October 9-12, 2009



Days 33-36

On Friday, Jim and Sherry took us hiking at Point Au Rouche.

 There were lots of trails, some along the lake and others in the pines. It was a relaxing and invigorating 1 ½ hour hike and we were all happy that it was not up a mountain.

We were invited to a Downs’ family get-together on Saturday and enjoyed seeing all of the cousins and their families. Bob’s cousin, Bett Jean donated her kidney to her sister, Mary Lou just a few weeks ago and they both looked great and are healing well.

Sunday was spent at the Lake. We walked and watched close to 1000 geese and a few mallards, along the shore. That’s a lot of honking!

In the afternoon, my brother Jim and his wife Sherry, my niece Reagan and her new husband Jay, my nephew Ryan, Sherry’s sister, Eleanor, and Bob’s parents came down for a picnic.

Of course, we had to have the North Country favorite, “michigans”, a meat sauce spiced with chili powder that is served over hot dogs. Even though we had a fire, there was a chill in the air by 7 PM

All of the state parks are closing for the season, so we packed up and headed to Lake Placid, site of the “32 and ‘80 Olympics, and Saranac Lake where Bob went to college. The colors were brilliant in spots, especially along the Ausable River.

 We were feeling very nostalgic, relishing great memories from our youth. When we first got married almost 40 years ago and had little money, we were thrilled to find a deal on camping gear. ($50 for a tent, sleeping bags, a lantern and stove) One of our favorite camping spots was on Little Green Pond and we were determined to find it and that we did.

We hiked in the half mile and found our spot, however, we decided that it would not be a good idea to drive the 5th wheel in on the narrow trail.

After some time reminiscing, we decided to search for a place to camp on the way to Keene, NY. We found a beautiful little lake near Cascade Mountain. Even though it was day use only, we could not help being Alaskan “outlaws" and parked for the night. We were all cozy this morning in our little “nest”, when I pulled up the blinds and to my amazement saw snow!

 I guess that we should have headed south sooner.