Springs & Mountains

Monday, 9/20

A short drive to Middletown Springs, another 1800s village famed for its spas, we visited Bill & Moe at their new home.  Built on 12 acres with views that would make post card companies envious, Bill had also installed full hookups for an RV like ours.

Middletown Springs Memorial.  Vermont lost the most soldiers per capita than any other state.

Well, not quite like ours.  A few tree branches needed be be removed to allow us to squeeze in between the garage and the encroaching forest.  But, for us it was all worth it and Bill said the "test drive" gave him an opportunity to perfect the parking space for future use.  A marvellous afternoon and evening enjoying getting to know better a fellow classmate and a sweet lady in their special home. 

The View from their home ... and ours.

Bill & Moe hosting us in their mountain side retreat.

Friends, Relatives and a Fair

Wednesday, 9/15 - Sunday, 9/19

Time flies when one is having fun. Maintaining this blog has become more difficult than maintaining my sanity.  Story telling with sister Lynn and brother-in-law Jack; dining at a favorite downtown restaurant, aptly named “Back Home Again Cafe”; visiting friends and old neighbors dating back to the mid-last century(!!!) … what a treat.  And to experience all this in one of Mother Nature’s best times of the year: Autumn in New England. The world renowned changing of the foliage colors has begun in pockets of the surrounding forest, an indication that our next 4 weeks in these six northeastern states should be extra special.

Back home in Vermont, next door to my sister's.

Hay bale decorating.  Somewhere, there are hungry cows, but here we have a symbol of a Vermont moose (the one with the horns).

A parade of prize hogs and little kids makes for a fun fair.

At 1 1/2 tons, this ox is actually larger than I am, but not as friendly.  Doris didn't know that when she found his hide to be very silky to the touch.

Another “special” is the Tunbridge World Fair. Saturday found Lynn, Jack, Doris and me enjoying a drive through the mountains, viewing the unusual creations of decorated hay bales, a recent development expressing the joy of playing in the cool, clear autumn days. What a kick! But, our destination was the tiny town of Tunbridge, VT and its questionably renowned “World Fair”. When I was a kid, this fair celebrated the nearing end of the summer farm labors. The story still is that if you were to attend, you had to have a whiskey bottle in your pocket and another man’s wife on your arm. Whooeee! No wonder I never got to go until I reached my present age of greater maturity… Times have changed and the old requirement is no longer valid. I’m happy about that because the only other “wife” in our group of four was my sister. EEWWWW!!

We had a great time, enjoying the displays of farming equipment and demonstrations of their use; the piggies, cows, goats, sheep; 1 ½ ton oxen; pig races; parades; prize vegetables; carnival junk food; and the zillions of people who found their way down narrow highways to enjoy the fair on a perfectly clear and sunny day. With the so-close-you-could-almost-touch-mountains as a backdrop, there’s no more authentic fair in the country. I wish you could have been there too.

Sunday was a day spent with special friends Steve & Sharon, then home to paperwork and more time with family. Tomorrow, we move.

Childhood friend Steve with his surprise birthday present, a '50 Plymouth, from his wife.  What a woman!

Home Again

Tuesday, 9/14

A 10 minute drive to Gansevoort (there must have been a Dutchman somewhere in the woods who insisted this tiny town be saddled with his name) and “Walt’s” home where we parked in his driveway while the AquaHot system was serviced. Bingo! Home heating and hot water once again … for a price, of course.
In less than an hour, we roll across the border and into my old hometown, Rutland, Vermont. First thing was to drive up to my sister’s door (literally) and fill our 100 gallon water tank with the best water in the nation. Then, backing up the country street, we parked under the leafy maples, almost invisible to the residents of this upscale community. “Setting up house” in the Green Mountain State, it seemed like we’d never left since our last RV journey here 4 years ago.  It was good to be back in one of the prettiest states in the Union.


Some Vermont welcomes were not especially friendly.  These geese must have known that Doris was viewing them as tonight's dinner entree.



