Saturday, July 3, 2010

LEO'S FIRST RV TRIP - 4th OF JULY

We took our grandson, Leo, on his first RV trip to Liberty RV Park in Jersey City - a short Ferry ride over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  The lines were so long that I approached a ranger saying that my husband is a disabled Vet, and the ranger asked where he served.  I replied: Viet Nam, and he said: Bring him right over here to me, and he brought us to the front of the line. What a super guy and an appreciative proud citizen.  Too bad there's not more of them around to thank the Vets and shake their hands, and say: "Welcome Home".




















The view of lower Manhattan was spectacular and the harbor was teeming with boating craft of all sizes from small skiffs to cruise ships disembarking to their caribbean ports.  













































The Statue of Liberty was a sight to see - all 305 glorious feet of her -and it's been decades for Tony and me since we've seen her, and Leo's first time.  She was simply spectacular!  Made me think of how it was near the early 1900's, when as immigrants arrived, they were so excited to come to the New World, so they could learn the English language, follow their trade to get a decent job to support their family, or get any job they could, pay taxes and assimilate into their new lives unobtrusively.  What happened here? 



















Tonight we stayed in, with Leo building a miniature wooden sports car, 



















and TZ in his favorite position: horizontal, with bourbon and TV remote in hand!





















Spent the next day at the Liberty Science Center.  Leo operated a miniature K'omatsu excavator as part of the skyscraper expedition.
























Next, he played the part of the Anesthesiologist in preparing a banana for surgery - He had to insert the IV into the banana.



















Then, he was a Scientist, who had to do an experiment using control samples, to determine which of the "patient" serum samples had viral antibodies.



















There were all sorts of reptiles, bugs and snakes in another exhibition. Here's a snapping turtle: (TZ's favorite)



















Leo tried out rock-climbing:



















and blowing giant bubbles through a sheet of liquid soap:



















There was a video ride showing Diving with Dolphins and Solar Chase - the kids sat in this vehicle which bounced all around.  We sat it out.



















At night, we went up to the riverside in Hoboken, to see the fireworks.  It was a great show.



















The Empire State Building was illuminated in red, white and blue lights.  There must have been thousands of people in the park, and the temperature was still in the 80's, but it was a grand sight to see.


Head home tomorrow - think Leo enjoyed his first RV trip with us, and we look forward to taking him again.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

CLEVELAND

Left for an 8 day ACN "business" trip with Nora and Walter.  Our first campground stop was in Fort Bellefonte, PA.  Tried for over an hour and a half to get our air conditioners working with 50 amp service, but finally had to disconnect, and change sites to hook up to a working electrical post.  Cocktail hour was delayed, which did not make Tony Z very happy.  Finally, with the bourbon flowing and the cigars lit, all is well!




Tomorrow, we're off to Cleveland.


Drove to a campground outside of Cleveland, in Statesboro, Ohio.  Our site had no sewer hook-up, so we moved to another site, which had sulfur scented water, no satellite reception and poor wi-fi.  Tomorrow we'll either change to a different site or go to a KOA nearby.  Not starting out so good on this trip!


Got all settled in our newest site. Took off today to register for the ACN Event, and since we're in Cleveland, we couldn't miss the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!


















Great place - There were 6 floors full of photos, film interviews, documentaries, outfits the stars wore and pieces of paper with scribbled lyrics of what became classic songs. Too bad we couldn't take any pictures.  There were all sorts of visitors there - young, old, and well, those who maybe had too much ganga:


















We took in the famous E. 4th Street, where the traffic is blocked off, and all of the restaurants have sidewalk dining.  


















Tomorrow it's the opening day of the ACN event.
Attended most of our convention, played some hooky, and ready to start the trip back tomorrow.  As usual, Tony provided the entertainment for us, and kept us laughing.  Another good trip!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

2010 - Here We Go Again!

Our first camping trip of 2010 couldn't have come too soon!  We had cabin fever - big time!  Today we left for Turning Stone Casino's Villages Campground, near Syracuse.  This is where we left off last season, and we're looking forward to seeing our rv.net friends, as well as Ariel and Joe who are at SUNY Morrisville, about 30 minutes away.




After driving about an hour, we stopped for fuel and did a safety check before taking off.  The front tires on the Jeep, towed behind us, were worn down to the fibers!!  "The key had fallen out of the ignition" ( ???), and locked the tires, and in the short time of driving, had destroyed the tires. What a fiasco!




So, here we are in New Paltz at a tire center waiting for 2 new tires to be delivered and installed.  Never a dull moment!


Got to the campground, and had trouble leveling, getting a satellite signal, and getting the TV to work. Left it all, and went out to eat with Ariel & Joe, and when we came back, we noticed the ground under the motorhome was all wet.......Seems we had the water intake valve set to the wrong position, and the fresh water tank was over filled, and we had our own Niagra Falls coming out of the motorhome! But.....Johnny T to the rescue!  He shut the valve while we were gone, and then helped us with all our other problems.  Had fun tonight with all our rv.net friends, and again, Tony was overserved.  However, that didn't stop him from getting up early to play Texas Hold 'Em at Turning Stone Casino.  Hope he wins $350 to cover the new tires we had to buy yesterday !!!


Update.....looks like we'll have to cover the cost for the tires ourselves  :-(


Went to see Ariel at college, and check out Joe's Lacrosse Playoff game at Morrisville.  They were ahead when we left.  Tomorrow we head back there to see Ariel ride in an equestrian competition. The ducks and geese were out for a stroll on a perfect afternoon.






Sat around the campfire at the Brown's tonight with friends.  The camping season has really started now!


Update......Got up at 6:30 and TZ was gone again.  He returned from TS Poker tables at 7am and won almost $300 !!    Pay off those tires!!!


Ariel took 2nd and 4th place in her competitions - Of course, it looked like it should have been 1st to us.