New York State is known for growing some really nice produce. This morning we went to a farmer's market near our campground. It is harvest season and it was hard to decide what we wanted-- there is nothing better than really fresh home grown fruits and vegetables!

Today we rode the Maid of the Mist boat that goes to the base of falls. In this photo you can see one of the boats heading towards Horsehoe Falls. The Maid of the Mist has been operating since the late 1800's! Imagine riding with a coal powered steam engine!

First we went to the base of the American Falls. Notice that we are all wearing our blue "souvenier"rain ponchos (we look like Smurfs!!).

We also went to the base of the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian side). The powerful boat motors had to work hard at the base of the falls. It was prretty windy and wet here but we really enjoyed our ride.

Erie Canal

On the 25th we took a boat trip on the Erie Canal up through locks 34 and 35. They were a pair of combination locks that raise boats up 50 foot to the Niagara River. We went under a single span bridge that is 399 feet wide. It is reputedly the widest single span bridge in the world. We also went under an upside down railroad bridge. Back in the day, the transportation competition was fierce and the railroads were crisscrossing the canals, but the canals were still cheaper. So the railroads had a law passed that prohibited the barge loads from being any higher than 15 feet off the water. Then they built their crossings at 15 feet over the water!! The "upside down" bridge trusses were built downward to 15 feet from the water because the canal owners wouldn't let the railroads cut the solid rock walls down. The canal took 7 years to finish but this 3 mile section of solid granite rock took took over 5 of those years to cut. The tow path is permanent but completely overgrown with trees in this section above the 34 and 35 locks. The original cost was paid off in less than 10 years with the freight charges at one-half cent per ton per mile traveled on the 360 mile canal. That's right, one half cent! Not only was it cheaper than the longer land freighter costs, but it was a quicker delivery by about 7 weeks.
After that wonderful, sunny trip on the canal we decided to go to eat at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. Buffalo wings were first made in the Anchor Bar!! We had them and they are GOOD!!
And, they were big!! Thanks for sending us there, Sharon and Lee!!

We are in Niagara Falls, NY this week. There is lots to see around here! Of course the first place to visit is Niagara Falls--both US and Canadian sides. Nice rainbow on our left,eh?

We went to the viewpoint on the edge of the American Falls. We really enjoyed watching the water rushing over---over 3 million gallons per minute!

This is the skylon Tower on the Canadian side. It is 550 feet high. The elevators to the top run on the outside. Most people like the ride up but Karen did not really enjoy it. The view once there was pretty neat though.

This is a view of the Horseshoe Falls from the Skylon Tower.

This is the American Falls as seen from the Skylon Tower. The bridge on left is Rainbow Bridge between the US and Canada.

Saratoga Battlefield

We spent the 16th at the Saratoga National Historical Battlefield observing the 229th Anniversary of the battle. This park is one of the few National parks that actually allow the reenactors to encamp upon the battle site. There were demonstrations of musketry and cannon firing along with the encampment itself. Although we also toured the battlefield(by Auto), there isn't any Revolutionary buildings or trenches left. Horatio Gates gets the credit for defeating Burgoyne but the real hero was a Polish military engineer who had chosen this location as the best site to defend. He built strong redoubts along the Hudson and placed his artillery upon the heights over a very narrow defile of the river and road. Burgoyne could retreat back up to Canada or fight. He chose badly! Above is member of 2nd Mass. volunteers that served at Saratoga in typical revolutionary uniform
The area was farmed until the early 1900's when the state of New York was able to purchase the battlefield. The state turned it over to the National Park Service. The visitor center had a very informative interactive map that explained the progress of the opposing units and how the British came to get themselves surrounded by a ragtag, rebel army. One thing we learned that was unexpected..the residents around here are still finding War artifacts. One man we spoke with had a table full of iron tools and even cannon balls he has dug up on his property. He uses a metal detector!
We also visited another small town farther south of the battlefield on the Hudson River, where we were entertained by a Fife and Drum group. We were also entertained with a humorous and insightful explanation of what went wrong by gentleman Lord Johnny Burgoyne, the British commander who surrendered his army to U.S. commander Horatio Gates.
The Americans had surrounded the British in the village of Schuylerville after driving them from the field. Serving up vittles and melting lead for musket balls at the camp.
Gates allowed Burgoyne to surrender with full honors. The officers, including Burgoyne, were exchanged and allowed to return to England, but his troops were mostly held in prison areas in South Carolina till war's end.
This American victory convinced the French monarchy to openly commit supplies and to send the French navy to battle the blockading British navy off America's coast.
The American victory at Saratoga is said to be the turning point of the war, and many in Congress thought Gates should be the overall U.S. commander instead of G. Washington!!

Summer Bobsledding?

