Adirondack Reflections and The Busees are Coming, the Busees are Coming!

Feast on these reflections.

 

No, it's not the Russians are coming; it's the Busees are coming as in Sheldon and Shirley Busee of Punta Gorda. Shirley and Sheldon joined us a couple of weeks ago and will be here another week. We have been showing them the area and we are all having a ball. You have already heard of the Sinfonettia which we have shared with Shirley and Sheldon. The following pictures show other things we have done together beginning with a photo of the Busees.

 

This is kestrel, a raptor on display at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake

 

This is summer view from the top of the 120 meter ski jump at Lake Placid.

 

A spectacular bog along side an Adirondack trail.

 

The Adirondack Park District does not clean up the forest when trees fall. Rather they allow the trees to rot and return to the soil.

 

Notice the beaver dam or rather beaver lodge in the middle of this pond.

 

 

 

The Busees took the summer bobsled down the 1980 Olympic bobsled track.

 

They survived!

 

Then we walked the new high tech bobsled trail from top to bottom. This is where they shove off at the start

 

These are the falls at the head of the famous Ausable Chasm.

 

We took the ferry across Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont then returned to New York by ferry arriving at beautiful Essex, NY. This is one of favorite places for a quick bite or beverage right by the ferry landing.

 

Next edition...the Lake Placid Ironman

 

 

The Beautiful Adirondacks and a stent??

Maybe you saw my recent short story on Facebook. Last Sunday, while enjoying the Sinfonettia concert, I felt pain by my left shoulder blade. I googled left shoulder pain and learned that there are about a dozen potential causes and about half were serious. The pain went away on Monday so I figured it was nothing serious. Tuesday morning it was back and more intense. So Penny and I went to the Champlain Valley Hospital ER. I was advised that my cardiac enzymes were slightly elevated and a cardiac catheterization was advised. The consent form also authorized placing stents if conditions warrant. I woke up with a stent and I immediately felt great. No pain and no shortness of breath which was becoming a concern.  Morale of the story...listen to your body and take nothing unusual for granted.

Now to even more pleasant stuff. This area is remarkable. In this issue I'll simply show some photos to demonstrate the point.
There is a delightful, small park about 3 miles from our campground. It has a reconditioned but beautiful covered bridge. Automobiles are not allowed. We take Sadie there on hot or rainy days and play ball retrieval with her under cover. Following those pictures is one showing where we play ball in the same park on nice days. A raging river runs under the bridge. The fourth photo was taken from the bridge and shows the river just upstream.

There are zillions of spectacular rivers and streams. The first photo is a stream about 1 mile from the campground. The second is 75 miles away.

Some views of lakes. The last one is Lake Placid taken from the peak of Whiteface Mountain.

Another view from the Whiteface peak; this view looks to the east. You can get two faint looks at Lake Champlain, 30 miles away. Beyond that are mountains in Vermont.

Lake Placid, Beauty and Fun Around Every Corner

It has been quite a long time since our last entry. Sorry about that. I was unable to get my computer to import photos from my i-phone. I almost gave up on continuing the blog but last night, after doing nothing differently, the photos transferred.
Starting from the beginning in Lake Placid, we arrived here June 28th, one month after departing Punta Gorda. Here we are settled in our very private, woodsy camp site.

We will be here six weeks. Why six weeks? Because the Lake Placid Sinfonettia summer season is six weeks. The Sinfonettia is a symphony orchestra consisting of 22 remarkable musicians from around the country who summer and perform here. They perform every Sunday night in the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and every Wednesday night in a lakeside outdoor venue. They have a wine and cheese reception following each Sunday performance for the patrons and musicians. The Sinfonettia is our number one attraction in this area. The following photos were taken during a Wednesday night performance. The second shot is the view just to the left of the stage; serene and beautiful'

Then there is the Lake Placid three back to back horse shows. That is, 15 days over three weeks of the best jumpers (including Olympians) in the country. These horses and their riders are amazing.

Saturday nights are dedicated to figure skating. Hundreds of talented kids come to Lake Placid for skating summer camps and the kids show their stuff Saturday nights. During intermission America's best skaters, including Olympians put on performances. These pictures are a bit disappointing because they generally skate to fast for my i-phone camera.

Last weekend neighboring Tupper Lake had a three day Woodsman show. We took in one day that featured wood carving with chain saws. Several woodsmen competed and created these works within the 90 minute allowed time.

That's it for today. Stay tuned. The next post will feature some of the raw beauty of this area.

