Category Archives: New York

Back to the Doc

I took it easy Sunday. I soaked my feet in a pail of warm salt water and let my bare feet dry. The infection that had been treated two weeks ago returned and was spreading across the top of my feet. To make matters worse, the contact dermatitis on my arms never fully cleared up and it was making another appearance.

I put triple antibiotic ointment on my feet and used hydrocortisone cream on my arms. It didn’t bring much relief. In fact, the ointment seemed to make the skin infection on my feet worse.

I tried to find the Indianapolis Moto GP race on the campground cable network. It turned out the race was being televised on Fox Sports1 and the campground cable service didn’t carry that channel. I didn’t want to download the race on my computer because I was near the end of my data cycle and a 2+ gigabyte download would put me over the limit and cost $15-$20 in extra charges. So I went to Crash.net and followed the race on their race day coverage. The page updates every minute or so with lap-by-lap descriptions and an occasional still photo. It was an interesting way to follow the race which turned out to be an exciting one.

By the end of the day, it was apparent to me that I needed another visit to the doctor. So on Monday morning, I went to the Hudson Headwaters Health Center in Warrensburg (map). When I checked in, I was informed they won’t bill my insurance – I would have to pay upfront and seek reimbursement from Cigna. What a mess health care insurance has become.

I was checked in quickly and waited only about five minutes before I was taken to an exam room. A nurse spent a few minutes checking my vitals and going over my history and current issue. Ten minutes later, I was seen by a doctor. He told me the contact dermatitis was a reaction of my immune system. The pollen contact on my skin provoked an allergic reaction which my immune system interpreted as an attack. This in turn led to release of histamines which creates the redness and itching. I think I got that right – I’m no expert. He prescribed a much more aggressive course of Prednisone for the dermatitis. I have three days of high dosage followed by seven days of tapering off. For the skin infection on my feet, he wants me to wash them twice a day with antibacterial soap and pat dry, then let them dry out without socks or shoes as much as possible. He also prescribed ten days of Keflex oral antibiotics.

When I picked up the prescriptions, the people at the pharmacy were great. The girl at the counter looked up my insurance information and I was charged a grand total of 24 cents for both medications!

While I was at the pharmacy Donna sent me a text telling she was out for a 28-mile bike ride. Later I learned she rode right past me at the pharmacy.

I spent the rest of the day hanging out in the coach with bare feet and reading a book. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with searing stomach pain. It felt like a hole was burning through my stomach. I chewed on a couple of antacids and drank some water. Eventually the pain was reduced and I went back to sleep. I don’t know if it was due to the high Prednisone dose or the antibiotic, but I think it’s the medication that caused the stomach issue.

I haven’t been sick in well over two years – not even a cold since we’ve been on the road – until this skin condition surfaced a month ago. I hope it goes away for good once I complete the 10-day cycle of medication and I can go back to being my normal healthy self.

It’s raining this morning and the rain is forecast to linger most of the day. Looking at the weather radar app, I believe it. There’s a huge system to the west of us slowly moving eastward. I’ll lie low again, keep my feet dry and read another book. Donna is going to meet her friend Karen for lunch and spend the afternoon with her in Westport, NY.

Kayaking the Schroon River

We unpacked the Sea Eagle SE-370 inflatable kayak yesterday. I filled it with air using the foot pump and we loaded it in the back of Tommy’s truck. Tom drove us to the kayak rental place in the campground on the Schroon River (map). We had easy access to the sandy beach and launched the kayak there.

I hadn’t been out in the kayak since we left San Diego. We paddled in unison and headed upriver. At the first bend, we had two out-of-control rental kayaks bearing straight at us, forcing us to take evasive action that ran us into the branches of an over-hanging tree. The people in the rental kayaks were totally oblivious as they paddled madly past us.

We put that behind us and continued upriver. We saw people tubing and kayaking downriver as we paddled along, but didn’t have any problems with the traffic. About a mile upriver, there’s a one-lane bridge connecting East Schroon River Road with Schroon River Road at the Warren County fairgrounds. This is where the bus drops off people tubing down the river. The bus must have arrived there just ahead of us as there was a gaggle of tubers in the water at the bridge.

