Terry and I had an...interesting short trip over the last few days.
Thursday we left the Aerie in two vehicles. Terry drove the Aveo and I had the Winnie Access as we headed to Camping World in Bath to have the shower caddy replaced (part of our purchase agreement) and to pick up a dolly to haul the Aveo behind the Winnie. We also asked that they repair the power cord that hooks the Winnie to either the campground's power or to the generator. (The plug on that cord was separated from the heavy duty insulating portion of the cord exposing the smaller wires.)
We sat for nearly three hours while they fixed the cord and the shower and wired the dolly to be connected to the Winnie. We finally got things hooked up in the Camping World lot, put the Aveo on the dolly and headed down the road toward Corning and the Watkins Glen KOA. The wiring connecting the Winnie and the dolly seemed a little strange to me, but I let it go.
We never got to the KOA. As I pulled off Route 17 in Corning, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke pouring out of the left tire of the dolly. I jumped out of the cab of the Winnie as the driver of the semi behind me did the same. We met at the dolly and the trucker said he thought the bearings or the brake had seized up based upon the smell. I agreed. We had gone only 25 miles. Terry and I went another eighth of a mile on Route 414 to a place that was safe to pull over and called Camping World. They sent someone out with a trailer to take the dolly back to the shop and try to figure out what was wrong.
While we waited for them to arrive--something that took almost two hours--Terry and I took the Aveo off the dolly. (The hubs of the dolly were still hot to the touch.) That's when I really noticed how screwed up the wiring was. Instead of cutting the wires to a reasonably short length, the installer had left them very, very long and used zip ties to attach them to the undercarriage of the Winnie. I thought I might have to cut the wires to unhook the dolly. So I left them for the guys from Camping World to see what had been done. The lead man on the rescue squad was an assistant manager in the service department and his jaw dropped when he looked at the wiring. Then he crawled under the Winnie and cut the zip ties hauling the ball of wires out from underneath. Now we could simply unplug the dolly and leave it with them.
Terry and I went on to the Watkins Glen KOA Camping Resort--in two vehicles. We checked in and set up the Winnie. Then headed up to Watkins Glen to have a scrumptious dinner at Seneca Station (Captain Bill's) in town. Nice steaks, seafood and strong alcoholic beverages...which I needed. The rest of Thursday night was uneventful. (Although we just can not get the bloody TV to work properly despite following the directions in the owner's manual. All I get is an "unusable signal" message.) The campground was quiet and peaceful and we slept well.
Friday I was expecting a call from Camping World all day. Something that would tell me what was going on with the dolly. But I wasn't going to hang around in the campground waiting for it. They had my cell number. Terry and I had planned to hit a couple of places on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.
We ended up going to just one winery--3 Brothers' -- and the Finger Lakes' Distillery. We've been to the 3 Brothers' before. The Brothers were not able to agree on the type of winery they wanted to operate--so they have three wineries at the one site. One is somewhat formal (Stony Lonesome), one used to be a somewhat risque 1920's (Passion Feet)--although they've opened up the shop area more with a loss of ambiance, and the third is Bagg Dare which is modeled after a Louisiana Bayou hangout. The last two have rather humorous names for their vintages. All three have very, very good wines. Apparently the brothers can agree on one thing for they also have a micro brewery on site--The War Horse--modeled in 1940s WWII style with several beers and ales available as well as root beer. We ended up buying three and a half cases of wine and some beer.
We stopped for lunch at Ginny Lee's at the Wagner Winery on Route 414 before driving to the Finger Lakes Distilling. They make some wonderful vodkas, liqueurs and whiskeys. We got a couple of bottles of liqueurs and a bottle of bourbon.
Then we went to walk a bit in Watkins Glen before heading back to the campground. I made a couple of calls to Camping World but my calls were dropped by weak signals and/or directed to answering machines. As the end of the working day arrived I had learned nothing about the condition of the dolly.
Friday night, the campground was more crowded, but our area was still quiet...until someone's car alarm went off at 2 AM. It took them several minutes to realize that it was their car, find the keys and then get outside and get it shut off. Having several hours of solid sleep, I had some difficulty getting back to sleep.
