END OF JULY FAVES!

 

Wow, we are in the last week of July and summer is flying by!

Let's pause on this bright sunshiny day and give thanks for the blessings of the last week.

I'm sharing FIVE of those blessings...with lots of photos....that made me say "THANK YOU, GOD" this week. Linking up at Susanne's site to join in and read other bloggers' faves is something I look forward to every Friday. What are you thankful for??

a place that collects gently used clothing and shoes;
towels/sheets/wash cloths/purses/stuffed animals

Fave local Farm Stand
Photo with permission of owner

• ERRANDS DONE!  I had several  errands to run on Monday and Tuesday and it  was absolutely gorgeous outside.  No temps above 80 and no humidity! I had collected three big bags of old clothing that Dave and I no longer needed or wore in the last year. So I dropped them off at the place pictured above, along with a gently used queen sized sheet set I no longer wanted, and a few old -but -in good- shape towels. This church is about 2 miles from my house and I just discovered in the last year or so that they take the items mentioned above. They help the homeless with these items. It's a blessing to be able to give back to the community.  I also finally got over to my fave farm stand while it was open to get some fresh cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, and some apple butter. This is Chrissy B's farm stand and she said I could post the pic. I appreciate that she takes credit cards and also sells goods made by local artists. I also got all the grocery shopping done, some meal prep done, and a run to the library done. I'm thankful I had a couple of days to get my home organized and re-stocked. 

Fourth Lake in Lake Luzerne
southeastern ADK

Beach to myself
minus a young family who was getting ready to kayak

• PEACEFUL PAUSE:  On Monday, after running a couple of the errands mentioned above, I drove about 40 minutes northwest to the southeast Adirondacks to have a peaceful pause by a lake I hadn't been to since 2011. The photos above are from the public beach side of Fourth Lake in the village of Lake Luzerne.  On the south side of the lake is the campground where we camped every year as newlyweds and then when our oldest turned 1. I think we also camped there once or twice when our youngest was born. I was the only one on the beach when I arrived and I loved the peaceful quiet. This lake doesn't allow motorboats so the quiet is especially peaceful.  Then about 20 min later, a young family came down to rent kayaks and off they went. All in all, there were only 6 people on the beach when I left around 2 pm. I had been there since 11:15. I'm thankful we live so close to so many lakes that are accessible with the Empire Pass. (I've had one since NY launched this program in 2001!). 

• DATE DAY!  Dave and I had a date day last Saturday. We had bought tickets for the musical Camelot as neither of us had seen that on stage before, even though we knew a few songs from there.   It was awesome. It's only about an hour from our house, in the MA Berkshires.    Great Barrington Stage Company has 3 different theaters so this was in the one where musicals are performed.  The performers were all former Broadway stars or Off Broadway and now doing summer stock. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the interior and there were too many people to get a good shot of the exterior.  We were allowed to take selfies. It was an excellent afternoon show and we followed it up with dinner at Cracker Barrel which my husband really likes but I do not. There's nothing super "healthy or nutritious" on the menu!!  It's all "down south comfort foods".  I'm assuming all CB menus are the same. In fact, I asked about plant based options and there was just one.  A house salad. Sigh. I ended up ording some chicken (good) mashed potatoes (not good; too heavy on the butter and instead of chicken gravy it was beef and I don't eat beef); steamed broccoli (ok but again, too much butter!).  But Dave absolutely loved his meal.  We at least had a perfect summer weather day and then enjoyed time on the deck in the evening when we arrived home. I'm thankful we have the money to go to professionally done musicals and concerts and had a good day date. 

solar lamplight 

breakfast in the morning sun

reading, conversation, and drinks corner of the deck 

• DECK TIME!  We have had a beautiful Summer so far.  Last week was gorgeous and no central air was needed until Sunday morning. Then Sunday night it rained and a cool front came through and temps went to my favorite:  64-80.  I ate breakfast on the deck every day this week except today.  We had dinner on the deck every evening except Sunday and last night (too humid!)  It's been glorious. Tuesday evening, our friend Darlene came over for dinner, and we sat out on the deck chatting and catching up until about 8:45 pm.  She still works full time so had to get home.  Her husband couldn't join us that evening but we are very thankful for this Christian couple who are good friends. Spontaneous dinner company is always fun and I'm thankful I had some easy things to grill and cook. I'm thankful too that Dar wants to join my small group again in September!  I'm very thankful, too, that we have a nice outdoor space to host friends and family. I never want to take these simple things for granted. 

