First Week of August Faves

 

This week flew by for me. I had something going on every single day but it was all good summer stuff plus errands, appointments, and chores so I'm going to share FIVE of the FAVE blessings from this busy week. I do this with other like-minded bloggers and then we all link up at Susanne's site. 

image courtesy of *pple website

• SUNDAY DINNER AND PLANNING: Dave and I went to the 9 AM service and then I prepped for our dinner with  our oldest daughter who came over when she got out of the 11 AM service. The main reason she came over for dinner was to help me with the Apple Maps program and map out our route to cover all the towns we needed to get to for our road trip the next day. She knows all things technology and I so don't so her help was very much appreciated. She knows how to download the maps so that it will still work over the car's bluetooth even we don't have good service in the mountains. Since I had never been to any of the towns we needed to drive to (all are over 3 hours away) except for one which is right off the Northway, we had to be very intentional about where and when we were going so we didn't waste time or gas. I'm so thankful she was able to eat with us and help me out with this task. 

a Bed and Breakfast in Upper Jay, NY
High Peaks region of the Adirondacks

MondayTuesday Grill and Tavern
at the ADK Trail Inn

Our room was the Woodlands Room (2nd door from left). 

These beautiful flowers were right off our porch
and that's the game room with the white door

• QUIET MOUNTAIN INN!  On Monday late afternoon, Courtney and I checked into this place to spend the night. There was a cute welcome  gift bag for us, which included an Adirondack blessing/poem, some homemade chocolate cookies (which we brought home for Dave), and an info letter regarding the establishment. The coffee was wonderful and they even had non dairy and vegan choices in the tavern/grill where we ate dinner Monday evening. It had rained most of the day so we chose to eat inside the tavern vs the deck. There were only 2 other families/couples spending the night at the Lodge but the tavern was full of locals as it's the only place opened on Monday evenings for miles around. I'm so thankful we had a beautiful stay with  super friendly staff and the room itself was rustic Adk furniture and a modern, updated bathroom with super plush towels. It was the perfect getaway. 

Where Courtney and I stayed:  the Woodlands Room 
overlooking the Ausable River!

• EXPLORING TOWNS! Courtney and I, on Monday, explored 6 of the 8 towns/villages I had left for the North Country of the Adirondacks.  The North Country is the region north of the High Peaks, so about 1 hour south of Montreal. We first went to Peru, got the post office stamp and  drove on up to Plattsburgh where we ate lunch at this place and then got the town stamp at the post office.  We then drove through corn fields and  meadows to the towns of Ellenburg Depot, Altona, Dannemora Village, and Saranac.  What a blast we had!  We had never been to these towns although I had been to Plattsburgh a few years ago on my way to Montreal. Unfortunately, we couldn't explore the entire towns because it was raining on and off all day but honestly, in those towns, there wasn't much to explore anyways and it was too chilly to swim! There's so many ponds and lakes in the Adirondacks and some in the North Country we had never seen! I"m thankful we got to all of the towns, leaving just 2 more for the next day. Sadly, it was raining so hard when we got to Ellenburg that I didn't bother trying to get a pic of the post office. The town hall was closed there too!  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about this is the challenge I've been working on since 2016. I have 11 villages left out of the 102!!

Peru
North Country region of the Adirondacks

Lunch in Plattsburgh!
It was raining too hard to get a pic of the post office
and their town hall was closed

Altona.......a very small town with lots of farms
about a half hour south of Canada!

Clinton County Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison, where
this movie of the infamous escaped prisoners broke from
in Dannemora Village...the post office is right across the street

We bought candy at the little general store in Saranac
and got the book signed by the owner because
that is the only business that was open in town besides a lumber mill;
when we get a signature from a taxpayer vs the town seal or the PO stamp,
we like to  give a store our business. 

• SCENERY AND HISTORY: Tuesday, after checking out at the Inn, Courtney and I headed a little bit west by about 20 minutes along the Ausable River to the town of Black Brook. There were some camps, some year round homes, and lots of awesome views of the high peaks and forest. That town is mainly lumber mills and one general store which used to be a little country church.  We had to pop in there to give them some business and get my book signed, and then we made our way over to the village of Essex on the shores of Lake Champlain which is also on the National Historic Places Registry!  Yes...the entire village!  It's chock full of history dating back to the Revolutionary War. We met the town supervisor who gave me the town  stamp and then asked us all about this challenge as he had never heard of it.  He then gave us a link to a video he made about the history of the town and suggested we do the self guided walking tour and take pics of the gardens, the lake, etc.  This is the village where you can take a ferry across to Vermont and the Burlington area. We ended up eating lunch in town at an adorable cafe, and then we browsed the art gallery/bookstore where Courtney bought an antique Shakespeare play in a beautifully bound book where we ran into the town supervisor again who was praising us to the art gallery owner!!  We were laughing because this challenge has been around for years and to us it's common knowledge among people who love the Adirondacks. We were thankful we met this nice man who clearly loves his town and wants to make tourists feel welcome. I'm thankful for making memories with my oldest daughter as well.  

Ausable River in Black Brook
North Country on the edge of the High Peaks

Old Historic Black Brook church
now the General Store

Pic is from Courtney......this is a "thing"
in the Adirondacks and she didn't want her pic taken 
so I agreed to do it. 
It was a much nicer day on Tuesday with plenty of sun and very cool temps

Village of Essex

Beautiful flowers all around the village homes

The Ferry returning from Vermont on 
Lake Champlain

Courtney on the self guided walk through town

Champ 
behind the town hall in a little village park
read about the folklore of him here. 

a wonderful cafe where we ate lunch

• SYMPHONY NIGHT OUT!  Last evening, despite the pouring rain from the effects of Hurricane Debby which is making its way up the East Coast and inland to us here in eastern NY, Courtney and I met my sister Joy at SPAC to attend the Philadelphia Orchestra concert performing a symphony I had never heard.  It was the Alpine Symphony.  Absolutely breath taking.  Read about it here. I'm so thankful the ampitheater balcony tickets were less than $50 (because there were hardly any people there so they lowered the indoor prices).  It was a fabulous concert despite the rain. I'm thankful too for so much time spent with my oldest  girl.  

The Philadelphia Orchestra warms up
Thursday 8 August

Those are the biggest blessings from my week.

Others include things like safe travels, an answer to prayer, my husband fixing something I've been wanting help with, and messages and phone calls from my youngest daughter. 

I hope whatever you have planned for the weekend, that you have a relaxing one and find time to spend in God's creation!