Traffic at the bridge

Traffic at the bridge

A couple of days ago, Donna walked across that bridge after hiking on Hackensack Mountain. As she was crossing, a vehicle towing a travel trailer approached the one-lane bridge. The driver didn’t wait for Donna to finish crossing – she drove onto the narrow bridge and stayed tight to the right to give Donna room. As she passed by, Donna heard a loud screeching sound. The trailer was making contact with the bridge railing. Donna looked back as the trailer passed by and saw scrape marks on the metal rail. The travel trailer was damaged for sure – all because the driver was too impatient to allow a pedestrian to finish crossing the bridge.

As we paddled to the bridge, we saw Tommy there taking photos of us.

Tommy's photo of us approaching the bridge

Tommy’s photo of us approaching the bridge

We continued upriver past the bridge

We continued upriver past the bridge

Once we passed the bridge, we only saw a few other kayaks. The river current is moving slowly in most places and paddling upriver wasn’t too hard. We stopped where a pond formed on the west side of the river and ate ham and cheese sandwiches that Donna had packed for us (map).

The river bends and twists back and forth from there. The outside of the bends have deeper water. In the deeper areas, the current is slow. In some shallow areas, it picks up speed but the paddling wasn’t too hard. It was very quiet along this stretch with no houses or roads in sight.

Looking back upriver from the bridge

Looking back after we passed the bridge

What's around the bend

What’s around the bend?

Quiet, deep water

Quiet, deep water

We turned back and headed downriver. The current didn’t hinder us much going upriver, so it was no surprise when it didn’t carry us with any speed downriver. At one point, Donna wanted to see how fast we could sprint. We paddled with quick strokes and picked up speed quickly, but found it was hard to keep our paddling in sync to stay the course. We’ll have to work on that.

We only saw a few fish in the river and some geese. I expected to see more wildlife. We saw a few fishermen but no one was catching anything. We pulled out at the kayak rental beach and Tommy came back to pick us up. We were out on the river for over an hour and it was pleasant.

Last night, I grilled chicken leg quarters on the Traeger. We dined at Tom and Linda’s table – Donna made mango salsa to put on the chicken and we had white rice and a side of green beans with garlic and parmesan cheese that Tommy made.

After dinner, Donna, Linda, Tommy and their daughter Felicia went to the rodeo. I stayed home and soaked my feet in a warm salt water bath. The infection on my feet healed while I was taking antibiotic (Keflex) but it looks like it’s returning! I followed the salt water bath with triple antibiotic ointment. I hope I don’t need another visit to the doctor.

Today I’ll hook up to the campground cable TV and watch the Moto GP race at Indianapolis. Donna and I attended the Indianapolis round of Moto GP twice in the past.

A Day in Warrensburg New York

I’m running a little behind this morning. My laptop puzzles me at times. I upload photos from my phone to my laptop where I crop and resize them for use in my posts. The upload process is inconsistent. Sometimes after I connect my phone to the USB port, after a minute or so, my laptop recognizes the device and I can upload. Other times, a window opens and it says “scanning your device for files” and I can’t upload until it completes the scan which can take 15 minutes. I don’t understand why it does this.

Yesterday I had another twist with my laptop. I was on the web using Google Chrome when things quit working. I was given the option of optimizing Google Chrome for Windows 8. I clicked on it. Chrome works now, but it’s very annoying. I have a black bar above the tabs and if my cursor touches this bar, it expands and I don’t see the tabs anymore. Also my toolbar on the bottom of the page went away.

While I’m on this rant, I’ll add another annoying thing. I set my preferences on Facebook to show “Most Recent” because I want to see what my friends are posting. At random intervals, Facebook decides I should really be seeing “Top Stories” and it changes my settings for me. Really? Facebook knows better than me what I want to see? Why even give me the ability to choose my preferences if they’re going to change them for me? End of rant.

Yesterday morning, I scootered Donna over to Warrensburg to the Hackensack Mountain trailhead. There are a few trails there with varying degrees of difficulty. Donna went up a fairly challenging trail to the summit that included a section with ropes for pulling yourself up. After hiking the mountain trail, she walked back to the campground. She put in about five miles of hiking. Here are a few photos she shot on her hike.

Hackensack Mountain trailhead

Hackensack Mountain trailhead

View at the summit

View at the summit

Steeper than it looks - ropes for handholds

Steeper than it looks – ropes for handholds

In the afternoon, we rode the scooter to the Warrensburg Farmers’ Market west of Main Street on the south side of the Schroon River on NY418. This was a relatively small market but they had some good local produce and other things like locally made cheese and honey.

