July 31st 2016
Yorktown Height, NY |
Last day of July and I’m still here. Of course, I’ve got good reason to be held up, but I still would have loved to finish NY in a month. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t a race, I have no schedule and I just have to enjoy what comes my way.
First I need to back up to yesterday. I forgot to write about something I had mentioned briefly on my personal Facebook Timeline.
Yesterday an email arrived from someone I did not expect to hear from for quite a while. Her name is Jes and she is the owner of Sandy. For those that are recent friends and followers of this blog; Sandy is or rather was my 1978 VW Bus. This blog began literally on my way to the airport to pick up Sandy in Reno, NV. Here is the very first post: I bought a bus
When I put Sandy up for sale to help pay for Lexie’s cancer treatment, Jes had contacted me on her. Jes had been looking to live aboard a sailboat like me and like me, she went from boat shopping to looking at VW Buses. Like me, Jes bought my bus, but I had asked her to contact me if she ever put it up for sale. True to her word, Jes did just that – yesterday. If I were still living in Vermont, I would have bought Sandy back. Lexie and I had a wonderful time traveling in Sandy and I will admit, traveling around in a VW Bus is a blast.
I was sad that I could not buy Sandy back, but told her I would help her in anyway I can to sell it though I don’t think she will need it. Sandy is a prime example of a classic 1978 VW Bus Westfalia Deluxe Edition. I mentioned in my Facebook post how I would give anything to go back to that time where Lexie was riding Shotgun with me across the country in Sandy. That’s when a friend posted a reply that struck my heartstrings.
Debbi Washburn is an old High School friend of mine. When people think of friends, we tend to think of people we see and interact with daily. People often discount the friends you make on-line or stay in touch with on-line as not real friends. Debbi proved them wrong. I admit I don’t know Debbi well outside of Facebook, but she proved she is as good a friend, with an in depth knowledge and understanding of my relationship with Lexie as anyone close to me. Her reply touched Arlene, Lexie’s Mom, and I, profusely. It brought us both to tears.
Here is Debbie’s reply:
Think about it… Lexie wasn’t as adaptive to water as your are – the bus was meant to be …. at that time…and that is why you didn’t find a boat so you and her could adventure. It also kept you on land at the right time to take care of her the way you did – that wouldn’t have been possible in the middle of the ocean or who knows where in the world… now it is time to move forward to this new adventure – she is with you always in a way that allows you to enjoy this trip for all that it throws at you and she can be there and not be afraid… It is good to see the freedom of your spirit!
Debbie is completely accurate. Kayaking was not Lexie’s favorite activity. When Lexie’s bone chip, which I had implanted under the tattoo, came out during this expedition, Arlene joked that Lexie never liked kayaking. It’s true; she tolerated it to be with me. It was the motorcycle that she loved riding and if I had been out sailing when the cancer struck, it would have been horrible. I truly was in the right place for her at that time. I would have never done this kayak expedition with her.
Debbi, Thank you for your understanding and clarity about Lexie. Your reply truly touched Arlene and I.
Sandy will soon have a new owner and I will need to continue paddling forward, forward to a new life without her. This journey is about learning to live without her. I cannot go back, I must go forward.
Ok, now for today. Today. Yesterday I replaced the tent and today I needed to replace the dry bags. I would have done that yesterday too, but that proved an impossible task.
One would think that dry bags keep things, well, dry. That would be incorrect. There are dry bags that will keep the contents dry when its simply raining and the bags are not sitting in any puddles or water. Then there are dry bags that will keep things dry when they are sitting in water. Think about a hiker walking through the woods in a rainstorm with a dry bag strapped to their back or inside their pack. This is the dry bag that just about every retailer sells. That is fine for hikers, but when these bags are sold to kayakers, where it is known and expected for the bag to be sitting in water, well that is just wrong. This is what prompted my need to replace my dry bags.
I was lucky that the store where I got the other dry bags took them back, but I now needed to find Hydraulic Dry Bags and that proved to be very difficult. For days I have been calling around and looking online. I didn’t want to order them, as I don’t know my re-launch date. It could be tomorrow or it could be Saturday. It all depends on weather and tide.
