As we traveled east across New York, one of our main destinations was to see the Adirondack Mountains we'd always heard so much about. We chose to stay in a PA campground, Adirondack Thousand island Campground near Natural Bridge, NY, on the west side of the Adirondacks. From there we did some car trips to nearby towns. In Harrisville we had this beautiful view for our picnic.
Near Cranberry Lake we stopped for ice cream and a walk at the now empty lakeside beach.
Along our way back we stopped for a bag full of fresh corn, 12 ears for $3.00. Love these little self serve fruit and veggie stands all through out New York.
Our campground was beautiful but... sadly, almost totally empty. It's a former KOA campground but with new additions and repairs. Such a lovely place to relax and get some basic household things done. The park had a rough start to their season with a late opening due to weather, and now that the weather had warmed up, the season was almost over.
After three nights there, we drove further east on Highway 3 and on into the park. We had reservations for five nights at Fish Pond State Park north of Tupper Lake on Highway 30. Though the big summer camping crowds were mostly gone after Memorial Day, weekends still filled, so reservations were needed.
It was amazing to constantly see lakes or rivers everywhere we looked. Our campsite, #13 had this beautiful view of the lake.
The park has close to 300 sites, though about half the park had been closed off it would come to life that weekend with the 90 Miler Adirondack Canoe Classic. It's a three day, 90 mile flat water race that follows the original highways of the Adirondacks from Old Forge in the south to Saranac Lake not far from where we were staying. Our park was the launching point for the last leg of the race on Sunday.
It rained pretty steady all day Saturday but by late afternoon the canoes and riders started showing up at the park. By evening the park was buzzing with activity; campsites being set up with clothes hanging near campfires trying to dry out from the day's ride.
We rode our bikes over to the staging area that evening just to see the 275+ canoes set up.
As well as paddling long lengths of rivers and across lakes, they also carry the canoes across small stips of land from one lake to another.
We were up and back on our bikes early Sunday morning to watch the first boats set out for the day, but a thick fog had rolled in so the launch was delayed by almost an hour.
Finally the sky went from gray to a bright beautiful blue and they were off!
We had time to bike to the nearby bridge to watch and cheer them on as the race began.
It ended several hours later in the lovely village of Seranac Lake. It was so exciting to see such varied groups of paddlers come across the finish line; all ages and all sizes of teams from singles to the "War Boats" carrying up to 8 paddlers.
On our way back to our campsite that afternoon we stopped to walk the trails at Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center.
The paths were beautiful, peaceful and so well maintained as they meander through woodland and marshland, ponds, brooks and bogs. Nice!!!
Back at our campsite we had a stunning sunset. The park was practically empty again as Sunday night arrived.
Monday it was time to take a drive further into the park to visit the home of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. We started with lunch at Cottage Cafe right on the lake with a wonderful view from the deck. Across the street was a huge resort filled with flowers, perfect for a photo.
Then a tour of the Olympic Museum and event sites. Such a fun day!
Tuesday was so warm and beautiful we decided to stay in the park, ride our bikes and put the kayak in the lake and paddled up this river. An absolutely perfect afternoon.
We stayed around the park Wednesday morning, just moving the RV to the parking lot of the campground; we still had a big day planned in the area. We drove the car back to Paul Smith's College to enjoy a gourmet lunch prepared by their Culinary School students. What a fabulous meal; three courses for $12 per person. Fantastic!!! I had made reservations several days before as they have a small dining room and seat only a few guests each day. What a wonderful experience.
Our next fun adventure was to tour one of the original Adirondack Camps from the 1920, White Pine Camp. We walked the grounds and learned the history of the camp as well as seeing many of the original buildings still in use today such as this bowling alley where Paul got to roll a ball on the wooden floor.
The tour continued across the lake to the boat house, past the Japanese Tea Room and then up to the Great Room.
What a wonderful way to end this part of our stay in this beautiful park!
Returning to the RV and Foster by about 3PM, we hooked up the car and drove about two hours back out Highway 3 to stay one more night at the Adirondack Thousand Island Campground. Having camped at the state park for last 6 days without water or electricity, we needed to recharge our batteries, fill the water tanks and get the laundry done. The temperature was changing and a little rain fell that night letting us know that fall was beginning to settle in.
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