While Todd was in Boise, Idaho for a school year acting as interim head of the Riverstone International School, our dear little house on wheels, the Casita, was wrapped up and tucked away. Imagine its surprise when Todd removed the giant tarp and we began outfitting it for a new adventure! (Okay, I’ll try not to anthropomorphize our wee travel trailer, but it is a dear little thing 🙂 )
Neither Todd nor I had been to the Adirondack Park, and seeing as it is only a hop, skip and a jump away from our little house in New Hampshire, we decided that a trip to the mountains of Upstate New York was the perfect way to get our Casita back on the road.
We started out crossing next-door Vermont, the Casita happily bouncing along behind us as we navigated through the rolling Green Mountains. (Oops, there I go!) We took a short cut to the Adirondacks by crossing Lake Champlain on a ferry.
We tucked in for the first two nights at a campground outside Lake Placid, Draper’s Acres, a perfect location for our outdoor activities. (The above photo is from a previous trip to North Carolina, but I neglected take a single photo of the Casita at camp this time. Oh, well, our campsite looked a lot like this 😉 ) We were able to get a site with electric and water hookups — perfect!
The Adirondack Park is neither a state nor national park because it consists of both public and private lands, but it is vast and beautiful. A five hour drive from New York City, the park is a popular getaway destination, but it is much closer to Quebec, and we were struck by how much French we heard, especially in the Lake Placid area. (Lake Placid hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics.)
The next day we climbed a 4000 footer, Cascade Mountain, with a rocky summit and a gorgeous 360 degree view. (Looks a lot like the White Mountains of New Hampshire.) A terrific, albeit muddy, hike that all three of us enjoyed. The near-galeforce winds up top meant no pesky bugs, so no complaints!
Beau definitely got the most attention, as many hikers paused to pet him and compliment his cuteness. (Fittingly, his name is French for “beautiful,” though he prefers “handsome,” thank you.) I guess that’s what it’s like being in the entourage of a celebrity.
That afternoon we visited the nearby John Brown Farm. The abolitionist (who was hanged following the ill-fated 1859 raid on the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia) was raised on a farm in Connecticut and moved his family to Upstate New York to help with a project started by abolitionist Garrett Smith. Smith provided land grants in the Adirondacks to free African Americans, and John Brown assisted by showing the new farmers how to work the land. At the time, any man owning land worth at least $250 had the right to vote in New York State. If the African Americans could sufficiently improve the land, they could vote. Mind you, the soil was rocky and winters were extremely cold — it was a lot of work!
Overshadowing the bucolic farm and the statue of John Brown with his arm around an African American boy are the enormous Olympic ski jumps. Crazy!
On Moving Day we hit the road and travelled south through the park to Indian Lake and our next campground, Thornbush Acres. (Who comes up with these names?) We popped into nearby North Creek to see the North Creek Mosaics Project consisting of a wall covered with a colorful mosaic of nature with the Hudson River flowing through it all and people doing outdoor sports — rafting, fishing, skiing and such. It’s a work in progress as a couple of women were working on a new section of the wall. Just fabulous!
Our most unusual activity of the trip was a bike ride on an abandoned railroad track with a company called Revolution Rail. The bikes (as you can see) are built specifically to glide on the railroad tracks, and it was a hoot pedaling along the Hudson River. It was my first ride on a recumbent bike, and it was so relaxing that I almost fell asleep!
What does Beau do when we’re enjoying non-dog activities? Never fear. He enjoys making a comfy nest of dog blankets on top of our bed in the Casita. We leave the fan on for him, and he never complains! The photo next to him is from the amazing taxidermy exhibit at the Adirondack Experience museum. It’s impossible to describe all of the wacky creations in that room. You simply must go see for yourself.
That afternoon we did another dog-friendly hike, this time up Old Bald Mountain to a firetower with a lovely view of lakes and rolling hills. (This really looks like New Hampshire!)
On our way back home, we stopped at Fort Ticonderoga. Each year the living history museum focuses on a different year of the 18th century. While we were there, the interpreters were dressed as French soldiers from the 1750’s, when France occupied the site. They were doing all manner of jobs, including making lunch, crafting shoes, and sewing uniforms. They didn’t speak French (oh, well) but were happy to talk to us and didn’t insist on strictly keeping in character, which, frankly, made it a whole lot easier to get our questions answered. I asked the cobbler if he made shoes for the soldiers in a wide variety of sizes. Indeed he did! And all of the interpreters were wearing shoes that he had made with period tools.
We were treated to a demonstration of how the army used a snare drum and a fife to communicate orders, everything from “wake up” to “chow time” to “get the heck outta here!” (Click here: youtube.be/8JueIR0615s to see a short video of the demonstration.) When armies were vast and encamped all along Lake Champlain, the drum and fifers relayed messages from camp to camp, like the barking dogs in 101 Dalmations. On that note, I’d better sign off. We enjoyed our time in the Adirondacks, so close to home!
So much history! Loved the post and the pictures!