Farmers' market

Farmers’ market

Music at the market

Music at the market

I bought a bag of bee pollen. Some people consider bee pollen to be a super food with high nutritional value. I’ve read that it can be beneficial for people with hay fever allergies. Other people say it causes allergic reactions. I’m trying it out – we’ll see if it helps me or causes me problems. I sprinkled half a spoonful on my cereal this morning.

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Yesterday’s weather was near perfect – mid-70s with partly cloudy skies. Today we should see 80 degrees with partly cloudy skies. We’re planning to take the kayak out on the Schroon River.

Dry and Dusty

Today started out the way most mornings have lately. Ozark the cat becomes active shortly after sunrise. She leaps off of the bed and runs full speed to the front of the coach. She flies onto the driver’s seat and bounces up to the dashboard. She runs across the dash then jumps onto a narrow counter next to the co-pilot’s seat before hitting the floor and beating feet back to the bedroom. She runs past the bed onto the raised floor by the closet and jumps on the bed to complete her lap. Then she repeats the performance without pausing. This goes on for several minutes as I try to return to dreamland. Eventually she slows down and stays on the bed. I usually manage to doze off again until she starts walking over us.

This morning, as I was trying to go back to sleep, I thought about how many nights I’ve spent in an RV. I don’t have an exact count because I can’t remember the date we started sleeping in our coach in the driveway after we sold our bedroom furniture. I know it’s been somewhere over 750 consecutive nights in our RV though.

We first hit the road on July 23, 2013. That puts us in our 25th month of full-time RVing.  During the last 25 months, we’ve covered 17,000 miles and visited 20 states. We’re often asked how long we intend to stay in our RV. Our standard answer is, “We don’t know, but we’ll know when we’re done.” The truth is, we feel like we’re just getting started. There’s so much to see and do. Every place we’ve been has something to offer.

Yesterday was a low-key day. I had a chore to tackle. Our battery banks were very dirty from driving in the rain and driving on dirt roads. Dirt build-up on the battery cases can cause voltage leakage across the terminals when the dirt absorbs moisture. I was also having a problem with a poor connection on one of the starting battery posts. I hosed down the batteries, then scrubbed with a stiff nylon brush dipped in a baking soda solution. This cleaned everything and neutralized any acid build-up. I removed the cable connector from the post that was giving me trouble and cleaned the post and connector before reinstalling it. All is well now.

I think I need to clean the batteries more often

Dirt roads left a lot of dust on the batteries

I also unpacked my mountain bike and pumped up the tires. I took a ride through the park over to the beach area on the Schroon River. I’ll probably go for a longer ride today.

In the afternoon, I prepared four half-racks of baby back ribs. When I bought the ribs at Oscar’s, they had them cut into half-racks. I cooked whole racks before. To prepare ribs, you first remove the tough, thin membrane on the bone side of the ribs. If you don’t do this, the spices won’t penetrate on that side, plus you’ll have a tough, chewy side to the ribs. I spiced the ribs with the rub I bought at Papa Joe’s in Michigan. I like dry-rubbed Memphis-style baby back ribs.

I cooked them on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill. After two and a half hours, I turned the heat down to low heat and cooked for another half hour. I thought they would be fine but they turned out to be over-cooked. I think having them cut into half racks made them cook faster. Oh well, it was a learning experience.

Baby back half-racks on the Traeger

Baby back half-racks on the Traeger

Yesterday was International IPA Day, so I paired the baby backs with Saratoga IPA brewed in nearby Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga IPA

Saratoga IPA

This IPA was more to my liking than the others from this area that I’ve tried. I know you can get good East Coast IPA, like Dogfish Head from Delaware, but I’m sampling local brews.

The forecast calls for a warming trend with the thermometer expected to hit 80 today and move well into the 80s over the weekend. It’s been dry and dusty in the campground. Next week, I’ll try to sneak a wash of the coach.

 

Indian Lake

After posting to the blog and doing a few chores, I loaded Donna’s bike in the back of Tommy’s truck and we piled in yesterday. We drove through Warrensburg up US9 to NY28. We followed NY28 which runs along the upper Hudson River up to Indian Lake, a distance of about 45 miles (map). By the time we got there, after making a stop at the train station in North River, it was noon.

The plan was to drop off Donna and her bicycle at Indian Lake and she would cycle back to the Lake George Escape campground. We decided to find lunch before she made the ride back. We ended up at the Indian Lake Restaurant and Tavern. The place has an interesting history dating back to the 1800s when the bar was located in Princeton, New Jersey. In the 1930s, the bar was going to be demolished as Palmer Square was being constructed. The bar was bought, disassembled and reassembled at Indian Lake.

