Hangin' Out

Today we had a wonderful visit with Risa and Laird at our campground, followed by dinner in Schenectady.  We were up early to get everything ready, and started our day off with a 40 minute bike ride.  We broke out the large cabana (protection against the mosquito hordes), and Kathy made up some lunch fixin's.

We spent the afternoon just chatting, having a beer or two, munching and playing Chuckluk.  This time Risa and David were winners!  Our newfangled butane-based mosquito repellent machine kept the bugs away, and the entire afternoon was pleasant.  Sometime after 6:00 pm, the skies threatened, so we pulled down the cabana to keep it dry and made plans for dinner.

Risa drove us into Schenectady and we dined at Van Dyck restaurant, on Union Street.  We had found it on an earlier trip into town.  All of us had yummy dishes, topped off with evil desserts.

Plans tomorrow are for us to drive into Albany and share the day with them at an arts festival.

Berry Berry Delicious!

Hi Blog.  Not far from our campground is a you-pick strawberry farm. While we didn't pick them ourselves, they were just picked this morning. Can you say - Strawberry Short Cake with whipped cream!

We spent most of today doing chores - emptying the holding tanks, post office, grocery shopping, trip planning and cutting strawberries. We did have some time to wonder around camp. Bumped into a couple from Michigan - Katrina, Patrick and their two Rotweillers - Diego and Brooklyn. We also ran into another couple who attended the Escapees Acres Rally in Merion, North Carolina - Eric and Ginny. They are also new full timers. It is fun to compare notes.

Some of the campers have agility dogs. We were taking to Dave and Ann, who have a pair of border collies.  Another couple had a pair of standard poodles. They set up an agility course for the dogs to practice on. It was a lot of fun watching the puppies run the course. They are so enthusiastic.

Laird and Risa are coming over tomorrow for lunch, so I have to get back to cutting strawberries.

Bye for now.

Kathy

Retirement is...a veggie omelette on a Wednesday!

Good morning Blog. Rise and shine - it's breakfast time. On the menu for today is a veggie omelette. I know it's Wednesday, but we're retired. What else do we have to do?

Let's start with some eggs and egg whites whipped together, then add in a little feta cheese crumbles. Now for the veggies - asparagus, red pepper, mushroom, tomato, onion, olives and bok choy leaves!

Bon Appetite!

Kathy

Mount Hadley

Hi-Ho, from soggy New York. We seem to be stuck in a weather trough bringing showers every day. However, the weatherman promised us we wouldn't have rain until after 1:00 p.m. today.  So, we planned an early day hike up Mount Hadley, which is about an hour drive north from us in the Adirondack Park. We arrived at the trailhead just in time to catch some sun,

We picked a short hike only four miles; however, it was two miles straight up and then two miles straight down. The up was very aerobic. However, the 360 degree  view of the Adironick Mountains was well worth the effort.

Upon reaching the summit of Mount Hadley, we found we were not the only visitors. Mr. Snake was there as well. After all, it had been days since he'd see the sun, so he was also looking forward to a little sun bathing on the summit rocks.

The view from the fire tower on the summit made all the sweating worth while. It was truly a unique experience. We stayed on top long enough to have lunch, but the clouds were moving in chilling us, so we headed back down.

On the way down, we stopped at the old caretakers cabin. It is all boarded up now, but historically a caretaker stayed in the cabin and manned the fire tower durning the day. Now fire search is done by airplane. Most of the fire towers have been dismantled.

It is so cool to find these random boulders as you hike along the trail. You can just tell that something big must have happened to cause them to roll down the hill and crack open.

After we finished our hike, we had a chance to scout out the location of our next hike, which will be an overnight backpack. Looking forward to getting out on the trail and staying the night.

Chat at you later,

Dave-n-Kathy

Culture in Schenectady

We biked into Schenectady this afternoon to see a screening of George Melies's "A Trip to the Moon," together with a documrentary about Melies and the restoration of the film.

While the weather was very iffy, we decided to just wear our rain gear and take our chances.  While the day was overcast and cool, with a few sprinkles, the rain held off, and our ride of 6 miles into town was very pleasant.  We saw one of the locks on the Mohawk River --

We also read the plaques posted on the path about various plant and bird species along the trail:

The films were quite remarkable and we recommend them to anyone who has a chance to see them.   The movie Hugo uses the film and the life of Melies as part of its background.

After the film, we finished off with dinner at Van Dyck Restaurant and Mad Jack Brewery. Good food and great beers!

The restaurant is located in the Stockade District, which is an historic district of Schenectady, filled with interesting historic houses, churches and other structures.  One of them was the Dutch Church, perhaps the earliest in the area still standing, built in 1680:

We returned home the 6 miles along the bicycle path, and enjoyed a very calm river around 7:30 in the evening:

We are looking forward to making a few more trips into Schenectady. Tomorrow, we are going to head into the mountains for a hike.

Chat at you later,

Dave-n-Kathy

Up and Down the Mohawk River

Hi Folks,

We are settling into life along the Mohawk River. On Friday, we grocery shopped and walked around camp. On Saturday, we drove into Schenectady to do a little scouting around. We found a burrito bar for lunch and did some Christmas Shopping along Jay Street.

As you can see the folks in town are doing their best to spruce up the center city shopping district. They turned Jay Street into a pedestrian mall. There is also a renovated theater at the end of Jay, known as Proctors, which has all kinds of art films and theater productions.  We hope to go to a screening of the earliest motion picture, "A Trip to the Moon," which is partially the subject of "Hugo," the movie; a documentary about the discovery and refurbishment of the old film will also be shown.

Saturday was also hair cut day. You will see in the coming photos that Dave has decided to remove his beard for the summer.  Or, perhaps, as Dave says, "for an indefinite time."

The weather this week is not the greatest. There is a constant threat of showers so we don't know whether to go out or stay in. We finally decided that we would just go out and bring our rain gear.  We hopped on our bikes and headed northwest.

We followed the Erie Canal Bike Path for several miles. The sky started to darken, so we decided to have some lunch and turn around. Here we are at the turnaround point.

Of course, no sooner did we get the rain gear on and peddle back toward home, then the sun came out again.  Here's a photo of a boat on the Mohawk River alongside our bike path:

Upon arriving home, we enjoyed a nice cold beer on the dock. Katie called and we chatted about her busy past couple of weeks. The weather got chilly so we headed inside for a little blogging.

Chat at you later,

Dave-n-Kathy

Eddie & George Wake Up On the Mohawk River