We woke up later than anticipated, which was fine, but immediately after turning off the alarm on the phone it went off again. I thought there was a problem with the phone until I looked at it and discovered it was my buddy Frank, from New Jersey, giving me a call. Frank forgot I was three hours earlier than he, and although it was 11:45 AM his time, it was only 7:45 AM my time. I was up already, so we had a great chat and while I was able to let him know that it was 60° and beautifully sunny in Twenty Nine Palms, he told me it was snowing back in New Jersey. Things like that always make a trip away from home so much better. Frank’s a great sport, and he laughed like heck. Continue reading
Author Archives: Bob Kelly
The East End – Montauk State Park, Camp Hero
The night was really mild so that the heat didn’t cycle on off very often. Since the rooftop solar panels are brand-new, I checked the voltage and was very pleased to find out there was over 12 volts. I am of the age where I usually take a walk about 6 o’clock in the morning, and when I did, I found the sunset was spectacular. You couldn’t really see the ocean from where we were camped, but the dunes ,the grass ,the pink sky ,the sound of the surf, and the temperature being about 64°, it was pretty great for the tail end of October, and made for a wonderful morning.
One of the problems with New York State Parks is that the generator hours are skewed late and early. According to the literature, we were not allowed to run a generator until after 9 AM at the Hither Hills State Park, but fortunately the french press coffeemaker had been repaired the week before, so we boiled water and made coffee. No generator to run. A couple of egg sandwiches and we were ready to start our day. Continue reading
The East End – Montauk Point
Well, after a several month hiatus from traveling around the United States, Louise and I are back on the road again. The impetus for our latest trip was the wedding of my cousin Jeanne’s son, Michael and his lovely bride Emily. Since all the family was gathering at familial homes, we decided take the RV, to allow is the maximum flexibility with, and the least impact on, our wonderful relatives.
The wedding was wonderful. The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, all my relatives looked stunningly attractive, the party was great, the band was terrific, the dancing was awesome, the food and the wine were delicious and plentiful. The event was one of those place markers in your life that you measure things before and after from. After the ceremony, we caught up with a number of cousins that we had not seen in a long time, and then afterwards, politely left to explore the East End of Long Island. I have been coming out to the East End of Long Island during the summer since I was born. I attended college at what was then Southampton College of Long Island University, and we’ve continued to visit family with my wife and kids since that time. I can’t remember an August when we didn’t visit the East End of Long Island. Those visits however, have always been a time for family and not for exploration. Louise and I both have free time now, and we decided that this would be a great time to see places we haven’t seen in many years. Continue reading
Touring Rocky Mountain NP
We’re on summer vacation, I suppose, and we had to run the heater this morning because it was 54 degrees in the coach. I’m glad that we weren’t out on the ground in a tent. We did that back in the day. For some reason I don’t miss it at all. With the heat turned up, we slept or another hour and got up sometime after 8AM. It is called vacation, and we were on vacation from retirement! Continue reading
Heaton Bay, Colorado to Rocky Mountain NP
There was no rush to get to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were within three hours of the park, and the route avoided the Berthoud pass. We had been to the pass once before, just for fun, and the road is a steep, curving, tall bastard. I had difficulty with the altitude the night before, and sleep that night was a dear commodity. I woke up feeling like I was swimming in oatmeal. We were not in a rush to get going anywhere. Continue reading