Madison, nothing but fun

Before we get into Madison, one more word from Asheville. There are two rivers running through Asheville. The longest is the French Broad. I asked a local how the City fathers came to that name? His response, "Well, there were many French settlers here in the early days and they named the river after Marie Antoinette. The locals couldn't quite wrap their minds around that and started to refer to the river as the one named after that French Broad. That stuck." Do you think he was pulling my leg?

Then I have another question. How come the worst highways in our country are toll roads? Where does that money go? They sure as heck don't go to road maintenance or improvements. Yuck, the fillings are coming out of my teeth!

We had a ball in Madison, primarily hanging out with Jennifer, Matt, Matthew and Ella. Jon taught Matthew how to drive a manual shift car. The whip lashes weren't too bad. (just kidding Matthew) We visited the University of Wisconsin and took the following photo at the student union so that George could see the new look.

 

Here is a neat photo of Jennifer and Penny. As they say, the grape seed doesn't fall far from the vine or something like that.

 

 

One of our favorite spots near Madison is the House on the Rock and we made our annual trek with Matthew and Ella, The next photo was taken in the amazing Infinity Room, Then there's a photo of Ella followed by Penny and the kids. A fun time.

 

 

 

 

And now we are in our comfortable Lake Placid summer home with comfortable days and cool nights. Ah yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asheville NC: a fun place

Our second stop this summer is Asheville, NC. We had been to Asheville once before but only for five hours. Didn't realize how much we missed. On our first day here we took a highly recommended trolley tour around town. The driver was loaded with information and presented it well and with a good sense of humor. We then used the trolley as a taxi to revisit places we wanted to explore further. The first was the 120 year old Grove Inn and restaurant. Dr. Grove was not a doctor, rather a snake oil salesman by today's standards who sold a variety of elixirs containing quinine among other things. He made millions and made an impressive mark on Asheville's landscape. The Grove Inn was constructed in rock and has a poured cement roof. It is amazing and just as presentable and functional as our best new structures today. We had lunch on the restaurant porch. Take a look at the view.

The second day was devoted to the Biltmore estate built by George Vanderbilt and opened on Christmas day in 1895. It is the largest private home in the USA built on 125,000 acres of land. The tour is excellent and includes service areas such as the laundry and kitchen. We dined in the horse stables and then toured their winery featuring a free wine tasting intro. Picture taking is not allowed inside but I did get a photo of the façade and of a country view through a piece of porch detail.

Pretty artsy, eh?
We also spent a day in Murphy NC where we once had a second home. We still have a lot, actually one of the best view lots in western NC. Funny; it's been on the market for six years with an asking price 60% of our purchase price. We enjoyed seeing our old Murphy haunts.

Yesterday started off with a super plan. We trekked 40 miles to spend a day at an outdoor BBQ and country music festival. Sadie was looking forward to it too. One hundred yards from the entrance stood a sign, "No coolers. No dogs." That triggered a 180 turn and a 40 mile return trip to Asheville to explore the many charms of the downtown area. Asheville is a remarkable city and we think we probably had a better day than the one planned.

Tomorrow we begin a three day trip north to Madison, WI. More about that in later editions. If you are inclined to follow our travels, we plan to add to our blog every 7 to 10 days.

2014: Starting out with a great FAMILY REUNION

Our 2014 summer travels began on May 29th. It was a very different departure from past years when we had to close the house. This year we simply turned the key and locked the door to the condo. Loved the change. The boat, however, required a degree of hurricane preparation as you can see.

Arriving in the Charleston, South Carolina area our family enjoyed a week long reunion at a beach- side house in Folly Beach. All of our kids and grandchildren were there for at least part of the week and it was a grand time. Our kids (it doesn't seem right to call them kids when they are in their late 40's and early 50's), anyway our kids are wonderful parents who raised grandkids who could not make us prouder or happier. They are bright, have marvelous values and they love their grandparents. We loved this reunion. The weather was perfect. Everyone pitched in with mealtime. Lots of laughs and lots of love all week long.
The following are photos of Jennifer, Matt and their children Matthew and Ella. The Falkowskis drove all the way from their home in Madison, Wisconsin to be at the reunion.

George and Cindy with their son, Ryan live in both Islamorada, FL and Concord, NC. Ryan celebrated his 17th birthday at the reunion.

Jon was not available during this photo shoot time but Callan and Brock were there. Both finished their respective semesters with 5 A's and a B.

 

Cindy at the beach

 

Penny and Matt

 

The grandkids

Callan, Matthew, Ryan, Brock, Ella