Saturday morning dawned with on and off showers. After breakfast we broke camp draining the black and grey water tanks, unhooking the water and power. That's when I found out that the plug attached to the power cord was incompatible with the generator's outlet. Another thing that needed to be corrected ASAP.
When we headed out, I was going to Camping World to see about the dolly and get the plug fixed, Terry was going to go home. We got as far as Route 17 in Corning and were heading west toward Route 15 when I got a phone call from Camping World. "We've figured out what went wrong and got your dolly repaired but need you to bring your camper in so we can check one more thing out." "Not a problem," I said. "I'll be there in less than 30 minutes." Then I called Terry to tell her to head to Camping World.
At Camping World, they checked the wiring on the Winnie and confirmed that the problem was with the job done on the dolly. They had replaced the brakes AND the bearings. The service manager apologized profusely and wanted to know what he could do to make it right. We ended up getting an auxiliary brake controller installed. This little project took a little time so Terry and I went to lunch.
Once again, we had everything hooked up in the Camping World lot and we headed home to the Aerie. For some reason, the stupid Aveo's alarm kept going off as we drove along. (It hadn't done that on Thursday.) Terry kept her keys in hand and repeatedly pushed the buttons to kill the alarm. We got to the dirt road on which we live and the alarm didn't go off once despite all the jouncing and bouncing along the way. I pulled up to the driveway and parked on the road so Terry could take the Aveo off the dolly and park it. I backed the dolly and Winnie into the driveway, separated them and parked the Winnie so we could unpack.
With the dolly and auxiliary brake, we're ready to go on our next adventure. Hopefully it will not include any mechanical failures.
Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Another Wine Tasting
We hit the sauce again today.
Terry and I joined Gary and Anya at another wine tasting. This one was to a single winery on the shores of Keuka Lake just outside of Penn Yan. It included both an educational session delving into the way wine is made and the way its flavor changes as it matures from vat to barrel to bottle and an excellent selection of hors d’oeuvres and desserts. It was the Keuka Spring Vineyards' "Holiday Barrel Tasting".
Excellent wines and a fun time. We came home with a case of Chardonnay's, Merlots and whites at a sizable discount.
Terry and I joined Gary and Anya at another wine tasting. This one was to a single winery on the shores of Keuka Lake just outside of Penn Yan. It included both an educational session delving into the way wine is made and the way its flavor changes as it matures from vat to barrel to bottle and an excellent selection of hors d’oeuvres and desserts. It was the Keuka Spring Vineyards' "Holiday Barrel Tasting".
Excellent wines and a fun time. We came home with a case of Chardonnay's, Merlots and whites at a sizable discount.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wine Tour in the Finger Lakes
Six different wineries and a great brunch at Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY.
Wow. What a day!
We stopped at six different wineries along the shores of Lake Seneca during today's bus tour. We started at Castel Grisch outside Watkins Glen. At each of these places we got to sample up to six different wines. In some cases, Terry and I were able to taste even more by selecting different wines as our personal taste and then sharing the each other's sample. Most of the wines we were given were quite sweet with residual sugar content over 3.0% but there were a few drier wines as well.
In a change of pace, I found some of the sweeter, fruitier wines quite good while Terry leaned the other way. Normally, I'm the one who like the dry reds but not today.
We found a few wines at Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and Torrey Ridge. In all Terry and I came home with a little more than a case of wine but I'll be able to add to that quite easily since the route I take to and from the Bolt Hole can/will take me past these and many other wineries on the east and west side of Lake Seneca.
Wow. What a day!
We stopped at six different wineries along the shores of Lake Seneca during today's bus tour. We started at Castel Grisch outside Watkins Glen. At each of these places we got to sample up to six different wines. In some cases, Terry and I were able to taste even more by selecting different wines as our personal taste and then sharing the each other's sample. Most of the wines we were given were quite sweet with residual sugar content over 3.0% but there were a few drier wines as well.
In a change of pace, I found some of the sweeter, fruitier wines quite good while Terry leaned the other way. Normally, I'm the one who like the dry reds but not today.
We found a few wines at Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and Torrey Ridge. In all Terry and I came home with a little more than a case of wine but I'll be able to add to that quite easily since the route I take to and from the Bolt Hole can/will take me past these and many other wineries on the east and west side of Lake Seneca.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wineries galore!
