We went south for a week to Fishkill, south of Poughkeepsie, to help Hank (a buddy from the hills of Ojai, CA) clean up and get his mom's house ready to put on the real estate market. She passed unexpectedly a month ago.

So we packed up our gear and picked up Hank at the Albany airport and worked 12 hour days to get the house done. I'm cleaned while the guys tore out carpet and staples (the entire house with the exception of the bathroom had carpet). Then they installed stick down tile in the kitchen and Phil buffed and coated the hardwood floors.

We didn't get to see much of Fishkill or the surrounding towns as we mostly went out at night for dinner. Hank fed us well ( I think we gained a few pounds while we were there). It was great to see Hank but we definitely needed to recoop for a few days!

We did get to see an unusual sight.....two red fox with white tips on their tales where playing in the back yard around sunup the first morning we were there. They were fun to watch. And I did get this great pic of a great bug I've not seen before. Hank thought it was a locust but I haven't looked it up.