Don & Sandi at "home", back in the Stockton area.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Atlantic City

Hi.

Today (Friday) we visited Atlantic City, New Jersey, and its famous wooden boardwalk.  The boardwalk is over five miles long.  No, we did not walk the whole thing...but we could have (not).  It was a warm and muggy day and we were tuckered-out after one mile...and the one mile return trip.   The boardwalk is a lot like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in terms of games and shops, but more like a flea market (read that as "not as nice as the Santa Cruz Boardwalk").

Of course on this boardwalk, there are extravagant hotel/casinos spaced along the walkway...and those are some high-end places!   (We got really "wild" and gambled $5 on a 25-cent slot machine...and walked away $5 poorer.)

The beach is quite nice with a lot of shells piled-up in spots on the beach.  We finally got to dip our feet into the Atlantic Ocean...cold water, but not Santa Cruz cold.


Bye for now.
Don & Sandi

Orange County Choppers (Newburgh, NY)

Hi.

On Thursday we left the New York area headed for our New Jersey campground.  From that campground we will visit Atlantic City (20 miles) and Philadelphia (70 miles).  We will then head to Washington, DC for a week or so.

As we left our New York campground yesterday, we decided to visit the Orange County Choppers (OCC) retail shop since it was only 25 miles away.  OCC is, of course, the motorcycle shop of "American Chopper" fame on the Discovery Channel...and now part of the TLC channel's "Senior vs. Junior: American Chopper" show.

It was fun to walk around the store and view a lot of the motorcycles on display that we have watched being built on TV over the years.  While in the store, we saw a sign that pointed to, "Workshop - public viewing".  So, we walked over to a hallway at the back of the store...and lo-and-behold, there was the OCC shop!  I didn't know the actual shop was a part of the retail store building...yippee!

From the viewing hallway, you can watch the guys work through picture windows.  They cannot see the viewers and there is a screen mesh that blocks the view a bit...but we were able to clearly see them working on a bike, just like on TV!  Two TLC cameramen were filming while the guys worked.  No, we didn't get to see Paul, Sr....but we did get to see Rick, and Mike (bald guy), Christian (red-bearded guy), and Jason (computer designer guy).   Seeing Rick at work was, well, "way cool"!

That's all the news for now.
Take care.
Don & Sandi

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New York, NY

Hi.

Today we took a 10-hour bus tour to New York City from our campground about 45 miles away from downtown NYC.   We started the tour by visiting Times Square, which is a very happening place...BUSY!

We then drove to Wall Street; and we walked from there to Ground Zero, location of the former World Trade Center towers.  It was a moving experience.  The new Freedom Tower is rising from the WTC area, although neither of the two new buildings being constructed will rise from the precise location of the former Twin Towers.  That specific area will become a National Memorial Park and museum in memory of September 11, 2001.  The new buildings and memorial are scheduled to be completed in 2013.  

We then drove back over to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River and took the ferry to Ellis Island and then to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.   What an impressive symbol of freedom!

We hit the road again tomorrow as we head to Philadelphia and then to Washington, D.C.

Take care.
Don & Sandi

Monday, September 20, 2010

Boston

Hi.

First, a shock absorber update...we actually had both shock absorbers replaced on the front of the motor home at a truck/RV repair shop, just "coincidentally" less than two miles from our campsite.  We were on the road by 1:00pm on Monday.   Yippee!

Now, about Boston...what a beautiful city!  We took the "Bean Town Trolley" for a 2-hour around-the-town tour to start our day on Sunday.  We then visited the North Church where, back in 1775, two lanterns were lit and displayed in the belfry to advise Paul Revere that the British were moving "by sea" (one if by land, two if by sea).   Mr. Revere then galloped off on his famous midnight ride.  We didn't go into the church because there was an actual church service being held when we arrived...and one of us wasn't dressed for church (Don!).

We then visited Paul Revere's house just a couple of blocks from the North Church.  We then hiked over the bridge to see the oldest commissioned floating warship in the world, the USS Constitution.  She is a spectacular and beautiful ship.  She is also called "Old Ironsides" (as you may or may not recall, cannonballs fired by an enemy British frigate during the War of 1812 just bounced off her wooden sides).

We then returned to the harbor area and took a 45-minute harbor tour on one of the ferry boats.  We then had a lovely dinner near the harbor...and headed "home" to the RV.   We were exhausted.

We are in a campground in Connecticut and we will head to New York, NY tomorrow for a few days.


Take care.
Don & Sandi

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