We spent Friday and Saturday in Hamilton ON visiting Aunt Dodo who just turned 91. We stayed with Marilyn and Albert in Dundas as taking the coach for this jaunt seemed to be overkill. Marilyn put out a lovely luncheon for the five of us and then in the evening just the four of us went to dinner at their club. Saturday noon we gathered at the Mandarin Chinese Buffet in Burlington with Mitchell, Melaney and Haley; Harvey and Leslie; Michael and Stacey; Arnie and Peggy and of course Marilyn, Al and Dodo. It was quite a gang put together in the last week and a half. It was a fun reunion and we all said we need to do it more often.

Now I’m sitting in the living room of our apartment waiting for Josh and his friend to arrive for lunch. Boxes are starting to collect in the corridors and fill with the few things we need to load out to the coach. After lunch we will take them (the boxes)  out to the coach, now that we have a functional elevator in the building, and start up the refrigerator. Tomorrow the food will make the trip and we will hook up the Jeep and head north.

Our first destination is along the St Lawrence River in Northern NY. Depending on how the day goes we could make it to Ogdensburg or we could stop a bit short in Alexandria Bay where there are several campgrounds. Our reason for going this way, as I mentioned in a prior blog, is to visit the birthplace of Frederick Remington and to see the museum there. This also puts us north of the Adirondacks State Park and will give us a chance to drive through the park and maybe even spend a night or two. Eventually we want to get to Hyde Park area, it looks like we will camp in Rhinebeck NY, not too far away. There are several homes and mansions in addition to FDRs home and museum worth touring in the area and dinner at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) would be on the agenda. Also on the program is a visit to Storm King Art Center. Timing is still up in the air as our plans include arriving at Liberty Harbor Marina and RV Park on August 29 and staying through September 2. Plans beyond that are vague. We had hoped to visit friends in Philadelphia, but they are on their way to France as we might be arriving.

We will wend our way to Covesville VA where we will be for Rosh HaShanah and Dan’s birthday. Following that we will return to Rochester September 29 where we will stay until October 13 or so. We are not sure how long we will stay there, but our route from there probably will include Charlotte, NC to say Hi to Leigh and Patrick who just moved there from Austin. We need to visit Hazel who has been providing a running journal of the transition and move from her feline perspective.

We also are planning a stop in Red Bay Alabama, northwest corner of the state, where Gee Whiz was built. The shower door has never been quite right and I hope that someone there can actually resolve the problem. Also the sleep number bed is leaking on Carol’s side so it goes from soft to uninflated in the course of a week or so.  Ultimately we need to make it to Rainbow’s End in Livingston TX by December 15. We leave for Israel from Houston on December 22, leaving the coach on site for the two week we will be gone. Travel plans beyond that are even more vague only knowing we will get to LA at some point and probably the Bay Area as well to see a new grand nephew due in September.