Wednesday, August 20, 2025 — The hurricane was still south of us and was supposed to pass our latitude in the wee hours of the morning. There was also a cold front from the north, which was keeping the hurricane offshore. … Continue reading →
Life in Lighthouse Marina and More Exploring Canton
Tuesday, August 19 – There was a hurricane coming. We’d expected the weather to be hot and humid, but it wasn’t; the temperatures outside were idyllic. The hurricane was causing giant waves at the beaches. Baltimore was a good hour … Continue reading →
Replacing Anchor Chain Markers and Exploring Fell’s Point, Baltimore, Maryland
Monday, August 18 — Today there was no rain in forecast, but it was ominous outside. It was 73-degrees Fahrenheit, a strong, cool wind and very grey skies. Eric decided it was a good day to redo the chain markers. … Continue reading →
Adirondack Fall Colors
“A fallen leaf is nothing more than a Summer’s wave goodbye.” – Unknown
The colors are just beginning to change on the lake in New York and at our home in Lewisburg….but the colors were fantastic in the Adirondacks. Every day we could see how much they were changing. It was absolutely gorgeous. What a wonderful time to be in the mountains.
“When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in Autumn!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
Adirondack Fall Colors
“A fallen leaf is nothing more than a Summer’s wave goodbye.” – Unknown
The colors are just beginning to change on the lake in New York and at our home in Lewisburg….but the colors were fantastic in the Adirondacks. Every day we could see how much they were changing. It was absolutely gorgeous. What a wonderful time to be in the mountains.
“When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in Autumn!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
Medieval Times in Hanover, Maryland
Dawn on Sunday, August 17 Today it was going to be in the low 90s and humid with a chance of rain, so we did not want to walk around. We also wanted to use the car since we were … Continue reading →
Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part II
“And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir
We spent a wonderful week in the Adirondacks. We had a great mixture of sunny days and rain. Just a few days of rain gave us a chance to take it easy and enjoy the house. Sunny days gave us time to hike and explore. There is never enough time in the Adirondack to do everything. So many great places to hike, towns to visit, views to see and out of the way places to explore.
The Star Spangled Banner Flag Museum in Baltimore, MD
Saturday, August 16 — When we’d looked at tourist attractions in Baltimore, the one we wanted to see the most was the Phoenix Shot Tower. Per what we read online, instead of using molds, molten lead was dropped from a platform … Continue reading →
Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part II
“And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir
We spent a wonderful week in the Adirondacks. We had a great mixture of sunny days and rain. Just a few days of rain gave us a chance to take it easy and enjoy the house. Sunny days gave us time to hike and explore. There is never enough time in the Adirondack to do everything. So many great places to hike, towns to visit, views to see and out of the way places to explore.
The house
The living area
The kitchen
The bedrooms
The basement and second floor study
This is the same view just a few days apart. We were here at the perfect time to watch the foliage change color.
Just a few photos of some of the fun we had at the house.
We enjoyed eating outside about half the time…rain kept us in the other days.
On those rainy days we played games, worked on puzzles, watched movies and painted.
The view of the house from the fire pit.
Having fun with the clean up app on my phone…one touch removed the bike. So fun.
Fun around the campfire.
Fun in the house.
One morning we had family photos taken at the Jay Covered Bridge. While we were waiting for the photographer we took a few of our own photos.
Just a few of the amazing photos the photographer took.
One afternoon we went to the Experience Outdoors. Kyle, Bryt and Graham had a blast on the zipline. Here they are getting fitted for their safety gear.
I went along to take pictures. The views and colors were spectacular.
The girls had fun playing on the adventure center’s rope course and small zipline.
On another pretty day we hiked along the Ausable River to the Wilmington Flume Falls.
That same afternoon we played in the water near the Jay Covered Bridge. I think this was our favorite place.
Graham and Hattie didn’t mind the cold water.
Everyone had fun climbing over the rocks.
And playing in the water.
After getting wet the kids rode their bike around the park and played in the leaves.
On our way home Stan and I stopped at Split Rock Falls. What an incredible place. Just one more place in the Adirondack that you could spend the day exploring.
So many place to swim and relax.
Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part I
“Life is too short to worry about what others say about you. Have fun, be yourself and give them something to talk about.” -Aunty Acid
This was our fourth trip to the Adirondacks and our longest stay. We spent the week with our family in a pretty house in the woods not far from Jay, NY. I usually only do one blog post on our trips together, but this time I’m going to break it up a bit. The Adirondacks deserve more attention than one post can give.
The Adirondack Park was established by the state of New York in 1892 to protect the region’s vast forests and vital watersheds from rampant logging. It was also established for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”. At 6.1 million acres, it’s the largest park in the contiguous United States. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park is a patchwork of public and private lands, governed by special state provisions to balance conservation with the needs of the communities.
The park contains 46 High Peaks, 2,800 lakes and ponds, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, an estimated 200,000 acres of old-growth forests and is home to 105 towns and villages. The park makes up approximately one-fifth of the entire area of the state of New York. The Adirondacks also have the largest system of hiking trails in the country. With more than 2000 miles of trails wind through this amazing wilderness. There’s something for everyone in this unbelievably beautiful park.
On our way from Montreal we stopped in Rouses Point for lunch. This was our entry point back to the US in 2012. We checked out the marina we stayed at and then moved south to the Ausable Chasm. The chasm is a scenic gorge carved by the Ausable River near Keeseville, New York, sometimes referred to as “the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks”. It’s one of the oldest natural attractions in North America, opening to the public in 1870. We wanted to visit this amazing spot on our trip to Lake Placid last summer but the area was a bit flooded at that time. Just seeing it from the bridge is all we were able to do on this trip too. It’s beautiful and one day I hope we can explore it a bit more.
Our final stop before checking into our house was the Jay Covered Bridge. The bridge spans the east branch of the Ausable River. The original bridge was built in 1857. We spent two days playing in this beautiful spot.
We could literally watch the foliage changing colors before our eyes while we were here. The top photo was taken at the covered bridge on Sunday…the bottom photo was taken on Wednesday.
The first day of our vacation we hiked through High Falls Gorge. It’s a 22 acre privately owned nature park along the Ausable River. This park was opened in 1890’s offering a safe trail to view the narrow granite walls of the gorge with four spectacular waterfalls. We hiked the gorge trail and then returned to the entrance by way of the nature trail. After our workout we drove into Lake Placid for lunch.
Lake Placid is beginning to see some beautiful colors.
Whiteface Mountain is the high peak on the right.
