Another beautiful day, another wonderful lake is where we went on a hike today.  This hike is 4 mile loop around the lake and they have some wonderful falls if you take a half mile detour off the trail.  The problem is the half mile detour is not marked and is very hidden so we missed it!!! However we did find the swamp that is right in the middle of the trail with no way around.  The swamp comes at about 2.5 miles and just before you get to the lake so of course you are not turning around! 

Only the beginning!

Yep, I found the swamp, almost a complete submersion

Almost lost Duke!

Hopefully that was all of it!

It seemed like the swamp was never going to end but it did and we finally found the lake which was pristine.  No one was there except for a few hikers relaxing in the sun and enjoying the peacefulness – until we arrived!!! 

Cascake Lake, Adirondacks, NY

Washing the mud off

Fellow hikers

We never did see the detour for the falls so if we ever do this trail again we will ignore the arrows and go backwards because the lake is only about 1.5 miles in and you can stop at the swamp and turn back, retracing your steps, have a great hike to the lake and miss out on the mud play!!!

That is the one thing we both miss from living in our home, it is getting to work on new projects and improving our home.  This week we did a little remodeling and I am so excited! 

Our new table top

Last year while we were in Morgan Hill working at the  RV dealership Paul built us the cabinets for extra storage along the wall behind our dining room table but he didn’t have time or the equipment to make a table top so for the past year we have had the old top nailed to the top of the cabinets.  It looked awful and there was a big step down from the table to the cabinet top and the old table had cup holes where you are to store you drink when you travel!  We had this beautiful bamboo top made here by a local cabinet maker.  It is so beautiful and matches the maple cabinetry so well.  It feels more like a dining room table and less RV like!!!

Labor Day was our last day of work in the tasting room so we stopped into the local tavern, Tow Bar Inn for a Beer!  The Tow Bar is a locals bar and Paul spent many a day/night there when he was a ‘local’.  Some things just don’t change in a small town; we walk into the bar and Paul knows the bartender, Jack!  Jack has been a bartender in Old Forge for over 30 years!  He was the guy behind the bar across the street until it closed several years ago and now he resides behind the bar here at the Tow Bar!  In the winter there isn’t much for the locals to do and the tourists are only here on the weekends so you go to the bar during the week to socialize and complain about the weekends!!!

When we sat down at the bar Paul saw the cribbage board on the bar and asked to have it!  Jack says “it has been so long since someone asked me for the board!”  Paul was surprised because in his day, there was always at least one game of cribbage going on at the bar!   I observed several “new locals’ hanging at the bar and I think cribbage at the bar has been replaced by texting, email, facebook and the occasional smoke outside – there just isn’t time to play a game with the guy next to  you in the bar!  We played several games and had a couple of beers and were home by 9:30.  Not the OLD DAYS!

Now here is something that you don’t always see, we rode on the mail delivery boat today!  In Old Forge you can have your mail delived to your dock by the mail boat during the summer months.  This is so cool, you sit out on your dock, drinking your coffee, enjoying the lake and here comes the boat right  up to your dock and brings you your bag of mail. It was started when President Harrison had a camp on second lake. 

Lets deliver some mail

Most residents have dogs who love this Mailman!

Well most do! This one wanted us to drop her bone and be out of there!

We only delivered to about 30 camps as lots of people have already gone home for the summer.  The dogs are all so cute, they are right there on the dock waiting for thier treat.  The residents stand on their dock and they do a hand off, one empty bag back to the mailman and they get thier new mail. 

4 Seasons

This is the Resort Paul’s family owned when we first met; there was a big house that the family lived in with rented rooms upstairs and several cottages that were rented out by the week or month.  It has changed a lot since they owned it in the 70′s and 80′s but it is still a great place to go and enjoy the lake and the beauty of this area.  The camps rent for about $5,000 a month in the summer which gets you right on the lake with a dock and beach as well as the use of their canoes.

We just spent two days on a road trip with Paul’s sister, Judy and her boys, David and Ethan.  Monday we went to the Adirondack Museum about 1 hour north of Old Forge in Blue Mountain Lake.  A very beautiful Museum situated above Blue Mountain Lake.  We learned all about Adirondack history and about the history of the people; learned how a canoe is built; learned about how the very rich rode for hours by train and then boat to get to this amazing area for some fresh air.

After the museum we headed further north to Plattsburg for the night.  Paul found us this amazing deal on a room for the night; a suite for $68 plus 11% room tax for all 5 of us!  The Shamrock Motel is a traditional motel for the area with little individual cabins and motel rooms complete with kitchens.  Our room was two rooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen and 3 beds.  It was nicer than most motel 6′s and very quiet.  The most important part was it was old but very clean and the beds were comfortable.

