The Adirondack sun greeted us again as we unhooked and
ventured toward a working maple farm to eat a pancake breakfast and see the process.  Dad re-visited a little of his youth in remembering about the trees they would tap on their farm to boil down to make their own maple syrup – although everything is high-tech now as was evident by the two maple farms that we ended up visiting.

Next stop was a goat farm/cheese making location – Nettle Meadow Farm.  We got an up close tour of the animals, watched wool being spun into yarn and tasted some wonderful complimentary finger-foods made with different cheese varieties, then to the store to buy some cheese.

Down the road, we stopped at the Methodist Church to watch Reynolds and Dunn – singer/songwriters from the Adirondack Mountains – check out their website:  www.reynoldsanddunn.com if you’d like to hear some inspirational/ gospel standards and some original work – we thoroughly enjoyed them.  It is from an original composition by Pat, that we found our word(s) of the day, ”The problems that your face the sorrows that you know, can be the masters of your life if you let them take control.”  My interpretation of these words:  stop thinking and acting negatively, believe in yourself and your higher power and make the best of all situations and don’t let things hinder your positivity.  Leave the past behind you and start a new (and better) path. Thanks Pat for the inspiration! (They also had complimentary yummy baked goods and beverages, but we by-passed them,as we are trying to “be good”).

Next on to a local turkey, pumpkin, squash, etc farm store.  Turkeys flapped and gobbled in the front pen (others were in the freezer), I saw enormous rutabagas and zucchini and they also sold some meats from local vendors.  So we purchased a half-dozen farm-fresh eggs, 2 pork chops, a bag of Yukon golds and an acorn squash (all of these are on our “be good” list), we were on our way again. Last stop was Town Hall to see a quilting display and listen to a local band play folk/ bluegrass/country at the fireman’s BBQ (not on the be good list…). It was there that I found a Wi-Fi hot-spot and got 2 whole bars on the Net, so we stayed in the parking lot so I could post the blog from the last two days – Whew!  All in all, it was a very pleasant, inspirational and educational day – all local, no frills, but small town friendly.

We are now back in the campground, listening to fires crackling and critters scampering and water lapping – HEAVEN ON EARTH.  Tomorrow, we hope to make it to St. Albans,VT.  We may have to stay in a budget motel or a Wal-Mart parking lot, as a lot of the northern campgrounds are now closed for the season – WIMPS!  Talk to you again soon.

10-6-11 To start off, let me apologize about my Woodstock story, as it is technically inaccurate. I got a history lesson from some of the local folk and was told that the festival was actually held in the, now famous, Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, NY – which is about 70 miles W of Woodstock, NY (and unfortunately, not on our route plans for today). However, I was told that several of the musicians and promoters stayed in Woodstock village and that the iconic farm has now been turned into an attraction with a hefty price of admission for those who want to revisit the 60’s. So now that I have set the record straight, I will continue our story…

We woke up to another beautiful, sunny day. It started out quite cool, but warmed up before we exited the Wal-Mart shopping extravaganza about 2PM. We packed our provisions while still in the parking lot and then stopped to have 2 DELICIOUS , local NY state apples – now THAT is how an apple is supposed to taste! Our phrase of the day came early in our journey on a sign outside a quaint white steeple church, “HEAVEN – Don’t Miss It for the World”. Now, when you stop to think about what that might mean, we all may have a different interpretation from the pastor who may have chosen this for the subject of his next Sunday sermon. To us, it pointed to the higher power of goodness and wholesomeness over some of the worldly temptations and evils that tempt us (see previous post Commitment vs. Conflict).

Dad also remembered that we forgot to finalize our word(s) of the day for 10/5 and we agreed upon Mahwah (an exit sign location that we were sure had some Indian root). A quick Internet search (isn’t that an amazing tool?!? RIP Steve Jobs) revealed (per Wikipedia) “The name Mahwah is derived from the Lenni Lenape word “mawewi” which means “Meeting Place” or “Place Where Paths Meet” – which turns out to be a perfect word for our quest!

