A soft spot to land for a little while...

The Merry Traveler. What a great cat!

Although it's been some time since my last blog entry, I figured I should formally end "The 3rd Great Big Adventure" with all the memories that helped to bring it to a bittersweet close.

Our last stop found us nestled along the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack, in Hawley, PA for the night. When I saw that our route was going to take us almost directly though Hawley,, we decided to stop to visit my very good friend, Berni and her husband Ron, who reside in the sleepy little town.  I just couldn't be that close without checking to see if she would be home and available for a visit. It was so last minute, but we were able to pull it off and spent a very enjoyable, impromptu evening together drinking wine and catching up. It was just what the doctor ordered - for us both. I needed to see a friendly face, and she had spent the day with her 90-year old mom who was rapidly approaching her last days. Besides sharing a couple of glasses of wine, we shared a few tears and laughs...only as friends can.

Here are a few statistics of our long, 3rd Great Big Adventure:

1 overnighter at a Bass Pro Shop
1 visit to an Animal Hospital
1 toll booth navigated by me
2 elementary school fairs in 2 different states
3 Walmart over nights
6 grandchildren were visited
6 new blood relations were met for the first time
7 National Parks and Monuments were visited
8 State Stickers were placed on our USA map
14 states were traveled through (not including NY)
16 blog entries were written
20 campgrounds supplied us with services for either one or multiple nights.
30 miles were driven by me
7,018 miles were driven by George
400 + photos were snapped

It turned out to be a magically, wild and wonderful journey full of beautiful sights, sounds, laughter and even some tears, that are forever burned in our memories. If I were to pick a favorite National Park, I believe I would choose The Great Smokey Mountains and a few of my favorite States are South Dakota, Tennessee and Idaho.

So, with our 3rd Great Big Adventure freshly behind us, we landed at Croton Point Park amidst rules, regulations, restrictions, controversy and frustration, but we did get to enjoy time with family and friends. Many meals, lots of wine, dinners out, dinners in, hearty laughs and happy times offered us an enjoyable, albeit short time in NY. Life was indeed good.

Our original plan was to spend the months of October and November at Croton Park, but we were only "allowed" a 4-1/2 week stay in a 30 amp electrical site. With overnight temperatures rapidly dropping after Halloween, and the lack of being given an extended stay, we decided to end our time here prior to Thanksgiving and head south.

The beginning of color

We did get to witness the beauty of of a New York fall which is one of the most colorful of seasons in the Northeast. Situated in a County Park provided us with scurrying squirrels, soaring eagles and hawks, brilliant colors and falling leaves.

Carpet of leaves

A Sugar Maple in full fall regalia

Heading south this time will be quite a challenge for me since I will be following George, the over 1,100 mile trip, in my new Sentra. This will be my first extended road trip. My max to date is 5-1/2 hours - from DC to NY.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I can add a sticker to my US map of Emergency Room visits. After only 2 days at Croton Park, I took a bad tumble out of the RV with the worst damage being caused to my right knee. Ten stitches a bruised tendon and lots of pain followed and the pain is still present.

Lucy getting in some sleep before her next gig on the road.

The next blog entry will generate from sunny Florida. Yippie-ki-yay.

Deep thought for the day: When I'm told "no," I usually rebel and do the opposite. So when the doubt entered my mind that I couldn't drive to Florida, I decided that I'll be damned if I don't. Florida here I come.