Shamrock Motel

Tuesday morning we headed to Ausable Chasm which is a huge gorge just south of Plattsburg.  After hiking about a mile along the rim you start descending into the gorge along walkways that have been carved out of the cliff – very cool for me, Paul wasn’t impressed!  When you finally reach the bottom of the gorge, 150 feet down you board a raft and your guide takes you through the gorge to the take out about a mile down river.  The gorge is very narrow but this time of year the water is flowing pretty slowly so it was pretty relaxing.

where the river begins it's descent

Rafting through Ausable Chasm

 I took so many pictures to share from this little trip but we had some technical difficulties starting with Denise forgot the SD chip so I took a few with the camera memory and we then bought a new SDHC chip in Plattsburg so that I could record this amazing gorge which I did.  When I sat down this am to write the pictures were all there, beautiful and I started selecting the ones I wanted to share.  The computer got slow so I decided I better copy them onto the hard drive and that is where the problem really got bad!  We still are not sure what went wrong but the pictures on the SDHC got corrupted and unreadable.  I thought there was still hope; I had the pictures on the camera memory.  Noooo! they are gone too!  We think the SDHC ate them when we put it into the camera or computer!  Needless  to say I am returning the SDHC cause I don’t trust it.  Paul is worried that he might have made a mistake when he came to help me and that has really got his EGO – he is the tech genius after all!   The pictures are all gone but not in my memory as long as that lasts!!  You really should come visit this gorge, it is beautiful and the area is so amazing with cute little towns and so many places to explore.

Taking the Big Moose Road off Rte 28 for about 10 miles to Big Moose seems like the middle of nowhere when you get there and there is a little colony of about 30 homes, an old Depot that now is a restaurant until you pass the Depot and leave the pavement.  There is a sign there that says Stillwater 10 but there is nothing else indicating you are on the right road other than it is the only road!  So we traveled the 10 miles to Big Moose and the 10 miles on a dirt road to Stillwater which is a restaurant, boat launch and little store with some pit toilets!  Here is where you park your car and board a pontoon boat for your 1 hour ride to the dock for Norridgwock III.  Stillwater is the reservoir that was created when they dammed up the Beaver River.  It is huge and has very few people that go this far to enjoy it.  There is camping on the lake but only accessible by boat which most people use canoes!  This is definitely roughing it!

Ethan and David preparing for our boat ride

Beaver River is a small colony of about 100 summer cottages and a family owned business.  One family has run the Norridgewock for generations and currently 2 brothers and their families run the hotel, restaurant, gift shop. The only way to get here is by the 1 hour boat ride or if you wait for winter you can get there easily by snow mobile!  This place is definitely remote but they have everything a resort needs; beach, playground, canoes, boats, fishing, lawn games, restaurant and  a Big BAR!

We had lunch which was pretty good considering they were the only choice!  The boat ride and lunch cost the fiveof us about $100!  Not bad for us but there was only one other group of 3 on the boat and the boat only brings visitors once a day.  They definitely do better with the snowmobiler’s which I am told travel from Bar to Bar to see how many they can make in a weekend before heading back to reality!

Ppsing on the Bridge at Beaver River

After lunch we wandered for a short distance ( you only get to be on the island for 2 hours) just to see a little scenery and then it was back on the boat for the return trip to Stillwater.

The Water Taxi

And then down the dirt road and back to civilization!

Today we are serving wine again and then another free meal with friends.  We are loving Old Forge!

I have updated our link to what our plans are.  Check it out and maybe you can meet up with us!

Under links on the right side of the blog page; Where in the USA are Paul & Denise!

We have been going nonstop since my return from California.  Paul’s dad, brother Stephen and his girlfriend Meta came up to Old Forge for a visit and of course that includes inviting all the family who still live in this area over for a family reunion.  We had a great time visiting with all of Paul’s uncles, their wives and some of the cousins.  This family reunion was a bit different than most.  This time all of Paul’s brothers (4) came and only one sister, Judy.  Oddly it is usually the other way around, all five girls and 1 or 2 brothers!  So of course we had to get a picture of the boys and dad.  For the big family picnic Paul and Stephen were in-charge of cooking the chicken over an open fire – usually a job Fred (Judy’s husband) does but he had to work, hence the boys were in-charge and had no idea what they were doing. Fred gave them lots of instructions but also made sure Ethan, his 7 year old was there to help!  Ethan made sure they kept the fire down and checked each piece with a meat thermometer so that none of our guests went home with a belly ache!  A very  successful lunch.

Besides visiting family we also were able to get in another canoe trip with Stephen, Meta and Judy’s boys, David & Ethan.  It was a beautiful day but the water was way down so way more obstacles, making it quite challenging! The river won’t be low any longer as it has been raining heavily since last night and no signs of stopping.

Today we are hanging out inside catching up on email etc.  Hopefully tomorrow clears so we can get out there and get back to all the fun stuff we still haven’t gotten to do this summer – We leave in 2 weeks!