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes topped with fresh picked raspberries, Terry and I bid adieu to the three cats and headed up to Seneca Lake in our new Jeep Compass.
Despite Terry's working on the Clean Lakes program of the USEPA, she hadn't been to either Watkins Glen or Geneva since she was a little girl on a family vacation. We had our Wine Trail Guide Map for Seneca Lake in hand and I pointed out all the vineyards and wineries as we drove north along Rt 14 while she read the descriptions out loud. Once in Geneva, we drove around the streets a bit to admire the old buildings and then ducked over to the northeast corner of Seneca Lake to make our first stop at The Three Brothers' Wineries.
The Three Brothers' wineries off 96A on the northeast side of Seneca Lake includes three distinctive wineries (one for each brother) and a microbrewery that produces some excellent beers--including a yummy root beer. The wineries operate on three different levels, each purported to be indicative of the brother who owns/runs it.
There's the rather ritzy, and straight laced Stony Lonesome up on the hilltop with its merlots, rieslings, cabernets, etc.
Down the hill and on the other side of the parking lot is the somewhat more risque Passion Feet where the wine list includes Seduce Me, 90 Seconds of Heaven, Earn Your Beads, Scandelicious, Hold Your Own, Take Me Home, Barefoot Lovers, Heart Pounding Crush, and Backseat Bounce. (BTW The interior looks nothing like the one at the link. They got rid of the peppermint stripe pink and made things more of a Moulin Rouge. More in style with a place one might go for a clandestine rendezvous.)
Follow the gravel path north out of the parking lot and into the woods, pass the rusted out old truck (or two), skirt the pond and you'll come upon a large wooden shack. You've reached Rogue's Hollow. The wines here included Well Hung, 69 Ways To Have Fun, Stoned and Lonesome, Lonely Seaman, Ride'er All Night, Dog's Head Red. Gaitor Bait, Two Banger, and Skirt Lifter.
(Heh, brother #1 at stony Lonesome must have some issues.)
Then there's the War Horse Brewery: Reisling Ale, American Black Lager, East Coast Amber Ale, Raspberry (!) Wheat Ale, and the Iron Fireman Rootbeer.
For $8 per person you can get a "passport" at the Three Brother's complex that allows you to sample six wines/beers at each of the four stops. We got two passports and we each got to order up half the wine list in each winery--then we shared sips. As a result, we each tasted just about every wine on the lists. Then we bought four different bottles from each. They were that good. Besides, there's a 20% discount for a case of 12 and you can mix and match from the three wineries' selections.
As for the War Horse brewery...Terry doesn't care for beer. Her grandma owned a workman's tavern on the border of Linden and Elizabeth, NJ back when she was gorwing up and she used to go over and help clean on Sunday mornings. The smell of stale beer and more still makes her turn green. I, on the other hand, found all the samples excellent. We came home with a growler (roughly 1/2 gallon) of the East Coast Amber Ale and one of the Iron Fireman Rootbeer.
When we finally got back to the Compass, it was time for some vittles. Man can not live on wine, beer, crackers and peanuts alone! So it was back to the west side of Seneca Lake to the Fox Run Vineyards on Rt 14 in Penn Yan. There we learned we had just missed the Garlic Dinner held earlier this week but that the Garlic Festival (August 1 & 2) was around the corner!
We sampled their gourmet sandwiches and salads (excellent if somewhat higher priced than they need be) and then tried a couple of the wines from the complimentary side of their list. Of the six or so we tasted, We settled for bringing three bottles home.
We made one more stop on our way south on Rt 14 at the Earle Estates Meadery. I picked out three bottles that sounded good. (I stopped sampling by then having had more than enough.) A Traditional Honey Mead that was a prize winner, a Gold Medal Blueberry Bounty wine, and a Pear Mead made their way into the Compass and back to the Aerie.
Technically we stopped at four wineries, a brewery and a meadery. There are dozens more along the shores of Seneca Lake. Then there's Cayuga and Keuka Lakes.... I can see the trick of this wine tasting shtick is to 1) swallow very little and 2) don't buy (or at least don't buy more than one or two bottles at a time).
It's a good thing we have company coming up from South Carolina next week. And that Lorraine like to have a glass or two of wine before bed time.
