Living the Dream: Catskill Mts, Woodstock, New York 10/6/09

We woke up to sunny but cool weather in the Adirondack Mountains. You can definitely tell that we’re not in New England anymore, because everybody seems to have a New York “wise guy” accent here. It was great to be heading south toward some hopefully warmer weather. On our way we saw some more fantastic fall colors. (It really helps when the sun shines on them.) We stopped along our way to visit Saratoga Springs, which I love because it’s referenced in my favorite Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers. I especially wanted to see the famous mineral baths. Saratoga Spa State Park was absolutely gorgeous and all the hundred-year-old buildings were still in use and nicely maintained. Our next destination was Woodstock, which we had hoped to reach via the scenic route 9W along the Hudson River. Somehow at Albany, we got onto the east side of the river and took the “scenic route” down 9J. What seemed like an eternity later, we were able to cross back over the Hudson. This however did afford us the unusual opportunity of crossing the Rip Van Winkle Bridge (in the free direction, no less!) We wandered along the scenic route for a bit and then finally entered the Catskills. When we reached the town of Woodstock, yes THAT Woodstock, the temperature was the warmest we’d felt in a week. We took advantage of the great weather and had a late lunch al fresco. It was great fun watching all the people “living the dream”, in full tie-dye and rainbow regalia. Ned’s favorite was our “host” at the restaurant with his gray-haired ponytail, bright colored boxer shorts, mismatched socks and weird little Asian shoes. After lunch we strolled through the town, browsing the old Hippie memorabilia. (See today’s pic) As we rolled into the Kenneth L. Wilson Campground in the Catskill Mountains, in our VW camper van, complete with tie-dyed license plate frames, we realized that, in fact, we ARE living the dream, baby. Never did find any Jewish comedians. I guess I’m just stuck with my husband’s off-the-wall sense of humor.