Haviland Lake in the San Juan's

This is Haviland Lake.  We're parked in the National Forest campground on the shores of this picturesque lake and just enjoying the mountains.  Will has been biking, getting his legs in shape on these hills; I've been checking the trees and lakeshore for birds and taking some walks with my camera; and we've both been sitting in the camp chairs doing as little as possible.  We have warm sunny mornings and then just like clockwork, a thunderstorm boils up about noon and puts on a show.

This morning we hiked a trail on the road to Silverton that began at Cold Bank Pass and led us up to grand vistas of Engineer Mountain and the surrounding San Juan's.  True to form, it was thundering by the time we got back to the trailhead.

Plenty of late summer wildflowers up here.  I love the Indian Painbrush that are deep pink at the highest elevations.  There is just a hint of color showing in the Aspen groves so fall will be here soon.

Durango & Silverton Railroad

The thing to do in Durango is the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge steam train.  It has been a couple of years since rode the train ride and we were ready to go at it again.  We actually are train nuts, we enjoy the noise, the clatter of the tracks, the stunning views, even the cinders blowing in the air.  We chose the open

car--only way to go in our opinion. We had time for lunch in the old mining town of Silverton and then reversed the route and took the train back to Durango.  Was a fun day.

Colorado

It was raining as we came over Wolf Creek Pass and down into Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Was a beautiful drive in spite.  And the rain cooled the temperatures right down so was very pleasant.  Was just a passing mountain thunder storm that passed quickly albeit noisily.

Can't go thru Pagosa Springs without stopping at "The Springs".  We set up camp, grabbed a bite to eat and then drove into town to have a soak in the warm, mineral waters of one of the local resorts.  It was still cloudy and a bit cool which made it perfect to relax and try out the various temperature pools.  Hottest was 112.  It actually feels good once you are in but can't take it for real long; we found one a tad cooler that we could enjoy without gritting our teeth!

Next day we went on to our destination stop for 4 or 5 days--Haviland Lake just north of Durango.  We'll be dry camping for two nights and then have our name in for a site with electricity for two more.  We are in San Juan National Forest at about 8,000 feet on a pretty little lake deep in the woods.  We've been here before, looked forward to returning.  First thing was to take the short hike--maybe 3 miles at most--to the top of the Animas River canyon and peer down at the valley below and the small train siding of Tacoma.

We have traveled a tad over 2000 miles since we left Doug and Tammy.  We had some long days but can't say we didn't enjoy the ride.  Will really loves driving the RV and I took the wheel for a while each day.  Its a comfortable ride, except when road conditions deteriorate, and there is always something interesting to see.  One comment we have to make is that this country needs to spend some serious money on interstate hiway repairs.  They are so busy and so bad in so many states.  Secondary roads are more fun anyway.

Working?

LaJunta

We crossed the border into Colorado yesterday and spent the night in La Junta on the plains of Colorado.  Up early this morning and just enjoying the cool morning with my cup of coffee.  Will is out on a bike ride.  He's trying to keep in shape for THE bike ride coming up in October and has managed to get out several times a week in spite of all our traveling and visiting and sight seeing.  This morning I am trying to figure out how to post to the blog with my smart phone.  Text seems to work great but having trouble uploading pictures to the blog and have spent hours trying to figure out why!  Oh well, no interesting pictures from yesterday anyway.  We crossed Kansas without incident--did enjoy the expansive plains and big blue, clear sky.  Was 102 when we stopped at campground here in LaJunta at about 4pm but as soon as sun went down it was comfortable again.  That tells me we are in the West!!  Our destination now is Durango, CO for a couple of days in the mountains before we beeline for Tucson.  It will still be 100 degrees in Tucson when we get home.

  So, wonder how Lilliana is doing this morning!!

National Churchill Museum

        We're on our way heading toward home.  Sad to leave the kiddos and that precious Lilliana but have to admit it was fun to climb into the rig and get on the road again.  We did long days for the first two and then slowed down a bit.  We made our goal of getting thru St Louis yesterday but then a "check engine" light came on in the truck about the time we decided to stop for the night.  Will checked under the hood and couldn't detect a problem but, even though he was pretty sure it wasn't anything serious, we didn't dare go on without getting it checked out.  So we spent today in Fulton, Missouri while the RV was in the local Ford dealership.  Luckily it turned out to be a minor problem but still gave us plenty of time to see what this small town had to offer.