Despite Terry's working on the Clean Lakes program of the USEPA, she hadn't been to either Watkins Glen or Geneva since she was a little girl on a family vacation. We had our Wine Trail Guide Map for Seneca Lake in hand and I pointed out all the vineyards and wineries as we drove north along Rt 14 while she read the descriptions out loud. Once in Geneva, we drove around the streets a bit to admire the old buildings and then ducked over to the northeast corner of Seneca Lake to make our first stop at The Three Brothers' Wineries.
The Three Brothers' wineries off 96A on the northeast side of Seneca Lake includes three distinctive wineries (one for each brother) and a microbrewery that produces some excellent beers--including a yummy root beer. The wineries operate on three different levels, each purported to be indicative of the brother who owns/runs it.
There's the rather ritzy, and straight laced Stony Lonesome up on the hilltop with its merlots, rieslings, cabernets, etc.
Down the hill and on the other side of the parking lot is the somewhat more risque Passion Feet where the wine list includes Seduce Me, 90 Seconds of Heaven, Earn Your Beads, Scandelicious, Hold Your Own, Take Me Home, Barefoot Lovers, Heart Pounding Crush, and Backseat Bounce. (BTW The interior looks nothing like the one at the link. They got rid of the peppermint stripe pink and made things more of a Moulin Rouge. More in style with a place one might go for a clandestine rendezvous.)
Follow the gravel path north out of the parking lot and into the woods, pass the rusted out old truck (or two), skirt the pond and you'll come upon a large wooden shack. You've reached Rogue's Hollow. The wines here included Well Hung, 69 Ways To Have Fun, Stoned and Lonesome, Lonely Seaman, Ride'er All Night, Dog's Head Red. Gaitor Bait, Two Banger, and Skirt Lifter.
(Heh, brother #1 at stony Lonesome must have some issues.)
Then there's the War Horse Brewery: Reisling Ale, American Black Lager, East Coast Amber Ale, Raspberry (!) Wheat Ale, and the Iron Fireman Rootbeer.
For $8 per person you can get a "passport" at the Three Brother's complex that allows you to sample six wines/beers at each of the four stops. We got two passports and we each got to order up half the wine list in each winery--then we shared sips. As a result, we each tasted just about every wine on the lists. Then we bought four different bottles from each. They were that good. Besides, there's a 20% discount for a case of 12 and you can mix and match from the three wineries' selections.
As for the War Horse brewery...Terry doesn't care for beer. Her grandma owned a workman's tavern on the border of Linden and Elizabeth, NJ back when she was gorwing up and she used to go over and help clean on Sunday mornings. The smell of stale beer and more still makes her turn green. I, on the other hand, found all the samples excellent. We came home with a growler (roughly 1/2 gallon) of the East Coast Amber Ale and one of the Iron Fireman Rootbeer.
When we finally got back to the Compass, it was time for some vittles. Man can not live on wine, beer, crackers and peanuts alone! So it was back to the west side of Seneca Lake to the Fox Run Vineyards on Rt 14 in Penn Yan. There we learned we had just missed the Garlic Dinner held earlier this week but that the Garlic Festival (August 1 & 2) was around the corner!
We sampled their gourmet sandwiches and salads (excellent if somewhat higher priced than they need be) and then tried a couple of the wines from the complimentary side of their list. Of the six or so we tasted, We settled for bringing three bottles home.
We made one more stop on our way south on Rt 14 at the Earle Estates Meadery. I picked out three bottles that sounded good. (I stopped sampling by then having had more than enough.) A Traditional Honey Mead that was a prize winner, a Gold Medal Blueberry Bounty wine, and a Pear Mead made their way into the Compass and back to the Aerie.
Technically we stopped at four wineries, a brewery and a meadery. There are dozens more along the shores of Seneca Lake. Then there's Cayuga and Keuka Lakes.... I can see the trick of this wine tasting shtick is to 1) swallow very little and 2) don't buy (or at least don't buy more than one or two bottles at a time).
It's a good thing we have company coming up from South Carolina next week. And that Lorraine like to have a glass or two of wine before bed time.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Pickles: Check
Weather: Check, we got it
Wine tasting: Planned
Six pints of bread-and-butter pickles in the jar, sealed and ready for storage. No need to use them right now for while the pickles and onions were soaking under ice and salt, Terry went out an picked four more cukes, two zukes and a passel of string beans. That will make another quart of the latter for the freezer.
