A Trip to the Catskills

On Saturday we made our weekly run to McCaffrey's for groceries, unpacked them, and began our day trip to see Dan and Alexandra at their new home in the Catskills.   It was about a three hour trip heading up Route One and then the Garden State Parkway and I-87.  With about 30 miles to go of the 180 mile trip, we left the main highways.  We drove through Potter Hollow, a strip of houses right on the road, some of them derelict, and then turned off to Engle Road.  At that point, I was hoping we were following our Apple Maps correctly as the one lane road headed up and down the hill. At least it was paved although it was dirt beyond their place.  But...there was Dan sitting in his rocking chair on the porch, waving at us.

And there were the alpacas grazing across the street.   I keep thinking about the Wizard of Oz and how "We're not in Kansas anymore."  Well, Dan and Alex are not in Brooklyn any more--what a contrast.  I think two cars went down the road during our time with them--and Alex gave each one of them a friendly wave!   What a contrast to Flatbush Avenue and its emergency vehicles heading to the Brooklyn Hospital with sirens sounding.

Dan and Alex said that if they were going to leave the city, they wanted a big change, not just the suburbs.  This was a big change!  We could hear a rippling brook in the distance.   I got a whiff of llama every once in a while.   We saw goldfinches and hummingbirds visiting their new birdfeeder.  It was lovely and peaceful.

We spent a few hours drinking wine sitting on their porch.  The cabin dates to the 1890s and looks pretty rustic on the outside but is very lovely inside with nice furnishings, rugs and artwork. Their wifi is good so they can both work offsite for now; they didn't seem at all eager to get back to the city with its crowded elevators, communal laundries,  and busy sidewalks.

We wanted to get home before dark so we left a bit before five.   We stopped at a service area with a MacDonald's where social distancing was in effect. The bathroom sinks were set so you were six feet separated from your neighbor.  We were able to get a supper as long as we did take-out--and it was a feast of burgers and shakes.   There was some light left in the sky when we got home.  We were so glad we can now picture Dan and Alex in their surroundings.  They had showed us around via Zoom and Facetime but the real thing was lovelier.