Interesting Church

Nan and I were surprised by the lack of churches of any type in Upstate New York. When we saw a church building, out of curiosity we looked close to see the name. This one was interesting. We figure these folks never get off "the milk of the word."

Trails End Inn & Other Locations

We had a nice stay at the Trails End Inn (say that 3 times fast!), a bed and breakfast in Keene Valley, NY. David and Susan, along with Marco their Labrador Retriever, were our hosts. They have a number of rooms in different sizes with different features. We stayed in the Marcy Suite and really enjoyed our stay.

Keene Valley is in Upstate New York about 14 miles from Lake Placid. This area of New York is rather remote and cell phone service is hard to find. Food is not the easiest to come by either, except you can get plenty over in Lake Placid but it is very crowded and expensive. New York has little diners in some towns. We really enjoyed finding them and seeing what sort of cuisine they offered. Breakfast is always good.

We left the Trails End Inn on Thursday morning and headed out the long way for Albany. I guess you could say that when we left the B&B, there was room at the Marcy Suite!

When Nan and I travel we like to take the scenic route. Sometimes Nan will point to a road and say, "Wonder where that goes?" I'll turn and we will explore. We have found so many neat little places on our trips. We turned onto Millbrook Road in the Catskills Mountains and wound around for several miles. Along the way we saw a deer, a bear cub which quickly ran away when we took interest in him, a rabbit and lots of scenery like this old covered bridge built in 1902.

We passed a very nice farm where a man was splitting lots of wood. Most people in the rural areas burn wood for heat during the winter and they spend a lot of time in the summer gathering their wood for winter. What caught our attention was the sign in his front yard. It read "New York Maple Syrup." New York produces more maple syrup than Vermont but Vermont's syrup has the reputation.

We stopped to see if we could purchase some syrup and found Mr. Kenneth Burger a delightful person to talk with. We were at his place about 2 hours as he showed us through his sugar house, told us all about how the syrup is made and how his wife packages it. In addition to syrup, they also make maple jelly and cream. We bought some of each and were glad to actually pay the producer rather than a store.

Here is Mr. Burger beside his growing stack of wood. His sugar house is in the back. If you get a hankering for some maple syrup or jelly, please call him and order some. His number is (845) 586-4784. Tell him the couple from Tennessee sent you.

Some Pictures Along The Way

At Gettysburg there are lots of monuments related to the Civil War. Some 58,000 men were wounded or lost their lives in just a few days of fighting.

The Amish country has lots of these and you'd better heed this caution sign. I wouldn't let anyone in the family take a picture of the buggies we saw since the Amish feel that is a rude thing to do.

This is fairly representative of one of their farms. They are quite beautiful thought a subdivision may sit next door.

This is where we left the kids. We think they were happy for us to leave.

We stopped at the Adirondack's High Peaks visitors center and caught this moose. It turned out to be the only moose we would see.

Before we arrived at our bed and breakfast we stopped at Chapel Pond. There were climbers across the pond going up the side of a steep rock face. Nan was watching with interest.

Driving around we came across a sign pointing to the North Pole. It is true that global warming is affecting the Arctic regions. No snow as we expected to find.

This sunset took place across the street from the only place we could find cell service. It was just up the highway from our B&B, right across from the grass runway of the airport.

We visited the Adirondack Park VIC (visitors interpretive center) at Paul Smiths. There are about 12,000 acres of land to explore. Here is one scene from our hike.

I had always heard about frogs and lilly pads but had no idea they actually sit on them. This little guy was busy moving from pad to pad trying to snatch up flies. We saw other frogs doing the same. If you don't get out and enjoy God's good earth you never get to see this sort of thing. That is, unless someone like me takes a picture. However, first hand viewing is far better.

I have other pictures I'll post later. These will give you an idea of what we've been up to. It has been a great week and the office has been about as far out of my mind as Tennessee is. I've needed that break.

Gas Prices

When we left home we paid $3.87 for a gallon of gas in Tennessee. Just below Winchester, Va we paid $3.99 so I only purchased 10 gallons. That was a good move because the next day I was able to get gas for $3.93! I thought I had made a mistake when we crossed over into New Jersey. Gas in Pennsylvania was about $3.95 and the first station we saw in NJ was at $4.05. However, away from the freeway I was able to purchase gas for $3.89.

I had hoped to do my best and not purchase gas for over $4 per gallon. Well, in Saratogo, NY I paid $4.15 and today I got it for $4.29. That seemed like a great price after seeing a station selling regular gas for $4.61 per gallon.

I have figured out a system though. If you purchase gas just after going below a half tank, you pay a lot less than if you run it down to empty. You might try this where you live and see if it works for you!

Moose Quest 2008

I spent a few minutes trying to remember if this is Moose Quest 3 or 4. Rather than spend much time or brain energy figuring that out, I opted for Moose Quest 2008 as the title of this post.

We left on Friday headed for the camp to drop off Jeff, Jennifer and Julie. Normally we leave on Saturday. However, Jeff came home with some congestion and Nan felt that she didn't want him around her mom who has been rather sick of late. Leaving earlier this year meant breaking up the nearly 15 hour drive. That has been really nice.

On Saturday we drove through Gettysburg, Pa and briefly saw the battlefields. It is interesting to see the place you hear so much about when studying the history of this country. From Gettysburg we drove through the Amish areas of Pennsylvania and ate at the Good and Plenty restaurant. Be sure to take Plenty of Good hard cash if you want to eat there! The food was great. They seat you family style with about 10 people per table. There were 8 at ours. A bilingual woman with 3 friends from Columbia, South America ate with us. It seems our family is destined to be in bilingual situations witch is just fine with me except that those times continually point out my need to learn a second language. I don't know when this old dog will learn that new trick!

Of course the Amish have a reputation for leading a lifestyle free of modern conveniences such as electricity, automobiles, power tools, etc. They dress differently, mostly in black, white and blue. The men usually have straw hats and the women have their hair rolled up into little balls covered with some cloth. We saw two Amish men in their standard attire including straw hat using a gas powered weed eater! I guess they were liberals.

The Amish are quickly losing their lands and the countryside is a mixture of old, beautiful farms separated by new subdivisions and commercial enterprises. It is kind of a shame to see that lifestyle gradually being broken up and modernized. While the Amish and I would not agree on many point religiously, their devotion to family values and keeping a corrupting world at bay must be respected and appreciated. I'm sorry to see them gradually losing that battle.

We made it to camp yesterday and dropped off the kids. They were quite excited and before we left we had already slipped from the forefront of their minds as they met up with friends and starting catching up on old times. We were glad to leave them in such a great environment and start our own week of renewal.

As I write this it is Monday morning and we are in Albany, New York. As I thought briefly about those of you who would be reading, I had a glimpse of dad sitting at the computer reading with interest. He always enjoyed travelling with us through this blog and I wish he were still here to do that.

Perhaps I can post some pictures this evening. We don't have too many at this point anyway. Our next stop is upstate New York and much cooler weather. Perhaps a moose will share the scenery with us this year!