Northport Family Fun

Hi All...Ben here again,

I'm not sure which one of these two geniuses planned the trip, but we went through "Hell's Gate" today on purpose. I would have tried to avoid that one if I were planning, but luckily we got back out of there somehow. We came to it all of a sudden after we left the Hudson River and went up the East River against the current for a side trip to the Long Island Sound. There was a part where the water swirled in all directions trying to get our boat to go down one of those whirlpools. But Jeff drove the boat skillfully and we made it out of there safely. Other than his hair standing on end like this, he seemed pretty calm. As usual, he said "Izzy's hair's on fire" when she got nervous about the currents there (I think that's a "Hell" thing.) but I didn't actually see any flames or smell any smoke like when she burns the toast.

We had a goal to get to Northport, Long Island for a fun-filled Farabaugh get together (Izzy's wild and crazy relatives). You remember BJ and Brian from our Fort Lauderdale days (Here's a picture of BJ with his "hair hat" with me) ...well, there's a whole big family of BJ's and Brian's in Northport. That's where their family originated, and the little town is full of Farabaugh and Ramonetti relatives. Many of them are named "Jim" or "Jimmy" or "Bob", "Rob" or "Robby" so I'm pretty confused, but they were all real nice to dogs, so I had a great time. They're all cousins of Izzy and all have a twinkle in their eye and a generous and welcoming hand to their extended family. They like to have a good time too and have parties, so the combo was really great!

Rob is on the police force in Northport, so he came by in his police car and arranged that we could tie our boat at the city dock for a couple of nights. Who was going to argue?! Here's a picture of the dock and it's BIG tides as we approched.We had fun trying to get off the boat without falling in! Rob's fiance, Kelly, is a dentist in town, so he also arranged an appointment for Jeff and Izzy to see her for a..... sharpening or something....? Not sure what they do there....Here's a picture of Kelly and Rob. It looks like they both have great sharp teeth.

Anyway, we were met at the dock by a welcoming party of a dozen "cousins" to help us tie up and get settled in. We went to a local pub in the charming downtown for a cold brew and then to dinner at the restaurant where cousin Jimmy works.

The next day I had a special appointmet at the vet to have a little work done on my private parts. I had this nice little growth coming along down there, and it was starting to get big enough to get the attention of many of the lady dogs in the marinas. I guess Jeff was jealous or something, so he made arrangements for it to be "snipped". Go figure...

That night cousin Mary Ellen and Bobby came over for dinner on the boat, while I recooperated.

This was followed by a larger gathering of extended family for drinks and laughs after a cold and rainy day of golfing.

Here are Christine, Mary Ellen and Linda the boat with us.I think the guys were in the engine room!

I just pretended to sleep so I wouldn't have to show my stitches to anyone.

Everyone had a good time and after a while climbed off the slippery boat in the rain. Mary Ellen almost took a swim due to her short legs and the long jump to the slippery dock with the tide change. Luckily she's flexible and strong, and has thumbs to hold on to the rails. (I wasn't so lucky if you remember the canal story from January in Fort Lauderdale!)

The following night cousin Jimmy and Geri hosted a barbeque party at their house in their beautiful back yard for us to see a whole bunch of the family all at once. They had real good food. Here are Geri and Kelly cooking up a storm. They played a putting game that Jeff won so he got to keep all the dollar bills.Here are some more pictures from the party:

The three bros - Gene, BJ and Jimmy Jeff with another Jimmy having a juicy burger BJ and Nancy came from Boston greet us Cousin Gene and Sandy with family Nancy hamming it up More cousins...Jeff says Izzy has more relatives than anyone he knows! I think she's real lucky.The next morning Mary Clare and Jimmy jumped on their Harleyand met Izzy and Jeff at Sweet Mama's along with Nancy and BJ for a belly stuffer breakfast.

We're leaving Northport and all "my" relatives now, and going across the Long Island Sound to Connecticut today to meet up with some more friends. I'll let you know how that goes next time. Till then, I'll just be here letting my bottom heal up.Bye Northport cousins... thank you for all the fun!

Love,

Ben