May will be bringing a trip back up home to the Catskills. Staying at Three Flags has been nice. It has offered a stabile home base with all the amenities I could want, though I often sit on my step and think about looking out over Orange Lake (Newburgh NY). It will be good to be “home” for a while.
Allergies this year have been miserable! Maybe Creator was just telling me to take a rest and get paperwork done. The family crisis that brought me to Florida in November continued to occupy a great deal of my time into February. January included a trip to my brother’s in the Catskills. The Amtrak Crescent Line from Penn Station to New Orleans was on an abbreviated schedule due to track maintenance, and was quite full most of the distance. Meals were taken in the dining car, but most of my time was in my seat, which was quite comfortable. It is an option I would choose again over flying when possible. By and large, the shows were disappointing from a business aspect. The surprise bomb was Ranch Jam! Alabama, Rick Derringer and the Guess Who, with several others in between.
May will be bringing a trip back up home to the Catskills. Staying at Three Flags has been nice. It has offered a stabile home base with all the amenities I could want, though I often sit on my step and think about looking out over Orange Lake (Newburgh NY). It will be good to be “home” for a while.
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We moved TowTow over to my "usual" spot yesterday. I have been here with the Dolphin many times through the years while visiting Grani & Jack. Jack used to come over to help me set up the canopy when it was new, though I've since learned how to manage it by myself. One year, I lost a nuts from one of the scissor arms. The next time I was here, setting up on the same spot, I found the nut and was able to put it back together properly!
It seems strange to be here without Jack, the man who came to be my "Dad" over the past 15 years. Today is the Winter Solstice ... and a New Moon! A new year; a new month; a new day ... This is "home". This is where I grew up and raised my children. This is where my parents grew up, and their parents too. I love the countryside here! More than the cold winters, it's the prices, the taxes and the politics that have driven me away. We brought our children to this campground, only four miles from our house, when they were little. Now the sites we used to occupy have been washed away in the floods. I still like it here, at the convergence of the Mombaccus and Rochester Creeks. All the rain last week did have me watching the water levels! The water level rises quickly with the run off from the mountains. It had a long way to go to crest the banks. If it had kept raining the way it had been I would have been concerned enough to consider moving to another site. Still, it was worth being observant! Most of the Kerhonkson I remember, is gone. My mother and I give each other directions based on where things "used to be". My daughter's chimes in, "but I don't know where things used to be!" Things change and evolve. There is now a rail-trail that runs along the old D & H Canal towpath between Kerhonkson and Accord, an hour's walk. It winds along side the Rondout Creek and reminds me of what Boice Mill Road was like when I was a child, riding my bicycle everywhere except on route 209. That was forbidden! Now, all the old dirt roads are paved ... even Boodle Hole Road! It is in the woods where I feel most at home. We wandered and played in the creeks as children, going home by dark. There would be an occassional tale of a bear or bobcat. They are more common now ... or maybe people just get more excited about sightings now? I'll be here just about another month, cleaning out my storage unit and selling things at the Flea Market in High Falls (at the location of Lock 7) on Sundays. Helping my son move into his new place on Yankee Lake. Visiting with family and taking care of details take so much of my time I barely ride! That will come later in the summer.
May has been a busy month for me and I'm not quite sure when I'll have the chance to catch up my writing. For the most part I've been "checking in" on Facebook (Debbi Halstead).
The first two weeks of the month involved putting EmaGene and TowTow into storage and riding Rosie from Wildwood FL to Central LA and back. Hwy 90 was washed out with storms the day before I left so I took I-10 across, then came back US 98 through Panama City and along the coast. Beautiful ride! When I got back to Wildwood I found out that when I put "the girls" into storage, I took the weight of the camper off the ball of the truck, but left everything else hooked up. WRONG! The camper battery was just about dead, too dead to start the generator. Emagene's battery was also dead! So at midnight, I just crawled in bed and waited to get a jump start in the morning. I pulled into a site long enough to plug in and charge TowTow's battery, and let EmaGene run long enough to charge hers. Note to self: Make sure to disconnect the light cable from the truck when parking for more than a couple days! Onward to North Carolina for the Bikers For Bikers Foundation 4th Annual Music Fest/Rally. Great time, poor attendance! Boondocking at Shakori Hills, then on to Walmart in Matamoras PA, using the generator only as much as absolutely necessary. Did a little riding around the Delaware Water Gap (loved the Jersey side!) and other local sites (Grey Towers is an awesome estate!). Then up to Bethel Woods in White Lake NY for Mysteryland ... and our parents thought we were off the wall at Woodstock! I made the mistake of forgetting to turn my heat off the second day and the blower fan must have depleted the battery because the next morning I didn't have enough battery power to start the generator! (Cable was disconnected from the truck). Interesting point - when the battery is dead, the refrigerator doesn't run (propane mode). I didn't have that problem with my '89 Dolphin, but that had a clicker to light the fridge and an actual pilot that stayed lit for when it cycled. TowTow has electronic ignition, not pilots ... no battery, no ignition! Sometimes "safer" is not "better"! At least EmaGene started. With my Dolphin (Class C), running the truck charged the house battery, since TowTow drained EmaGene's battery when I left them connected, I wondered if maybe EmaGene would charge TowTow's battery when they were connected while we were driving ... so when I got to my brother's (40 miles from Bethel Woods) the first thing I did was try to start the generator. It fired right up! (Though now I can't remember if I had disconnected the cable or if it was still attached ... ). Relief. At least now I know if I am really out in the boondocks and the battery gets too low I have a way to get the generator to run and get things charged up again! Figured since there was a big learning curve here for me, I'd share the details and maybe it will help others as well. I definitely had a few moments of "What do I do now?" panic. Let me introduce you all to EmaGene ('02 GMC 2500 HD) and TowTow ('13 Dutchmen Rubicon 2100). They will be accompanying Rosie and I on many of our travels, providing home and transportation.
OZ: As I embark on the dream of a lifetime, with an Emerald Green truck and a Rubicon toy hauler, making the association with travelling the Yellow Brick Road to Oz was an easy one! ImaGine the adventures we will have together! Stay posted. I am learning how to update my blogs from my phone in attempt to keep them more current. For those of you interested in the details of full timing in a small toy hauler, TowTow has her own sub-chapter with what works, what doesn't, and what modifications I make to add a bit more down home comfort! Welcome visitor. Come share stories with us! |
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