We had stayed at the Adirondacks Welcome Center overnight, at what turned out to be a cool rest stop and visitor center! From the outside, it looks like a winter chalet, with a kid's playground, picnic tables, and grass area with ample space to walk Sheila.
Inside, the winter chalet aesthetic continues, with high ceilings and exposed beams, a mock fireplace, and wooden finishings. There are clean restrooms, maps and various brochures for local attractions, and a small exhibit. What we were also wowed by was the vending machines--rather than just the standard sugary soft drinks, the items for purchase were much fancier--including local honey, artisan chocolates, "I ♡ NY" mugs, etc. Easy to get souvenirs here, rather than having to shop around!
Today, we'd planned to spend time in the Adirondacks: a region in New York state that includes stunning mountains, lakes, valleys, and cliffs spanning 6 six million acres. The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range that form a circular dome, including more than 100 peaks. We'd heard positive things about this area from our friends Ben and Elisabeth, so decided it was worth checking out!
Northbound to Lake Placid
At the Welcome Center we'd seen a sign for the Glens Falls Farmers Market about 15 minutes' drive away. Lisette loves farmers markets, and while we don't have much room in our fridge for fresh produce these days, she's never one to pass up the opportunity to see's in season--who knows, maybe there'll be some fresh apple cider, apple cider donuts, or other treats that'll catch our eyes!
We almost gave up on going to the Farmers Market, because parking was tough in this small town! But we found a spot at the last minute and walked over, although we were admittedly a bit disappointed that there wasn't really much for us--it is a small farmers market, and most of the items were fresh produce that we didn't need. The only apples available were all in bulk bags, too much for us to load into the RV! But hey--at least we got to check it out, and have a chance for Sheila to go on a walk with us ahead of what will definitely be a lot of driving today.
The Lake George Expedition Park was closed, likely for the season. It was formerly called the Magic Forest Amusement Park, but has been renamed as it seems that the RV park next door has acquired it. Perhaps it's more exciting when it's open, but there wasn't much to see outside of it, whereas the old photos before its current owners showed a ton of exciting sculptures. It used to have a storybook theme, so there were enormous statues of Paul Bunyan and Uncle Sam that greeted guests from the outside. It seems like a lot of these sculptures have gone, but hopefully it'll be more vibrant once it's summer!
Lake George is a town in the Adirondack region of mountains, and it's very much a touristy one, with the Route 9 (US-9) cutting through the town, filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, and other kitschy attractions (House of Frankenstein Wax Museum, anyone?). This busy road near Lake George was swarming with tourists, but we managed to find parking on a residential side street. A lady was sitting in her front yard with her dog next to where we'd parked, and she smiled and we made some small talk. We were going to pay for our parking but she said to us not to worry, we'd be fine because nobody was checking. Looking at the meter, we were a bit hesitant, since it said that parking meters would be enforced until October. But she swatted her hand and said that she'd spoken to 4 parking agents recently and we'd be fine. While we didn't want another parking ticket (we'd just gotten one in Albany the other day!), we took our chances with the local's advice.
We skipped the tourist trap areas, and went to Lake George Mystery Spot. It's a spot with bright blue running through it to signify Lake George, If you stand at the center of the spot where there's an actual "X" and say something, you hear what you say loudly, like you're on a megaphone! It's really odd, because it has to be specifically at that one point. There were no signs to let people know about this, so we were the only folks there, but we saw a couple looking over at us and called them over. They were impressed and didn't know the mechanics behind this either!
The path around Lake George is also really lovely and worth a stroll--there are quite a few piers to walk along and take photos with the lake in the background (and the beautiful autumn trees). There are also classical steamboats that take tours along the water. Today would have been a perfect day--beautiful sunny skies, and lovely temperatures!
Returning to the RV, we were pleased to see that we didn't get a parking ticket. The lady was still sitting outside her home, so we thanked her for the tip and waved goodbye before driving off.
Home to the Winter Olympics, Twice
Lake Placid in upstate New York has hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice: in 1932 and 1980. We were able to see the Olympic Jumping Complex for free, looking from the base where there's a shop, and people were also sitting at the tables having food, while employees surrounded them decorating the area with fall decor. There are several cable cars that go up to the top (we assume you need to pay for this), and there's also zipline here. The Complex has the only jumps in North America approved for winter and summer jumping competitions, making this a training area for those set to compete on the world stage.
