Seven-Month Roundup - Part 1

Poets' Walk, Redhook NY. (All photos by author)

It has been over six months since our last blog post! Part 1 of our roundup covers our travels in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

August - September 2023, The Northeast

Poets' Walk, Red Hook, NY.

From Gettysburg, we headed northeast to Rhinebeck, New York. Highlights included discovering that we were staying at the campground where the parents of a friend of our older daughter base their weekend and vacation Airstream trips out of! When they heard we were in their neck of the woods (the Hudson River Valley, to be exact), they drove up from their house to grill us a delicious dinner at their site!

While in the Hudson River Valley, we bicycled to the famed beauty of the Poets' Walk, named for the writers who gained inspiration from wandering through the Valley.

Our friends' campsite before they arrived. They have to move their Airstream out each year before the snows lock it in for the winter!

History in the Hudson River Valley includes the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, home of vintage airplanes and an entertaining World War I dogfight show:

We also enjoyed attending the Dutchess County Fair, with its livestock, produce, and blue ribbons. There was even a working antique farm machinery exhibit.

The show sheep wear fitted blankets to keep their wool clean at the Dutchess County Fair, NY.

Family farms bring their show cows to the Dutchess County Fair, NY.

There were many more types of chickens than we had ever heard of! (Dutchess County Fair, NY)

There were tables and tables of judged produce and flowers at the Dutchess County Fair, NY.

1920's Witte engine powering a rock crusher (Dutchess County Fair, NY).

After continuing northeast to Brattleboro, Vermont, we attended an annual fair in Guilford, Vermont. In addition to livestock and produce, the Guilford Fair offered various demonstrations, including by a regional circus acts school, and crafts competitions.

Local produce and quilts (Guilford Fair, VT). The annual event is designed to re-gather rural neighbors after the rigors of a Vermont winter.

A student of the New England Center for Circus Arts (Brattleboro, VT) performs at the Guilford Fair.

The two main characters as described in the book "Good Omens" and as depicted in the TV series, crocheted for a win at the Guilford Fair, VT.

While we somehow don't have any pictures of downtown Brattleboro, Vermont, we took a lovely walking tour of this very interesting town, hosted by volunteers from the Rotary Club. The tour included the interior of the gorgeous 1930's Art Deco movie theater, the Latchis Theatre, built as a memorial by two sons to their father, a Greek immigrant fruit-seller who expanded into several successful businesses. We also learned that the State of Vermont had formerly been the Republic of Vermont! (It had broken away from the Colony of New York and declared itself a republic in 1777, one of only six U.S. states to have been a recognized or self-declared country before becoming a state. Having lived in Texas and California, we had previously learned about those two - though the California Republic was more of a flag and an aspiration then an actual republic.)

We next passed through Connecticut to visit the parents of our younger daughter's boyfriend. We went out to dinner for the restaurant's trivia night, and, alas, came in second place during the tie-breaker.

Eagles on stage, Boston ,MA.

We next visited our older daughter (and some of her friends) in the Boston, Massachusetts area, and saw our younger daughter as well while she was in town visiting her sister! We also enjoyed seeing two of our favorite bands in concert: Steely Dan was opening for the Eagles on their "The Long Goodbye" Final Tour.

Of course, we couldn't pass up a chance to visit the Minute Man National Historic Park in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.

"...the shot heard round the world" - North Bridge, Concord, MA.

Boston also included dinner with an ex-colleague of Doug's and her husband, and a near-miss by Hurricane Lee!

From Massachusetts, we drove back south to New York City, where we camped at the incredibly convenient Liberty Harbor RV Park, where we've stayed a couple of times before.

Nighttime view of Manhattan from Jersey City, NJ.

Alison visited the Degas/Manet exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and we both cheered on our young friend Rachel in an IRONMAN triathlon. (Rachel and Doug had ridden in RAGBRAI together in June.) We also saw the side-splittingly funny "The Play That Goes Wrong" on Broadway.

The World Trade Center area, where both the ferry and the PATH train from Jersey City arrive, only 20 minutes from our campground.

Manhattan's Little Italy, where we had dinner with Doug's cousin and her son. We had dinner in Harlem with another family friend the next night - it was a very social ten days!

October 2023, Virginia

Bald eagles at our campground near the Potomac River in Northern Virginia.

From New Jersey, we headed south to Northern Virginia, first spending a weekend near Charlottesville, Virginia to have Alison's close friend Sarah stay with us in the rig (as we have done whenever we're in the area).

In Northern Virginia, we made the usual rounds of friends (fun!), doctors (not so fun, but necessary), and our storage unit (whittling that down each visit!) We also viewed fantastic arts and crafts at the annual Del Ray "Art on the Avenue" and enjoyed live music from a friend's band.

We spent a beautiful and relaxing weekend at our church's annual retreat.

Massanetta Springs, Harrisonburg, VA.

After a last few days in the long driveway of friends, we headed south, making quick stops in North Carolina and Georgia.

These Georgia swans did not seem worried about alligators!

In Part 2 of our roundup, we'll cover our rig's first trip to Florida!