LAKE LIFE VACATION

 

Wow...it's almost the end of my 2nd week of vacation!  It's been a super relaxing week full of blessings. I'm sharing FIVE of those that made my FAVES list and  also probably have FIVE pics to go with just about each one! But photos are fun, right? This  week was a bit different in that our oldest joined us for Sat-Monday and then returned back to the city with Dave in my car as my car needed some work and Dave could drop it off down in Albany on Tuesday when he himself had to work.  Courtney was dropped off at her apartment and Dave got my car where it needed to be. Meanwhile, Claire had to work but took Wed-Friday plus the weekend off so joined us with her car and brought Dave back on Wednesday early afternoon. So I was alone for Monday and Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning which was fine by me.  I did some things I wouldn't have otherwise done.  There were many blessings, but the greatest was that we got to spend some time with each daughter!

How about you? What blessings did you discover this  week?  Join in by linking up at Susanne's site.

NOTE: this is a long FFF.  I just had to share so many of the awesome scenes we've seen all week. I also wanted to explain many of the places we've gone to.  I've tried to get links to some so you can learn a bit about our beloved Adirondack Mountains. 

FIVE FAVES

photo courtesy of Courtney

Beginning of Sunset
from our cottage backyard

another spectacular Sat evening sunset

Sat Sunset from the great lawn 
Shamrock, Long Lake NY
with Owls Head Mt in background

• SATURDAY SWIM AND SUNSET!  Saturday afternoon, after checking in and setting up the cottage/unpacking, etc, Courtney and I headed down to the beach for a swim. It was warm!  Temps were in the mid-80s and the lake water was delightful. It's a true mountain lake so tends to be cold but this year, due to low amounts of rain all spring and summer,  combined with the high heat even here in the mountains, the water was perfect. I swam a lot and we made a picnic dinner for the backyard picnic table where we watched the sun set.  It was a spectacular Sat and I'm so thankful our oldest daughter was able to join Dave and I for the first weekend in Long Lake. And I'm thankful for this beautiful Adirondack vacation spot. 

the beach from the overlook in our cottage backyard

morning view of Long Lake from our backyard

Courtney as seen from my kayak

GAME NIGHT! 

• SUNDAY FUNDAY!  Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. I went for a wonderful power walk, followed by time on the dock with my book and devotional. Courtney joined me for an early morning kayaking jaunt but rain clouds rolled in so we didn't stay in them for more than an hour. It ended up not raining until about 3 pm so we hung out on the porch with drinks and our books. After a couple of hours of a good soaking rain, the sun came back out so we drove down the road to where a famous waterfalls is located that I like to pop in and see each year. Courtney hadn't been there since 2013 and Dave hadn't seen the falls since 2019. We were the only people there! (a couple was just leaving as we arrived).  We took a few pics and then drove back to the cottage for dinner.  Dave had the grill going for chicken and grilled zucchini.  I made some quinoa and brown rice to go with the meal per Courtney's request. After dinner, the clouds rolled away and the view from the porch was lovely so we all played this game which has been in our family since our oldest was about 7 years old. We used to bring it camping with us, and now that we no longer camp, we bring it with our cottage things. Dave and I were wanting to walk off dinner so we walked to town to have a soft serve ice cream date at this famous stand. Courtney wanted to stay on the porch to read. We had such a fun day and I'm thankful we had the time with our oldest (secretly....we  do miss having her live at home.....does a mom ever get used to her oldest girl being in her own place??) 

side view of Buttermilk Falls 
(better pic is on my Facebook page)

Dave at the bottom of the falls

• ALONE TIME!  Monday morning, Courtney left for her home, with Dave and my car, as it needed something done at the dealer's and he had to do some things for work at our home. That left just me at the cottage because Claire couldn't get time off from work until Wednesday. I loved the alone time although Monday was weird as the weather was all over the place. I managed to squeeze in a solo kayaking trip but then the thunder began and I had to dash to lock it up, and get back up to the cottage before the downpour began. It rained most of the evening. I did a lot of reading and decided to complete the online required training for NYS before the start of the school year that I have to do each summer. That only took about an hour so I spent the rest of the evening reading and watching a Netflix series I started before vacation. 

a solo kayaking trip up Long Lake towards  town

Tuesday morning sky about 7 am

Great Camp Sagamore
Chalet building
south-central Adirondacks
Tuesday 23 August

Moss Lake and trail

south-central Adirondacks

Twitchell Lake

  Tuesday was supposed to rain all day long but it actually started out nice and sunny with some grey clouds to the north.  So I decided to head an hour south to a great camp I wanted to tour. Well I got all the way there only to discover you need advanced tickets now due to covid.   So I snapped a couple pics and drove on up to Twitchell Lake because after reading about Anne LaBastille's life in her autobiographies several years ago, I've been obsessed with seeing the lake she built her cabin on. You can see her cabin that she built by herself at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake which is just 10 min south of our cottage. I also stopped in to do a hike a friend had recommended.  It's a small lake called Moss Lake and the trail is just a 2.5 mile loop. About halfway around the lake, it started to rain.  So I hustled back to the car and drove south to Old Forge where it was nice and sunny to have a panini and iced latte at this place.  People from all over flock to get their coffees and sandwiches here. This was my 3rd visit. I ate outdoors at one of their tables and then drove back the hour north to our cottage where I relaxed on the beach, did some swimming, and ate dinner.  I also watched a new Netflix movie which was excellent. It's faith-based and I highly recommend it...it's a powerful look at grace and forgiveness. I'm thankful for restful, alone times.

highly recommend this Christian movie!

