My journey today took me from Seneca Falls, NY to Lake George, via Highway 28. It was a great drive, little traffic, scenic roads, but unfortunately the weather was very cloudy, foggy, with a misting rain for most of the day. When it wasn’t raining, it was gloomy. Not good for taking photos of fall colours, but nonetheless I did (all 200 of them, though many of those were quilt photos). The colour in the Adirondacks seems to have peaked, but that may be because of the altitude.
I stopped briefly in Old Forge to take some photos of a covered bridge and saw there was a quilt exhibition on at the local gallery. And what a gallery and exhibition! That was a fortuitous find. In addition to the main exhibition, there were also some variations on log cabin quilts upstairs in another area.
Another surprise today was that my route followed the Hudson River for a while. We’ll see the Hudson again in New York City, but here it was in its upper reaches and so very picturesque.
There were lots of lakes along the route, many hidden by the trees. Most were imaginatively named — First Lake, Second Lake, and so on until at least Thirteenth Lake! There were many little resorts, B&Bs, cabins, and motels in the small towns too, and most had ‘no vacancy’ signs out — I wonder if they are closed for the winter, or if they really are full of fall tourists. I sure didn’t see much traffic or cyclists (Highway 28 has a great bike route on the shoulders), which might indicate a full house of travellers. Likewise, the parking bays on the side of the highway had few cars to indicate that people were out walking the trails.
Other observations today:
- For much of the drive I had little or no cell service (not that I needed it), and in parts I had no radio reception either.
- The smell of the leaves and the earth and the fresh air is just wonderful. That air is so pristine.
- Despite the inclement weather, the temperature didn’t get below 60F and hovered in the mid 60s most of the day. Still OK for a t-shirt.
- Someone was offering seaplane rides over the lakes and hills! Had it been fine, I’d have popped in to see if they were running and how much. But the weather was so yucky, it wasn’t worth even seeing if they were open.
- I saw a few cows grazing on grass (this is NOT usual in my past travels in the US). And some of them were what I call ‘panda’ cows — they were black with a big white band around their mid-section, just like a panda.
- Warning road signs seen today included: horse and buggy, cattle, snow mobiles, snowplow turnaround.
- In Forestport, NY I saw a sign nailed to a tree — 5 acres + cabin for $29,000!!!
- There’s lots of granite in the Adirondacks…
- There’s a lack of gas stations and general stores on Highway 28, so therefore there’s a lack of public places with a bathroom. Be prepared!
Just a few of my photos from today:
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 