Monday, August 30, 2010

Weekend in Newburgh/Woodland Valley

We went up to Newburgh again on Saturday and signed a lease to an apartment on Montgomery Street/Grand Street! It needs a little work, but it is a great temporary roost while we work on our house.

After signing the lease, we drove up to the Catskills and camped at Woodland Valley.


Eddie set up the tent as I read the New York Post. We'd only bought it for kindling, I swear! But I didn't want to waste all that print.


Starting and keeping the fire going is my job, and I take it seriously:


We bought corn, fruit, potatoes, tomatoes and an avocado from a farmer's market stand on the way up and went to the grocery store for a rack of ribs and two pieces of steak. We only stayed one night!! But we feasted.

The next morning we packed everything up and started on a trail next to the camp site. We only hiked up for an hour and picnicked on a large stone slab. There were chipmunks running around storing their acorns, and Eddie saw a one-foot long baby snake. It was slithering off the trail, but Eddie thought he could get it to curl around a stick. When he tried to prod it onto his hiking stick, the baby snake coiled up and struck the stick. Its fangs made a knocking sound against the wood. I started running down the trail back to the car, but Eddie took some photos. Google informs us it may be a baby timber rattlesnake, nearly extinct, but lives in the Hudson Valley region and loves the exact kind of forest we were in. Lots of chipmunks to eat and slabs of stone to sun on.


Lots more dangerous adventures when we move up in September!

3 comments:

  1. Aw, I wanted to go camping this summer, but not possible. Hopefully next year! Loving your adventures!

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  2. Wow, you guys, I thought our groundhogs were badass!! :D

    Congratulations on finding an apartment. What a relief!

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  3. Anna- Maybe there can be a rattlesnake-groundhogs battle in your yard! Or maybe we can transport all the groundhogs to Woodland Valley.

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