Jabez Howland House.

Back home, with the crew safely delivered and Stewie reunited with the family, Trail Tater finally settled into the evening sun. A little gear remained scattered around the yard, but the pilgrimage was complete.

Next trip: TBD

The Massachusetts sticker is on the map, Sandy Pond has become Trail Tater’s first Super Tater Park, and the Plymouth journal is complete.

The destination of the next adventure has not yet been chosen. For now, Trail Tater rests at home—cleaning, unpacking, and storytelling still to come.

Follow the next chapter through Campfire Dispatches →