Flugertown, no bears, 500 miles

Previous Flugertown Rd. trip, same site, same coolers, same dog.

Septembro! Time for another Flugertown road experience. Of course, these damn treatments are really inconvenient, and this one was scheduled for Saturday. The camping trip was Friday-Sunday.  I had 2 options - either go for just one day (and miss at least one person - and would have missed 2, had I only gone up on Saturday) or go up for both and drive back for treatment. We all know what I did.
Yep, I drove 500 miles this weekend. Well, just under - it's 115 miles or so, door-to-tent-door, but there was a trip to VERG, then the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (sorry, Hugh), the West Side Highway, the Palisades and then a very foggy Sullivan County Cooley Road experience where I blew right past the turn off and went all the way to Denning (5 miles) in the dark and fog on an unmarked road. I was tired, and worried - he'd just had a chemo treatment, after all, and I'd just driven 250 miles. The vets, however, were very funny when I asked if I could take him back up after chemo. "Of course!" they said. It's why we do this.

Of course, it was all absolutely worth it. Leo seemed to enjoy camping a little more than usual. His M.O. is to love it the first night, then get up early and go sit by the car. He's been spoiled by apartment life, and I think he likes the A/C and clean sheets. This time, he seemed to appreciate the fire, the generous food allowances given by the guys, and the tent (although he did not appreciate Steve's teasing!).
I was worried about 2 things - the cold, and the bears. First, the bears - we didn't see any, but we were much more fastidious than we had been last time (e.g., we actually put food away, and put the food into the cars 30 yards away). We left out empty beer cans and some food in sealed packages, but that didn't attract any furry friends. Plus, the snoring coming from 2 of our compatriots was more than enough to scare away a polar bear, let alone a usually skittish black bear. Of course, I got all kinds of grief since the last encounter - but it does seem that my caution was warranted. Tragic, but do not run from bears - it will not end well.
The cold was a concern, but my new 20 degree bag was AWESOME - not too warm, not cold at all, and comfy, new, clean, and nice. My air mattress didn't deflate (yay!) and I didn't have a fever (double yay!).  I wrapped EO up in a blanket and tried to put the bag over him a bit. He actually got up and laid on the cold tent floor at one point - he's a warm one! But he wound up on the mattress and close by - 40 degrees eventually gets rather cold.  Tragically, one of our number needed to leave because of a family emergency, and so I wound up with 2 sleeping bags on night 2 (which was warmer). Leo used bag #2, and we were toasty.
We had great little hikes first thing in the morning (7:30, both mornings... oof. We may have had a few...) - nothing crazy, but 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back, plus all the wandering around the campsite was plenty of exercise. He was knocked out all the way home - well, until we got to the city, when he re-established his position in the front seat and sat like a person. It was great - a guy in greenpoint was crossing the street in front of us and just pointed and yelled "That's AWESOME!".
It is.

Car rides.