News from the Emerald City - Blackthorn, NY

Frank: We are firmly ensconced in the Rip Van Winkle RV Park. We did a two day evaluation of the available parks in the area and this is by far the nicest. The drawback is that it is 23 miles from the Blackthorn, so it is a commute to the rally activities. It was built in the 60’s and is completely wooded with nice spaces not too close together. It has full hook-ups and good Internet access. Since we are in a thickly wooded area, I felt confident enough to put up the trailer’s awning in the hope that the trees will subdue any big winds that might hit the area while we are away. Winds and awnings are a bad mix.

I bought a printer for this computer yesterday. I have thought of doing so for several years and decided that printing the list of RV parks was enough justification right now. It is a HP DeskJet 2050 Scanner/Printer. It will go on Cheryl’s computer at home so she doesn’t have to print on the printer in my office and then walk across the house to see the results.

Driving around and looking at the RV parks may have been a waste of time, I really don’t know. I didn’t bring any contact information for the local chapter who put this rally together, so I don’t know how many members are coming to the rally in RV’s. If it is just a handful, then they may be able to squeeze into Blackthorn. I decided we wouldn’t stay there anyway because of the lack of Wi-Fi and cable TV, and the few available RV spots are (in my humble opinion) gruesome. Plus it is a “Family Resort,” and we didn’t reserve the whole thing, so there are hundreds of screaming kids all over the place. I don’t do screaming kids. I wonder if we will be able to restrict “public access” to the Rally area.

This is the day before the rally start. Cheryl and I will drive up to the Blackthorn later in the morning and see if we can find the rally folks. I assume they should be there sometime in the early afternoon. Then later in the day we will return here, and I will take the Norton out of the trailer and get him ready for the rally activities.

Cheryl: We spent a very quiet night here in the deep, dark woods. I’m so glad we’re staying here, but it does make a long commute for Frank on the bike. I’ll probably not spend too much time on the back of the bike this year. I think Frank will be more comfortable riding single, although I’ll miss riding the twisty-turnies behind him. I’ve brought many things to do including working on my next novel, which has yet to have one word written. I’ll be happy here at our hideaway in the woods, while he’s out tearing up the roadways.

We found out yesterday when we got online that the rally organizers were able to add another bus to the scheduled tour of New York City. We’ll be on that bus, and I’m excited about the possibility of seeing some of New York since I haven’t been here since the 60s.

Once the rally gets underway there will be old friends to meet and events to watch along with good meals and good conversation. Today will be another relaxing day, and it’s good to see Frank enjoying some down time for a change.

Love and hugs from “the yellow brick road,” The Tin Man, Dorothy, Toto and the Lion