Hyde Park

We spent Monday traveling south to Plattekill, NY (only a two hour trip and we got to use our new EZ Pass transponder for the toll road!) and spent the rest of the day settling in and enjoying a great Italian meal prepared by Team #2.

On Tuesday we had a busy day out and about, visiting the historic homes of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
















After touring the mansion of FDR, Mitch took some time to give Eleanor and Franklin a piece of his mind.











We also went in the first Presidential Library began by FDR, but the guy at the desk said our pass wasn't good for the library and we had to leave. Oh well!

After a lovely visit to the rose garden, we had an opportunity to visit Val Kill, Eleanor's home on the expansive estate, and then to visity Top Cottage, FDR's get-away home overlooking the Hudson River. We had a chance to sit on the porch and get quite a thorough education on the personal life of FDR. Very interesting!

We ended the day visiting the home of Monaco International friends Jack and Terri, who invited all 32 of us to visit their home for a cook out. They have a lovely home and a beautiful yard for entertaining.

Wednesday we traveled again to Hyde Park to have a tour of the Culinary Institute of America. What a gorgeous campus full of flowers and fountains.















Again the view of the Hudson River was spectacular.

We had a chance to tour the facility visiting both the baking and the culinary kitchen areas. We even got to sample some goodies while stolling down the halls.








We ended our tour with lunch at the Caterina D'Medici Restaurant which was very tasty and ended with a delightful flourless chocolate cake.










After lunch we headed for the Vanderbilt Mansion (built by the younger brother of the Ashville Vanderbilt mansion), one of the 43 Vanderbilt mansions. It's amazing what too much money can buy.










This is cooking team #4 headed by Mitch and includes Linda, Bob, Rita, me, and Art. We are on for tomorrow night and tonight we made potato salad for 32 from scratch.

Happy Boy

Check out this guy! Doesn't he look like one happy little dude!

Scootin' on to Saratoga

Our first outing after moving a little south was to visit the Saratoga Battlefield, the turning point of the Revolutionary War.











After an afternoon of traipsing the paths of British and American soldiers, we found solace in some very nice buffet food--not quite the Golden Corral--at the Hall of Springs in the Saratoga Spa State Park where we also tasted fresh out of the ground spring water.


We were all dressed up so we decided to take in a little culture and thoroughly enjoyed the music of the Philadelphia Orchestra.



The orchestra performed on stage in an open air auditorium. Although we were under cover, there were people on blankets and lawn chairs behind us. The music was great, from The William Tell Overature to Bolero, and the rain storm just before the intermission added something to the ambiance.







Sunday it was off to the races at Saratogo Race Track, the oldest thoroughbred racetrack in the United States. We had reserved tables in the Paddock Tent (a good thing because the grandstand seats were all sold out!) where we again enjoyed a buffet lunch and spent the afternoon watching horses and people--a lot of people. Someone said they bring in somewhere around 30,000 people for a regular race.





I tried to get a picture of the action, but had to laugh at myself when I took a picture at the finish line but when I looked at the shot I missed the horses!

Anyhow, I had to take a picture of this guy because he was the winner--and so was I! Yea! I went home $32 dollars richer!

The Adirondack Adventure

The first leg of our Monacos in Motion--Hudson River Caravan began in the gorgeous Adirondacks of New York.











The first outing was visiting Fort Ticonderoga where we all got a lesson in early American history.













The fort's historical importance dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War days.










The next day we found the headwaters of the Hudson River. Unlike the Mississippi River's headwaters in Itasca State Park, Minnesota, we had to look hard to find this treasure. However, when we found it, it was worth the drive. Brenda and I just had to be able to say we have walked across the Hudson River.






After the river adventure we toned it down and visited the Adirondack Museum, a fascinating historical adventure of the early Adirondacks.

The next adventure came upon returning home--the long way. Tommy's GPS had us venturing out into the "real" Adirondacks.






On our free day, we decided we had not had enough museums yet, so Connie, Joe, Brenda, Jimmy, and we took a two hour trip to Vermont to visit the Shelburne Museum. What a treat! I guess when you are really wealthy you can collect anything. Besides the early settlers "stuff" they had a three floor museum of motorcycles including some of the most beautiful "choppers" you've ever seen. We rode on an old carousal before we enjoyed the circus exhibit.

I really liked the Tiffany exhibit: beautiful lamps, windows, and jewelry.


We ended up going through Electra Webb's house. She began the museum collection and we saw her original Monats, Monets, and Rembrandts.

We ended the trip with some Ben and Jerry's. To get the official version of the caravan visit our caravan blog at www.hudsonrivercaravan.blogspot.com.

Hershey Thousand Trails

We traveled to Hershey, PA to stay for a couple of nights before heading into our Rally grounds and who did we run in to?!

Keith and Marie
Harry and Karen

It was great to see them again and spend some time visiting!

Weauataka General Store

After leaving Wisconsin, we traveled through the U.P. of Michigan and stopped to visit my sister, Judy and Bruce, at their store in the middle of nowhere south of Traverse City, MI.

Besides having a great spot for us to park, the store is really a "mini-mall", a little bit of everything. The cutest little place!

We spent a relaxing evening pontooning on a quiet little lake nearby.

A new look for the RV

We thought a little updating would make full time living in the coach easier.



This is what it used to be--a small fabric covered couch...


Shayne and Tony easily took the couch out (at least it looked easy to me!)








This is the new desk and cabinets that Don built.

The desk stores our printer and laptop, plus a drawer for other "stuff". The cabinets offer great storage options .







And with the new recliner, we have a great remodel!