June Travels - Part II

CROTON POINT RV PARK

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY

 JUNE 22 - JULY 6 2019

X marks my site #35 for my two week stay

1984 Coleman Ticonderoga Pop-Up

Easter Sunday morning - Myrtle Beach - 1984

My 2-week stay here at Croton's RV park (CPP) is always a most pleasant stay. It's my home away from home and 2019 marks 4 years since my first stay. It is here where the "camping" bug bit me again back in May of 2015. As some of you may know (or remember), camping in a Coleman Ticonderoga pop-up trailer was a big part of my life with the family. The gang shown below has the Wyskida family's Starcraft pop-up in the background. Things change. Life changes. Fast forward to 2015. I was invited to enjoy cake and coffee on my birthday with retired Blue Mt. Middle School friends, Ray and Vicki, their spouses and friends around a campfire. Only 7.6 miles away living in Peekskill, it was a short trip. Well, while enjoying the campfire, it hit me that I wanted to go "camping" again. They own Class A motor homes and were up from Florida staying at CPP. The setting here is quiet; a beautiful, shaded piece of habitat that affords me all I enjoy: Nestled among maples, pines and sycamores. I try each time I reserve to be on site 35. It's on the west side of the road and gives shade for most of the day. Vicki and George are across the road; I'm able to have my Caddy allowing me to come and go as I please. Sundays and Thursdays I'm off to Fishkill to spend the afternoon with my 100+ year old mother, Mondays and Wednesdays I'm able to travel to Hastings for my sushi delights at Sakura.

If you've read my last blog post about my stay at the Catskill Adventure Resort in Wurtsboro, NY, it was there where one of our members, Noreen, took a fall and broke her hip. I received word that she is back home after a two-week in-patient rehab stay. She'll now continue with out-patient rehab closer to home. Speedy recovery, Noreen. 

As photos are the best way to capture memories, I've included all I've taken. There is no chronological order but, as you know there are 1,000 words that could describe each.

Bea & Bill from New Rochelle, NY

Desiree, my Service Manager, at Mercedes in White Plains reached out to me to see if I could help a "newbie" who'd just purchased a Winnebago Era. Bea and Bill timed it such that we were able to meet at CPP to answer questions and iron out some problems they've encountered as they begin their RV life. I neglected to catch a photo of their actual vehicle but the photo below gives you an idea.
Most glitches were ironed out during their two day stay but more questions need to be addressed before they continue their extensive itinerary for future trips.




The activities during these two weeks have been numerous and delightful. The success or disappoint of any outdoor adventure is totally controlled by Mother Nature and the weather she deems appropriate. Aside from the frequent "severe thunderstorm" warnings, the weather has been delightful and many of those "severe" weather fronts didn't touch CPP. Many locations to our north, however, were hammered.

Awesome cloud formations viewed
upon entering CPP

The beach area

The picnic area

The approach to the RV park area

Looking eastward over the "mound".

Craig attacks with soap and elbow grease...

One of nicest gifts was having Winnie II washed for the first time. We've made the Winter Adventure to Florida and back and now with a new summer season it was only fitting that it receive a good washing. Thank you to Craig and George for providing the service.

...thorough and....

...meticulous.

George, seen here breaking a sweat,
manages the rinsing part of the project.

George's power spray took care of all nooks
and crannies

My slather? Melted cheese, sweet relish,
sauerkraut and mustard.

And speaking of food. (Did someone mention food?) “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” -Virginia Woolf. Take for instance the hot dog. Have you noticed how different they taste when cooked and charred on an outdoor grill, slathered with whatever floats your boat and eaten with one hand while a cold beer is held in the other? And that, like all other meals, is greatly enhanced by those in your company...the more the merrier.  For that experience I was able to enjoy sushi at Sakura in Hastings with Vicki/George and Trish/Craig one evening. 




Another evening Ray/Kathy, George/Vicki, Bill/Bea and my date, daughter Marybeth, and I spent a wonderful evening dining at Cosimo's in Poughkeepsie.  With granddaughter Sara our waitress and host, son-in-law, Carlo, the dining experience was superb and memorable.
For appetizers, we enjoyed a plate of fried seasoned calamari with a spicy pomodoro sauce, baby clams and a Truffle Portobello flatbread consisting of Portobello Mushrooms, goat cheese, truffle oil, mozzarella, baby arugula and shaved parmigiano. At our table of eight, I was only able to capture photos of the three nearest entrees.

