Austin to NY

After enduring a long hot dry spell in Austin with many 100+ degree days, we left for Canada on July 8th. Hurricane Dennis was headed for the Gulf coast so we had to make a change in our route to avoid the evacuation traffic but we made it to Gainesville, GA without incident and the hurricane ended up causing much less damage than first feared. Gainesville is home to Cindy's family and we spent a lot of time catching up. Bill, Cindy's brother, cooked smoked pork and trout for everyone on two different occassions. Here's a picture of the Miller crew.

From left to right: Cindy, Bill (Cindy's brother), Hope (Cindy's sister), James & Kristina (Cindy's neice), Susan & Neil Miller (Neil is Cindy's nephew) with their daughter Avery, Cindy's Mom, Bobby (Cindy's other nephew), Cindy's Dad, and the good looking one on the end is me.

Then it was on to the Highlands - Cashiers area of North Carolina to visit Clint and Marilyn Price. What a beautiful place they have in the mountains with the added bonus to experience some cooler temperatures. Clint was a great tour director and we hiked a nice trail and got to know this wonderful area Here is Clint by Dry Falls (the waterfall that was in the movie Last of the Mohicans).

From NC we went on up to visit friends Harry Clark and Millie in Durham, NC and catch up with them and then on to Northern Virginia to restock. While there we visited Harpers Ferry and the Antietam battlefield (the bloodiest 1 day of fighting in the Civil War - 22,500 dead and wounded). Harpers Ferry was far more interesting than we expected. Here's a pic of the old town of Harpers Ferry.

From Virginia we drove to just outside New York City in a very nice park, right on the Hudson about 25 miles north of the City. You'd have never guessed it and it's been a great experience. We also visited a retired 3M'er and his wife (Tony and June DellAngelo) who took us to West Point and a wonderful Italian restaurant that evening.

Croton Point Park where we parked the 5th wheel - hard to believe the heart of Manhatten is only 25 miles down the Hudson. New Jersey Palisades on the right.

West Point - history, tradition and beauty wrapped up in a promitory overlooking the Hudson River. View on the left is of the parade grounds, the housing, and the chapel. Middle is inside the chapel and the right is from Trophy Point, looking north up the Hudson River.