13th Lake and the start of the trail
Siamese Pond Wilderness Area
Central ADK 

we had four brook crossings
and no bridges 

The trail begins to climb

SoulSteps members
My close friend Ping, Beth (the mom of the 2 girls who came)
Joan (one of my best friends), me, Anita 
on the summit of Peaked Mt
See the granite we are standing on?  We had to rock scramble up 3 sections of this!
We had to butt slide down in 2 of the sections. 
 this is the kind of climbing I've done for years which is another reason I have degenerative discs

Peaked Mt pond as seen from the summit
We stopped for a snack where the pond curves in on the left 
and that was after a long 2.5 miles of trail over much blowdown
and around thick mud as they had rain up earlier in week

Some of the central ADK peaks as seen from summit of Peaked.
Snowy Mt (the summit is right under the word Mt) is one I did
with my childhood friend Cheryl about 10 years ago.
It stands at 3999 ' so is just shy of being an official high peak
and it was the hardest mountain I've ever climbed. It was all rock scrambles for more than a quarter mile 

• SoulSteps Hike #8!  On Wednesday, I had 5 women (my self included) and 2 children signed up for the first mountain hike (Peaked Mountain) of 2025. It was our 8th hike of the year.  I had to cancel 4 July hikes so far due to high heat and humidity!  But Wednesday, the  weather conditions were perfect. Praise God. When we got to the trailhead, at 9:20 AM,  it was only 69 degrees with NO humidity. Fresh mountain air, the scent of the balsam and the sound of 2 loons on the lake spurred us onto the trail. We had to hike 1 mile along the lake until the trail went up a ridge and then for 2.5 miles we trekked over 4 brook crossings, through 2 vlys, past 2 bogs, a meadow and then came to the Peaked Mt pond. We still had over a mile to hike and it was a real climb. The trail was all switchbacks,and  as you can see, the mountain is very steep. (the pic below). The trail meandered all over the west side of the mountain.  Once the climbing began, we really had to slow down. It took us 3.5 hours to go to the summit which only stands at 2919 so that's considered just a "moderate sized mountain". It was literally the 2nd hardest trail I have ever  climbed. The thing I'm grateful for? we were all safely to the summit; I had NO pain ANYWHERE in my body for the first time in 3 years while hiking; everyone loved the trail although everyone said their knees were so achy afterwards (mine included). The mom of the girls had hiked this many times before.  Her daughters were awesome (ages 11 and 14). I'm very thankful we had perfect Summer weather for this hike. By the time we were done and back to the cars, it was close to 6 pm.  And it was only 76 degrees! Fitbit recorded that we hiked 8.4 miles.  A young guy in his 20s was just descending the mountain when we were beginning the climb: he said he's from Colorado and has hiked over 14 mountains in the Rockies. He said this is his first time at Peaked Mt and has hiked other Adirondack mountains and said they are much tougher to climb than the Rockies!! One reason? people drive up quite a ways in the Rockies and THEN begin the climb. Here? we start at ground zero (for most of the mountains). I'm thankful he was safe, as he was alone. I'm also thankful we had a wonderful day in the mountains! 

That mountain was our destination. 
We still had another 1.5 miles to go before we would get to that summit. 
this was taken in the 2nd Vly we came across. 

That wraps up my week.  It's hot and humid again but tomorrow is supposed to be cooler. Good thing: I have people signed up with my SoulSteps group to go to the Berkshires and hike a 4 mile lollipop trail to a waterfalls!