Bar history - click to enlarge

Bar history – click to enlarge

Donna waiting for lunch at the bar

Donna waiting for lunch at the bar

Donna ordered a tandoori naan bread pizza with cheese, artichoke and chicken. I had the fish sandwich. The food was excellent! I paired my sandwich with a locally brewed IPA from Paradox Brewery in Schroon Lake called Beaver Bite IPA. It was average at best. I’m still searching for a locally brewed IPA in the east that matches the flavorful offerings of West Coast-style IPA.

Beaver Bite IPA on tap

Beaver Bite IPA on tap

We dropped Donna off outside of town at 1:15pm and she started her ride back. Her route would take her back through North River and Wevertown before she headed down US9 to Warrensburg. I expected her to ride for about three hours.

As we drove back, Tommy took a detour at Thirteenth Lake Road. We drove a few miles, then turned into the Siamese Pond Wilderness Area. It covers more than 100,000 acres and, like all designated wilderness areas, prohibits motor vehicles. We made a short hike down to Thirteenth Lake and had a look around.

Thirteenth Lake in the Siamese Pond Wilderness Area

Thirteenth Lake in the Siamese Pond Wilderness Area

On the way in, before we hit the wilderness boundary, we passed the Barton Garnet Mine. They offer tours of one of the largest garnet mines in the world. They’ve been mining garnet in the area since 1878. The mine tours started in 1933 and you are able to find and keep garnet stones you find on the tour. Garnet is the January birthstone and the state stone of New York.

When we came back onto NY28, we were almost to North River when we saw Donna cycling up ahead. I was really surprised to see her that far from her starting point. She had some long downhill stretches and was making good time.

We stopped at Oscar’s Adirondack Smoke House where I bought two racks of uncooked baby back ribs. I plan to cook them on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill on Thursday evening.

After Tommy and I returned to the campground, I went out and explored the place. Around 3:20pm, my phone rang. It was Donna. She was in Warrensburg and said she just rode past the Top Foods store and didn’t remember seeing it when we drove through earlier. I told her she was on track and would see her turn at Horicon Street by the Chinese restaurant a little ways down the road. She made it home about 25 minutes later.

Last night, Donna prepared turkey burgers with special sauce – a recipe she got from Karin Von Kay. Donna met Karin when we were in Des Moines and they exchanged several recipes. The special sauce had an Asian flavor profile. I put a grill mat on the Traeger and cooked the burgers. Linda joined us for dinner. She put pretzel rolls on her grill and toasted them. The turkey burgers with special sauce were outstanding.

Turkey burger with special sauce on pretzel roll

Turkey burger with special sauce on pretzel roll

This morning, Ozark woke us up by walking over us. She would walk over the top of Donna, then stretch and reach over to me before walking up my belly and onto my chest. She gently bites and chews my fingers. I think it’s her way of saying it’s time to get up and feed me and pet me.

Yesterday’s temperature reached 83 degrees. The forecast calls for highs in the upper 70s over the next couple of days before we reach the 80s again. I don’t have a plan for today. There are a few chores I should do and maybe I’ll get my mountain bike out and kick around.

 

Lake George Village

It was mostly cloudy and very warm yesterday – the temperature didn’t hit the expected 90 degrees, but it was close. Donna got her power walk in early. In the afternoon, she and I rode the scooter to Lake George Village.

The village of about 3,500 people is located on the southwestern tip of Lake George. Lake George is a long, narrow lake. It’s 32 miles long (oriented north-south) and only two miles wide at its widest point. In 1646, a French priest, Isaac Jogues, named the lake “Lac du Saint Sacrement” (Lake of the Blessed Sacrament). In 1755, General William Johnson renamed it Lake George in honor of King George.

Today the village is fueled by tourism. There are many resorts along the lake and shops and restaurants. I was surprised by the number of people out on the streets on a cloudy Monday afternoon. Most of the lakefront property is private and the only public access on the south end seems to be the public beach and waterfront park in the village.

Parking in the village isn’t free unless you are a patron of one of the restaurants. The restaurant lots have attendants to ensure that only restaurant customers park there. Everywhere else, including parking on the street, has a fee. For a short stay, metered parking can be had for 25 cents per 15 minutes. All-day parking lots run up to $10.

