October 4, 2009. Day 77 Long Island and our new friends.

On Sunday, October 4th, we left our campsite and drove through the Holland Tunnel, into NYC and then out on to Long Island. Kevin wanted to take us to the house he went home to after being born and to see the Atlantic Ocean. We drove quite a while before we got to Jones Beach. Kevin remembers going there when he was 13 or 14 while visiting his aunt and uncle for a summer. We walked out to the board walk and then to the beach. Andrew and Daniel took their shoes off and let the waves chase them. They loved getting their feet wet. The water was quite cold though. We left the beach and starting driving again while Kevin called his mother to get an address for their old house. She told him it was quite a ways behind them and we realized we didn’t have enough time to go there and make it to the Mets game we wanted to see. We decided to just go to the game instead. Kevin has been to 27 MLB Parks and the Mets have a new stadium he really wanted to see plus Rachel had really started liking going to see the games too. Before the game the boys were able to get their baseball gloves signed by a Houston Astros ballplayer. The weather was great that day for the game which was the last day of the regular season. We all had a good time. The drive back through the city took a lot longer in the afternoon then it had earlier in the morning. After getting back we found a nice little Italian restaurant, Café Ripazza, where we had dinner. Kevin really wanted some Sunday pasta like his mom used to make. That night, while Kathleen was doing laundry, Kevin met a couple in our campsite that were also from Albuquerque. They were on a year-long trip around the United States, like we are, in an RV like ours. Even though they joke that they are not doing anything like visiting all the capitols they are hitting all the roller coasters that they can and doing many other fun things. After talking to them a while Kevin found out they also have a special needs daughter, like we do. We had so many things in common with them it was eerie. Kevin invited them to spend the next day with us in New York City and they said they would love to. All this happened before Kathleen had even met them.