We arrived at this Casino connected RV Park on the Oneida Nation land outside of Utica located just a mile down the road from the main casino and hotel location. We got a nice long site in the very pleasant park that had many sites for campers, trailers as well as motorhomes. Rain followed us here and made the site very wet and damp. We had plans to see our friend Greg from our Ameriprise days while here but also just relax a bit. Our first day was spent scouting out the large Casino and its numerous restaurants. We sampled one for lunch and were pleased with our choice. We are not gamblers but have found several nice RV Parks colocated with the casinos.
The next afternoon, we visited with our friend – showing off the motor coach to him for the first time – the next afternoon followed by dinner in the Casino’s Harvest Buffet. The following day we had a fabulous tour of the Adirondack Distillery – a small downtown Utica distillery making an array of liquors but with bourbon production as their primary focus. Our tour guide was a staff member since the distillery began about five years ago. His breathe of knowledge and commitment to quality and excellent products was obvious. One of the co owners arrived while we were there and I realized we had previously crossed paths in our former lives in politics. We both agreed it was great to be on the sidelines these days.
Dinner that evening was at a Greek restaurant with a long history of community involvement and commitment as well as delicious traditional Greek delicacies. On Friday we had a fabulous brewery tour at Utica Club or Saranac as it is also known. The brewery is still owned and operated by the original Matt family founders and has survived numerous economic situations but continues to make quality beer and soda products.
That evening we spent relaxing and enjoying dinner at home. Our older Yorkie, Lenny seemed out of sorts and began throwing up that night. He never does that so we wanted to keep an eye on him. We retired for the night with him still not doing well and agreed to take him to the vet in the morning. Around 5am he woke us up very sick – vomiting and diarreha with bright red blood visible. We now had an emergency to deal with called the local vet who directed us to the East Syracuse Veterinary Hospital. We arrived and after examining Lenny they recommended we take him to Cornell University Veterinary Animal Companion Hospital in Ithaca as he needed an ultrasound and serious emergent care. With an IV for fluids to prevent dehydration we bundled him off to the world renown animal hospital. They greeted us at the door, they admitted him immediately. It was obvious he was a very sick baby. We were told quickly they wanted to keep him until the vomiting stopped and his digestive tract calmed down. After three days Lenny was on the road to recovery, diagnosed with severe Hemorrhagic Gastro Enteritis – a sometimes fatal condition if not diagnosed properly. We are eternally grateful to both veterinary facilities for their superior care of Lenny, our dear family member. Sent home with antibiotics and detailed report on his illness we were hopeful of his return to normal soon. We will do a follow up visit at the Banfield Pet Hospital in Newburgh in a week. This experience highlights an important aspect of traveling with your dogs – finding and getting good medical when necessary. We have hadVPI Nationwide insurance and now have the Banfield Optima Wellness plans for them so we can get care at any Banfield. We think this has worked out well although we are considering a catastrophic coverage plan after the expense of Lenny’s illness. Taking good care of your pets is just as important as caring for each other and we make it a priority. We made a few itinerary adjustments so he could have some quiet time to recover and headed to Saugerties/Woodstock KOA.