Afternoon Update

The Pot Luck

Just a quick update.  I added photos of the pot luck & the evening campfire to the gathering page.

September 23 - 27 Northeast Gathering at Schodack Island State Park, NY

At the Rally

Saturday was also a quiet day. I walked to the boat ramp (the park is located on an island in the Hudson River) did some reading, and towards the end of the afternoon, baked my traditional rally pot luck contribution, a blueberry pie. Some day I'm going to shock everyone that knows me and make something else, but I still had blueberries in the freezer so that's what I'm making.

We had a group campfire, no S'Mores, but fresh apple cider, cider donuts, and snacks passed around. I headed back to the trailer around 9:30 when my ears started to get numb.

Sunday, 9/25/16 - 

It was a very cool night, at least compared to recent temperatures. At 5:00AM (don't ask how I knew) it was 44°F. Lots of sun, so it warmed up to the 60's fairly quickly. They are predicting scattered frosts tonight with lows in the mid 30's.

We are having the pot luck this afternoon around 4:00. A bit different from the traditional Saturday night meal, but it better fits the schedules of those coming to the rally, and will be more comfortable temperature wise. I walked around the campground taking a couple of photos of the trailers & participants. More photos at the Rally page.

I'll add more photos as the rally progresses.

Day 1, 2016, Sept 23-27 NORTHEAST GATHERING- SCHODACK ISLAND NYSP

Site 35, Schodack Island State Park

A pleasant drive across upstate NY on NY 104, US 5 & US 20.  US 20 was interesting - it goes through the middle of Albany, NY's capital.  In fact, right next to the Erastus Corning Tower, at 590' and 44 floors, it has to be the tallest state office building in the nation.  With the number of NY politicians & officials under indictment, they could probably lop off a few floors!

The Schodack Island State Park looks fairly new.  Electric only sites are $24.00 per night, restrooms with showers are at the start of the loop.  I'm in site 35, on sand, near the end of the loop.  Some train noise (although no horns) and a bit of traffic noise from the 912M bridge over the Hudson.  One bar of AT&T, and a good 3 bar Verizon signal, although very slow for a 4G LTE connection.

There are a couple of other fiberglass trailers here already, but most are expected tomorrow.  Dinner was a salad & Bubba burger.

Home

Brunch at Betty's

Sunday morning was the traditional Brunch at Betty's restaurant a couple of miles (well, kilometers since we are in Canada) from the campground. Don & Anne had to miss the brunch - they had to be back in Binghamton by 2:00.  

After brunch a bunch more left, while a few hanger's on (including myself) waited until Monday to head home. Lots of thanks to Alf & Mary Anne, our hosts traveling in the Escape Hatch II, the owners of Riverside Motel & Campground, Joe at Betty's for providing free beverages with the brunch, and all those, particularly Reace & Tammy at Escape Trailer Industries for all the contributions to the door prizes.

No problems crossing the border at the Peace Bridge.  I drove most of the way home on US 20, hopping up to NY 104 at Rochester.  Beautiful weather both yesterday & today.  Oh well, it was an experience that reminded me of the Spring Oregon NOG a couple of years ago.  At least it wasn't a cold rain!

Hope to see everyone for the 2017 Niagara Wine Escape!

I'm taking photos at the RSVP Volunteer Luncheon on Wednesday, and will probably post again Friday, the first day of the NorthEast Gathering at Schodock Lake State Park near Albany, NY.

Niagara Wine Escape, Day 3, Part 2

A Wet Pot Luck

Well, unfortunately, the rain came back and continued throughout the pot luck. We put up a double EasyUp supplied by the campground, and another 4 10' X 10's and did our best to protect the food & people from the rain. I have to admit we did better at the food. A few ended up eating under umbrellas, raincoats & big hats, and taking turns in the space under the EasyUps. I took a few sets of photos holding an umbrella over the camera - the blurred circles in the later images are not water drops on the lens, but raindrops the flash highlighted, yes, it was raining that hard. I added the pot luck images to the Niagara Wine Escape 2016 page.

At least cleaning your plate after the dinner was easy - just hold it in the rain!

While we have had rain before & after the pot luck, this is the first year that I've been attending the Niagara Wine Escape Rally that it actually soaked the dinner. Still, a good time had by all.

I'm now back in the trailer putting the page together, but there are still some brave soles hanging around under the EasyUps out of the rain & finishing off the food. As usual, great food and plenty for everyone. Where there was a good collection of door prizes, they will have to wait for tomorrow or the next rally - most people headed back to their trailers after dinner.

An update - I lied. The rain stopped enough while I was posting the pot luck photos that Alf decided to hold the drawings for the door prizes. I think it was because he didn't want to haul them home! Iowa Dave walked around the campground letting people know the event was back on. Of course I took some photos, including, under orders, handing the camera to Anne to take a photo of me getting my prize, one of the few photos of me to appear on the website (the way of the photographer). Alf was wearing down by the end, but everyone got at least one prize, with many getting two.

The Niagara Wine Escape, Day 3

Touring the Trailers

This is the Saturday post.  We woke up to light rain, but around 11:00 is poured.  Light & heavy rain until around 1:00.  Little wind, so many sat around under awnings, in their Clams, or in the trailers.  I did get a couple of photos before the rain started, mostly of the trailer tours.

Rallies are one of the best ways to shop for a fiberglass trailer.  While not many are sold at the rally, it is a great chance to see the different types available, talk with owners, and to see what modifications & additions they have done.

I had my door & screen open for much of the morning doing tours, and a hornet has managed to get inside.  I saw it fly by while I was processing the photos I added today to the Rally Web Page, but of course I can't find it now; I hope not to "find" it in the middle of the night!

I baked my second pie last night just after dinner.  Since the weather report looked like rain, I decided to do it then rather than Saturday.  Glad I did; it would have to have been cooked in the trailer & that would warm it up a bit too much.

The rain has just about stopped, so I'm heading out to take some more photos.  Until later -

The Niagara Wine Escape, Day 2

Around the Campfire

Don & Anne arrived with their Scamp from Binghamton around 6:30 & we sat around, talked, and later joined the campfire.

Well, I promised to add a couple of photos late yesterday, but after the campfire I hit the trailer, played down for a second, and the next thing I knew it was 1:00AM.  So, today's page is posted tomorrow (which is actually today - confused? - me too!

For those expecting it, dinner was a couple of burritos & a salad.

Until tomorrow.

The Niagara Wine Escape, Day 1

Site 51, Riverside Hotel & Campground

This seems like a recording of last year (in fact, it is a cut & paste), but like the 2 years before, I got a head start & arrived at the Riverside Park Campground & Motel on Thursday. I took NY 104 all the way to Niagara Falls, NY, and crossed at Rainbow Falls. Not a bad drive, although a broken 18 wheeler in the middle of Rochester slowed things down a bit.

No problems crossing the border - they didn't even ask about the blueberries in the freezer.  I do have to make a run to a grocery store for a couple of lemons, but I've got everything other than else necessary to make a couple of pies.

I wandered around the campground & took a few photos of the early arrivals.  We have trailers (and, of course, people) from all over the US & Canada, including Florida, Arizona & Texas.  While I've received the award for the longest travel to get to the rally at a couple Oregon rallies, I won't get it here!

Some photos at the 2016 Niagara Wine Escape pages, starting here.

I'll add more photos and pages as the rally progresses.