Never On Sunday

Sunday is not always a day of rest. Today we finish setting up our camp and go into nearby Warrensburg to have lunch and shop for groceries. It's a little cold here and I'm back to wearing long sleeve shirts and a polar fleece. A bit of a change from Sun City where it has gotten into the 90's. Here we get to go through spring again and pollen season too.

At night there is a welcome party for the employees that have arrived. We all bring snacks and watch the movie The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The campground has about 600 sites and 115 employees, many of them living here in their RV's. Our department is called fun and games and we have 27 people whose job is to make sure the guests enjoy themselves. We're finding out quickly that we have landed the best gig at the camp.

Off to bed as training begins in the morning.

Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah...

Saturday morning and we're heading north to the Adirondacks. NJ Turnpike to the Garden State Parkway and the NY Thruway to the Northway. We arrive late afternoon and find a beautiful campground with large, wooded sites. We are just off the highway and back up to the Schroon River. There are two more large ponds on the grounds.

We are assigned to a large, wooded site near the river and we get everything set up before dark. Jeff has just gotten us a screen room that zips to the awning and we are very pleased with it. A quick dinner and off to bed - lots of work tomorrow.

9 to 5

Here we are waking up across from the city that never sleeps. We slept great and spend the day relaxing and enjoying the views. Late afternoon we walk to the PATH and see a funny sight. A young Chasid man with payss (long, curled sideburns) is driving a Smart Car. Oh yes, we are not in Bluffton anymore.


We take the train to Penn Station and walk to the theatre district. We are meeting our young friend Michael Mindlin for dinner and then to see him perform in the new Broadway musical 9 to 5. Michael's mother, Linda, and his late dad, Stu, are dear friends and we are so proud of Michael. We ate at a burger place and then Michael was off to the Marriott Marquis Theatre. Jeff and I headed up to the top of the Marriott and had cocktails in the revolving lounge.


At 7:30 we headed down to the theatre and had excellent seats in the second row of the mezzanine. 9 to 5 is fun and an extremely talented cast. The show is taken from the movie and there are 19 musical numbers with all the music written by Dolly Parton. Michael is one of eight dancers and featured in many numbers. It is wonderful to see him onstage and he's really an outstanding performer. The audience loves the show and we are so thrilled to be here. Afterwards we go backstage and meet Michael. He walks us around and onto the stage so we can see where all the sets and props are stored. Then we went to Allison Janney's dressing room to visit. This is so great - she is so gracious and beautiful. Tall and very thin, Alison shook our hands and chatted with us for a few minutes. I told her that Jeff was her biggest West Wing fan and she said how much she had enjoyed doing that series. I decided not to ask for a photo and we left.

After saying goodbye to Michael we headed back to the PATH station using one of the pedal cabs instead of walking. The poor guy was working so hard that I'm sure his legs hurt him the next day. We got back to the campground and fell asleep smiling.

America (Simon & Garfunkle)

Thursday and we're driving north. We detour around the DC area and take the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the NJ Turnpike. Jeff comes up with a great idea to visit our parent's cemeteries near Trenton. So we head to that familiar area to put stones on the graves and it is quite emotional.

Just before 5:00pm we arrive in Jersey City, NJ. Jeff has cleverly found us a campground just across from lower Manhattan. It is a gravel parking lot, but the views are fantastic. In addition to the NYC skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are just off to our left. A commuter ferry to the financial district is right next to us and we are surrounded by marinas with some very nice boats. Even better, the PATH train to New York is only five blocks and an easy walk.

On The Road Again

Today is Wednesday and we finish packing and leave Sun City just after noon. A pleasant ride through the Carolinas and spendthe night in a WalMart in the Richmond area.

It's Party Time!

Today is the day that Jan & Ray Mintz are throwing our farewell party. It caps a very busy weekend. Yesterday there was a neighborhood Cinco de Mayo party (see photo above), and last night we went to see The Bobs in concert. (Anybody who knows The Bobs and my offbeat taste can understand why this was such a treat.)

We finally got HaRVey the RV back from the shop. Everything seems to be working and it's nice and clean. I won't talk about the size of the bill, but over $1400 of it was paid by my extended warranty company.

We spoke to our contact at the RV park a few days ago, and she said they are all ready for us. The weather has been beautiful and unseasonably warm. They are busy painting and sprucing up. Our site has been assigned, and they are ready for us to start training on May 11.

For anyone who cares to get in touch with us, here is our itinerary.

May 10 – September 8, 2009
Lake George Escape RV Park
PO Box 431
175 East Schroon River Road
Lake George, NY 12845
(800) 327-3188
www.lakegeorgeescape.com

We will have e-mail service, and our cell phones will be on and (hopefully) working. If you call our home phone it will forward to Judy’s cell.

In addition, we will be at Liberty Harbor Marina & RV Park
11 Luis Munoz Marin Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07302
the nights of Thursday, May 8 thru Saturday, May 9.

Nine Days and Counting...

It's April 27, and things are hopping. We are supposed to get HaRVey the RV back from the shop tomorrow. Except for one week it has been in the shop since the end of January. (Don't ask!) We believe that the gauge panel in the dashboard will actually be installed and working.

We still won't have had our windowshades repaired, and who knows what else, but HaRVey will be back and we will get to work packing up to leave.

All of our friends seem to want to make sure we are really leaving, so they are setting up dates for dinner and such before we go. Jan and Ray Mintz are actually throwing a party they are so excited we are leaving!

This will be a completely different experience from the past three summers. During those adventures we were traveling almost every day. This year we will be set up in one place for four months. This means a major difference in the way we pack and the way we will live. For instance, we are getting a screen room that attaches to HaRVey's awning and gives us mosquito-free (hopefully) living in the great outdoors. We will probably bring a small TV to set up outside as well as a couple of lounge chairs. (Hey - we're working here. We are entitled to some down time.) We are even bringing plants, a hammock chair, and maybe a bird feeder.

We will have cable TV, and we should (make that damn well will) have an Internet connection of one sort or another. Just in case I have my digital TV adapter hooked up to get the new signals from the antenna. All in all it should be a great summer.

I would rather not be away for four months. There is a lot of stuff we will miss in Sun City. But that is the commitment they needed, so we made it. Having said that, four months in the summer in Lake George is not exactly cruel and unusual punishment.

Here is the really exciting part for those of you who follow such things -- we will NOT BE POSTING on either Twitter or Facebook.

More to come....