First campfire

Today, I watched my littlest niece for a couple of hours and she afforded me the opportunity to clock over two miles on my pedometer while pushing her in her carriage up and down hills and winding trails. The trek made both of us happy and tired, but she was the only one afforded a two hour nap. I relaxed along side of her in a chair with my feet up, enjoying the cool, crisp air. The first full day of Autumn.

"G" and I collaborated to put out a terrific dinner consisting of grilled shrimp, grilled farm-fresh corn on the cob, potato salad and a tossed salad made with farmers' market romaine, arugula, radishes, tomatoes and goat cheese. Quite elegant, yet simple.

"G's" new toy

Tonight marked the inauguration of our new fire pit that we purchased from Lowes a few weeks ago. Our left and right-hand neighbors, Kathy, Ray and Charlie joined us, and Trisha and her cute dog, Georgia, and another fellow RVer stopped by to chat for a bit. We each talked about our visits to Disney World, Epcot and Downtown Disney. "G" and I absorbed all the info and we will definitely be paying a visit to "the mouse" at some point when we get to Florida.

The highlight of the evening, besides that amazing inferno, was a "taste-off" between "BJ's" brand and "Shoprite" brand oatmeal-raisin cookies. There didn't appear to be a clear winner, and that was probably because I didn't taste either one, thus deciding for myself and announcing the winner in this blog entry tonight. Charlie will probably write about how superior his BJ brand was, but I believe I saw Kathy waver a bit towards "G's" Shoprite cookies. 

With some nicely seasoned wood, "G" did an amazing job at starting the fire and keeping it blazing until we were all too tired to enjoy it any longer.  It was a beautiful day and evening that would have been made perfect if Ray was feeling more himself. An earache and headache were troubling him all evening so he finally made his way back to his coach for some R and R.

Deep thought for the day: It's awesome to be known by a cool nickname. It was great to award the dubious title, "The Fire Starter," to "G." He did what he does often...surprises the heck out of me and keeps me guessing.

Walking with Willow

As another beautiful day unfolded at Croton Point Park, I spent the morning preparing the dinner we would have tonight, did a load of laundry and neatened up Allie. I was expecting visitors today and wanted to be able to spend some quality time with them. My littlest visitor thus far, has been my niece, Willow, who has actually been here before and enjoys running in the open grassy field near our rig. There is a playground with a tire swing and slides that got her giggling with joy.  Her Uncle Steve was the one who swung her up high and placed her on the slide for me to catch on her way down.

It is enjoyable to watch a little one learning new words and using them appropriately.  Today's new word was, "Mine."  She clutched her little ball and informed us all to whom it belonged. When we ask her questions she nods her head and says, "yeah."  She was agreeable to just about everything we asked.

Willow, her mommy, Uncle Steve and I went for a long, enjoyable walk down to the tip of Croton Point. The very same path I took my grandkids just a few days ago. It is so peaceful, serene and lush that it has become my favorite exercise route.