Day 56 – Oneonta, New York

I felt really good this morning, up until I started my usual ritual with Don; while he’s putting his shoes and socks on, preparing for our walk, I give his wrist watch a good cleaning with my tongue, just to show my high regard for him.  But this morning, I suddenly thought that I was going to upchuck my breakfast, and I frantically asked to be let outside!  Don responded quickly, almost falling out the door himself, and I found some grass to eat to settle my stomach.  Some young ladies showed up while I was self-medicating, and wanted to be introduced to me.  Ordinarily, I would respond to such requests with great enthusiasm, letting them know how happy I was to meet them.  This morning, though, I gave them a half-hearted greeting, and continued my search for more grass.  I think Don was a little peeved with me.  The grass seemed to work, though, and once we got into our walk, I was running and rolling like nothing ever happened.  Who needs Veterinarians? 

After our morning walk, Don did some routine maintenance that I preferred not to be involved in (dumping the tanks), and a few other things.  Don proposed that we do some touring today, but Geri begged off, wanting a day of rest.  So, Don and I piled into the truck and headed north on one of the State highways.  We got held up in a traffic jam because of an accident on the road, but soon we were in a very pretty town where there were a lot of people on the street, in a very touristy looking setting.  I stuck my head through the window and asked Don where we were; I was shocked and amazed to find out!  Listen up, my pal Cooper, back in Ventura!  There’s a town in New York named for you!  We were in Cooperstown!  There seemed to be a lot of kids, even adults, in baseball uniforms on the street, and there was some kind of a museum related to the game there.  We didn’t go in, ‘cause Don thinks baseball is the second most boring game in the world (next to soccer).  Instead, we drove up alongside a really big lake through some very pretty forests, until we got to a State park called Glimmerglass; where they got that name, I’ll never know.  We went first to a small covered bridge which claimed to be the oldest in the country!  We had a very pleasant walk through the trails there, then got back in the truck and went further into the park, until we reached a big house called Hyde Hall, which was really what you would call a mansion.  Turns out it was built in 1835, which is before even Don was born.  The family that owned it had a run of bad luck, and let it get into really poor shape before they finally lost it in bankruptcy.  A bunch of local people got together and raised a pile of money to buy it and restore it, which is what is going on now.  Don loves these kind of stories.  It still looks pretty good from the outside, though.  We took another nice walk in the woods nearby the mansion, and I was careful not to walk in the mud. 

We drove back to Cooperstown on the other side of the lake, which is just as beautiful.  Cooperstown has some really grand houses in it, nicer than anything in Ventura.  There must be some money in this baseball thing.  We headed back toward Oneonta through a little town called Hartwick, which is where the college used to be long ago.  We stopped and walked through the town park, and saw absolutely no one there.  Maybe they were all in Cooperstown.  We continued back toward Oneonta, and crossed over the river, which is called the Susquehanna.  It’s a pretty big river, and it goes all the way to Delaware (wherever that is) before it gets to the ocean.  Don took some pictures of it from bridges we crossed. 

When we got back to the coach, it was time to start cooking Fourth of July dinner on the grill, of course.  Don did the steaks and even sauteed the mushrooms on the grill, because we’ve run out of LP gas.  With a microwaved potato and some chilled green bean salad, it turned out to be pretty good.  My plates were superb.  As darkness began to fall, we all loaded back into the truck and drove across the river to a parking lot opposite the park where the fireworks were going to be fired off.  I know that a lot of dogs really get wierded out by fireworks, but I’ve never minded them at all.  I know that Geri and Don wouldn’t expose me to anything that might be harmful to me, so I just don’t worry about the noise.  They thought the fireworks were great, Don even thought they were better than we have in Ventura.  He liked the way the booms resonated off the surrounding hills, making an echo effect. 

When we got back to the coach, it was time to finish up the blog and hit the hay; travel day tomorrow, don’t know where we’re going, but I sure know where we’ve been!