• FUN IN THE SUN! Wednesday dawned bright and clear. I had coffee on the dock with my devotional and book and then went for a walk to town.  I wanted to walk the Nature Trail there because it's something I do each year and it's super easy and it ends at the town beach where there's a coffee stand that sells bagels. I figured I'd  give them some business. The trail is only a half mile so is a very easy jaunt through a pine woods on one side and Jennings Pond on the other. By the time I walked back to the cottage, Dave and our youngest girl Claire were arriving. (Claire's boss gave her 3 days vacation time!) Claire and I kayaked later that afternoon and did some swimming as well. The water was colder and the lake was rough with white caps as the wind had picked up.  We were about to get some rain. It stopped in time for Dave to  grill our Beyond Beef burgers while I made a big salad.  We also enjoyed  drinks on the porch with dinner and then we played a round of Parcheesi.  It has become a tradition for us to bring that board game to the cottage. After the game, the sun was setting and it was gorgeous so Claire and I went down to the dock to snap some pics. I ended the evening relaxing with a book that I ended up finishing. I'm thankful we had a lot of family time. 

Wednesday Morning from the dock
Owls Head Mountain on left/background
Dave and I climbed it in 2013

Long Lake Village Nature Trail

Jennings Pond in Long Lake

Wednesday evening sunset from the dock

stunning sunset pic from the dock 

• ADVENTURE DAY! Oh my goodness.  Dave and I left the cottage mid-morning (Claire wanted to stay and swim/sit on the beach all day)to drive an hour north-west to this place.  I wanted to walk the .8 mile flat trail to a waterfalls there that is part of the Adirondack 50 Falls Challenge I've been working on for the last 4 years.  Well.  Little did we know that this trail would end up being a 2.25 mile loop due to Dave wanting to do the entire trail which is actually called Heron Marsh Trail.  I was wearing denim which I do NOT recommend for ANY kind of hiking but we seriously  thought it was  going to stay cloudy and cool all day (based on conditions when we left the cottage) AND I thought we would just walk to the falls quickly and back and then go home. Oh no. It was truly an adventure. The sun came out and it was HOT.  So I was rather miserable in those skinny jeans. Thank the Lord I was wearing a wick-away hiking shirt at least.  After the falls and loop, we googled "lunch spots" and the closest one was a 35 min drive north-west! Now, we are talking up in the corner of the Adirondack Mountains....the part that is about 30 minutes south of Canada.  We were not expecting this adventure.  But Dave saw this place and we ate lunch there. Man, was it ever off the beaten path into a wilderness section.  I'm talking very remote. The entire town  is comprised of 8 hamlets yet the year round population is only 395 people. The trees are also a lot different up in that part of the mountains. We were actually ABOVE the high peaks region if you look at a map of NYS. We were in the top left corner of the park proper. Up near Suny Potsdam.  Way too far for me. I'm not a fan of that area......the mountains are scarce up there...there are just a few (it's mostly rolling hills and cornfields) and most are less than 3000 feet tall. But....we decided to stop in 5 of the towns up there that are listed in my Adirondack 102 Challenge book (where I have to visit all 102 towns within the "blue line". Google blue line Adirondacks if you don't know what i'm talking about.).  We ended up having success in 4 of the 5 villages/townships we stopped at. We did NOT have success in getting to another small hike to a falls in my 50 Falls Challenge because 2 miles from the trailhead the road was  closed!!  We were now almost 4 hours from our home near Albany NY and 2 hours north of the cottage.  My goodness. I was frustrated but relieved we had 4 of the 5  signatures and had seen Shingle Mill Falls at least.  We really did have an amazing time and the lunch at the Tavern was just amazing. I'm thankful my husband loves adventures.  (and it only took 1 hour and 15 min to get back to the cottage because google maps had us going a different way). Here are some photos from the adventure:

Dave on the Heron Marsh Trail

at Paul Smith's College/Visitors Center

 

Dave walking the boardwalk through the Heron Marsh

Shingle Mill Falls

the Pond across from the falls

me at Shingle Mill Falls 

monarch caterpillar enjoys the milkweed

Deer Valley Trails Lodge and Tavern

Blue Heron on Raquette River
outside Tupper Lake Village

That wraps up my faves. 

Here's a Thursday evening sunset........just 3 more evenings in this beautiful place......

Thursday evening from our cottage backyard

HAPPY WEEKEND!