The past two weeks have been vacation for me (between school and camp) and I must say I enjoyed it immensely! Besides for celebrating our anniversary and having an interesting emergency room episode, my first week, this past week was really chock full of action and fun.
Sunday we joined Nooch with his son and daughter at a Yankee game. The Yanks are really doing badly this year, and they lost this game as well, but we nevertheless had fun cheering and screaming from our usual seats way up in Shamayim. Then we ate dinner by the Langsners where we saw C and M along with the rest of Nooch’s family.
Monday I met a bunch of very special Hashkafah.com women in Central Park. It was a gorgeous day and a wonderful experience meeting some new friends while seeing some olds ones too. I always enjoy my ride into the city, and the beautiful weather actually encouraged me to walk most of the way from CP to Penn Station (nearly 2 miles!)
Tuesday was a sad fast day, and also a day that we were preparing for our big trip —
to the Catskills!!
And that’s where we spent Wednesday through today.
I’m not going to go into too many details about our fun little vacation but let’s just say it was a great way to experience some new things while going down memory lane with my best friend. Although there are some new stores and camps, for the most part, the ‘country’ is vastly similar to the one that I spent so many years growing up in. Some of my fondest memories are just spending time hanging out in Ganz Resort, and than later in Camp Sternberg, although I don’t even know what we did all day!! It was just such an ideal time, living with nature, and spending all day outside, with barely a care in the world.
It’s certainly a different experience coming as an adult. The first thing that struck me was how quick the ride took. About 2 hours from Far Rockaway to Monticello — an hour shorter than our usual trips to Lakewood! As a kid I always thought we were going to the moon when we went to the country. I also realized how shabby everything looked. Now, I’m not spoiled, by a long stretch. But these bungalows are really gross. I don’t know how adults put up with it! I also realized (and this is my husband influence) how much money some of these places make just over the two summer months. One night we went to eat pizza at the former Fialakoff’s pizza store. The place was PACKED! A bus from Camp Shira had pulled up with about 40 staff members all waiting to just dump their money for pizza and fries — what a treat from the usual camp food! The $$ was barely fitting in the cash register by the time it was our turn! I guess the biggest difference I felt coming as an adult was the freedom we had with our car. I remembered how locked in we were to the Shortline Bus Outlet, and relying on rides when we were in camp – no MTA service up there! It was a pleasure being able to just go and come as we please.
Anyway, very quickly on some of the things we did:
- Wednesday:
Visited my good friend Laya, her bungalow colony was right near Monticello. Since it was raining, we checked out the Monticello gaming place. I actually got lucky with my second (and final) $20, and managed to walk away from the machine with $35! 
Than we did a little horseracing betting. I bet on 7 and Adiel bet on 3, but #4 won. It was kind of cool to watch (we were inside) and we decided to try the same horses once more. THis time it was a lot more exciting, with both our horses racing for the front. And #3 won!! We walked out with 5 times the $ that we bet ($25 for $5), so we just about spent nothing that afternoon. Later, we wanted to make a barbecue (we had brought up a full cooler of meats and ice) but it started to rain. So we ate dinner at the Shwarma King, very yummy, and Adiel caught a Mincha-Maariv while I shmoozed with Laya. Than, we stopped by Mountain Fruit, which was right next door to the hotel we were staying at. Wow, have they upgraded their supermarkets! They sold every type of food, including fresh bakery stuff and sushi! Brachs, move over! We got some nosh and headed back to the hotel.
- Thursday
We were very happy when it was somewhat sunny in the morning, as we planned the Delaware for that day. We mamash passed by Sternberg on the way, but despite the 10 years I spent there, I don’t know a soul now and decided against visiting. The actually canoeing was nice and relaxing, not quite as exciting as I remember it but still enjoyable. We stopped in the middle to eat lunch. Unfortunately, Adiel wasn’t too generous with the sunscreen and burnt his arms and legs! 
. After a shower and rest, we decided to try for the barbecue again, but first I wanted to visit my old colony, which was about half hour away. We took the long route through all of our old stomping grounds – South Fallsburg, Fallsburg (camp Jep!), and Woodbourne. Wow have these places shrunk since I was a kid! There are literally 10 stores in Woodbourne, and still it’s the place to go! Unfortunately, as we were nearing Loch Sheldrake, the skies once again opened up and the rain started pouring. There was thunder and lightning and it was scary to even drive! When we got to Ganz (which also looked exactly the same), it was still pouring and we opted against going out to tour and take pictures. Still, Adiel listened patiently and actively as I waxed poetry about barns, salamanders and bungalows from a kid’s point of view. Of course, barbecueing was out that night too, so we went to the Pizza store (where we met the whole Camp Shira) instead. We shmoozed with the owner – who believe it or not – comes in with a couple of her married kids from Israel every year to run the store!
- Friday
As Friday was a short day, and the roads were full of traffic, we opted against doing anything too major. We did go to camp Romimu to visit Rabbi and Mrs S. They were their usual warm and wonderful selves and showed us their 2 room mansion while we shmoozed. Then, we went to visit one of the biggest attractions up in the Catskills – Walmart!! Adiel needed a Shabbos shirt (his was in the cleaners) and I needed a couple of things so we went to one of the frummy hangouts to buy our wares. After a couple of more slices of pizza (at Pizza D’Pie — accross from Kiamesha Lanes) we were on our way to our Shabbos plans. But I will stop here and let you all comment while Adiel describes the Shabbos we had.