Leaving The Lakes For The Spa

Tuesday, 9/14

Our AquaHot (a combination water heater and furnace) has returned to being intermittent ... and a nuisance that we've committed to repairing.  Lucky for us that our saviour/repairman is on the route to Vermont.  Not knowing how long it'll take for him to return us to AquaHot bliss, we leave early, driving through more rolling, green hills, using the interstate and back roads.  Nothing like the quiet of rural New York driving to bring peace to us ... until we roll down a hill and see a warning sign ahead, stating that the bridge we are about to pass under has a clearance of 12'10".  Uh oh.  A long time ago, I measured this buggy and concluded its height was 12'6".  Having made a mistake or two in my life, I couldn't remember if measuring our coach was one of them.  As we slowly roll toward potential disaster, we see a big tractor-trailer on the other side of the overpass, slowly rolling toward his appointment with the potentially roof-shearing overpass.  From our vantage point, we could light between the top of his trailer and the bottom of the overpass and signalled the driver that he was OK.  Wheww!!

Then it was our turn.  With trepidation, we eased down the center of the highway toward the overpass.  Still unsure if the preceding trailer was the regulation maximum height of 13'6", thus proving that we could make the journey with sufficient inches to spare, we eased up to the overpass.  If our TV satellite dome could make it, then we knew the solar panels, air conditioners and fan shrouds would survive.  For a moment, there was near silence ... and then we knew we were safe from our home-on-wheels looking like an open can of sardines.

The RV shop in Amsterdam, NY would have us wait for a day, and then who knows how long it would take to remove the gremlins attacking our heating system.  A reference to an independent repairman closer to our Vermont destination caused us to move on to Saratoga Springs, NY for an overnight at the Elks Lodge.  Good choice!  Friendly people in a pretty town known for its horse racing, spa and natural beauty.  Taking a city bus to downtown, Doris found a sushi restaurant that satisfied us, the first restaurant asian food of the trip.  Yum!  Difficult to equal Doris's cooking, but this meal was a fair substitute.

It's Another Day of Traveling in Bliss

Monday, 9/13

The coach is vacuumed, dusted, laundry done, heating system being scientifically tested by us and found to be OK.  So, what to do?  Ah, more wine country touring.  We head out, traveling northbound along the east side of Seneca Lake before crossing over to the WEST side of Cayuga Lake.  Bright skies with puffy clouds gave us special views of the lakes and an understanding why this area is so popular with vacationing easterners ... at least during the summer/autumn periods.  The winters are severe.  Just ask those who attend nearby Cornell and Syracuse Universities.  How these vineyards survive (much less the human residents) is a question we did not ask. 

A roadside stand provided huge tomatoes and concord grapes at bargain prices.  I grew up being fed both, but Mom overdid the availability of Welch's Concord Grape Jelly.  Even saved the jars while I became very un-fond of the taste.  Peanut butter couldn't kill it in a "Sunbeam" brand white bread sandwich.  Decades later, today's freshly picked grapes brought back strong memories of a great childhood on the farm and a renewal of the original desire for concord grapes.  Trust me, I won't over indulge this time.

A non-resident on her way to a lake shore vineyard.  Will work for concord grapes.

Lunch on the deck of the Ginny Lee Restaurant was most tasty (AKA, we both recommend), complimented by a perfect view.  Halfway through the day and we already call it a great one, leaving ample time to catch up on the blog, so far an enjoyable task.  Thank you again for your continued supportive comments.  And remember, if the picture is too small, click on it and it'll grow in size, just like me.

Decadence at high noon.  I can barely stand it.

Nascar, Salt, and Wine

Sunday, 9/12

Cool temps, overcast with drizzle started the day and made the 30 minute drive to Watkins Glen easy.  No traffic, back roads, tiny villages nestled in the leafy greenery of New York's low rise mountains.  Loved it!

Watkins Glen operates our RV park that overlooks a marina almost in the center of town.  The town is on the southern tip of the very long and narrow Seneca Lake, one of 12 that I count on the Finger Lakes map.  The lakes are separated by these low mountain ranges.  Mountains and lakes were carved by the glaciers that caused the east to enjoy today's much lower mountains than those of the Far West that are still growing.  Watkins Glen is one of the larger towns in the area, and is home to Watkins Glen International, a Nascar race track.  An old town, it also is home to both Cargill and US Salt operations.  Interestingly, there is a major salt dome beneath the area.  To access it, hot water is forced down into the dome.  Salt rises to the surface processing plants.  Product is shipped via truck and rail.  Your next Morton's Salt container may be filled with salt from this area.

