Woodloch 2025: sequel 35..

I intended to capture all the magical Woodloch moments live, on a daily basis,  before coming back home  to reality, but my energy level had other ideas,  so let me try to not forget the unforgettable and recap all the highlights with the hum of the clothes dryer as background accompaniment..

If I try to recap EVERYTHING that was special and unique, I'll be glued to this keyboard for a year..until the next trip.

(and I'm perfectly fine with that.)

Can nirvana be described with just mere  prose??

I'm never sure, but I'll give it a go. 

The minute  you exit your car on arrival day, the  very moment you inhale that mountain air, you are alive--the high fives exchanged  with virtual strangers who feel like lifelong friends  are endless, the smiles are reciprocal, the excitement is immeasurable, and you say to yourself:

"I'm here"

"I'm home."

"I'm happy."

This particular pilgrimage rates as one of the best--shared by family with my DNA and family without my DNA.

I don't like thinking about my final moments on this planet(and yet..here I am!) but when I do, I will not be reminiscing about seeing Mt. St. Helen's on a cloudless day or snorkeling with exotic fish on the Great Barrier Reef.

(I've done both..plus many more exotic trips) 

Yes, it's comparing apples to spatulas, but I say this yearly to on the fence folks considering a Woodloch trip but reluctant to pay the price:

 "On my deathbed, I will feel like I financed the experience with Monopoly money. I can't compare budgets for a European sight seeing tour to this, but I will anyway. My final memory will be of my brother's grandchildren rolling in a vat of jello during "Double Dare", laughing contagiously. Of my friends pooling our collective brain power to solve a challenging puzzle.

My final word is  likely to be "Priceless."

My final memory will be of Lake Teedyuskung, and then I can have a very peaceful eternal rest. 

Let me share some specifics to avoid sounding cliche, starting with Monday's arrival.

 There was a heat wave and our rental home wasn't quite ready, so we unpacked our carry on bags, grabbed our suits, and dove into the lake that refreshed both body and soul. We came to the surface to enjoy the picturesque view..the picture perfect painting of puffy white clouds and shimmering blue sky set against the majestic green Pocono mountains.

A couple of squeamish guests exited the ripples when sighting a gentle garter snake, but I just felt a connection with Mother Nature. I'm grateful that we could share life with all her miraculous creations, from squabbling chipmunks (for real!! They almost got into a fistfight in our driveway!) to deer who bravely would trot across the parking lot: to horses on the horse drawn carriage ride, doing what horses do. Even the elusive mouse who took up residence by the fireplace in our immaculate house rental, with mattresses that made you feel like you were sleeping on air..even those critters were welcome.  I didn't see the water snake as a venomous cobra or the field mouse as a city sewer rat; I only saw furry faces looking like they wanted to put jeweled combs into my hair.  Like they wanted to personally help my find the hidden Mickeys in the Disney Game.

The "So You Think You Know Music" game proved that we apparently do, as we Boomers identified songs from Queen and ABBA, and the millenials took pride in knowing their hip hop.

For some reason, Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" and Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" have been on a constant loop since then. It makes me happy.

If you can't find something for everyone during a Woodloch vacation, then you're  not looking and  you're probably as blind as the field mouse who sought shelter in our home.

I experience intense VICARIOUS pleasure: if it was all about making MYSELF happy, I'd be dragging the family to a "Gilmore Girls" convention. 

This is a place for everyone..where every individual activity becomes spirited teamwork. 

Every dinner is a dinner party.

There were too many daytime highlights to mention here, but I'll mention a few, like the cleverly designed Lake Games, offering six silly but often athletically challenging events that paid homage to icons like Harry Potter and Super Mario.

Our family arranged for a scenic boat tour, all twelve of us with our different ages and schedules and activity preferences. It is often tough to coordinate but we all showed up--on time. My hilarious great nephew was so concerned that we'd literally miss the boat that he shouted out to the captain , "Captain!  One of the passengers is still in the bathroom, and my Aunt doesn't want my Daddy to make us miss our turn!"

(Yes, he's seven and used words like "captain" and "passenger.")

If anyone eye witnessed this, you can see why our matching t-shirts all read, "Karen..Calm Down"

We loved the challenging brain games like "The Floor" and "The One Percent Club" and our personal favorite, the newish "Generation Gap" game.

We loved guessing outcomes of actual jury trials, led by Randy, dressed in his judges' robe and grey wig, inspiring us to create clever team names with a law-related theme, and making us laugh at our collective cluelessness.  I can't tell you what was the loudest, the laughter in the room, Randy's gavel, or Randy's booming but natural speaking voice.

