Marathon Man

Where's Eldo today? NOT at Tompkins Campground near Tioga, PA, that's for sure. We were on our way there, and Eldy says, "Why don't we head to northern Michigan instead?" and I said, "Why not?" We had found out that there was a detour to get to the campground we had planned on, and after dealing with traffic and a wrong turn first thing this morning, we decided not to hassle with our choice. Don't like the weather? Head north instead of west, or south or east...we can change our minds at the drop of a hat. So-oo-oo, we've been on the road since 9:30 this morning, and we have crossed New York and are headed to Pennsylvania on I-86 (very rough highway for quite some time) near Lake Erie to spend the night. Eldy drives like a trucker, all day, with no signs of fatigue...I'm road weary, but not crazy like I'd be if I was in the car. So what have I done all day to keep myself busy? Navigated occasionally with maps, iphone, and web, checked websites for campgrounds, worked on Christmas ornaments for gifts later in the year, clipped recipes from magazines to try and improve my cooking skills, (ALL RIGHT! says Eldy), fixed Eldy and I a bite to eat from the kitchen while he was driving...(he turned on the generator so I could use the microwave) and caught up on my emails, talked on the phone to family, ordered some products from Tastefully Simple's website while driving down the road, watched the scenery for awhile, and rested. We have to stop after 8 hours of towing and reset the car (Honda CRV)...that protects the transmission and helps keep fluids up and running through the system. That means I run the car thru all the gears in a certain order and timing, set it back in neutral for 3 min. then turn it off to the accessory position. That gets it set to tow another eight hours if needed. Of course, we plan to stop around 6:30 this evening, right Eldy? (He's not answering, he's driving!) I think I'll start calling him the "Marathon Man" 'cuz he can drive for such a long time! PS. Let it be known that I did offer to drive....

Who needs Mt. Rushmore?

When New York has its very own set of carvings on the side of a mountain...a small mountain, but mountain nevertheless. The set of carvings is called Pratt Rock. Zaddock Pratt was a very successful local tanner and later a congressman (he ran the biggest leather tannery around back in 1843) and he was full of himself. So full of pride, when a jobless man asked him for a handout, Pratt asked him what he did for a living. The guy was a stonecutter, so Pratt said in exchange for a place to stay, Pratt asked him to carve his life story. Twenty-eight years later, the stonecutter was still at it, the story goes, when Pratt died. The carvings include Zaddock Pratt, his son, a horse, an arm holding a sledgehammer, and a circular stone carved with Zaddock's motto on it. The trail starts off route 23 near Prattsville, NY, close to the junction of route 23, and route 23A. The trail is a STEEP climb to the carvings. Unfortunately, what we thought was the .5 hiking trail to see the carvings ended up being 3/4 of a mile hiking trail to the top of the mountain, which heretofore, will remain nameless because we don't have a clue what mountain it was! Probably Pratt's Mountain. At any rate, the true trail branched off to the right of the first resting point we came to, but we missed it going up..and up...and up....so the photos today are of the view on top of Pratts Rocks.

The true trail is unmarked, unmaintained, and extremely narrow. We're talking about a dangerous trail with a crumbling rock path, overgrown with weeds and poison ivy and it would be easy to take a misstep and have a serious fall. We discovered the correct trail on the way back down, after hiking the mile to the top and back, so we explored it briefly. I would not recommend this hike to see the carvings as the trail was so poorly taken care of and seemed risky to just about anyone attempting it. We never did see the carvings, but there's a kiosk at the picnic grounds down at the bottom of the trail with photos of the carvings, so you can get an idea of what they are like. I think we do need to see Mt. Rushmore!

We will be glad to get going Wednesday morning to Tioga, PA. This part of New York where we are now, near the Catskills, seems to be a very depressed and dying area. The motels are shuttered, the homes are in disrepair, and the local towns are struggling. The town of Tannersville on Rte. 23, on our way back to the campground, was an interesting little town, with cool restaurants and offbeat, quirky little stores that would be fun to explore. We ate lunch at The Last Chance Cheese Shop and Restaurant. The restaurant is listed in Zagats travel guide--more for atmosphere than quality of food, in my opinion...good food, a little on the expensive side, but the antiques inside were wonderful to look at. There was a side room full of hanging antique musical instruments which caught Eldy's attention very quickly. (He used to be a buffing supervisor for Blessings Music in Elkhart, IN) so we took a couple of photos of them and the restaurant. A little further down, we saw a beautiful, Ukraine Catholic Church. I just had to get a photo of it!

