Verona, NY - June 19 - July 18, 2007
We arrived at the Villages at Turning Stone RV Park , one of Good Sams' top ten RV parks, in mid-afternoon, just before the heavens released a torrent of rain and hail. The Oneida Tribe operates this beautiful and well-maintained RV park, as well as the very upscale casino, hotel and golf courses just down the road.
We had another new vehicle "experience" while at Turning Stone. The heavy rains seemed to find their way into our home by way of one of our slide-outs. The result was water damage to one of Susan's favorite oil paintings and water in some of the overhead cabinets. One more item for the "fix-it" list for the manufacturer in November. Sigh....
We were looking forward to staying a month in one location and reuniting with our Rochester, NY friends Ralph and Jeanne. As you may recall from previous journals we met them last February in the Florida Keys and credit them with influencing our move from our trusty fifth-wheel to the motorhome. We've seen them twice since our initial meeting, but this was the first time our paths had crossed since purchasing our new home. They planned to drive over and park their rig at Turning Stone for three days during our stay. As it happened, their Florida neighbors, Bonnie and Benny, were in the area and also came over for the three days. We had a wonderful time touring each other's RVs, comparing our humorous and challenging road adventures and marveling at Bonnie and Benny's interesting and varied "on-the-road" employment.
Between the chatting and sampling Bonnie's Lemontinis (an exotic cordial with lemoncella and vodka as main ingredients) we found time to briefly challenge Lady Luck at the Casino. We all broke even or came out a few dollars ahead. Being the big gamblers we are, we declared victory and celebrated over an Italian feast at Colosseo's in nearby Sherrill, NY. Delizioso! As they were leaving the next day we bid good-bye to our friends and fellow travelers hoping to meet up with them this winter in the Southwest.
Early in our stay we met Fran and Joe, former residents of the area but now living in Melbourne, Florida. They return to the Leatherstocking Region of NY each summer to visit with friends and family. They invited us to accompany them to meet some of their life-long friends then go to a traditional Friday night fish fry up in the Adirondacks. Fran and Joe kindly drove us into Utica to drop off and pick up the Honda so it could get some much-needed cosmetic repairs (rock chip on the hood). We really enjoyed their company, playing bocce ball and dominoes, and all the laughter. Thank you so much for enhancing our stay in Verona.
Nearly everyday the weather threatened - and frequently delivered - thunderstorms (the locals say if you don't like the weather just wait a few minutes and it will change), but after a while we decided we had to go out and explore despite the gathering clouds. Our excursions included biking along the Erie Canal and the beautiful rolling hills around our temporary home, and taking scenic drives around Oneida Lake and some of the old historic canal villages. We also traveled to Seneca Falls to visit the Women's Rights Historic Park, and to Watkin's Glen State Park to hike the beautiful gorge. After the hike we trekked the wine trail along Seneca and Cayuga Lakes for a little taste (wine tasting that is) of NY. We also drove up to Old Forge in the Adirondacks to hike to the top of Bald Mountain for the fabulous views of the numerous lakes (they are actually creatively named First Lake, Third Lake, etc.) and then browse some of the galleries in the village.
Twice we visited "pick your own" strawberry fields and concur with the locals. NY strawberries are among the best - especially when picked fresh from the field.
We took advantage of staying in one location for a month by doing a little home improvement - and wearing a path between our home and the Home Depot in Rome. Our projects included installing shelves in the basement bays and pull-out shelves in the kitchen. Both greatly improved our storage and ability to access items. As mentioned above, we had work done on Kermit, including bodywork and replacing the parking brake (don't ask). Additionally, Bill located a scale operator in Syracuse that would weigh our rig on all four-points, separately and together, so we could determine our appropriate tire pressure.
Our stay in Verona was very pleasurable - visiting with friends, meeting new friends, accomplishing tasks, seeing beautiful and historical sites, and tasting the local produce. What could be better? But alas, time to move on.
On July 19th we headed north to Montreal to rendezvous with our long-time Sacramento friends, Roelina and Scott, and to attend the International Pyrotechniques Competition. Kaboom!
