Pickin' In The Pasture, Day 4

The Little Roy And Lizzy Show

Saturday, August 28

It finally cooled off, at least for the night - down to 65°F this morning. Early clouds, but the sun came out in the afternoon, and with it & 81°F, it was back to being hot. At least the humidity improved. I found an open section under one of the tents, so it kept the sun off until around 2:00. After that I needed my hat!

I headed to the stage around 11:30 and caught shows until the dinner break.  More photos at toady's LakeshoreImages page.

Dinner was a JR's Back Alley BBQ Ribs & Chicken dinner. Very good, but again very hectic distribution of the meal.  

Pickin' The Pasture, Day 3

Gary Brewer And The Kentucky Ramblers

 Day 3 started off very cloudy with 91% cloud cover; not so good for my solar panels! After breakfast I sat out & read for a bit - current book is The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, by Joseph Fink. 

I headed to the stage a little before noon and caught the acts until dinner time. I sure wish that safety cable didn't appear in every image, but that is the breaks (or the prevention of them).

I had to include a photo of the sound console. They have gone digital since the last time I was here - I don't know if it is the new console or not, but a much cleaner sound than the 2016 show.

I went back after dinner for the last two performances. More of today's photos at Pickin' In The Pasture, Day 3.

Pickin ' In The Pasture, Day 2

The Price Sisters

 Day 2, and the official start of the bluegrass festival. While they have breakfast sandwiches available, I opted for cold cereal. After that, a walk around the camping area & a couple of photos of the grounds. While most of the RVs are large Class A's, 5th Wheels, and traditional trailers, there are a few small trailers. I saw a MeerKat, a small fiberglass trailer & a plywood homebuilt. 

With the fan running all night near full speed, the computer recharging, and all my electronic stuff (including the morning pot of drip coffee) feeding off the 3 lithium batteries, I was down to 87% just after breakfast. It is a fairly hazy day and at 10:00 already 80°F, and the solar panels are producing between 120 - 180 watts, with the stuff other than the batteries drawing close to 9 amps, so the batteries are slowly on their way back up. Once the laptop is full, much more will go into the batteries.

I stopped down at the stage around 3:30 and caught a couple of acts. I wonder if someone fell off the front of the stage in the last couple of years. There is a cable across the front that "cuts" through photos of the performers.

After dinner I headed back to catch a couple repeat performances.  It is still hot - 79°F and high humidity at 9:00PM.  Tomorrow is suppose to be cooler and less humid.

More photos at Pickin' In The Pasture, Day 2

I ordered a BBQ Meat Loaf dinner that was suppose to be ready at 4:00. They didn't start delivering until 4:30. Still, not too bad for captive food.

I ordered a BBQ Meat Loaf dinner that was suppose to be ready at 4:00. They didn't start delivering until 4:30. Still, not too bad for captive food.

Pickin' In The Pasture

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 -  Day 1, Pickin' In The Pasture, Lodi, NY  86.4 Miles, 86.4 Miles For the Trip

After making my usual Wednesday deliveries for Meals on Wheels, I packed the last items in the trailer and headed to Lodi, NY.  I attended Pickin' in the Pasture in  2016, but for a number of reasons, was not able to attend since.  It was cancelled last year because of Covid, but on for 2021.   Anne & Guido were going to attend; even bought the non refundable ticket, then discovered that they put it on their calendar for last week.  They had too many unbreakable events scheduled for this week, so I'm here alone.  

Well, not quite alone - even though I arrived 1 1/2 hours after the "official" gate opening, the pastures are full:

The View From My Trailer

  It is dry camping in a field (or pasture, and you need to watch out for the sheep leavings).  They do have a water fill station, lots of portable potties, even cold water showers. Food is available, although I don't know what it is.  Depending on when you purchased your ticket, the 3 day + gathering is between $70.00 - $90.00. RVs can arrive on Wednesday and leave Monday. They have a 24 hour generator section while the rest of the area has the usual generator hours.  I'm in a fairly level area that is still fairly empty.  No shade, and it is 94°F  & high humidity.  There is a bit of a breeze which helps, but I sure wish I had AC for the air conditioner.  I did bring the 2K generator & a 20 pound propane tank if I really need it, but it is still sitting in the truck.  The rest of the week is suppose to be a bit cooler.

My "Site"

Again, today is for early arrivals - no bands.  I'll put together some photos of the weekend as it progresses.  Right now I'm sitting under the shade of the awning enjoying the breeze.

 Dinner will be a Beyond Meat burger & chips.

Selkirk Shores State Park Trip, Day 4

 

Dahlia

Oswego, NY August 9, 2021, 24 Miles, 48 Miles For the Trip

We had the longest wait I've ever had at the dump station.  A single connection, with a fresh water fill station in front that makes you wait for them before you can leave (or make room for the next person to dump).  Only 4 trailers in the queue, but it took a hour to dump.