People on the street in the village

People on Beach Street in the village

Beach Road runs along the waterfront through Lake George Battlefield Park. On the west end of Beach Road, a number of shops and eateries are located across the street from the lake.

View to the northeast from Beach Street

View to the northeast from Beach Street

The Lake George Steamboat Company is located on Beach Street. They operate sightseeing cruises on the lake with old-fashioned paddle wheel boats.

Docks along Beach Street - paddlewheel steamer in the background

Docks along Beach Street – paddle wheel steamer in the background

We barely had a chance to look around when raindrops started falling. I looked at the weather radar app on my smartphone and it looked ominous. A large cell was west of us and it looked like we could have a wet ride home if we didn’t hustle out of there.

We donned our helmets and rode back up US9 five miles to Schroon River Road and back to the Lake George Escape Campground. Wouldn’t you know it, the skies cleared as we rode home. The storm cell had moved quickly to the east of us with only a few raindrops hitting the ground. I’m about as good as any weather guesser – I guessed wrong.

Later we joined Linda and Tommy for dinner. Linda made pulled pork in her crock pot. Donna added black beans and brown rice and I grilled zucchini with lemon salt. A delicious meal. The pulled pork had the right amount of spice and was so tender. Donna served some coconut mango ice cream for dessert that she whipped up in her Vitamix.

Pulled pork, black beans and rice with grilled zucchini

Pulled pork, black beans and rice with grilled zucchini

Today we should have another cloudy day with the temperature a little cooler. There’s a chance of a thunder shower in the afternoon. We’ll see what the day brings.

Lake George Escape

We pulled out of the Walmart in Queensbury around 11:30am on Sunday. Our overnight stay was very quiet and peaceful. This Walmart had more foot traffic than any Walmart I’ve ever been to. There was an apartment complex and condos on the side street and people walked from there to shop. Donna  said she could easily spend a few days there at what she dubbed the Queensbury Walmart Hotel. There were so many shopping opportunities and restaurants within walking distance. Walmart parking lots are just for quick overnights between destinations though.

We had a leisurely drive of about 23 miles to the Lake George Escape campground (map). Lake George Escape is within the Adirondack Park, which basically comprises the entire Adirondack Mountains. It encompasses an area of 6.1 million acres, 52% of which are privately owned. The area is managed by the Adirondack Park Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation under the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development plan. It contains 102 towns and villages. All of the park, both public and private land, is bound to comply with this plan.

Wikipedia file showing the area of Adirondack Park

Wikipedia file showing the area of Adirondack Park in green

Our route took us through Diamond Point and Bolton Landing, small touristy villages along the western shore of Lake George. Our campground is about five miles northwest of the village of Lake George. We checked in at 12:15 and we were assigned to site 664 – a long, narrow, pull-through site. This is a Thousand Trails and Encore membership park. We aren’t members so we’re paying full price to stay here. We decided to do that so we could spend some time with Donna’s sister Linda and her husband Tommy.

Our long, narrow tree-lined site

Our long, narrow tree-lined site

Our site is bordered on both sides with trees separating us from our neighbors. The trees also block my satellite antenna. I had reset the satellite dish to hybrid programming which toggles between three satellites and should work in the northeast. I confirmed its operation while we were parked at Walmart and it worked beautifully. But it can’t pick up a signal through trees.

Linda and Tommy's site next to us

Linda and Tommy’s site next to us

After setting up and relaxing through happy hour, I fired up the Traeger wood pellet fired grill. Donna prepared a whole chicken with a dry rub. I preheated the Traeger to 450 degrees, tied the legs of the chicken and placed it on the grill breast side up. We also had fresh corn on the cob. About 40 minutes into the cooking time for the chicken, I started soaking the corn in water. Twenty minutes later, I put the corn, still in the husk, on the Weber Q gas grill over medium heat. Another 20 minutes and everything was ready to serve. I quartered the chicken into breast-wing white meat quarters and leg-thigh dark meat quarters. The chicken was moist and tasty and the skin was perfectly crispy. Corn on the cob grilled in the husk is another summertime favorite of mine.

Roasted chicken quarter and grilled corn

Roasted chicken quarter and grilled corn

We enjoyed our dinner at Linda and Tommy’s place and sat outside and talked until the bugs chased us in around 9pm.

Tommy likes the chicken

Tommy liked the chicken

The temperature is supposed to reach 90 degrees today with a chance of thunder showers later in the day. We have a 50 amp hook-up with good voltage here, so running both air conditioners won’t be a problem. The weather guessers say it’ll cool off with highs in the upper 70s for the rest of the week. That sounds good!