The little ones of course wouldn't be interested in predicting  verdicts, so they'd spend their time on bumper boats and bumper cars and go-karts.

We grown ups were saturated with pride as we were handed the much coveted Gold Medal during the Scavenger Hunt, even when we misheard Joey describing his "boggle puzzle" as a "bible puzzle.".

We still coordinated our phones, all set to google everything  we'd need to know about Sansom and Delilah.

If you've ever been to Las Vegas or Broadway, then you're familiar with the caliber of Woodloch's theme show.They're as enjoyable at the  s'more  you just roasted over the open campfire under the strung lights before you entered the nightclub.

This year's show was the best we've seen since we first started coming here in 2004. It was called "The Grand Slam of Entertainment"  a unique salute to EGOT winners, with dazzling costumes and lighting and high kicking dancers and singers who will undoubtedly  receive their own personal Tony in the not too distant future.  My Boomer brother and his ten year old granddaughter loved the show equally..a rarity indeed.  Swifties don't necessarily follow Sinatra, but here, they make it work..filling everyone's ears, hearts, and souls.

Be on the lookout for a band called the "Party Crashers" with their sexy but family-friendly male dancer and his impressive costume changes. Their show was titled "Guilty Pleasures" a salute to all the songs you hate to admit to loving, but that didn't stop a night club full of people from shimmying theirs butts off to these  songs with crackling voices and uncoordinated bodies that would make a choreographer look for a new career.

The entertainment for the final night is absolutely superb, the staff's gift to guests that recapture the week, (my husband, daughter-in-law, and friend were all shown in the video) and a personal mention  to our tight-knit group, the Woodloch Pickles, who've been coming to the resort the same week for nearly two decades. Our team's shout out was a  swarmy  unforgettable honor. 

Speaking of our Pickles group, our last night tradition causes sleep depravation that we gladly pay for the following day. We find a private corner and continue generating fun with a new boxed game that one of our members is bound to hear about sometime during the year.

We got to witness the smart and clever side of our group, whether we're playing a fast-paced round of "Catch Phrase" where hilarity ensues, or breaking in something new this year, a game for film aficionados called "Rotten Tomatoes."

Arthur won the game as well as our hearts.

He and his wife Linda arranged a surprise for our newlyweds..a special announcement over the loudspeaker and a lit up cupcake delivered by an enthusiastic set of  singing servers.

It was such a surprise but then again..it wasn't.

 This is who they are..their whole group is made up with thoughtful, generous folks who started off as Woodloch teammates and ended as friends for life.

 Woodloch plants the seeds,  the friendships bloom naturally.

Woodloch Pines.

Just when you think it can't get any better, it does.

It always does.

And it always will.

Can two retired married folks..?

A world of sleeping in, sipping coffee while completing a challenging crossword puzzle, checking the clouds to see if it pays to don a bathing suit or if the pool is bug and/or leaf-free enough to go in..

Welcome to my world..and now, after forty-eight years of giving AT&T his blood, sweat tears, and brilliance, Jim's too.

Can two retired married folks cohabitate without driving each other crazy?

(That's stealing and paraphrasing  the opening bit from "The Odd Couple", plus I'VE been basically retired since birth)

We're either going to turn into Felix and Oscar, George and Martha(the volatile couple played by Burton-Taylor (in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?") or Romeo and Juliet.

I'm thinking a combo of all of the above.

Happy retirement to my amazing husband..I am so proud of you!  Your coworkers sing your praises at the loudest volume as they proclaim what I already know from real life:  "Jim doesn't stop until the job gets done.  He solves every problem...and if he can't figure out how to do so, he won't stop until he uncovers every piece of the puzzle"

Your smarts, perserverance, and commitment have made you a top notch bread-winner, an excellent provider that has opened up a world for me, your lucky wife, and Evan, our blessed son.

I promise to spend the next chapter teaching  you how to nap, how to laugh, how to read the headlines without having a cardiac incident.

We can be that old couple who never talks about physical ailments or GI issues or forgetfulness.

Too late:)

Looking forward to travel and laughter and driving each other up a wall that Mexico is going to pay for.

I'm so proud to be your wife... sending you lots of love and pride...(during Pride Month!)

Now let's have some fun....

Bada.. Sing..

Woke Up This Morning..Got Myself a Gun...

Yeah..like THAT earworm's ever leaving my brain.

