We left New Hampshire after Julie's brothers, Melvin & Andrew hosted a send off dinner as we began our journey west. Actually, we spent a lot of time with them while we were in Manchester. The relationship Julie shares with them is very special and over the years, they've become more like brothers to me.
On this leg of our trek, we were headed for Lake George, NY. Neither of us has ever been there and our RV friends had provided all kinds of things to see and do, which naturally included places to eat. The route took us through small towns towards Rutland, Vermont and into NY. We descended into Whitehall, where we saw what we thought was a Sasquatch museum. We both enjoy learning about history and didn't know these giants roamed the New York and Vermont mountains.
We didn't stop, but Julie insisted we go back. One of our first days at Lake George included going back to Whitehall and see Sasquatch. I guess Julie had some questions... Pictured above, Julie quizzes Sasquatch about any other family members in the area and a good place for dinner.
Lake George RV Park is a few miles from the lake, highways, factory outlet stores, theme parks, hiking, area history, fishing and a lot more. Food choices range from fast food to gourmet restaurants. The campground is busy with families, as it has so many amenities, it would be hard to do them all if you're there for a week.
But we didn't come to Lake George to spend all our time staying in a campground. We wanted to take in all of the natural beauty of the area. Everything in the area is centered on and around the lake. A trolley ran from the campground down to the village of Lake George. All the time we were in the region the weather was hot and humid. We decided to take a cruise on the lake. There are a lot of ships that offer different types of cruises, whether traveling the lake from one end to the other, cruises past the fabulous mansions lining the western shore, cruises that speak to the history of the area and even more. Of the myriad choices, we chose a cocktail cruise.
The relief from the heat was welcome, and we got a brief history lesson of how the lake was formed. The drinks weren't bad either.
I Know, Let's Go Hiking!
Massabesic Lake is a place Julie and I used to visit all the time when we lived in Manchester. The watershed has trails that people bike and walk. We did both. My brother in law, Andrew is a seasoned hiker. He's climbed all of the 4,000 foot peaks in NH and has hiked in many places out west. He knows what to do and what not to do. So do we... sort of. Okay, there was a Sunday some years ago where Julie and I wanted to walk around the lake. Brilliant sunny day, we were on the trail when Julie saw what she thought was a branch trail and wanted to explore. So we go and realize after walking a couple of hundred feet, we're bushwhacking. Not to worry, I tell Julie that I can retrace our route and get back on the trail. Afterall, I'm experienced too. Okay, we're lost, have no idea how to get back to where we were and need to get out of the brambles and heavy woods. So, I whipped out my trusty iPhone, loaded up maps and could see we were very close to Rte 101. We made our way to the edge of the highway, set out in the wrong directions headed for an exit where there was a restaurant/bar; Holidays. Se we're relieved, as we survived the great hike and were now comfortably seated at the bar and ordering beers. Now we need to get back to the car, which is really far away. So we call Andrew to ask him if he'll come and pick us up. Yeah, I know, we are Apres hikers We tell him what happened and before we can offer him a beer to come and get us, we get a severe dressing down, explaining the dangers of what we'd done. "You never, ever go off trail!" Well, there went my dreams of opening up a wildness outfitters business with my brother in law - So we had a couple of cocktails, lunch and walked back an additional two miles to the car.
So what did this have to do with hiking at Lake George? Julie spotted a place called Shelving Rock mountain trail where the falls pictured above can be found. Okay, it's already a humid 90 degrees and we drive on narrow, steep unpaved roads for 12 miles. Coming at us are huge lumber trucks barreling at high speeds, causing us to move dangerously close to the side of the road where I thought would force us into a ravine. But we make it and park the dually, walk up to the trail head and look over the map. There is no trail that leads to the falls. We'd read that it is a short, easy walk to the falls. Not really. We didn't have on the right footwear and so our day hiking to the falls ended without a call to Andrew.
Fort Ticonderoga
We spent a day driving up the eastern shore line of the lake and visited Ft. Ticonderoga. In NH, we have Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, where the building are restored to early colonial days and people are garbed in period, speak in period and perform normal chores that took place back then. They have a "Cooper" there and I was surprised to learn he is the brother of a guy I went to high school with.
Ft. Ticonderoga is no different and is a wealth of information about the infancy of this fabulous nation. There so much to see, learn and marvel at that it is a place not to be missed.
We left Lake George and headed for an overnight stay at a Harvest Host in Clay, NY; Freight Yard Brewing. We've stayed at some that were geat, some less than great, But Freight Yard raises the bar. Parking was simple with easy in, easy out. Although I'm not a beer drinker, I sampled one of their staples and it was light and refreshing considering the heat/humidity. The two hosts were extremely friendly and maintained that demeanor even though the place became crowded. They foster the image and it lives up to the hype. There was a food truck on hand, which was where we had dinner. They also had live entertainment, which was also fun.
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