We'd learned about John Brown when we went to the state museum in West Virginia: he was an abolitionist who was staunchly against slavery. He led a raid at Harper's Ferry (which is now part of West Virginia) in 1859, but it was unsuccessful, and he was captured, tried and executed. The John Brown Farm State Historic Site in North Elba (3 miles southeast of Lake Placid), is preserved as the site of where his family lived briefly, and the site of his final resting place. He grew a beard like Abraham Lincoln, but seeing pictures of him without it, he actually looks very similar to Lincoln when he also didn't have facial hair! The historic site is free, and we were able to tour the old home, and walk along a nice trail to see more artifacts relating to John Brown's life. There was also a special, permanent exhibition called "Dreaming of Timbuctoo", which details the plan to grant land to Black New Yorkers to secure their voting rights, and how this initiative led to Black people attempting to set up communities in the Adirondack Mountains.
Around Mirror Lake
Going back to Lake Placid, not far from gorgeous Mirror Lake we saw the Olympic Center, a sports complex that was also the site of the Olympic Park during the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics. There isn't too much to see inside, but the building is surrounding by a ton of flags from around the world, and it's still used as a training area and competition venue for figure skating, curling, and other sports.
It was very, very busy around this part of the Adirondack Mountains, and the Main Street had a ton of shops and eateries. For us, it was just so magical to see all the autumn leaves throughout the day! We couldn't help recording the foliage while on the drive at various points. Just when we though we'd seen one of the most beautiful parts of the road, we'd cruise along further and see more that we'd ooh and aah at. We have definitely arrived at one of the most stunning times of the year.
As we walked along Main Street, we saw several dogs being walked by their owner. Sheila made a point to avoid them (she is still skittish after her awful Florida interaction), but the dogs all looked happy, and one of them had a birthday hat on! We saw them again later, and the owner was sitting on a bed of autumn leaves under some trees with her dogs, where they were posing for photos. Judging from the light filtering through the trees, those birthday pics would have turned out fabulously!
Walking around Main Street was great, where we saw more autumn trees and leaves, charming stores selling things like local, New York maple syrup, and quaint buildings like historic churches. We also enjoyed going to Mid's Park, which has glorious views of Mirror Lake--a lovely stroll seeing birds, folks out on the water kayaking, and did we say more autumn trees and leaves?
We could have stayed in upstate New York for much longer, but alas, we have a few places we need to be soon, and still have so much of the country to explore! We're feeling that the end of the trip is also approaching way faster than before, since we're now in autumn!
Before we left the Adirondack Mountains, we stopped at the town of Keene, which is considered the gateway to the High Peaks region since it is has some of New York's highest mountains, including Mount Marcy, the state's highest peak. It would have been fun to do a hike around here, but we got to look at the beautiful scenery around us, from the changing colors of the foliage being reflected in the lake, to taking in the delicious smells of the forest.
Hello, Vermont!
It was a long drive, but we needed to get back on track with our itinerary, so in the afternoon we arrived in Vermont--state #39! We always make a point to look out for the "Welcome to [insert state]" sign, but we didn't see the one for Vermont! We didn't see it on the road and where it was supposed to be according to Google Maps. Did we miss the state sign, or is not there?
We crossed Lake Champlain, a natural freshwater lake that connects New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. There's a steel arched bridge that we traveled across, and we went under the bridge to see the beautiful view of the lake as the sun started to lower (we're getting shorter days now and sunsets are now around 6.20pm!). There's a pier (it sways a bit), that runs along where boats can dock; it seems like a popular fishing spot, but there's also signs saying to clean the boat thoroughly after docking, as there can be a number of invasive shellfish species, including the zebra mussel and golden clam, that can end up attaching to the bottom of the boat.
With the sun setting, we rushed for the quick roadside stop to see Fire Hydrant Jack, made from a number of welded fire hydrants to resemble a "jack" (the 6-sided metal pieces from the kid's game). We didn't have much more time before the sun fully set, so we hurriedly decided on a spot to park near a public park. It was in a big parking lot alongside it, and the only folks in the lot were two young guys riding around on their dirt bikes.
It all seemed fine, and we got ready for bed as we normally do, but at around 2.15am we were abruptly awoken by the sound of 4-6 gunshots in the distance, followed by a screeching car, followed by a police siren. Now... you can deduce things from the order of events, but we won't know what happened. It definitely startled us though--while Burlington is one of the safest cities in the US, random events can happen anywhere!