So now we are caught up and current on the word(s) of the day (in case anybody out there cares). Driving the back roads is challenging in an RV, we had to turn around twice because the bridge height was too low. But the pay off was riding past many Fall/Halloween displays like a giant cornucopia made out of hay and filled with gourds and pumpkins, wheat shocks decorated with colorful ribbons and floral extravaganzas (mostly Mums this time of year, but, oh, SO MANY colors). Around one corner, we came upon a field of sunflowers, stretching their necks to catch some rays. We saw coal train loaders filling railcars full of the black, sooty “clean energy” while tons of water sprayed over it (assuming to reduce the dust). We could still see the aftermath of the recent Hurricane Irene as the rivers were full of mud and swelling full to their banks and the saturated soil with puddles everywhere, even though we have not seen rain since we arrived. We finished our sightseeing in this area with a 1-mile mild hike to the Saugerties Lighthouse on the banks of the Hudson River (see attached photos). Once back in the RV, we headed for camp between Saratoga Springs and Lake George. We arrived after dark, but hookup was faster and easier (Dad fixed the hose in the Wal-Mart parking lot earlier – he is an amazing man) and we ate our dinner and started planning our adventures for tomorrow…..TBC

10-5-11 has been a little rough.  Drama again with the rental car; traffic congestion in Newark/New York City areas; that baggage swap; sheets don’t fit the beds in our RV, water hose gasket is defective and Dad’s CPAP broke.  SO – what better place to go to unwind than WOODSTOCK, NY.  Getting out of the city, we watched the landscape soften to trees just ready to turn color and watched hawks effortlessly soar above the freeway looking down on the traffic below and waiting for a tasty meal to be run over…  Moving along in the Hudson River Valley, we saw apple orchards ready for picking. As we moved closer to the Catskills, we began to see signs about Rip Van Winkle…we hope our night’s sleep is restful (but not 40 years worth – we have places to go!).

Finally, we arrive at Woodstock, just at dusk – we will sight-see the area tomorrow.  Tonight, we have to get our RV squared away for functionality.  So we set off unpacking and stowing our “stuff” until we finished it all (except those damn sheets!).  No marijuana to smoke, too cold to strip and play in the mud, no Jimi, no Janis – but surrounded by trees and nature and a cool breeze.  Just chicken soup, crackers and water for dinner (should have stopped and picked some apples…) – but we enjoyed it.

Tomorrow is a new day – PEACE, LOVE and HAPPINESS…TBC…

I will leave you with the option of viewing some performance highlights from the Summer of ’69 (just click on the link to watch).

Woodstock Montage

10/4 was the first day of our trip.  We had an early start on a moist morning in Las Vegas to get to the airport in anticipation of obstacles with our exceptionally large load of luggage or our march through TSA security – but pleasantly negotiated the early part of our journey quite easily. Sitting at our gate, I talked to an 84-year old woman traveling by herself, sitting in a wheel chair.  It was kind of sad to hear her story of a recent illness that had “taken her legs right out from under her” and her questionable optimism that she “will be better soon”.  She indicated that she was hungry, so I did a Wendy’s run for her (her choice) and a Latte run for another lady in the handicapped area.  Next came the mad dash to get a good seat on a full airplane, but Dad’s early boarding pass for his bad knees got him a bulk head seat with more leg room and no one ever sat in his rows middle seat.  In Denver, we had to change planes and at first were told of a 2 hour delay, which then reversed to only about 1-1/2 and we were on our way again – both in the bulkhead seats with no middle person – Sweet!  Looking down from our soaring height, it occurred to me that all the farmland sections were really a large “connect-the-dot” game-board!  Perfect squares and rectangles dotted the landscape in multiple shades of green, brown, tan, black and rust – each one the conquest of some celestial “player” – just like the kids and I used to play…

As I shuffled through magazines in the rack, I noticed the SouthWest flight magazine – SPIRIT – and it got me thinking…  Dad and I were exercising our spirit of adventure, we were both filled with the spirit of love for each other, our family backed our trip in the spirit of support and we were moving ahead in our journey with a positive spirit.  Finally, I like to think that my Mom’s spirit is with us wherever we go.  So, I asked Dad if he agreed that SPIRIT would be our first word of the day – and he agreed.  So, we pledged to forge ahead with a positive spirit.  Then, we landed in Newark and our resolve was to be tested with some issues with the rental car contract, getting lost on the way to our hotel and then the reall topper…a call from SW air crew member that I had her bag and she had mine (in Chicago by then)- so I have to take hers back to the airport tomorrow AM and pick up mine.  But, I am keeping my SPIRIT up, at least it was a trusted person who had my bag (with my computer and life in it!).  Tomorrow will be better..To be continued…