Hi, everyone!
Last weekend, Grandpa got a repair kit and fixed the leak in Godzilla that Uncle Steven found. I helped Grandpa inflate Godzilla and Godzilla stood right up! There was a nice sailing breeze, so Grandma and Grandpa took me out for a sail. Look at how far the sailboat heels over when there’s a nice wind! I got to help Grandma trim the jib and then I helped Grandpa steer the boat. After we sail, we have to take the sails and life jackets back upstairs to the house. When we got back from the sail, Godzilla had fallen down! Grandpa says there must be another leak that we have to find and fix!
On Wednesday, we went to visit Grandma’s brother and his wife. Great-uncle Bill and Great-aunt Betsy live in the Hudson River valley, so we could drive most of the way there on the New York State Thruway. As soon as we got there, Great-aunt Betsy showed us her garden. It is very pretty! I got to make friends with the statues and birdhouses that decorate the plantings. I made friends with blue hydrangea blossoms in Japan, but Great-aunt Betsy’s white hydrangea blossoms are REALLY big!
I made more friends inside Great-uncle Bill and Great-aunt Betsy’s house. First I met Kermit the Frog. Great-aunt Betsy loves penguins and collects all things penguin, so I got to make friends with LOTS of penguins while I was visiting!
My new penguin friends come in all sizes!My new penguin friends come in all sizes!My new penguin friends come in all sizes!
Thursday morning, we went to Taliaferro farm in New Paltz to pick up the weekly supply of vegetables. I like farm markets! I made friends with lots of tomatoes and watermelons and then I helped pick some arugula to take home. The eggs looked so pretty that I stopped by the chickens to tell them what a good job they were doing!
Great-uncle Bill and Great-aunt Betsy live near a mountain range. The real name is Shawangunk Moutains, but everybody just calls them “The Gunks”! There are lots of exposed cliffs on the east side of The Gunks. We took a ride to the Mohonk Visitors Center to see them up close. The path to the visitors’ center starts at a millstone, because there used to be mills around the waterfalls. There were a lot of steps, but I made it to the top! I made friends with a black bear inside the visitors’ center. We didn’t have time to hike the trails around Mohonk, but Grandma says we can come back and do that some other visit.
After lunch, Great-uncle Bill took us on another drive. First, we stopped at a covered bridge. Perrine’s Bridge is the second-oldest covered bridge in New York state. There were big curved beams inside to support the walls and roof! This bridge was built in 1835 and hasn’t been used to get around for a long time. It isn’t even connected to a road anymore, but the Thruway goes over the Wallkill river right next to it!
Grandma wanted to see The Walkway Over the Hudson, so we went there next. This used to be a railway bridge over the Hudson River, but now it’s for people, not trains. There’s a pretty gate at the end. We walked right to the middle of the bridge, and I could see a long way away, even without the binoculars! There was a warning about bad weather posted, but we had sunshine. Grandma said it was perfect weather for a visit. Because trains used to use the bridge, there are still train tracks at the end. There was even a caboose parked on the rails. I had fun pretending I was the train brakeman!
On Friday morning, Great-uncle Bill took us to another railroad trestle that has been converted for people. The Rosendale Trestle was the highest one in the eastern United States when it was built for trains. It feels higher than the Walkway Over the Hudson when you’re on it! The railings are new, but they’re made out of a kind of steel that’s designed to rust to a pretty color. From the trestle, I could look down and see Rondout Creek. It’s a lovely view!
After we walked on the Rosendale Trestle, Great-uncle Bill drove us along the course of Rondout Creek all the way to where it empties into the Hudson River at Kingston. There’s a sandy beach there, with lots of seagulls! From Kingston Point Park, we could see the Rondout lighthouse. Guess what? There were more train tracks! These rails are still used for the tram cars from a museum in Kingston. First I made friends with the rail switch that lets trains change tracks. Then I made friends with the rail at the very end of the line!
Grandma and Grandpa and I drove back to Sodus after lunch on Friday and spent the night there. Today it’s raining! We were lucky to have such good weather for sailing and our trip this week!
Love,
Lion-san
The sail boat ride was neat!
I asked Joe-san why we missed seeing the covered bridge when we were on the thruway today and he said we didn’t go down the Hudson River section of the thruway. Your new penguin friends look cute!