Gilbert and Doreen Arrive in NYC

Hi All…Ben here on the Hudson River,
Jeff’s good buddy Gilbert who worked with Jeff at Denso came from California with his pretty wife, Doreen, to meet us for five days of travel on the Hudson River.

They took an all night flight from LA to get to NY, but were ready to see the sights in NYC for a day anyway. The next morning we untied the lines and pointed the boat up the Hudson River in the heavy fog.It was a little exciting for a while with all the traffic of the water taxis and fast ferry boats dodging each other in the milky morning light. This is the George Washington Bridge in the foggy distance. If you squint, you might be able to see it!Gilbert and Doreen didn't seem to mind. They were enjoying the new adventure and sat on the back of the flybridge to take in the sights as the fog lifted. We passed some big boats, and some passd us...like this one... We felt pretty small next to it. Our first stop was in Newburg, NY. We had a nice walk and a good dinner at the busy restaurant at the Front Street Marina. The band played there until 4 AM!…I needed a nap the next day, but Gilbert and Doreen were up early and helping with the lines, fenders, and hookups. Here are Jeff and Gilbert having their morning coffee while Jeff outlines Gilbert's jobs for the day. (Sorry Gil. I'll bet you thought you were done with that when Jeff retired!) I guess the jobs included electrical and water hookups. We took a lot of pictures, so I’ll add a few here. This is the Captain and crew of the Izzy R for the week in their official shirts. Doreen and Gil have settled into the boating lifestyle quickly. Gilbert took the helm for a while dodging big boats and bridges. Then Doreen tried her hand at it, tooDoreen’s mom was worried about her being on a boat and told her to be sure to wear her life jacket. Here’s Doreen’s official picture for her mom. Doreen (“Reeni” to some of her friends) didn’t know if she might get a little seasick, so she was drinking ginger ale, just incase. When it was 5 o’clock somewhere, and everyone had a cocktail, she made up a new version of a martini with ginger ale and dark rum, and we named it a “Dramareeni”. Tastes pretty good!
Doreen likes me and we sometimes snuggled up on the flybridge. Gilbert became a good buddy too, but guys don't cuddle much with dogs. Here I am getting the manly version. Lucky for Izzy, Doreen likes to cook, and she and Gilbert wanted to make us an authentic Mexican dinner. So when we stopped in Kingston, NY, and moored in Rondout Creek, we took the dinghy down and rode to town where we had pizza and beer and searched for a grocery store for a few provisions to make the Mexican dinner. There were no supermarkets to be found within walking distance, but , unbelievably, we found a Mexican market a couple of blocks away with most of the required ingredients for a good dinner. Who would have thought we'd find one here?!

That night Gilbert and Doreen performed magic in the kitchen,and we feasted on fajitas, creamy beans and all the fixings. Izzy says she loves to see a man in the kitchen.

Izzy’s cousin, Aggie (yes, another cousin!) and her daughter, Dawn, and granddaughter, Tory, drove to the marina to see us. Jeff went to shore in the dinghy to bring them onboard. They joined us in the feast.I managed to sneak a piece of steak or some cheese from each of the people there, so I know it was real good! Izzy and Aggie caught up on family stuff and had a good time. I got some good petting from the girls!
The next morning was sunny and warm, and we continued up the Hudson. Doreen made us a great breakfast with the leftovers from the fiesta the night before. Yum! I hope Izzy was taking notes.

Soon we got to Catskill, NY and found a cute marina in the creek. I thought with a name like "Catskill", that there wouldn’t be any cats left there. Not so. This town has an alarming number of CATS that they have posted at each corner! If you or any of your friends or relatives in this area are missing their cat, you might want to look in this town. They may have tried to disguise your beloved feline so you wouldn’t know about their dirty deed of freezing them and putting them on posts on the street corners. Take a look at these pictures. Maybe you’ll recognize one of them. They had all been given new names to hide their identity. This one was School House Cat. And this one was "Catue of Liberty" I think this one must have been "Buick Cat" or something like that. And this giant one must have been "King Kong Cat" Here's Doreen checking to see if this one is ticklish. Izzy and Doreen posing with Racoon CatThere are lots more... if you didn't see your missing cat in these pictures you can go there and see for yourself.

I was hoping for some explanation about the poor frozen cats on posts from these two ladies at the church but they didn't understand me. They smelled good though!After a while we stopped at an outdoor cafe...I guess we all needed a drink after that grusome sight.On the way back, we spotted this little guy...finally something worth smelling in this town! Wonder what he did to deserve this. As we were sitting on the sundeck having our “Dramareenis” that evening, along came our old friend Maurice on "Quotidian" who we met at the Looper’s rendezvous. He has a cute little boat that is just big enough for him. He joined us for a drink, then we all left the Izzy R, hopped aboard his boat, "Quotidian"and went up the creek to Port of Call for dinner. In the morning, Doreen and Gilbert had to go home. We were sad to see them go, and invited them to come back anytime. I’d like some more of that good cookin’! Bye-bye Gil and Doreen…come back soon!
Now we’re heading into the part of the trip where we have to put down the radar arch to get shorter for the low bridges…..I think I feel another nap coming on…
Love,
Ben