PS – Happy birthday to my middle daughter, Jamie. She turns thirty today.

 

Secret Caverns

On Friday morning, Donna and I rode the scooter down Caverns Road, aptly named as Secret Caverns and Howes Caverns are located along this road. This area of upstate New York, north of the Catskills Mountains, has a number of caves. Intrepid spelunkers can explore on their own, but beginners are best advised to tour one of the commercial caverns.

Howe Caverns is located on a large, well-developed property with a motel, gift shop and outdoor activities. It has an elevator that drops you 156 feet into the earth and the tour includes a boat ride on an underground river. It’s the second most visited attraction in New York State after Niagara Falls. In 1928, another cavern was found nearby.  Roger Mallery was working as an engineer developing Howes Cavern at the time. He purchased the newly found cavern up the road and called it Secret Caverns and began to develop it.

Secret Caverns is doesn’t have the huge manicured lawns and buildings found at Howes. It’s a little off-beat and funky. We opted to visit Secret Caverns. Donna had been to Howes before, but this was her first trip to Secret Caverns.

Secret Caverns is still owned by the Mallery family. Being privately owned, they set the rules and the rules are pretty loose. You take the tour with a guide. The guide tells corny jokes and also gives interesting facts. The guide also operates the lighting – turning lights on as you make your way down and turning lights off behind the group.

The first part of the descent into the earth is on steps either cut into the rock or cast from concrete. Water drips from the ceiling in many areas and the steps are mostly wet – along with the hand rail. You’re allowed to touch the walls and take all the pictures you want on this tour.

At the bottom of the 103 steps, the cavern floor becomes a narrow trail that slowly descends. The overhead clearance is low at times, I’m only 5′ 9″ and I had to duck to get through some sections. It’s also narrow enough in places to make your shoulders hunch. The temperature inside the cavern is a constant 50 degrees year ’round.

I won’t try to explain all of the pictures – hopefully they capture some of the feeling in the cave.

Entrance

Entrance

Cave entry

Cave entry

Calcite flowstone

Calcite flowstone

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Narrow passage

Narrow passage

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100 foot waterfall at the bottom

100-foot waterfall at the bottom

At the bottom of the cave, there’s a 100-foot waterfall. A subterranean stream empties into the cave. It’s warmer by the waterfall as the water hasn’t cooled as much as the water that seeps through the stone. It’s also very humid by the falls. The waterfall forms a shallow pool before it seeps into the Cobleskill and Schoharie creeks.

On the way back up, the guide stopped us about halfway and turned out the lights. It’s total darkness without artificial light. You can’t see your hand in front of your face! The last part of the tour was climbing up 103 wet steps to exit. It was fun and I recommend the tour.

Afterwards, Donna and I rode through the Howes Cavern property but didn’t stop. It was crowded – it’s a popular place. From there we rode to the Caverns Palace Restaurant and met up with Donna’s parents for lunch. The food was good and it was a great opportunity to visit with Duke and Lorraine before we pulled out of the area.

I spent most of the afternoon packing the trailer and stowing the windshield covers and tire covers. I also checked tire pressures. I drained the water from our fresh water tank. I had filled it at Addison Oaks in Michigan where the water is hard and had lots of iron along with other minerals. I had filtered the water, but the naturally soft water here is so much better. I refilled the tank with 100 gallons of fresh water.

Some people don’t travel with a full fresh water tank – they don’t want the weight. I prefer to have the tank full and the holding tanks empty. You never know what might come up on the road. If you’re stranded or stuck somewhere, plenty of fresh water, holding tank capacity and diesel fuel all come in handy.

I grilled wild salmon on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill for dinner along with sliced red onions wrapped in aluminum foil. Donna served the caramelized onions over the salmon. I’m still learning how to use this grill and unfortunately I overcooked the salmon.

Caramelized red onions on grilled salmon

Caramelized red onions on grilled salmon

On Saturday morning, after a brief thundershower, we pulled out of our site and hit the dump station. We made our way up to Amsterdam, New York and headed east on NY29. We drove through back country roads and found a Walmart that allows overnight parking in Queensbury.

Today we’ll make the 20-mile drive to the Lake George Escape campground and meet up with Donna’s sister Linda and her husband Tommy.

