New York - Day 20 - When we finally got to Woodstock ...

Saugerties/Woodstock KOA

Sunday, 20 May 2018

I was very disappointed to not be able to connect with my friends while they were in the area, but I suppose it happens.

Instead I drove around this general area, getting a feel for the Hudson River Valley.  One thing I couldn’t help noticing was that the closer I got to New York City, the cheaper the gas prices got.  Back in the Syracuse vicinity, regular was usually a little over $3/gallon, give or take a few cents.  That gradually went down as I drove along the road east and south, and around here it’s usually $2.85 or so.  It wouldn’t have seemed like much when I was filling up Momma’s Honda, that didn’t take more than about 14 gallons, but when the RV’s down to about a third of a tank left, I can put in 35 or 40 gallons, and that 15¢ or more difference can add up.

I liked driving through Saugerties, which you have to do to stay on Rt 9W (the road that parallels the Hudson River on the west side); it seems a nice little town, lots of older buildings and homes.

Kingston is more spread out and crisscrossed by highways.

One of the things I enjoyed most about driving around Saugerties and Kingston and Woodstock and the even smaller towns in between were the names of businesses.

   Inquiring Minds Bookstore

   Lox of Bagels

   Bread Alone (a bakery)

   Cheese Louise!

   Metes and Bounds (a real estate company)

   Transcend Dental (near Woodstock)

In Woodstock I met a man wearing a t-shirt that said: National Sarcasm Society.  And lower down in smaller letters it said: Like we need your support.  He said he got it online.

Woodstock is a village that seems to be supported almost entirely by tourists.  Lots of clothing shops, several places that offered Tarot card readings, gift shops, like that.  But it has an actual life as a town because I watched the local Boy Scout troop put out flags to mark the graves of veterans in the local cemetery.  And I was there on a Sunday, so it may be more down-to-earth on weekdays.

I hadn’t realized till I looked more closely at the map that it’s actually in Catskill Park, at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.  That would help to explain all the ferns and hostas I see growing everywhere.  Including here at the KOA park, which is 7 miles down the road from Woodstock.