With so many inducements to travel the local "wine trails", we had to drive roads parallel to Seneca Lake.  What a treat!  Rolling hills, more corn fields, and verdant grape vines supplying dozens of wineries.  We tasted some of the product, bought a few bottles, learned that a pinot grigio (white, slightly sweet) can be successfully paired with spicy food (What?!!).  OK, I already knew that tossing some sugar into a pasta sauce with too many of my favorite chile peppers does offset some of the heat.  So we ran home and Doris prepared spicy riblets.  Oh boy!  Good cooking with a decent wine.  Experimenting in the kitchen can be so fun ... and so waist-enhancing.  In the heat of dining, I always forget Dad's diet:  Push away from the dinner table halfway through dinner.  Guilt for not adhering to his spoken word doesn't work either.

I'll let you write the caption.  I'm busy with Acid Reflux.

Horseheads, Glass and Spray On TV

Saturday, 9/11

Time flies when one is retired and on vacation at the same time, but not fast enough for us to have forgotten 9/11/01 - 9 years ago.  All too vividly we remembered the moment that Doris' dad called us to say the Twin Towers had been hit by airplanes.  We were still preparing for work while Lexi is readying to be taken to school.  Turning on the TV, we saw the scene of horror.  Holding each other, I remember telling Doris and Lexi that this country and the world would never be the same. 

Our office was in semi-shock.  None of us really knew what to say, nor did we know what we should do if more such incidents occurred.  We did gather together, held hands, had  a minute of silent prayer which became tearful.  The closest to such feelings of fear and helplessness came once before when JFK was assassinated.

Today, 11 years later, the feelings and thoughts are still there.  Too, it seemed a bit wrong in enjoying life as we do, especially when there is so much suffering.  However, we must continue living and providing what we can to others less fortunate.  We do that. 

On this Saturday, we also met Don and Lucy, our Walmart neighbors from Maine.  Fun stories of mutual backgrounds in business:  tour business; truck driver; RV lovers.  3 months on the road from Maine to Yellowstone and returning home for 3 months before heading out again.  When we left them to get our $9.99/day rental car, we promised we see each other again, probably in Maine. 

Maine's Lucy & Don "captured" by Doris

Where was the car?  In nearby Horseheads, NY.  I told you not to ask me how it got its name.  Nobody seems to know, but they sure have a great car rate and a great Walmart Supercenter almost next door.  Surrounded on 2 sides by expansive lawns to view from the front, we were staying a night in a more resorty space than many that cost big $$.  This one only cost the purchase of a 1/2 gallon of milk.  We feel soo guilty.  Yeah, riiight.

Then its off to an awful lunch of what I delicately label "Airport Chinese Food".  Fast, oily, tummy-rumbling stuff, timed to "do its thang" sometime after departure so that you can't return to pay your true respects for a meal gone wrong.  In Doris's case:  Very Wrong.

But, we traveled on to the Corning Glass Company's Museum in (can you believe it?) Corning, NY.  Beautiful location and another incredible museum of glass products dating back to BC times.  Familiar pieces and mind-boggling creations of the last 30 years.  We also enjoyed viewing and being educated by superb glass blowing demos, flameworking, and optical fiber glass demo.  The latter gave us the opportunity to sit down ... and we did, very coincidentally, behind Don & Lucy from Maine.  What a surprise when I extended my hand between the two of them, handing them THEIR business card!  Ha!  They are the second fun couple that we've met more than once on this trip.  It's a great and small community in which we travel.

Corning's classy & glassy wine drinker impressing his female companion 

Back to the coach.  With approaching rain, I super-sprayed our satellite dome with a chemical to keep the TV picture in storms.  Without the spray, rain causes electrostatic buildup on the dome, just the same as precipitation does on airplanes.  (We pilots know that and make sure that the static "wicks" that protrude from the trailing edge of the wings and tail are in good shape before takeoff, thus assuring radio and navigation equipment continued reception/transmission.)  Sure enough, the rains came and the TV picture remained perfect ... while I remained Doris's hero for another day.