Autumn in the Adirondacks

There is nothing like the great outdoors to put everything in perspective.

Today is a perfect example.

We went to visit Kris’ parents for the night yesterday. The fall foliage is just about at its peak in the Adirondacks. So you can just imagine how beautiful the drive was.

Unfortunately, the emphasis is on the word “drive.” Enjoying the scenery from a car at 55 mph is not the same as getting out and soaking it all up.

So on our way back home today we made time to do just that. We stopped at the Adirondack Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smith’s College – a beautiful location we’ve visited many times before and will likely visit again.

We did a quick hike on one of the trails we haven’t done before. It took us through the woods, out to the edge of Barnum Pond and then back on a boardwalk through an area that’s usually swampy but seemed pretty dry today.

The colors were spectacular. I don’t think the photos I took do them justice. But it was much more than just the views. Kris kept ooing and ahing over the different trees giving off an unmistakably autumn aroma.

When we were on the latter half of the hike – enjoying the sights and smells and watching kids trot along the trail ahead of us – it hit me that I felt completely at peace. All thoughts of money, work or any of life’s other demands had melted away. I was experiencing a perfect feeling of contentment. I wish I could feel like that every day.

Now Kris and I are talking a lot about becoming “46ers” – climbing all 46 of the Adirondack high peaks. We figure that if we can climb two or three a year, then we’ll achieve 46er status by the time we’re in our mid-50s.

I took a lot of pictures on our hike today and yesterday during a brief stop in Lake Placid. I uploaded most of them to Facebook.

One of my regrets in life is that I never took a photography class in school. I love taking pictures and always hope to capture “something special.” Unfortunately, most of the pictures never work out the way I envisioned them in my mind.

Photos from the trail...

Kris recently blogged on the Rooney Train about our hike through the Christman Sanctuary in Duanesburg. Here are some photos from the excursion...

Point Au Roche

We returned Friday to Point Au Roche Lodge, just outside of Plattsburgh, where we celebrated our 10^th anniversary in 2005. The getaway without the kids was our Christmas gift to each other.

We had such a good time there the last time that we wanted to go back. We thought it would be fun to go in the winter and do some cross country skiing in the Point Au Roche State Park.

That was the original plan, at least. But alas, there was no snow to ski on. So instead we went for a hike. Kris pointed out that this may have been the first time we had ever been hiking in January.

We ate terrific food while we were up there. We had a fantastic dinner at place in downtown Plattsburgh called Irises Café & Wine Bar. And breakfast at the lodge the next morning was great.

We stayed in a nicer room this time than the one we were in before. In fact, I think it may have been the most luxurious room we’ve ever stayed in anywhere.

The lodge is a great place to getaway and recharge your batteries, even if it’s just for one night. As before, I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

Family hike

We had lunch early today and found ourselves with nothing to do. So we decided to hop in the car and go for a quick hike.

The trail we went to is not that far from our house. It runs between the GE R&D Center and KAPL. It starts on the side of River Road and takes you to the Mohawk River, right across from the Llenroc mansion.

It's actually quite a scenic hike when you consider that we're in the middle of town and a stone's throw from two industrial complexes.

A section of the area, I believe, used to be a commuter rail line that connected Schenectady to Troy a long time ago. The track is long gone and the area is all grassy now. But we did stumble across what looked like some old railroad ties--which thrilled a certain choo-choo fan in our party.

Summer is great-

There are so many great things to do in the summer that just aren't there other times of the year. On Friday we had out friends Lori and Max come visit from the Catskills. It's so hard to see them during the school year because of the trip. The kids had a blast just playing with a sprinkler for over an hour in the back yard.

On Saturday, my friend Marlene and I left the world behind and went for a hike. It was the greatest day. We decided to hike Hunter Mountain in the Catskills which is really a ski mountain. We took the gondola to the top and then hiked 2 miles up and over to the peak where there was a fire tower. There was really no view without climbing the fire tower because of all the trees. But once we climbed the tower, it was a beautiful panoramic view. Lots of flies though which we couldn't figure out. So we hiked down to a lookout point to eat our lunch. We were rewarded with a hawk that glided around near us. Then we hiked down and rode the chair lift down. It was terrific.

Nolan has been in baseball camp this week and loving it. His friend Danny is a year under him and usually can't be in things together but this camp combines 5 and 6 year olds. I think he loves doing it with him. Thomas is jealous because he wants to go do something like his big brother. So I'm signing him up at a place called Kids Care Fitness Center this week.