Other than that, a smooth trip home, not that it was all that much of a trip.

I have a new electronics card on order for the refrigerator, hoping it will force it to run a bit cooler.  Even on a 60°F day and set on 5 (the coldest setting) it fights to stay under 40°F.  I was hoping it would be here when I got home, but it is still a couple of days away.  I still hope to install it before the trip to Pick'in In The Pasture bluegrass weekend next week. 

I checked the Dahlias on the deck, and the garden and took a few photos.  The tomatoes are just coming in, and the only blueberries left are the late variety.

Selkirk Shores State Park, Day 3

 Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY August 8, 2021, 0 Miles, 24 Miles For the Trip

Another day of sitting around.  I did have a couple that stopped by to tour the Escape trailer.  ts of people are interested in small trailers, and, of course, I think highly of the Escape 21.

We packed up everything that we didn't plan on using this evening since we are leaving tomorrow.  The campground has about half emptied out although a few new arrivals came in today.  Much quieter then over the weekend.

Dinner was spaghetti and stuff.  We didn't use sausage & meatballs because we still had lots of left over smoked turkey & brisket so that is what we used as the meat in the spaghetti.   That with fake garlic bread (I had a loaf of sliced Friehofer's Italian bread so Anne melted some butter, added some chopped garlic & we spread it on toasted bread.  A bit of a strange meal, but we are camping!

Until Tomorrow - 

Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY Day 3, Saturday, August 7, 2021, 0 Miles, 24 Miles For the Trip

 

Hummingbird

Well, the hummingbirds were better subjects today & I took far to many images.  Here are a few:

We spent another day sitting around doing little.  I did do my 1 mile loop around the campgrounds, but that was about all the exercise I did for the day.  Lots of reading and sitting around.  Anne & Guido went for a 10 minute trip to the store at the campground entrance for some ginger ale, and came back 2 hours later (they did some exploring).  

Jim & Linda stopped by - they are leaving tomorrow.

Dinner was smoked turkey & brisket sandwiches, complements of the meat Mike & Kitty dropped off last night, along with chips, and salads.

Until Tomorrow - 

Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY, Day 2 - Friday, August 6, 2021, 0 Miles, 24 Miles For the Trip

 

A Hummingbird

I walked around most of the loops of the campground but one, doing a little over a mile this morning.  After breakfast we sat around, Anne & Guido under their awning and me in the sun until it got too strong, then under the awning chair.  

I tried for some hummingbird photos, but every time I picked up the camera they stopped coming by the feeder.  Here is the only usable one and it is stuck behind the vertical bar of the feeder.  Maybe some more tomorrow.

During the day some friends stopped by, including Jim & former student Linda, and later, Mike & Kitty.  She was our costume designer who I worked with for many years, and now is the chairperson of the SUNY Oswego Theatre Department.

We really didn't do much other than sitting around talking.  I did meet the owner of a Boler, the only other fiberglass trailer in the campground.

Dinner was Beyond Burgers, a Caesar salad & tortellini salad, and a Kona Big Wave Golden Ale.

Selkirk Shores State Park, Pulaski, NY, August 5, 2021, 24 Miles, 24 Miles For the Trip

 

Site 130, Selkirk Shores State Park

Well, this has been the shortest first day of a trip for me, and since I'm not going anywhere else, the shortest trip.

We had originally reserved the dates for a Blackfriars Reunion (the theatre organization at SUNY Oswego) that was rescheduled from 2019 to 2020, then canceled this year all because of Covid.  While we could have dropped the reservations, we decided to use them just to get out of the house.  

We are in sites on grass with concrete pads, a fire pit & picnic table.  Good sized sites that are electric only.  The bathrooms are a bit of a walk away, although the campground store is next door.  $30.08 per night including a $7.50 transaction fee.

While normal check in time is 5:00, We arrived around 2:30 with no problems.  The park is very close to full with a mix of huge 5th wheels, Class As and tents.

After setting up we sat around in the shade of the awnings (no trees at our sites) and read.  I set up the bird feeder and almost immediately had at least two female hummingbirds visit (along with a number of bees). As soon as I got the camera out the hummingbirds either stopped coming or hung out on the back side of the feeder.  I did take a couple of sunset photos over the lake.

After that it was time for dinner, which was turkey chili, a salad with some of the first tomatoes from my garden, and pears.

Until Tomorrow  - 

Patapsco Valley State Park Trip, Day 9

Another Familiar Location - Oswego, NY

 

Oswego, NY (Home) August 1, 2021, 120 miles, 794.4 Miles For the Trip

An easy drive up I 81 to Oswego.  A bit of light rain off & on.  Somehow it seems like I was gone for much longer.  Only 2 ripe tomatoes in the garden, and a few blueberries.  

I didn't unpack much, leaving the refrigerator on, etc since I'll be leaving for another weekend trip on Thursday.

Dinner was Pizza & Wings from Pizza Villa, my favorite pizza place.