Wandering America
July 2007 - Part II| A Home Cooked Polish Meal When Judy and I first married, way back when Hector was a pup, we took a trip to Maine. It was Judy's first time on the east coast. Being that I had been away from "home" for over a year my mom and dad planned meals of the sea food that I loved. There were clams (fried, steamed, chowdah), scallops (fried, stew). haddock (fried, broiled, chowdah), shrimp (fried, steamed), and, of course, lobster (boiled, stew). This went on day after day and Judy, being from beef country, began wondering if Mainers ate any "real food". Finally dad prepared a pot roast with mashed 'tatars, carrots, etc. and Judy's eyes lit up - finally, something that she could sink her teeth into. Well, I said all of that just to say this. We have 22 Polish college students working with us here at Lake George Escape and they have been eating "American" food for several weeks now. Paulina, who is cuter than a basket full of kittens, and Tomasz both w*rk with me in the Fun and Games Department. While we were talking about the differences in Polish and American foods I mentioned to Paulina that we could prepare a home cooked Polish meal. Her eyes lit up just like Judy's did when she saw that pot roast. Hey Pa, what's for Dinner?
Golabki that was made by hand and cooked on low;
I
went online
and found a recipe for Golabki (pronounced Go-wumb-kee) which is made
with ground beef, rice, bread crumbs, egg, and other seasonings mixed
together and formed into balls then wrapped in cabbage leaves
and cooked slowly in tomato soup. Paulina made the Mizeria
which is a
cucumber salad made with sour cream, chives, salt and pepper.
Judy and Paulina fixed a Potato dish of boiled potatoes that were
mashed with sour cream added. In Poland they buy their bread
daily from
the bakery and the closest I could find was fresh baked Italian
Bread "sold in a paper bag" just like home!"Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream that's sure to please, don't you know; Mizeria which is a cucumber salad that will keep you fit and trim; and fresh Polish Bread that will warm your tummy and fill you to the brim! Yuummm! Yum!!!  Joe and Shawna, who also w*rk in the Fun and Games Department, were invited to join us. They are local American students so this was a different kind of treat for them. Having never eaten Golabki myself, I wasn't sure that the recipe would measure up to our guests' standards. But Tomasz, after taking a bite, said I could be a Polish Chef. So I could only assume it was acceptable and I took that as a compliment. It was great to see them enjoy a "home cooked" Polish meal here in America, prepared in an RV no less.    A Paddlewheel Steamship Ride Whenever I think of a paddlewheel boat images of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn along with the Mighty Mississippi River come to mind. But this was not a ride up the Mississippi, no siree, this is a paddlewheel boat ride on the Minne-Ha-Ha up Lake George in the Adirondacks of New York. By the way, we should not be surprised to see a steamboat in New York since Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, built the Clermont in New York and her maiden voyage was up the Hudson River on August 19, 1807. The Minne-Ha-Ha was built in 1969 on Lake George and is an authentic sternwheel steamboat. Her visitors can sit on the top deck and enjoy the steam calliope while passing along the scenic Lake George shoreline. The steam whistle blows as the big red paddlewheel sends you merrily around the lake. This was just plain good ol' fashioned fun, there's just no two ways about it!!!!   We departed from the Lake George Steamboat Docks which is located across the street from Fort William Henry. Then we traveled up the east side of the lake, turning around at Diamond Point Island, and returning back on the west side of the lake. The trip only goes about a quarter of the way up the lake being that the lake is 32 miles long. Minne-Ha-Ha's sister ships, the Mohican II and the Lac du Saint Sacrement, both do longer luncheon and dinner trips on the lake.  As you can see from the photos the lake is very clean and pristine with the mountains rising up from all sides. French's Mountain (second photograph) is the historical setting for James Fennimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans".       There are lots of large expensive homes along its shores. These are all single family summer homes, not resorts or hotels. One could exist in these houses if they had to, but they wouldn't tow worth darn.     Lake
George is home to over 200 Islands; however, we did not go far enough up the
lake to see very many of them. Here is a picture of several as
well as Diamond Point Island which was our turn around point on this trip.
  These last two photos were taken as we were returning to the docks at Lake George Village. Shepherd's Park has become one of our favorite spots. We go there and sit in the wooden lawn chairs overlooking the lake just to relax and do some reading. What a peaceful place it is!!!!   Canoing on the Schroon River Judy and I took a little canoe trip up the Schroon River. Lake George Escape RV Resort has a mile of frontage along the river so we were able to leave right from the campground.  This
was taken as we headed "upstream" from the campground. The bridge
is about a mile from the boat launch area. Notice the Captain
perched in the front of the canoe.
