Six Thousand Miles on the Road
The crew of Tin Can: Gus, Lupe, Josie, and John, Woodstock, New York, August 2021
Flash! Boom! Crash! The dark woods around the deserted boy’s camp were illuminated by a lightning storm. We had just arrived at the vacation rental house in Ulster County, New York, and were sitting in the living room of the Airbnb when the lights flickered once, then went out, and stayed out. The wind roared through the trees as we sat in the darkness around the feeble electric lantern that the owners of the vacation house had provided.
The boy’s camp turned vacation rental on Beaverkill road in Kingston, New York
The thunderstorm faded away within a half hour, but the power didn’t come back that night, and the next morning we realized that the water was out as well as the telephone, internet, and cell signal. We went outside to survey the damages.
Trees, power poles, and electrical wires had blown down, blocking the only road out of the woods, and we were trapped. This was supposed to be a family reunion of sorts. My wife Josie and I had driven from California, and our daughter, her husband, and their two children had driven up from Brooklyn to spend the week together. With no electricity, water, internet or telephone, we couldn’t stay here. The toilets wouldn’t flush without water.
By standing in the right spot in a clearing, and holding my cellphone high in the air, I was just able to connect a call to the Airbnb manager, and explained our plight. Josie was able to take a shower in the Airstream, but the extended family of six would not be able to fit in the 16 foot travel trailer!
Later in the day, a tree surgeon arrived, and proceeded to untangle the fallen logs and power poles so we could drive out, but it looked like it would be several days before the electricity could be restored.
My wife Josie and and daughter Molly drove to Woodstock as soon as the road was cleared, and spent the rest of the day trying to find a hotel in which the family could stay with our dog Gus. Otherwise we would have to abort our vacation. Molly’s family would have to turn around and go back to their tiny Brooklyn apartment, and Josie and I would need to drive back to California, 3,000 miles away!
Fortunately, the Airbnb manager found us a nice house nearby that would let us stay, so we got to spend the week together after all. At the end of the week we retrieved the Airstream from the Beaverkill house, and Josie, Lupe, and I were able to set off on our 3,000 mile camping trip, back to California. The first stop was Niagara Falls.
Lupe had never been camping before, but she loved it, especially when we stayed at campgrounds with a swimming pool. On the trip we visited Badlands, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone National Park.
I’ll post another blog next week with more of our Airstream adventures. Stay tuned.