Tomorrow is about a four hour drive from Catskill, NY, to Tioga, PA. Hope we have some shade for the next few days!

It's HOT, HOT, HOT!

Where do you go exploring when it's going to be over 90 with high humidity? To a beach, swimmin' hole, waterfall, somewhere where's there's WATER! There is a small pool here, but it's packed with kids, and there are no shade umbrellas to be seen. We decide to go to a famous waterfall site off 23A south of Catskill, N.Y. which is less than ten miles from our campground. Kaaterskill Falls is a two stage waterfall near the eastern edge of the Catskills Mountains in New York. The dual cascades make it about 260 feet high, one of the highest waterfalls in NY. It is also one of the oldest tourist attractions, having been a subject for painters of the Hudson River School back in the 1800's. The water flow was way down, the river bed was almost dried up, but the actual falls, when you reach the rigorous trail end, are beautiful. There is a pool of water at the top of the lower falls that you can't see in the photo. It is possible to climb to the very top of the falls thru an unofficial unmarked trail, but we were tired enough after the half mile one way steady climb of boulder after boulder after boulder to be content to watch others continue on. The dual cascade is hard to see because of the sun, but it's above at the top of the tree line in the photo at the top.

We saw this fungus growing on the tree as we were climbing. I don't know what kind it is, but it was such a bright orange growing out from all the greenery around it, I took a photo of it. We hiked almost two miles total from the parking lot to the end of the trail and back...it was hot, hot, hot! We decided to head back to the campsite to cool off indoors for the rest of the afternnoon!

Read between the lines....

Eldy and I are trying to figure out what the allure was of this Brookside Campground was, when we looked at it. On line descriptions looked pretty good--"quiet, peaceful, full hookup, babbling brook to the east for trout fishing, modern shower facilities--laundromat..close to hiking and biking in the mountains", the pool photo shot looked like an Olympic sized pool....and so on.. After traveling south on I-87 in New York and getting traffic bound because of a car fire (we moved one mile in an hour and a half) today, it took us almost twice as long to get here as it should have. We pulled into the campground about three this afternoon. Eldy got to use his Passport America card which got us 50% off week day rates...so it was 85.00 for three nights, not bad, (that was part of the allure)...we see immediately that the campground office/store looks like it had been hit by a tornado, as in kid tornado. Stock was thrown on the floor, bundles of clothing, literature just dumped everywhere, things falling off hooks, what a mess! Our site is ok, but there are no trees anywhere. We missed that in the description-"RV sites are clear so there are no pine trees to have to clear debris from your campsite." Someone had tried to plant some new trees for shade, then neglected to water them. There are four dead trees along the road lining the RV campsites. There is no AT &T service at the campground, but pull out of the campground and go about a mile in either direction, and there's 3G service with full bars. Our Verizon air card works well here, so we will still be able to communicate with family and friends....whew! After getting set up in record time, with the heat bearing down on us, (it's 90+ degrees today here,) we went out to eat in the town of Catskill, about 10 miles from our campsite. Using Yelp on our iphones, we found a local restaurant called Tatiana's (many Italian dishes but they also offered American cuisine as well)...we both had excellent meals....back home to the RV to cool off and read about the local attractions. We're VERY happy to have 50 amp service, even if the campground leaves a little bit to be desired..this means we can run both air conditioners in the coach to stay cool! Yay!