    Once again we are reminded of all the wonderful things this country has to offer--if you just get off the road and find it.  Fulton, Missouri has the National Winston Churchill Museum.  Its a Smithsonian-caliber museum that honors the man and his time.  Just as interesting is its location, in the lower level of the restored Church of St. Mary.  This Christopher Wren church originally resided in London.  During WWII it was destroyed and burned during the bombing of London and sat for many years as an empty shell.  Then in 1958 it was taken apart, brick by brick and brought to Missouri and rebuilt on the campus of Westminster College and then the interior was lovingly recreated to its original glory. 

Time to leave

Time to leave this precious babe and start the drive home.  Lilliana is two weeks old now and getting stronger each day.  We played with her one last time and then had to leave.  Of course, I am going to miss Doug and Tammy also but this one has stolen our hearts!

Grandma and Lilliana

picture is worth a thousand words

A Pair of Parrots in a Pear Tree (no kidding)

This is too good to pass up.  Honestly, a pair of parrots in a pear tree--across the street from the Park home.  I heard raucous bird song outside the window and was shocked to see a pair of parrots!!  In New Jersey?!?  Apparently a colony of Monk Parakeets have been living in this are for over 35 years, theory is that they escaped from a crate from South America at the airport years ago.  Now that I know what to look for, I could spot their nest on a power pole.  A neighbor of the Park's have a pear tree with ripening fruit that apparently is much to their liking.

We have developed a personal relationship with this navigation program on my smart phone!!  It has saved us numerous times trying to find our way around this area!  What did we do before GPS?  Paper maps?!  What is that?

Just a few miles from the Park's home in Palisades Park to the riverfront overlooking Manhattan.  Will and I took a walk this afternoon along the boardwalk.  Sky is finally breaking up and rain giving way to some nice summer weather.

Springwood at Hyde Park

If you haven't already heard, New York is getting record rain falls.  It has certainly rained out here where we are staying but nothing like they are getting in the city and boroughs.  Laguardia airport had the most rain in a single day, ever.  The TV news shows streets flooded all over.  The kids are ok and we will be driving in this morning so hopefully won't find any traffic delays on our way--more than normal.  Yesterday, Will and I spent a rainy day driving north along the Hudson to Hyde Park to visit the Roosevelt home and Library museum.  This is crossing the Mid-Hudson Bridge at Poughkeepsie. 

Springwood is the home that Franklin was born in, where he grew up in a very privileged atmosphere, and where he and Eleanor lived and raised their family.  Now, remember, this is one of many homes the Roosevelt families lived in at different times of the year but this one was particularly meaningful to Franklin.  He kept an office here even while he was president. 

Franklin D. and Eleanor's grave in the rose garden at Springwood

Couldn't take photos in Springwood but they recreated his office in his Library and Museum. Note his wheelchair.

Auntie Stephanie came into town

Aunt Stephanie came into town for a quick visit.

This is Lilliana's first big trip out for an evening with all the families.  That's Gene, Tammy's younger brother--both grandpa's are out retrieving the cars.  We went to dinner at a seafood restaurant on the Jersey riverfront overlooking the city.  She was very polite and quiet while we enjoyed our meal. 

 That's the lights of Manhattan in the background. 

Grandpa and Grandma Park with their son in law.

one week birthday

We went out for dinner tonight at a Korean BBQ with extended members of the Park family.  It is so good--the table is full of small dishes plus the beef being cooked at the table.  We went home very full!!

Lilliana is a week and a day old already!!

Kykuit

We crossed over the Hudson River to Sleepy Hollow, NY to visit Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate.  Now owned and managed by the National Trust, it was home to four generations of the Rockefeller family.  Amazing formal gardens with killer views of the Hudson River, the Rockefeller collection of cars and carriages, house full of antiques and Asian art and Nelson Rockefeller's captivating collection of modern art inside and all around the grounds.  I took a gazzillion pictures. The tour took nearly two hours and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Who knew the Hudson River valley was so beautiful. 

One of the many perfectly placed pieces on the property.

