08/01 - 08/12 Croton Point Park

Site #44 on the east side of the road...which bakes in the
afternoon sun for a short time.

My stay here at CPP continues after a move from one site (39) to another (44). The reason for my change was that "someone will be occupying that space." To date...the next thirteen days... that site remains unoccupied. This could be bothersome if I choose it to be. As it turned out, "what did it matter?" Some views of my surroundings.

Shady and empty

Looking south

The change of sites went smoothly...about an hour's work...and fortunately, I'm quite pleased with the location. Even though I face west and the heat of the setting sun, most of the day it's shady. The silence, the dense canopy of maples and pines make the entire 'camping' experience a long lasting memorable event for which I'm always thankful and grateful. 

The color changing mobiles gives...

...an added aesthetic sense of relaxation.

My HUGH Class A Dutch Star neighbor

Last week, we endured the oppressive heat and heat indices. This week the big news item is the coming of Isaias. Hmm, sounds kinda Biblical, doesn't it? Don't confuse the name with Isaiah, the Hebrew prophet who was believed to have lived about 700 years before the birth of Christ. Born in Jerusalem, he was said to have found his calling as a prophet when he saw a vision in the year of King Uzziah's death (740 BC). He prophesied the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. So much for your Bible studies. Anyway....

Looks like Tuesday (8/4/2020) will tell the tale.

I took the necessary precautions by bringing in my awning, mobiles and chairs just to be on the safe side. We know by doing this, the threat of really bad weather will be lessened. Friends Kathy and Ray from Florida hustled out of there ahead of the storm's arrival and arrived safe and sound in Brewster only to greet the tropical storm here that brought down thousands of trees, 78 poles, and other equipment, causing over 580 road closures and approximately 300,000 customer outages in Westchester County according to Con Ed. Other friends, Craig and Trish who occupied the site behind me on 39 left early Tuesday and made it up to Maine okay. 

As the storm passed through this area, high winds caused twigs and small branches to come down on my roof but nothing large enough to do damage. Other parts of the Park were hit.  Power was on and off intermittently around 1:30 and finally cut off altogether at 2:30 p.m. It was restored by 10:00 pm.  I have a solar panel array on my roof that helps keep the coach batteries charged. It augments the work of my 1,000 watt inverter that changes 12-volt DC battery power into 120-volt AC power for use by 120-volt AC equipment inside the coach. Turning on engine and running for 15 minutes also helped keep the batteries charged. I have a propane driven generator should I need more power for the microwave and/or AC. The humidity has been washed out of the air and the temp is a comfortable 77° so sleeping with windows and roof vent open will make the AC unnecessary. My windup battery powered lantern will take care of lighting for tonight. As the days passed and I received emails from others and their videos of property damage, I could conclude that I was lucky with my 8 hour power outage; a trivial matter. Back at my apartment complex, their loss was not power but cable services including phone, Internet and TV; a very different kind of inconvenience. Some friends have gone up to six days without power.

I’m now in my final days here at CPP. I leave Thursday, August 13^th, for Country Acres Campground in Gordonville, PA, a 3½ hour, 200 miles trip (on paper). It’ll be a nice change of venue. As I look back on this different life style I’ve come to enjoy, I find I’ve accomplished much in this setting. Having my Caddy played a big part; I put another 750 miles on the vehicle and allowed me trips back and forth to my apartment, trips to Fishkill to visit my mother, doctor’s (2) appointments and food shopping. The 2013 Caddy is approaching 148,000 miles and still performing nicely, its exterior still presentable. I continued my online games with neighbors and friends that made time fly. Usually beginning around 10 p.m., I’d find myself nodding off and bowing out around 1 or 2 a.m.

Rob & Granddaughter, Beca

Since tropical storm Isaias, cell service has been drastically reduced and because there is no Internet service here at CPP, I must rely on my iPhone’s Hotspot. That data plan allotment has been used up and although I don’t pay anything for its continued use, the data speed is slowed down. I like to compare that speed to watching paint dry. Emails, videos, and my online shopping were put on hold although I did manage to order RV items that will be arriving while I’m away in Pennsylvania. While I'm away, granddaughter, Beca stopped by with Rob and borrowed my Caddy for their trip to LBI. It will be waiting for me when I return from PA. 

I wanted to finish this portion of my blog and get posted as soon after the storm as I could. I'm sure there are things that will occur that should be recorded but there'll always be another opportunity to do that. In the meantime, I wish my readers good health with continued vigilance with regard to the pandemic. Over half the states in the country cannot enter New York without a 14-day quarantine. PA is not yet on that list. See you in Lancaster County.