The other photo today, is of Eldy after his first haircut on the road...given by me...we had a good laugh...he has a barber haircutting kit with lots of plastic heads to choose from. I have only used the kit once on Eldy, about a year ago, and we hadn't used it since as he was getting haircuts at the barber. It was time to get a haircut for him, so out we bring the barber kit. I took one look at all the "sleds" (I didn't remember all of them being in there the last time) and said,"Uh, which one do I use first?" Eldy got a little nervous when I said that, but you know...he doesn't have a whole lot to lose, if you look at his hair, so I dove right in and starting barbering. I think it turned out pretty well! (He can't see the back, so that's a good thing, he has a funny hairline back there, and I didn't do it! just kidding, sweetie)

Ausable Point State Park, Peru, NY

This is a GORGEOUS state park less than half a mile from our campground, Ausable Pines, in Peru, N.Y., in the far northeast corner of the state. This morning we rode our bikes down to the state park, and rode around the campground and picnic areas, for a total of 4 miles for a little exercise. We could stay here in the motor home, but we would be "boon docking", a term for being under your own power the entire length of the stay because there are no electric or water or sewer hookups at any of the sites. We could easily do that. We have our own water tank and septic tank system which remains closed in a case like this, and we have a generator. We could have lights and or a fan running on battery power. This type of situation would be ideal for us with temperate days and cool nights for sleeping. We could remain self-sustained in the motor home for about two weeks, without outside electricity or water before needing to fill our water tank for showers and water supply, and running the generator occasionally to add juice to the batteries. Some parks do not allow generator useage at all, but this state park has certain hours where you could. We checked into the price--and it was about 22.00 a night, which to us was more on the expensive side for no utilities whatsoever. If you were tenting, this would be a great deal. Even Ausable Pines campground charges 22.00 a night for tents! But as you can see, the beauty of it was a sight to see...the beach for the park is on Lake Champlain, and there were quite a few sites that had direct access to a channel leading out to Lake Champlain. We would definitely consider staying here on a future visit.

Learning is a "power"-ful thing

We're still a little sore from yesterday's bobsled ride, so today we took it easy. We have two more days at Ausable Pines Campground. We are leaving Sunday for Catskill, New York, about 3 hours south of us on I-87 and we've chosen Brookside Campground as our destination. Eldy has a Passport America pass that gets us 50% off many campground site fees with some restrictions such as good only during Sun.-Thursdays. Here, Eldy is relaxing at our Ausable Pines campsite, on the shores of the little Ausable River.

Last night I spent a little time learning about Picasa, the free Google photo program. I signed up for a one year "Geeks on Tour" membership--they are a computer couple popular with RVers, they give seminars at rallys and online while on the road traveling, and they have lots of video tutorials-- for Picasa, blogging, the internet on the road, etc. If today's blog looks a little more polished, it's thanks to the geeks! I finally sat down and watched one video on the laptop. Eureka! Several questions answered...it just goes to show, you are never too old to learn new things!

Today's photo(s) are of our site at Ausable Campground. It's been one of the least expensive campgrounds we have stayed at, and really, for the money, $28.00 a night) it's quite a bargain considering we have wi-fi which is really speedy, cable, (great for rainy days, although I do my best to keep Eldy outside as much as possible, lol!), water, electric and sewer. We have had some difficulties with the circuit breaker at the electrical outlet tripping off three days in a row in this campground. Twice while we were gone, and once in the middle of the night and we weren't running anything more than we should be for 30 amp service, which is ONE air conditioner and normal lights useage. We have a very expensive surge protector (about 500.00--it's called Surge Guard) that we plug into the campground outlet, then our 50 amp plug plugs into it. (It is necessary for us because we are living in a home, although mobile, that uses 50 AMP service and because varying levels of voltage can be extremely damaging to your electronics in the motor home). If the voltage is too low, the surge protector shuts off current to the RV, then attempts to reset and turn back on after a short period of time. So that protects us against fluctuations in current that could damage a lot of different components in the motor home). It also protects against voltage surges which can also happen in a storm, or other situations. People have fried their wiring, computers, appliances etc. in motor homes time and time again because they trusted the campground voltage/electricity to be accurate and consistent. So we bit the bullet and bought one. (say THAT ten times real fast!) and have been VERY glad that we did. We can't always get 50 amp service, and with 30 amp, some older campgrounds seem to be having trouble maintaining a consistent 30 amp electrical service. If we use 30 amp service, then we have an adaptor that plugs into our surge protector. Are you bored yet?

