The first weekend was our annual golf reunion at Dan's place with Dean Sposito (who lives in Germany) coming into town for a visit. Ian Garden (who lives in Scotland) couldn't make it this year, but we still had a great time playing a couple rounds on the local courses.
After the weekend, I was washing the RV and OOPS, broke off the passenger side view mirror which cost $160 to buy one online. Couldn't use the RV so had to rent a car for 6 days as I had made plans to visit people. Thank goodness for Dan's hospitality, as I could leave the RV in a safe place.
A bit weird getting used to the rental car after 7 months of driving the big RV, but drove up to Paramus, NJ to visit cousin Karen Cohen, who recently moved into a really nice condo/co-op (not sure what they call it in NJ). Her friend Ray also lived in the same building so had a great visit with them including a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. Spent the night at Karen's; next morning went with them to the bowling alley where they treated me to a few games. (Forgot my camera so no pics).
Said my goodbyes for now, then drove one hour East to the town of Island Park in Long Island to see my friend Shaun Lynch and his mom Anna. About 1 year ago, I spent two weeks with them after Hurricane Sandy had destroyed their car, garage and entire first floor. They went 3 weeks without electricity, more than 2 months without hot water, and 6 months having to live on the 2nd floor in cramped quarters. Seeing their house fixed up was one of the happiest moments of my trip, as it was so hard to believe how the ruined floors, walls, and ceilings could be transformed into a beautiful home. They really took the time and energy to get it right; it looks wonderful and is a much better place to live in now.
Spent a great 5 days with them. Did a bit of yard work, and Shaun and I painted a long outside wall and repaired some brick steps, which were fun projects. Also visited friends Jay and Dan Feldman. Again, no pics as I forgot the camera.
Said goodbye to them on Tuesday morning, then drove back to Dan's house with Shaun escorting me part of the way so I could see some of Sandy's damage in the hard hit town of Rockaway.
The side view mirror had arrived so Dan helped me install it, which was very welcome. Spent a couple of days at his house, then on the Friday, drove the RV up to Jersey City, where there is an (expensive) RV park only 20 minutes away from Manhattan.
View of new World Trade Center from Jersey City
Stayed there Friday and Saturday nights, walked around the city, then went to Park Slope, Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon to visit cousin Terri and boyfriend Jerry. Had a great time with them, ordered Thai in, watched college football and talked. Left their house at 10:30 PM and only took 1.5 hours to get back to the RV park via the Subway.
Forgot to take pictures, but this is their wedding photo - they got married this year after 18 years of living together!
Sunday morning, drove the RV up to cousin Karen's condo/co-op in Paramus and parked it there.
Karen and Ray outside of their new condo/co-op
Karen then drove Ray and I 1 hour North to Westchester where we visited her son Charles, wife Jessica, son Hayden and new baby girl Sophie. They have a beautiful new house with tons of room, and we had a really great visit.
Hayden, super cute
That night, stayed again at Karen's. Next day, we went bowling again, then I said goodbye and again drove 2 hours South on the NJ Turnpike to Dan's house. Stayed there two days, then spent two days visiting Philadelphia and Valley Forge - pics of that trip in different section.
Spent a couple of days at Dan's planning my trip down South, then Saturday afternoon, drove the RV back up the NJ turnpike and into Staten Island, NY to visit cousins Amy and Michael and their teenage daughters Samantha and Stephanie. That night they were hosting a Halloween party for 30 of the girls' friends, so tried to help the parents a bit in preparing for the event, then got out of the way....
Michael and Amy in Halloween gear
Michael and Amy in Halloween gear
Stayed the night, next morning they put on a great brunch (as always thanks guys), picked up cousin Scott, watched some football, and went out for Italian, in other words, a normal Sunday on Staten Island.
Stephanie and Amy (foreground), Michael, Samantha and cousin Scott (background)
Had two really great days of golf with Dan on the Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday morning, October 30th, said a BIG thanks and goodbye to Dan and to New Jersey and headed East into Pennsylvania.
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