Just a short distance from the Rockefeller estate is Union Church.  Was a small community church that John D. Rockefeller Jr. and wife, Abby were charter members of.  Through their efforts this church has a rose window by Henri Matisse (the last piece he finished designing before he died, actually) and several windows by Marc Chagall.  No photos allowed inside so can't show you how beautiful they are.

Tammy pictures

Lilliana and Mom 

The guys discussing guy stuff like the situation of the world--probably the stock market--during "grandpa time."

All these little towns out here have Farmer's Markets.  You can go somewhere within 20 miles every day of the week and find fresh produce, including (right now,) New York grown apples, peaches, and every manner of green vegetable.  We loaded up with a little of everything, stopped at a meat market and then went to spend the day with Lilliana and family.  We took over the Park's kitchen and fixed hamburgers on the grill, corn on the cob, sauteed mixed vegetables and watermelon for desert.  Was an especially enjoyed treat for Doug.

Touring Goshen and Woodbury Commons

Lilliana had her first appointment with the doctor today so we decided to do some touring around here.  The village of Goshen, just a few miles down the road is typical of the picturesque townships in Orange County, New York.  Big, beautiful old stone churches, large Victorian homes, historic town squares, heavily wooded and narrow winding country roads.  Goshen is also known as the beginning of harness racing in the US and still maintains the oldest track in the country.  They were training this morning while we watched and those high stepping horses are so smart looking!

We spent the afternoon (until we got rained out) a few miles down the road at Woodbury Commons.  It is the biggest outlet mall I have ever seen.  There were several tour buses from New York and other places bringing shoppers in.  Surprising how long we lasted as we usually don't think of ourselves as big shoppers.  We did find a few baby stores that needed to be perused for bargains.  We did not come away empty handed.

She's home from the hospital

Lilliana and Mom are home from the hospital--to her temporary home with the Park's.  All the grandparents took turns passing her around.  She was content to sleep and eat and sleep some more.

So even when we weren't holding her we could still watch her sleep!  Today's modern baby monitors are a marvel.  You can hook them up to your smart phone, wireless, and watch them from anywhere!  I am learning all kinds of stuff about babies that I didn't know, and there is so much available to new parents now.  Its great.

West Point

Tammy and Lilliana came home from the hospital today.  We decided to let them get settled on their own and we went to tour West Point Military Academy.  Such an impressive place, history and story.  We took a bus tour of the grounds but were disappointed that we did not get inside the famous chapel--not open on Sundays.  Spent a couple of hours in their military museum until we couldn't comprehend any more.

Its situated on the banks of the Hudson River with killer views of the river valley.  There has always been a military institution on this strategic spot on the Hudson from Revolutionary days; it wasn't until Jefferson's presidency that it became an Academy.

We're such tourists!!

We are such tourists!!  There is nothing like walking down a street in midtown New York City.  The assaults on the senses is indescribable.  The minute we stepped out of Penn Station and began to hike up 8th Avenue we were surrounded with noise--very loud noise of the city.  Sirens, jack hammers from street workers, pounding from construction sites, taxi's honking, foreign languages walking by. . .sensory overload.  And I'm walking and gawking up at the tall buildings and the flood of people pushing through.  We could have taken the subway to get to the hospital but it was more fun to walk.

We spent a few hours at the hospital and then decided we should leave.  Tammy needed some rest, plus they had strict visiting rules--only two in room at a time, and other relatives wanted to come.  We decided to stay and enjoy the city.  First thing we wanted to see was Ground Zero.  The new memorial is suppose to open next month in time for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and we wanted to see it.  There is still so much construction going on that it is going to be a miracle if it really does open in time but I can see that at least part of it will.  The plaza and fountain will probably be mostly open.  We went to the 5th floor bar of the "W" Hotel and had a drink so we could look down on it and get a perspective of what it is going to look like.  The first of the new towers being built--this one called the Freedom Tower (in background of first picture) is well under construction but will be years before the entire plan is finished. Trees surround a huge rectangular pool/fountain that will have the names of the victims engraved on the outside.  Maybe you can make that out from the picture.The sloping building will be a 9/11 museum.
  Took the subway back to Times Square where we planned to spend the evening but it began to rain, harder and harder so cut that short and went back to Penn Station to catch a train back.