OK, OK,I know you are dying to know-- did we do anything fun and/or exciting today? Yes, we did! We went on a bike ride that was 8 miles roundtrip. When the bike guide says, "easy, great for families," we knew this would work for us today. This trip took us along some country roads on fairly level ground, along Lake Champlain for a bit, and thru a state park. In came the rains again today--weather near mountains is very unpredictable! We've found that to be true very often...sunny one minute, clouds roll in, brief thundershower or rain, then back to sunny skies all within a few minutes! There was supposedly little chance of rain today, but we got hit just as we got back to the car. So glad we got our 8 miles in, and it was a lovely ride...not much traffic on this particular bike route. Tomorrow, we're thinking of going to another state park nearby, one that has nests of ospreys on the tops of telephone poles as you drive into the park with beautiful marshlands and birding habitat. (You know you are getting old when you start reading Birds and Blooms magazine, you put out bird feeders at your campsite, and the thought of seeing moose excites!) Good grief! I've turned into my mother!(which is a GREAT thing, by the way..)

Can you say fast?

Can you say FOOL???!!!! We checked out the bobsled ride today, and I mean not only did we check it out, we RODE it! At last post, I believe I said, "No way, Jose!" and I meant it. But after hearing that a 96 year old man rode it and enjoyed it, I thought, "WELL! I can't let a 96 year old guy outdo me! Must not be too bad. Two G's of force on you at the last turn? That doesn't sound too bad." Eldy graciously offered to pay for it, so I thought, well, why not? If I throw up afterwards, I won't feel quite as badly as if I had paid for it myself. I drove a stock car once at the age of 40 at least 75 miles an hour around a track, I thought I certainly could handle a top speed of 55 miles per hour! Well, yes and no...the first indication of that this was probably not a good idea personally for me, was the warning you should not go on it if you have neck problems. Having been rear ended at the age of 18, when an x ray technician clucks their tongue and states matter-of-factly, "I see you must have been in an accident at one point in time", that means I have neck problems. My neck really doesn't bother me much, it just sounds like a bunch of rocks grating sometimes when I turn my head. But hey, I'm used to it, I'm 60 years old and my body talks to me- a LOT. I kept thinking about the 96 year old guy, so I said what the heck! They outfit you with heavy, HEAVY duty helmets, and get you into the bobsled. It's like packing you on a toboggan sled. It was just Eldy and I, the driver, and the brakeman for our ride. I told myself, "Please don't make a fool of yourself and scream in the brakeman's ear." I'm still not too nervous at this point, as you start slow, with the brakeman running and giving you a pushoff and then he jumps in the back, just like you see on TV. What you DON'T see on TV is how fast you get going to 55 mph with the side walls and what seemed to be the TOP of the side walls of the run coming at your face within seconds of the pushoff. The other thing you don't see on TV is how jarring the ride is...that heavy helmet is rockin' and bobbin' on your head, there's 2G's of force pushing on you in the last turn, and I'm thinking..."Oooooohhhhhh, this is SO NOT A GOOD IDEA!" They tell you to hang on tight...NO PROBLEM. I'm holding on tight so my neck doesn't get whiplash from the helmet. I have lockjaw, shoulder lock, armlock and back all locked up by the time we get off the ride, 15 seconds later, and Eldy did, too. The adrenalin kicked in AFTER I got off the ride..I could barely walk, my legs were so rubbery. They take your photo at the end right after you climb out of the bobsled, and it was all I could do to not collapse and fall down so I had to lock my knees to keep upright. I asked Eldy after we got out of earshot of the employees, and said, "Did you see that wall coming right at your face in the turns?" He says, "No, I was just looking straight ahead." THAT'S the secret, if you want to do the ride. All I could see was the white walls coming at my face the entire way down. Was it worth it? To be able to say you rode the bobsled on the track the Olympians practice and actually were on in the 1980 Olymmpics, yes, it was! Would I do it again? HE-double hockeysticks, NO! Both our necks hurt quite a bit afterwards, and we decided, that we aren't going to be that foolish again. If there's a warning about necks, hips, or any other body parts, we'll probably say, "No, thank you!" and take photos of other people doing it instead. That, and it was quite expensive! ($50.00 a person gets you a tee shirt, a US team bobsled pin, a free photo, and a one year membership to news about the bobsled team, bragging rights, and probably, a stiff neck). Sigh!