Relocation Day

We left Saratoga for Plattekill, near the Catskills. According to leader Steve, Kill is Dutch for waterway. Today is a day of rest in preparation for going non stop from here on out.

This is a good time to explain a caravan for those of you who do not know what we are doing. If you do know, feel free to skip this explanation.


Our caravan consists of sixteen motorhomes following leaders who worked for over a year to plan our trip. These leaders are volunteers who work to develop a route filled with outstanding sites to visit, meals to relish and campsites that we can fit into. Generally the caravan is based upon a theme, this one the 400th year celebration of Henry Hudson going up the river. There are paid professionals who do these same trips for a lot of money but they are no more “professional” than our volunteer leaders. To say this is a lot of work is an understatement; but the leaders call it a “labor of love.”

We travel in waves, four coaches to a wave, so as not to obstruct traffic. Each wave leader has a map of our fairly brief route. We stay in touch via walkie talkies and cell phones. Getting lost is a rare occurrence. The first wave consists of “parkers” who are responsible for helping everyone get into their site without incident. The parkers help each other first for practice.

In addition to meals at places described in the blog, teams from the caravan take turns preparing several breakfasts and dinners. It is surprising how many great cooks can prepare gourmet meals in a motorhome kitchen. Tonight we enjoyed an Italian dinner with a large salad, ziti, meatballs, bread and an array of lush desserts, all but the desserts prepared in the wee kitchens of a motorhome.

As we go out each day to see more and more historic and cultural sites, we carpool in our tow vehicles. The leaders have set up a rotating list so that we all get to travel together at least once on the trip. This gives us a chance to get better acquainted.

We also socialize most evenings as a group, sharing libations and appetizers. Some of us arrived as strangers but at the end of the caravan we all leave as great friends looking forward to future travels together.