And today Nolan turns 6. He had ice cream and chocolate milk for breakfast. Chris and I decorated until late last night turning our back yard into space for Star Wars. Another great thing about summer is having party in the middle of the week like this. We'll fill you in on how it goes. We're praying for the rain to hold off!

Anniversary weekend

Our anniversary getaway was terrific. We had a very nice stay at the Point Au Roche Lodge in Plattsburgh while the kids spent the night at my mom’s house.

We arrived in Plattsburgh around lunchtime yesterday. We had packed some sandwiches because initially we thought we’d do our hike in the Point Au Roche State Park first and would eat there. But the weather was cold, gloomy and damp. So we went to the campus first.

The campus was pretty deserted. Granted it was noon on a Sunday, which is still pretty early by college student standards. Not to mention it was a holiday weekend, so a lot of students were probably out of town.

We went to the Angell College Center and ate our sandwiches in what we used to know as “the blue room.” It is now called the Flynt Commons. The big comfy blue chairs are gone. In their place are tables and chairs, as well as dorm lounge-style loveseats and coffee tables. Also the “hidden” corner space where you could watch TV has been turned into a coffee shop called Java Joe’s.

Perhaps most disappointing to see was the old Point. The good news was that they’ve added some hanging TVs that looked to be playing ESPN and HBO as well as some video games. The bad news is that the room has been painted a sickening yellow color. The snack bar now has some stupid name like the Wingery or something like that. The old bar is of course long gone – it was closed shortly after I graduated. It was briefly turned into a Taco Bell, but now it’s just more regular eating space. The back room where the dart board and pool table used to be has been walled off so that all that’s left is the area where the bar itself was.

After leaving the Angell Center, we tried to get into Yokum Hall to see the TV studio. Being a Sunday, the building was locked up. I’m sure there was someone in there working – we always were. We could have ringed the doorbell and had a student let us in, but we didn’t bother. Instead we walked over to the Myers Fine Arts building to check out some of the student artwork.

After Myers we tried to get into the bookstore, which was of course closed. So we made our way down to our old dorm, Macdonough Hall – the place where Kris and I met. Macdonough is the oldest dorm on campus and it recently reopened after being closed for extensive renovations. We were anxious to see it – and boy is it different. The doors are now locked all day long, but a student saw us trying to get in and opened the door for us (she actually mistook us for students at first – we were flattered!). Everything is new inside. They’ve crammed a ton more dorm rooms into the building, mainly on the first floor and in the basement, which is also now home to a computer lab. Parts of the dorm also used to have kind of a kooky layout. But that’s all been streamlined. And there are elevators now!

After leaving the campus we made our way to the park and did our hike. We spent about an hour walking through the woods and along the shores of Lake Champlain. We weren’t dressed quite warm enough for the day, but we were moving fast enough that we kept ourselves warm. The weather was lousy, but we still enjoyed being outdoors and the lake is always impressive to see.

By the time we were done hiking it was finally time to check-in at the lodge. After getting settled we headed back out. We had some gifts we needed to buy, so we drove around looking for places to shop and eat. The old Tijuana Jail is now an English pub called Geoffrey’s. The Mexican restaurant the former mayor of Plattsburgh owned looks like it’s been closed for a long time. We ultimately wound up at the mall and then ate at a new Mexican place on upper Broad Street called Desert Moon (who would guess a city so close to Canada would have so many Mexican restaurants).

Then it was back to the lodge where we popped open a bottle of champagne we received as an anniversary gift (thanks Ray & Marlene!) and sipped some bubbly while sitting in the great room playing Scrabble (remarkably, I won 257-247). We eventually retired to our room where we each cracked into a book. Alas, there was no TV, so I had to listen to Angels-Yankees Game 4 on WIRY-AM.

This morning our innkeepers prepared for us a big helping of blueberry pancakes, fresh fruit and some of the best bacon I’ve ever had. Then we were on our way home.

I can’t say enough about the lodge. Our room was very comfortable, the great room was…well…great and the owners were very friendly. I highly recommend it to anyone. It’s right across the street from the park entrance. So we hope to go back in the winter sometime and take in some cross country skiing.

It should also be noted that the kids had a great time at Gaba’s house. It was the first time we’ve ever left Thomas overnight, but he did super.

It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary. Back to reality tomorrow.