Monday, October 27, 2014

New York - October 7-9/14 - Travel Days - Homeward Bound

Tuesday, October 7

Woke to a drenching rain which was intermittent until we reached the Vermont boarder. The objective today was to find an overnight spot  just on the other side of Lake Champlain in New York. We decided to take the ferry from Charlotte, Vermont to Essex, New York. Our timing was perfect, arrived and purchased a ticket ($18 for the crossing), drove on and were on our way for the 25 minute ride, ending the day at the Magic Pines Campground. A lovely, rustic camp, with a thick carpet of pine needles. Chatted with the very friendly owner after supper.
We would have enjoyed the drive through the Adirondack Mountains much more if it wasn't for the rain and very high winds. One more camp night before crossing the boarder and then home.
(I will do one more post with a couple of stats from the trip. As you can see by the posting dates for the blog, it's taken much longer than I had wished. Not sure if I'll do another one on a somewhat daily basis. We'll see)

And the rains came down. Good traveling day.

Low clouds

A little stop to see this covered bridge in Swiftwater. It is #29 and was built in 1849.

One lane


As soon as we arrived and were onboard, the ferry was on it's way across Lake Champlain.

Passing boats on moorings

A windy but smooth trip. 

Passing another ferry

About to dock in Essex, New York. The ferry ride saved us many travel hours and miles, had we driven around the bottom of the lake. 
Intermittent sun


Checked in at the office and they honoured the 50% discount since we were Passport America members. Cost was $14.

A very soft carpet of pine needles

Looks are deceiving, everything was very clean.

There seemed to be a whole Canadian contingent there. Most were seasonal campers.

Enjoyed our little stay there.
Wednesday, October 8

Another rainy morning as we made our way toward Lake Placid to check out a spot for the night.

How quaint!


The sun pushed it's way from behind clouds, but not for long. What a terrific drive through the Adirondack Mountains, winding, steep and scenic.

In full colour


Had seen better days.

Checked out this country store in Keene

We had been here once before when an ice fall covered the cliff and challenged climbers.


Olympic ski jumps in Lake Placid. We checked at a RV park in town but they were way too expensive so decided to move on.
This campground is just before crossing the boarder into Canada in the 1000 Islands. 

One last night on the road.

After settling in, I noticed that the TV antenna was bent. For most of the day we had extremely high winds and it was a white knuckle drive. A truck had his tarp in shreds and trucks pulling trailers were weaving. Not a fun day.
Thursday, October 9

After a blowing night in camp, we were crossing the Ivy Lea Bridge back into Canada.
It was a long driving day and we arrived safely home.