road trip -- day 2

You can see one large spot on the left side of the pic. And look at how red my left eye is. I’m still thinking bug bites. What’s the point of a selfie if you can’t see where you are?

Saturday I was up and out at 7 am. The first walk was at the Walkway Over The Hudson, a converted rail bridge. If I had one, this was a bucket list walk. The group walk wasn't until 10 but I went much earlier. I didn't want to do the group walk for several reasons. First, I wanted to pack in Val-Kill (Eleanor's house) and the Vanderbilt Mansion as well. Also, I knew I would walk slow. I learned in Canada these people walk fast. Even in the slow group.

There were signs from the highway pointing to the walkway, but they kept changing. WTF is that about. Consistency in signage is what it makes effective. I finally arrived at the Poughkeepsie end of the Walkway and couldn't figure out where the hell to park. It's in the middle of a neighborhood like mine. The street parking was very restricted, there had to be a lot somewhere. And where was the trailhead? I probably drove in circles for a half hour. I finally saw some walkers cross the road and watched where they went. It was a path thru a construction area. I circled around again and found a parking spot, and walked back to that spot. I walked the path and there it was a parking lot and a trailhead. How to get into the lot is still a mystery.

The Walkway is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It's about a mile and a half long.

Like most elevated "parks" the walkway had signage telling all about the history of the bridge as you walked. There were a few places with the quarter binoculars, benches, etc. It does allow dogs which surprised me. It was a nice walk. It was long. I was really happy when the other end came into view. I  wouldn't want to do it in the summer sun. You'd bake. It had great views of the Hudson. The Highland side is where I should have parked. It had obvious lots and a huge trailhead. It was not in a residential neighborhood. The 5K was across the bridge and back. The 10K included towns.

After returning to Poughkeepsie, I drove to Val-Kil, Elenor Roosevelts cottage. It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of the building. The trees blocked everything. During her marriage Val-Kil was a furniture factoryemploying women and run by Eleanor and her two best friends. After FDR's death she had the workshop converted into a home and moved in there. She had hated living with her mother in law and never felt that was her house. 

But what was interesting is this house had the same feel as the big house.  This glass in the front door (used as a back door) was a gift from an artisan friend. Much of the furniture was furniture that had been made in the old workshop. And again, if there was one chair, there was a dozen in each room. The house was donated to the park service after her death. (FDR's mom was strong, independent, domineering ... sound familiar.) There were trails on the grounds including one called Eleanor’s Walk. It was only a mile. But the clouds looked pretty threatening.

Then I went to the Vanderbilt mansion. The mansion was designed to show people how rich they were. These Vanderbilts only had 2 generations of money so they had to really work to be accepted into society. To be rich in NY society you needed a minimum of three generations. This was a spring and autum house. Only used maybe 12 weeks a year. If you were invited to stay women had to bring six changes of clothes per day, and men four. You never saw your hosts until dinner.

the main stairway

the skylight in the foyer

the back staircase

Now I love a rich persons mansion or a castle with the fancy furniture, gold, art out the wazoo, etc. But even when gaudy it was tasteful and looked like it belonged together. Not my taste, but I’d enjoy my stay. This house was ostentatious, gaudy and just plain ugly…like they shopped at Renaissance garage sale. Their interior designer picked everything and had it shipped from Europe. Price didn’t matter. Every piece of furniture looked uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine living there or even spending one night there. I had trouble being there a half hour.

The earlier clouds had disappeared by the time I arrived there. But storms were supposed to be developing in the afternoon. It was getting cloudy again.

While in the parking lot, I looked at google. What else could I do? I clicked on "attractions" and the first thing that I hadn't already seen was a lighthouse. Cool. It turns out there was three. The furthest was 45 minutes away. I was on the road again.

I arrived at the lighthouse and the clouds were getting darker. But the roads were wet so I figure the storm had already been thru. It was a half mile walk to the lighthouse. At one of the boardwalks the sign said that the path floods during high tide. Goodie. The dirt changed to sand and soon you could see the lighthouse. When I stepped out of the woods the winds were really kicking up. There was a lot of people there. They stayed. I didn't. The clouds were getting black. About a third of the way back it started to drizzle. By the time I got back it was a downpour. I got soaked. My umbrella and raincoat were in the car.

The other two lighthouses were a washout. Maybe if I wasn't alone or wet, I would have explored further. Google took me to an abandoned parking lot for the first one. The lighthouse was in the water. I did not see it anywhere. The second time Google took me to a private yacht club, instead of a public beach. There was a dinner at 6, and I had to meet the Tesla at 5:30. I gave up and went back to the hotel. I walked about 14K in total Saturday. 

My three national park visits were free. They were covered by my America The Beautiful Pass. I bought it when we did the Long Branch, NJ walk in 2019. On the way home we stopped at the Sandy Hook National Park to visit the lighthouse. We had to pay a fee to park. The toll taker told us we should get the pass, it was only maybe $25. So I did. This was the first time I used it. I’m glad I bought it.

I arrived at the hotel, went to my room and all my stuff was gone. I went downstairs. The desk clerk said I didn't book for two nights, just one, but my key worked. Hmmm. They tried to call me several times but were not using my number. They used the 3rd party number. I ended up booking a second night, probably at full price (I checked, yep.), and went back to my room and unpacked again.

I will not use an app again alone. It was a nightmare. I will not use a Red Roof Inn again. They were rude and not customer service oriented. The sheets were scratchy, and there was three different floor surfaces which was odd in the middle of the night. The wi-fi sucked. The soda machine was broken. But the ice machine worked. I asked for a receipt when I checked out and they didn't give me one. They'd email it. It has yet to come.

When  I went to bed my face was bad. I blamed it on the scratchy sheets. Sunday I was up early. My face was now worse. I thought about going to an urgent care, but went home instead. I skipped the last walk in Connecticut and the one I planned to do in Milford. I just wanted to go home.

So I did. I almost made it home in time to go to my shelter shift, but I had called off from it. Besides, I was scheduled to put together water filtration kits at the church that night. I picked up Sharon, and she audibly gasped when she looked at me. Half my face was bright red and some was oozing.

In the morning I went to urgent care. They gave me Methylprednisonlone. I have to take it for three days. The rash is gone. Mostly. Only the scabs remain. But last night I had a A-Fib attack at 2 am. Are the two related? God, I hope not. I don’t want to go back to square one.