8-6-12

Good Morning All,
We are in Rhrinebeck, NY.  We arrived here last Thursday and will be here until 8-9-12.  John (Christine's oldest) spent the weekend with us.  He came up Friday evening on the train from New York City.  He saw alot of trees, mountains and not many people.  We had such a great visit.  It is so good to see and visit with the grandchildren.  He is busy with his summer internship and his other two jobs.  He will move back into the dorms next week and soccer practice starts right after that.  He is at NYU Brooklyn and will graduate with digital media, and creative writing.  He told me alot more but I think that is his goal in a nutshell.  He his enjoying the huge city life. 
Our internet service is almost nill.  I am at the rec center where they have some.  Yesterday afternoon was none, but a heavy storm went thru last night so maybe that was part of the problem.  No cell phone service.  We feel a little out of touch.
Rhrinebeck sits on the Hudson River and at the foot of the catskills.  It is a pretty area and of course there are lots of trees.  Right here the Hudson River is a mile wide.  I don't know about the rest of it.  It reminds me of the Mississippi up in Winona, MN.
Today, after the maint. jobs we will tour Franklin Roosevelts home and Library.  Tomorrow we are off for a day tour of Conn.  We aren't very far from West Point so will see how it goes.  We are getting real good at drive bys.  Maybe, we are getting tired and it is time to point the truck West and start for Storm Lake. We still think of that as home.  We are proud to have the Iowa license plate.  Not too many people know where it is but that is ok.  We don't have alot of people which is great.  Do you suppose we are getting tired of traffic and people. 
At times my Midwest thinking shows.  I asked the desk clerk at our last campground outside of Boston how big the town of Bellingham, Mass. was.  It seemed about 3000 to me.  She said," It is 6 miles long and 2 miles wide"  She was dead serious and even thought about it for awhile.  Population never entered her mind.  At one of our stops I ordered a veggie burger.  In Iowa I would have gotten, hamb. lettuce, tomato and onion.  Here, we got a black bean veggie burger.  So when in East do as the Easterners do.  We have met so many wonderful people and have enjoyed all the sights, sounds and people of the East Coast.  Vermont and Maine are winning for the best spots.
Love Mother