The Adirondacks - New York

July 30
Thursday

Driving toward The Adirondacks in New York state, this morning I noticed for the first time that the corn is finally as high as an elephant's eye. I must stop at the next stand that appears beside the road.

These folks and their kids and dogs entertained us as we waited for this beautiful sunset.

Visiting with other campers does keep me from getting too lonely, but having family and friends there is a history with is more fun than strangers.

In the morning the sunshine turned to this storm complete with thunder and lightning by noon.  It was coming down so hard we crept along at 30 miles an hour.  Couldn't help thinking how badly this is needed in California.

The rain continued coming down in torrents all the way to Lake George.

Finally at the Adirondack Camping Village

 it was still raining but kids were in the pool!

Wifi didn't work anywhere but in the game room by the pool so I did some laptop research there. Finished, I struck up a conversation with an older guy who had a cute little Maltese dog sitting on his lap. Asked how they are as pets since I will probably be getting a little dog when I'm home from my trip.  He was telling me all about the breed when he suddenly said his wife was calling him from the adjacent laundry room to help fold clothes. That's a big job for one person, I guess....

On the way to the Adirondack Museum the next day crossed the Hudson River just going about its business of rolling along.

This Senior motorcycle group was having fun on the curvy mountain roads.

Beautiful log homes in this resort area. I passed one that was having a moving sale and wondered where anyone would move to from this gorgeous area.
My rule is, if I'm still thinking about something I've passed 5 minutes later, I must go back. So I did. 

John and Sue are moving to Florida where they spend the winters anyway with their son and grandkids.

For $270K their beautiful 5 bedroom  3000 sq ft home on 3 acres can be yours.

Includes snow shovel and snowmobile.

General store selling fishing and camping gear. The red round thing hanging on the right side of the photo is an old gondola lift from a local ski lodge that sold them off when they remodeled. I've seen several in front yards as planters.

Spent the day at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, my first rest in an Adirondack chair.

The Museum has 32 acres, 24 buildings and is loaded with history of the area.




The Adirondacks began to be settled in the 1830's but not successfully until the late 1800's when wealthy families like the Vanderbilts built camps here for their friends and families who were delightfully surprised they weren't camps at all but fancy resorts with all the comforts of home plus hunting and fishing and other outdoor activities. The early settlers who tried farming unsuccessfully (there are only 3 months of growing season) had to go to logging or mining jobs to survive. Adirondack National Park is still 60% owned by individuals who bought the land before the government made it a National Park. In 75 years over one million acres of timber had been logged. The government was finally able to stop the logging in 1894 before the entire area was deforested.

Remember John who is selling to move to Florida?  He told me his great-grandfather could have bought land around Blue Mountain Lake in the late 1800's for 10 cents an acre. His grandfather said he didn't because he didn't have 10 cents.

There are ongoing seminars and classes like this one which is oar making.  There was much sanding and staining happening.

This little building is covered on all sides with decorative split spruce limbs and is currently being renovated. It was built as part of Camp Cedars in the 1880's  by a carpenter/guide and is one of the best examples of rustic twig work.

The interiors of other buildings showed how hunting cabins in the area were furnished.  The red plaid jackets on the left are hanging on pegs over the fireplace to dry out.

This was the cabin of an artist who came to paint and decided to stay.

70 million people live within a day's drive of the Adirondacks, mostly from NYC area would be my guess.

Scattered around the small lake are shelters which every camp had where you could spend a quiet afternoon just enjoying nature.

I like this photo showing how women one hundred years apart enjoy the area.

Stayed the night at nearby Long Lake.

Judy and Terry and their King Charles Spaniel, Charlie, were my neighbors in the RV next door.

Snowbirds, they live in Florida but come here in the summer to visit their son.

Charlie loves tummy rubs.  He runs right up to complete strangers and flops down. Who can resist?!