 This picture was taken on our way back. Most of the Schroon River is located in the Adrondack Park therefore no development is allowed along the river (except for the beavers who are grand-fathered). Also, you can see the mountains rise up all around us. Canoing is soooo relaxing and this river is soooo slow moving that one could easily fall asleep while listening to the gentle breeze through the trees and the birds singing away. Stroke Judy, stroke! Ahhhh, this is the life!! A Train Ride Along Side the Hudson "All Aboard!" We drove north to Riparius, New York to the Riverside Train Station to board the Upper Hudson River Railroad with North Creek, New York as our destination. This was a three and half hour round trip that runs through the Adirondack Mountains along side the Hudson River. By the way, Riparius is Latin for riverside.   The
railroad was first constructed in the 1860's as a tourist line to North
Creek, but during World War II the tracks were extended to the open pit
iron mines in Tahawus about 30 miles north. The Delaware & Hudson
Railroad continued to operate trains on this line until 1989, when the
iron mine closed. The railroad sat vacant for ten years until it was
restored to its original purpose of tourism.
 "I hear the train acomin', comin' round the bend"  The
Hudson River begins at Henderson Lake in northern New York and is
joined by the Mohawk River just north of Albany where it becomes a
major waterway in the state. It continues to flow south through
New York onto the Atlantic Ocean between Manhattan Island and the New
Jersey Palisades.
 The
weather was absolutely great with temperatures in the high 80's and low
humidity for the Adirondacks. We enjoyed the trip and spent about
an hour walking around North Creek which is a quaint little village.
Our First Year Anniversary One year ago (on July 28th) we moved from our house and began living fulltime in our RV. It just doesn't seem possible. So what, if anything, have we learned in the past year? Was it everything that we expected? Do we regret making the decision to go fulltime? Well let's start by saying that we are completely satisfied with our decision and have no regrets in going fulltime. We are extremely happy with the freedom that we have to "move about the country as we please." Two or three weeks vacation a year was no longer an option for us. Our family is scattered over four different states and that just wouldn't give us the time we needed to visit them as well as travel to the places we wanted to see. So it's a fulltimer's life for us. However, not everything is as we had expected, for instance, I had envisioned spending some quiet afternoons working on my watercolors. But I haven't even touched them since we started fulltiming. Also, I enjoy some time for reading and haven't done much of that either. We had expected to implement an exercise program and a Bible study/reading time which we are still working on. Further, Judy has been trying to work on a couple of quilting and crocheting projects of which I dare say no more about because it's a secret. She too has found it difficult to squeeze in time to work on these hobbies. That tells me that we are waaayyyyy to busy for "retired" folks. I guess we have been too busy "running along side of our bicycles to take the time to stop and get on." We need to "slow down, we're moving to fast." "So, What went wrong?", you may ask. Well, nothing actually. The fulltiming life is no different then any other lifestyle. There are only 24 hours in a day and you need to prioritize. We've done a lot of things that we wanted to do such as traveling and sightseeing, a Habitat for Humanity build, spending time with our grand daughters, accomplishing several projects, etc. But, we also spent seven months w*rking (two and a half months before retirement in October 2006 and four and a half months of workamping since we've been on the road) and that dawg just ain't gonna hunt no more! Therefore, we will not do anymore workamping for money because no matter how you classify it, it is still a J-O-B and takes up too much time. We didn't quit w*rking just so we could w*rk, we quit w*rking so we could "smell the roses" while we are Wandering America. So, in the future we will only take workamping assignments for a camp site only (no money) which requires no more than 20 hours or 3 days a week. Also, after two months in one place we start developing a bad case of "hitch-itch" meaning it's time to move on; therefore, we will not commit to any more than a two months stay at any given assignment. Most likely we will do more Habitat builds and very little, if any, workamping assignments. We have our leased site in Summerdale, Alabama where we can take time to relax and work on our hobbies between trips. In October this year we will be returning there to spend about a month before we head off to Branson, Missouri. Then we will return to Summerdale for a few months before doing another Habitat build. That should give us sometime to re-prioritize ourselves and enable us to start developing some of our daily habits, It's so easy to let time fly away. It's absolutely amazing to me the number of people who say they could never live this lifestyle (or even retire, for that matter) because they would be bored - Get A Life!!!!!! If you can't sit down and relax without thinking that you need to be doing something all the time, then it's time you reprogrammed your thought pattern. It's not a bad thing to w*rk hard and build a comfortable lifestyle but we all need to slow down and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Life passes by way too fast and our bodies and minds require that we "travel in the slow lane" once in a while and do something other than build a career. Many people climb the corporate ladder only to find out that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. Now how did I get off on that tangent? I guess I'd better get off my soap box and get back to living our fulltime RVing lifestyle!! |