One thing with dry bags is that you want different colors so you know what is in each. I was only able to find one 20-liter bag of one color. That would be quite confusing when trying to figure what gear was in which bag so I kept looking. Yesterday evening, after calling many other retailers, all of whom exclaimed they stock dry bags. All of which I had to explain that if they read the packaging carefully, they are indeed, not dry bags.
I finally found Gander Mountain’s web site that displayed what I needed on their website, but when I called the stores, I was told they didn’t have them in stock. When I reached the Kingston, NY store I was told they had them in stock. Yeah! I then asked the person to tell me which sizes they had. I don’t know what sizes we have. I just know we have dry bags. Uggh! OK, can you please go look and tell me exactly what dry bags you have there? After another long wait, the person comes back and says they have both the 20-liter and 30 liter. Perfect! Which brands are they? I don’t know, I didn’t look. Uggh. This went on for a little while longer and I never did learn which bag they actually had in stock. They told me to look online, which I had, but the bag online would not pull up in their computer. I gave up and figured I’d try again this morning with someone else.
This morning I tried again and it was worse than yesterday. Now I had to wait 15 minutes (watching the timer on my phone was agonizing as it clicked off minutes) before someone even picked up the phone so I could ask my question. Like the day before, I could not get them to simply tell me what bags they had in stock – make, model and quantity. After 30 minutes I gave up and tried again. Same thing. I tried talking to a store manager and he explained they are simply too busy. Just come to the store. I’m an hour and a half away I explained. I asked him, can’t you tell me by looking at your computer? No, not unless you give me an item number. I tried that. I’m looking at your web site and yet you say the item doesn’t exist. I gave up.
I want to note that this was not the experience I had with Eastern Mountain Sports at all, nor West Marine. Their service was much better, but they didn’t have what I needed. I tried calling more stores and one by one, I was striking out.
Finally, I called this store in Beacon, NY I found Mountain Top Outfitters by searching for kayak dealers rather than camping supplies. They were the fourth kayak dealer I would be calling. The girl answering the phone knew exactly what I was talking about. Within a second, she was back on the phone telling me everything I needed to know along with how many they had in stock. I was afraid to ask the next question. I’m an hour away; can you hold them for me? SURE! I could not believe my ears. I found a store closer than Kingston that had knowledgeable staff and was friendly and helpful?
I waited for Arlene to return as she had Real Estate appointments this morning. I was excited to get up there. When she arrived back to her house, we took off 
for Beacon, NY to Mountain Top Outfitters. As we drove up, I recalled paddling by a kayak rental rack just past the Newburgh Beacon Bridge about a week ago. We arrived at 144 Main Street and I looked at this little storefront in downtown Beacon and I could not believe that this is the place that had what I needed. Walking through the front door, I was immediately impressed. This little place was jam packed with high quality gear. From Paddle Boards and Kayaks, to accessories for both, camping, hiking and I am sure a whole lot more. There on the tiny little counter lay my items, held aside just like they said they would do. I browsed around this shop like a kid in a candy store. This was a gem, a hidden gem. A gem I was so glad to have found and support.
I eventually met the owner, Katy Behney and after a brief conversation, she gave me a nice shirt and a deal on my gear to help support the expedition. You don’t get this kind of service from the big chains. You don’t even get this kind of inventory. The folks living in and around Beacon, NY have a real gem of an outfitter here. Looking at their Facebook page, I see they are the ones who do the kayak and paddleboard rentals on the Hudson. They will even give sunset tours, even if you have your own kayak. I am glad I had so much trouble with Gander Mountain because that is how I found this wonderful little shop today.
After leaving Mountain Top Outfitters, Arlene and I decided to get dinner in Beacon. It seemed like a wonderful little city and I’m glad we got to experience it. The heavy rains arrived while we were eating and the roads quickly began to flood. Back in the car, Arlene took to getting us home in this horrible weather while I took to, well Sleeping.
Tomorrow I’m going to get busy re-outfitting the kayak and one more shopping trip now to resupply my food and then I am ready for re-launch. I’m itching to get back on the water. Excited to start meeting more people, and seeing more places.
Day 30 Done