As for the cukes (there will be more tomorrow) Terry has a refrigerated pickle recipe she wants to try out. We might need more pint jars before that can be attempted, however.
******
Managed to slip up to 72 degrees today when there was a break in the clouds...for about 15 minutes. The rain, too, slackened off although radar showed it all around us. We must live on a magical mountain or something. Storm clouds frequently break up and veer to either side of us. Still, we should get some more rain over night. I don't expect the temperatures to fall much, either. The system is coming from the southwest which usually means slightly warmer air. They've even changed the temperature forecast for tomorrow. Now the high is supposed to reach 80 degrees under a mostly sunny sky. (Still below the average high for the date and far better than being in the 90s!)
Speak of the devil. Just as I'm getting ready to post, the rains returned.
******
Time for a day-cation. There's no bird watching planned, so we're going to take the day off tomorrow, something easy to do when you're retired, and go wine tasting. The Finger Lakes of New York are surrounded by vineyards and we're going to sample some. I've had my eye on a few along Rt 14 between Watkins Glen and Geneva on the west side of Seneca Lake. Terry's visited some folks over by Keuka Lake and there are scores of wineries along the shores of Cayuga Lake between Ithaca and Seneca Falls. We'll probably stop at five or six, sample some wines, buy a few bottles and have lunch at one of the wineries that has a cafe or bistro.
Should be fun despite my having absolutely no idea what I'm doing at a wine tasting. I enjoyed our little sojourn into the Napa Valley a few years ago. I may have no nose and faltering taste buds but I do know what I like! Terry, on the other hand could tell you if some one dropped an errant clove in a vat of curry two miles away--against the wind. And if you want to protect your secret recipe? Do NOT let her have a taste! Even if you insist on Vicks Vaporub smeared under her nose she will chemically (or is that herbally?) analyze your dish with 99% certainty, recreate it accurately and then improve upon it! That probably explains why she likes the sweet wines and I like the "pucker your lips" dry wines.
Oh well, there's a hard cider mill up there and a meadry that just beckons every time I drive by. Tomorrow I won't be driving by.
As for the cukes (there will be more tomorrow) Terry has a refrigerated pickle recipe she wants to try out. We might need more pint jars before that can be attempted, however.
******
Managed to slip up to 72 degrees today when there was a break in the clouds...for about 15 minutes. The rain, too, slackened off although radar showed it all around us. We must live on a magical mountain or something. Storm clouds frequently break up and veer to either side of us. Still, we should get some more rain over night. I don't expect the temperatures to fall much, either. The system is coming from the southwest which usually means slightly warmer air. They've even changed the temperature forecast for tomorrow. Now the high is supposed to reach 80 degrees under a mostly sunny sky. (Still below the average high for the date and far better than being in the 90s!)
Speak of the devil. Just as I'm getting ready to post, the rains returned.
******
Time for a day-cation. There's no bird watching planned, so we're going to take the day off tomorrow, something easy to do when you're retired, and go wine tasting. The Finger Lakes of New York are surrounded by vineyards and we're going to sample some. I've had my eye on a few along Rt 14 between Watkins Glen and Geneva on the west side of Seneca Lake. Terry's visited some folks over by Keuka Lake and there are scores of wineries along the shores of Cayuga Lake between Ithaca and Seneca Falls. We'll probably stop at five or six, sample some wines, buy a few bottles and have lunch at one of the wineries that has a cafe or bistro.
Should be fun despite my having absolutely no idea what I'm doing at a wine tasting. I enjoyed our little sojourn into the Napa Valley a few years ago. I may have no nose and faltering taste buds but I do know what I like! Terry, on the other hand could tell you if some one dropped an errant clove in a vat of curry two miles away--against the wind. And if you want to protect your secret recipe? Do NOT let her have a taste! Even if you insist on Vicks Vaporub smeared under her nose she will chemically (or is that herbally?) analyze your dish with 99% certainty, recreate it accurately and then improve upon it! That probably explains why she likes the sweet wines and I like the "pucker your lips" dry wines.
Oh well, there's a hard cider mill up there and a meadry that just beckons every time I drive by. Tomorrow I won't be driving by.
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