Vicki had the Brick Oven Snapper:
San Marzano Tomato Glaze, Kalamata Olives,
Capers, Creamy Polenta, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

George had the Double Cut Pork Chop
with Argrodolce Peppers and Skillet Potatoes

I had the Sausage and Ricotta Fusilli
Roasted Peppers, Plum Tomato Sauce, Sauteed Onions,
Artisanal Sausage and Herbed Ricotta

Yes, there was enough for lunches and dinners the next day. Another evening I enjoyed dinner with friend, Dina, at Samurai in Croton.

And what did you do the rest of the days you weren't visiting in Fishkill? Reading the five book series Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. While here at CPP, I've finished volume four,  A Feast of Crows and now tackling the monstrous fifth volume, A Dance With Dragons. Each of these novels run about 1,100 pages. I'm guessing most of America has been caught up in this eight season spectacle on TV. I heard the finale episode of the final season left people in all sorts of emotional turmoil including shock, bewilderment and disappointment. This provided the incentive for me to add this series to the others I've enjoyed in the past. This genre seems to be the precursor to the works of Brent Weeks, Michael Sullivan and Brandon Sanderson. I've enjoyed and mentioned their works in past blogs. George Martin, however, started his series in 1995 and has them beat when it comes to violence, blood, gore, torture and man's inhumanity to his own kind. I've mentioned this to folks who have seen the series; if all the violence was removed after it was established that death was imminent for any character, there would have been just four volumes in the series. Martin  goes into incredible details.

Judy & Tony

To wind up my second and final week that included 4th of July  fireworks (on July 3rd) in nearby Ossining at the Louis Engel Waterfront Park and a visit from River House neighbors, Judy and Tony, I witnessed outstanding sunsets and a summer time treat from Mother Nature.  

July 1st Sunset

July 3rd Sunset 8:30 pm

A rather large one.
And they don't bite or sting.

Returning from dinner on any given night, I slow down on the road into Croton Park to experience a real treat; thousands of fireflies twinkling against the dark background formed by the rounded landfill. It's as though the hillside wore a glittering jeweled coverlet that sparkled and was spellbinding. Where most of us live, we'll catch this summertime spectacle in the backyard in respectable numbers and catch a "blinking" here and there. But with no light pollution and no moon in a park area, the numbers and their blinking are incredible. Tonight, I had the good fortune of having one waiting for me on the entrance door of my RV. It climbed onto my hand and when I turned it over and held ever-so-gently it emitted its "cold light." 100% of its energy is emitted as light. "Bioluminescence." More facts I found interesting:

• Fireflies talk to each other with light.
• Firefly eggs glow.
• Fireflies eat other fireflies.
• Fireflies live long enough (3-4 weeks) to mate and lay eggs; their larvae may live for 1 or 2 years.
• Fireflies are found on almost every continent.
• Fireflies are medically and scientifically useful.
• Fireflies are not tasty prey.

Each firefly has its own blinking pattern and are
able to be identified. 

After my "thank you" the firefly
went on its way.

"Fireflies emit light mostly to attract mates, although they also communicate for other reasons as well, such as to defend territory and warn predators away. In some firefly species, only one sex lights up. In most, however, both sexes glow; often the male will fly, while females will wait in trees, shrubs and grasses to spot an attractive male. If she finds one, she’ll signal it with a flash of her own." Information was found HERE.  No doubt this has triggered tremendous interest so before you ask, information of catching and keeping fireflies at home can be found at Keeping fireflies in jars

Disclaimer: No fireflies were abused or harmed during this explanation and photo shoot.

And so concludes yet another relaxing "adventure."  Actually, "adventure" is an incorrect term (an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks.) There is/was nor will there ever be "danger" in any of my travels. So I'll have to go with another definition: "An exciting or remarkable experience." Yes, that works; Good eating, good reading, good weather, good surroundings and good friends, exciting and remarkable experiences. I never took the course in Retirement but if I had to teach it, I think it'd be very interesting...Retirement 101.

My next adventure will be with the Hudson Islanders from Thursday, July 18th until Tuesday, July 23rd. We'll be at the Mystic KOA in North Stonington, CT. Till next time, stay well.