Rhinebeck Hangover part 2

I've been busy knitting mittens the past few days and haven't had a chance to come back. That is another story. On to finishing my Rhinebeck adventure.

Last post, I left you wondering if we found sleeping accommodations. Please note, if you happen to have any of the names I call "Sam" the GPS, it's not meant as a personal insult to anyone.

We headed out from the Mobil Minimart on the local's vague directions and me caffienating. The only thing I remember is stay away from the Sunset and head out on Route 9 to the Catskill Motorlodge. Looking now on Google maps there is 6 different Route 9, maybe more. If I had a map in front of me, I would have saw that. Instead, all we have same "Sam" blindly leading us in the dark night. What I hate most about Sam is that all she shows on the screen is a road heading straight ahead. It really reminds me of the old Atari Night Driver game. (I'm showing my age)

We ended up on a long detour through the town of Hudson. Mom had programmed Sam with the name of the Motorlodge. On regular road travel, if there is a town nearby, Sam will take on a tour circling through it. We saw a nice diner, but Mom wanted to find lodging first. We will later wish we stopped at that diner first.

Thoroughly lost, Mom now programs Sam for home. Yes, Rochester. I said, sure, we're bound to find an empty motel before we get to Albany. As we cross the Rip Van Winkle bridge, Mom remembers the local mentioning the Motorlodge just on the other side. On the corner of an intersection we see a Motel with a vacancy sign. It looked like those motels in a 1950's movie, with a fenced in pool.

From here we felt like we were starring in our very own Twilight Zone episode. I had thoughts of Lovecraft entering at any moment. The owner was an older Indian (India) man, who said he was giving us a discount as it was the last available room. However, there were only a few cars in the parking lot. All night there was just a few cars. The room was clean with one double and one single bed, a tv with cable and free wifi.

We unloaded, called home, then set off in search of food. There was a pizza and sub shop across the street, but after a day of fast food, we really wanted a good meal. It was just after 7pm, by now. There is a gas station connected to the motel via a small road between parking lots. Mom stopped to ask the attendant (also Indian) if there was a nearby diner. He looked at us suspiciously and asked, "Why, you no like pizza?" We later joked they probably owned the pizza place as well. He said, all he knew was that there was a Wal-Mart down the road to the right, to left he had no idea, as he never went that way.

Feeling still adventerous, we went to the left. We saw plenty of nice motels and a bed and breakfast with vacancy signs, bar and grills and a McDonalds. Mom didn't want to eat in a bar so we opted for, gag, McDonalds. It was very clean, the staff very friendly, but the food was awful. Those were the worst Big Macs ever. The special sauce tasted like mayonaise mixed with a ton of mustard.

Back at the motel, Mom takes the twin in front of the tv, and I chat on Plurk for awhile. Sometime during the night, I dreamt Mom finally bought me the EZ Bake Oven, and it was big enough to put me in. Yeah, it got that hot during the night and the control was in a dark corner, we found during the light of morning. It was so hot that when I headed out in the frosty morning for gas station, it felt really good. Mom told me, around midnight a guy and a girl from rooms on either side of us, met in front of our window and had an hour long screaming match. I snored through it.

The morning view was nice.



So we headed back over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge with Sam programmed for Rhinebeck. She took us through the town of Hudson tour yet again. I asked Mom if really wanted to continue with "Sally Joe" or just buy me a map? Mom said, Sam was offended that I changed her name and didn't trust her.



Once in Rhinebeck, we had breakfast at Pete's Diner, on the advice of a couple women standing on a corner. It was crowded as the food was good. This town reminds of Spencerport or Brockport. I would love to get a small shop here, live in one of the lovely old homes.

View from Pete's Diner.



On to the last day at Rhinebeck. First thing, the wagon showed up as we got to that area, so we grabbed the chance to take a free ride. I think it's pretty cool the woman controls the horses. It's a really great idea with those leather poop pouches, but I wouldn't want to be the one cleaning them at the end of the day



An interesting sign above the ATM, pointed out to us by the lady behind us in line.



The German Angoras being shorn.



The Kromski's drool. At another booth I was standing gazing at the Kromski Symphony when the owner asked me if I wanted to give it a spin. I declined, though when almost insisted the second time asked, I caved. Not having spun in public before, my mind turned to jelly. Once I got going, Mom had a hard time tearing me away. I love my Babe, because it's mine. However, that Kromski was like driving a Rolls Royce after being used to a Ford Taurus.

Of course, I drew a bit of a crowd. Mom took a video of me spinning. The trick will be how to get it from her. She's not computer savvy.



Skaska Designs has very impressive space. I could pull up a cot and just live there amongst all the lace and the yarn. My daughter asked if I would buy her a shawl pattern if I found something good. That wasn't hard to do in this booth. She promptly ran off with pattern and laceweight before I could take a picture. She picks up Duck every evening so one these days I'll tackle her for it long enough for a picture.



Mom really loved the music by this band and bought two cds, which played on the way home.



With all the knitting on display and mountains of wonderful yarn, a person could easily spend a few thousand dollars. I tried hard to use restraint.




Philosopher's Wool was there and the displays were stunning in person.



By 2:30, two days of more walking than I do with weekly shopping, my cane was having a hard time holding me up. Due lack of sleep from the night before and exhaustion it Mom 9 hours to make the 5 hour drive. I felt really bad and wished I could help with the driving. Once the sun went down, I impressed, amazed and entertained her with my talent at knitting a sock in the dark.



Due feeling unwell, being busy doing stuff and just a bit of laziness, I haven't taken pictures of the loot. I will get to it eventually. In the meantime you can see all the pictures I took in this folder.