Once again, we Amsters make a last minute decision to do something spontaneous, and it turns out to be an incredible night of entertainment.

"Sinatra Meets the Sopranos" wasn't heavily advertised, but when Jim told me our choices were this unknown or the new Karate Kid movie, I chose the unknown, and was more than a little pleasantly surprised..I was, in fact,  enthralled.

The night started with neighborhood guy Michael Martocci(Evan knew his son from grade school) doing a fabulous Chairman of the Board salute..crooning every recognizable note, and it made me want to don my poodle skirt and saddle shoes and go to a sold out show at the Garden.  He was terrific, and his brass band accompaniment was beyond description, especially the expertise of the trombone player.

Old Blue Eyes lasted a good seventy five minutes, and then it was time for "The Sopranos" bit, which I knew virtually nothing about going in, and virtually everything about when we left.

Three memorable characters were brought to life by the actors who played them--even the two who met untimely demises during the series run.

We had the eloquent Vincent Curatola, who convincingly played John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni, along with actor Jason Cerbone, who played Meadow Soprano's doomed boyfriend, the gullible Jackie Aprile, Jr., and finally, actor Federico Castelluccio, who played Carmela's lust object, Furio Giunta.

I tried to remember as much as I could about the actual conversation--I didn't want to chance getting whacked by audience members if I disturbed them with my phone, but the most fascinating tidbit I garnered from all three gentleman was that each believe the character of Tony Soprano actually  lives.

Do you remember watching the series finale in 2007, listening to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin?" as the last camera shot showed nothing but Tony's face before fading to black while the credits rolled?  We all threw shoes at our TV, thinking the we lost a connection  at a crucial moment?

David Chase(the creator of the show) has said " everything you need to know about the ending is right in front of you..just watch" which has always led me(and Evan, who follows the characters even more closely than I do) to surmise that it meant Tony was indeed swimming with the fishes.

But..was he???

The actors described lots of behind-the scenes moments, like what life was like at a 3:00 AM shoot, waiting to be cued to shoot a particularly gruesome scene. Jason regaled us with the story that he simply could not do the scene in a real funeral home in a real coffin..he was too freaked--but after disappearing in James Gandolfini's Winnebago for forty minutes, Jackie Aprile was inspired to die as he was supposed to. (He wouldn't reveal what kind of "inspiration" Gandolfini provided--just that he had done so.)

All the actors talked about the love and generousity on the set, especially at the hands of Gandolfini.  HBO actually sued the actor who was all about equity--he demanded that every cast member got paid what they were worthy of being paid.

A phone call from creator David Chase was a call to dread..the actors ignored it when they appeared on their cell phones, as it meant their days as a cast member were limited.  Even those who knew that their character's inevitable demise were smart ideas that moved the story forward.

We also learned that Castelluccio had difficulty getting work when the series ended because..the Italian accent was fake! That voice that Carmela and every female viewer with a pulse totally lusted for was something practiced on a daily basis. 

 Kind of makes me want to punch a hole in the wall.

The Q and A part that followed was very interesting.  The actors seemed visibly annoyed when a young audience member got the mic and demanded to know "whatever happened to Ginny Sack's mole." 

 There were some nervous laughs, but the story is too long to tell here.  If you're a fan of the show, you know what the question means--if not..use google..if you dare.

Someone asked about well known celebs who wanted to be cast in the series but were not.  When "Bruce Springtseen" was mentioned, I heard a room full of boos but Jim said he heard only loud cheers of support--mostly from me, who was sitting next to him.  

(Turns out it was a misunderstanding, and the actual discussion was about Bruce Willis)

My favorite question..one that seemed to be the favorite of the actors as well, is when someone said, "if you could say one last thing to the late, great, James Gandolfini, what would you say?"

I don't remember their answers verbatim, but I know the love and respect felt through the entire audtiorium was palpable.

It's funny..I haven't rewatched the series since it's original run(unlike most obsessed fans)  but some of the most famous reels show up on my feed almost daily.  I think I know every word and gesture and reaction from the most controversial episode of all.  

(Yes, of COURSE I'm referring to "Long Term Parking")

I wish I could remember more details, but what's important is that this show will live on for decades.  It still is, in my opinion, the best written and best ACTED drama in television history, and tonight, even though I have not a drop of Italian blood in me, I felt very proud to be a New Jerseyian, even if not one  from birth.

Now to ask Alexa to play some Bruce and/or Sinatra...and to browse the menus from some of my favorite Italian restaurants, because it's way to late to have anything with sauce..I mean, gravy.