Greetings Friends!
Pants checking in with a Catskills update! In case you aren't aware, since I retired (4 years now, hard to believe), my wife and I no longer spend summers at home in south Louisiana. They call us "reverse snowbirds" - seems about right. This summer, we chose the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. We've been here 12 weeks and I've had incredible fun playing with my toys. I thought I would share some of my favorite photos with you. As always, I brought all of my toys with me this summer:
(my wife is technically not one of my "toys", LOL)
Our ABB is in Windham, NY, and it is absolutely fantastic. Very peaceful and serene.
We love our little town, and patronize it every chance we get.
Our son and his partner live in Brooklyn and this was a GREAT place for them to visit. We saw them on 5 seperate occassions this summer, a HUGE blessing for us.
.
I was not surprised to learn that the pavement riding here is very good. I rode my FJR 12 seperate times for about 2,400 miles. The State highways are good, but the county roads here are a HOOT!
About 10 minutes from our ABB is a Mountain Bicycle riding area that was absolutely fantastic. All of the trails there were within my fitness and skill level, and I went there to ride quite a few times.
The Dual Sport riding here really surprised me (for the good). I got some help from the "Catskills Thread" on ADV rider, and over the summer, I discovered a lot more non-pavement riding that I enjoyed. There is a nice variety of roads to enjoy here.
I hiked all over the Catskills, and found plenty of really good trails within 30 minutes of our ABB. The hiking here is very enjoyable.
My overall plan was quite elementary. Rule #1 - no decisions before coffee. Rule #2 - after coffee, pick a toy and go play!
Most every evening after dinner, Tammy and I would walk the steet. These Eastern Newts are cute.
My wife likes the kayak. We were challenged to find lakes to paddle. Much of the water here is reservoir for NYC drinking water, and off limits for recreational use. But we did find some spots.
A couple of my FJR buddies live near here, and we got together 3 times to ride. It's always nice when the locals can show you their stuff.
There's a regional brand of ice cream here (Perry's) that is excellent.
Every day was a blessing.
We got to sit our son's dog Meeko quite a bit this summer.
That's my hiking buddy right there.
The Catskills are more vast than I imagined. As is common elsewhere, the good stuff is usually off the beaten path.
I saw more wildlife here than anywhere else I've been. Deer, turkeys, bears, bobcat, partridges, raptors, song birds, waterfowl, small game of ALL kinds - it was really cool!
I rode to Cooperstown one day to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.
We had a private crawfish boil twice during the summer. Tasty little critters....
Peek-a-boo - I see you!
Pants checking in with a Catskills update! In case you aren't aware, since I retired (4 years now, hard to believe), my wife and I no longer spend summers at home in south Louisiana. They call us "reverse snowbirds" - seems about right. This summer, we chose the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. We've been here 12 weeks and I've had incredible fun playing with my toys. I thought I would share some of my favorite photos with you. As always, I brought all of my toys with me this summer:
(my wife is technically not one of my "toys", LOL)
Our ABB is in Windham, NY, and it is absolutely fantastic. Very peaceful and serene.
We love our little town, and patronize it every chance we get.
Our son and his partner live in Brooklyn and this was a GREAT place for them to visit. We saw them on 5 seperate occassions this summer, a HUGE blessing for us.
I was not surprised to learn that the pavement riding here is very good. I rode my FJR 12 seperate times for about 2,400 miles. The State highways are good, but the county roads here are a HOOT!
About 10 minutes from our ABB is a Mountain Bicycle riding area that was absolutely fantastic. All of the trails there were within my fitness and skill level, and I went there to ride quite a few times.
The Dual Sport riding here really surprised me (for the good). I got some help from the "Catskills Thread" on ADV rider, and over the summer, I discovered a lot more non-pavement riding that I enjoyed. There is a nice variety of roads to enjoy here.
I hiked all over the Catskills, and found plenty of really good trails within 30 minutes of our ABB. The hiking here is very enjoyable.
My overall plan was quite elementary. Rule #1 - no decisions before coffee. Rule #2 - after coffee, pick a toy and go play!
Most every evening after dinner, Tammy and I would walk the steet. These Eastern Newts are cute.
My wife likes the kayak. We were challenged to find lakes to paddle. Much of the water here is reservoir for NYC drinking water, and off limits for recreational use. But we did find some spots.
A couple of my FJR buddies live near here, and we got together 3 times to ride. It's always nice when the locals can show you their stuff.
There's a regional brand of ice cream here (Perry's) that is excellent.
Every day was a blessing.
We got to sit our son's dog Meeko quite a bit this summer.
That's my hiking buddy right there.
The Catskills are more vast than I imagined. As is common elsewhere, the good stuff is usually off the beaten path.
I saw more wildlife here than anywhere else I've been. Deer, turkeys, bears, bobcat, partridges, raptors, song birds, waterfowl, small game of ALL kinds - it was really cool!
I rode to Cooperstown one day to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.
We had a private crawfish boil twice during the summer. Tasty little critters....
Peek-a-boo - I see you!