Walk and Shower

It’s difficult to come up with an interesting post when I didn’t do anything interesting yesterday. I spent another day hanging out and reading a book. Donna’s mother picked her up at 4pm and they went to the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany for a book signing scheduled by her publisher (map).

A line of thunderstorms formed along a cold front stretching from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Montreal, Canada. The front passed through our area just before noon while Donna was out for a walk. We had heavy rain for 30-45 minutes, then it tapered off and quit raining. Donna said she got her exercise and shower all at once!

After the storm passed, the temperature reached the upper 70s and it was humid. Once again, I had to shut down the front air conditioner as the low line voltage problems occurred in the afternoon.

Today we plan to go to Secret Caverns and take the tour. We’ll have lunch out, then I need to start preparing for travel. We’ll pull out of here tomorrow. We’ll have to hit the dump station and offload a week’s worth of waste water and do a lap of the park before we leave. The park is a one-way loop, we have make the loop back to the entry to reach the dump station, then circle back around to the exit.

We have a few options for dry camping Saturday night – we’ll see what works out. On Sunday, we’ll arrive at the Lake George Escape Campground on the Schroon River near the town of Lake George (map). We have a full hook-up site booked there for two weeks next to Donna’s sister Linda and her husband Tommy.

With two travel days ahead, I’m not sure when I’ll post again.

Low Voltage – Again

I spent most of the day indoors reading while the miracle of modern medicine continued to do its thing. Donna’s oldest step-granddaughter from a previous marriage, Kayla, came for a visit on her day off work. Kayla is 17 and they hadn’t seen each other in more than 10 years. She drove here from west of Oneonta, which is the furthest distance she’s ever driven on her own. But she made it here with no problem thanks to GPS on her phone. After catching up indoors for a while, they sat outside in the shade of a tree and went through a bin of old photos, looking for photos of themselves from way back when.

Kayla and Donna

Kayla and Gramma Donna

Donna made Asian coleslaw and I grilled Nuremberg sausage for lunch. I finished reading another Vince Flynn political espionage thriller – part of his Mitch Rapp series. That’s the third one I’ve read this week and I started another.

With the temperature in the mid-90s, Donna and Kayla hit the swimming pool after lunch. I hung back at the coach, I don’t think anyone wants to see someone with a skin rash at the pool. The Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (EMS) shut down the power to our coach. I went outside and looked at the pedestal – voltage on the L-1 leg was down to 101 volts. That’s too low and creates a risk of damage to the compressor motors on the air conditioning units. I wrote about that in this post.

I fired up the generator as air conditioning was essential in this heat. It’s frustrating to be hooked up to a faulty 50-amp line and needing the generator to provide clean electrical power. I talked to the park owner again and inquired about the wiring scheme for the pedestals. He was adamant that the problem wasn’t the park wiring, but the power company. When we pull out of here on Saturday, I don’t think we’ll return to this park.

Donna wanted to try something new on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill. She had pizza dough that she picked up at Vince and Joe’s in Michigan. She rolled out two discs and lightly brushed them with olive oil. I grilled one side for two minutes at 450 degrees, then brought them back inside. Donna topped the grilled side with smoked gouda cheese, a mixture of cooked prosciutto, cherries, rosemary and mixed baby greens, then I put it back on the grill for four minutes. She called it a flatbread, not a pizza. We took a vote and gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 5. Donna really liked the topping, but I wasn’t too keen on the combination. And the pizza dough didn’t crisp up like we had hoped. I think we should have left it out longer at room temperature before rolling it out. Do you have any experience with grilling pizza?

Flatbread on the Traeger

Flatbread on the Traeger

Ozark the cat was moving slower than she was the day of her surgery. I think she must have still had some residual effect from the anesthesia on Tuesday. Yesterday she was obviously sore but didn’t seem to be in too much discomfort. She spent most of the day napping on a cat blanket that Donna’s mother made for her.

Ozark catching a nap on her blanket

Ozark catching a nap on her blanket

The prescriptions I picked up on Monday are working well. I would say my dermatitis is 90% clear this morning. I have two more days on the Prednisone. The secondary infection on my feet is healing well. The antibiotic is a little hard on my stomach at times, but I’ll follow the full course of the 10-day treatment.

Thunderstorms are in the forecast for early afternoon. I can see a line of storms to the west of us on the weather radar app, so I believe we’ll see rain before too long. Donna wants to go out for a power walk and hit the pool before it rains. It looks like another lazy day for me.