We spent the 15th driving to Lake Placid to see the former Olympic areas. Although a cool and drizzly drive up to Placid, by the time we ate lunch and began exploring it was really nice. The trees at the higher elevations are just beginning to change color so we got to see reds and greens mixed. We visited the Olympic center where the ice rinks are located. Both the 1932 rink where Sonja Henae(sp) skated and the 1980 rink where the U.S. Hockey "Miracle on Ice" happened were open..alas, no ice on either rink so they weren't in use. Lake Placid is a very typical mountain town with the narrow streets and little free visitor parking. Lots of shops and small resturants with a few hotels thrown in for visitors.
We took a small tour of the Bobsled/skeleton/luge runs and our guide pointed out that this is the only Olympic location which the spectator and atheletes can see all the venues from every other venue. This certainly made it easy for people to travel from one event to the next, all in the same day. We couldn't see evidence of the "athelete village" so asked where it had been located. His reply was "The village was located in RayBrook area and is now a Federal Prison." First built to keep people out and now used to keep people in. While at the Bobsled venue, Jim took a half mile ride on a 4-man bobsled..no ice..just on wheels, but a real rush anyway! He's right behind the driver in the photo.
Does anyone know where John Brown's body is buried? We do. He is buried just behind the Downhill Ski hill here at Lake Placid! Abolishionist Brown and 11 of his followers were buried here on the farm he owned after they were either killed at the raid on Harpers Ferry or were hanged with Brown after capture.
We are hoping to attend a Revoultionary War reenactment battle/encampment at Saratoga Springs on the 16th.

Vermont

We have been so busy that our journal is behind! This is what we did on Thursday…


Today we stated out early to explore a few Vermont attractions. To save a time and a few miles we drove to Essex, NY and rode the ferry across Lake Champlain to Charlotte, VT. It was a fun way to get over to Vermont.



Our first stop was the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. There we got to see all the teddy bears and how they are made. They sure had some cute ones. They also had a ton of accessories so one could dress their bear for any occasion. Notice the teddy bear weathervane on the building.

Next we drove through Burlington on our way to Waterbury, VT. The Green Mountains rose in the distance. In actual measurement they are tiny compared to the Rocky Mountains but in this area (elevations around 300 ft) they are really tall (3000-4000 ft)! The leaves are beginning to change and we saw little pockets of red and yellow everywhere. Too bad we are a few weeks early.

The reason we wanted to visit Waterbury, VT was to tour the Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Factory. What a fun tour! We learned how Ben & Jerry started their company after taking a correspondence course on ice cream making from Penn State University. Our tour guide told us that the guys scored 100 percent on their open book final! The entire company seems to have a fun loving atmosphere as they make some seriously yummy ice cream. They market about 50 different flavors –all sold in pint sizes only. Apparently Ben & Jerry consider that the ideal serving size (gulp!). We had a sample of a new flavor called American Pie –apple pie flavor complete with chunks of apple, cinnamon and pie crust.

We drove up the road from Ben & Jerry’s to the Cabot Cheese store. Cabot cheese is made locally and we got to try all their different varieties. Between the ice cream and the cheese we had almost a full meal.

It was time to call it a day and head back to our campground in New York. On the way home we stopped by the New England Maple Sugar Museum. Although the museum was closing, we got to check out the gift shop and tasting room. We had always heard about the different grades of maple syrup and we got to sample them and taste the differences. That was pretty interesting.

We had a pretty long and interesting day.

Ft. Ticonderoga

After a very cool and foggy morning, we got on the road to do some exploring of this area. We went straight to the restored Fort Ticonderoga. In 1783 Washington decommissioned the fort and the local residents carried the timbers and stones off to use in their own construction. Although the huge base rock foundations were still in place, almost all of the fort walls and buildings were built from other known star shaped forts of the same period. Originally a French fort built in1755 as a response to English expansion northward it's position at the narrowest part of Lake Champlain proved critical in the Seven Years War(English vs French) and the American Revolution. If you saw the movie "Last of the Mohicans" it depicts Lord Montcalm moving forth from Fort Carillon(Ticonderoga) to successfully rout the British and destroy Fort William Henry located just over the hills on Lake George in 1758. Fort Carillon was later taken by the British and renamed Ticonderoga which was a native word for "land between the lakes".
The first American victory in 1775 was the capture of Fort Ticonderoga without a shot being fired! However the British held Boston and had won almost all battles fought to date and the Americans needed the Cannon from the captured fort. A very young Henry Knox convinced G. Washington that he could move the cannon from Ticonderoga to Boston. He successfully moved the cannon down to Boston in only 40 days, in the dead of winter, and placed them on the heights around Boston. The British immediately withdrew from Boston.
The fort's museum has numerous artifacts from the fort and even two of the cannon Knox had moved to Boston. They also have a few of George Washington's possessions on display that Jim was able to photograph. Every place else that owned Washington artifacts refused to allow photographs taken of the items..They preferred you buy postcard photos of the artifacts!! The pistols and the corkscrew were his.
We traveled back to our camp on roads that led us thru some beautiful hilly farm country. When we entered the town of Whitehall we discovered that they claim to be the place of the U.S. Navy's birth. It was here Benedict Arnold built the first ships to fight the British on Lake Champlain. He lost. Had to destroy his boats after losing a short engagement and walk overland back to American held territory. Whitehall also has the last lock(lock 12) on the canal that connects the Hudson river to Lake Champlain. Originally completed in 1819 the Champlain Barge Canal is historically known as "Waters of the revolution" and allows boats to move from the mouth of the Hudson(New York City) through Lake Champlain and on into the St. Lawrence River.

Leaving the Coast

After being near the Atlantic Ocean since June, it was finally time to head west. We both love the seashore and it will be strange to be inland again. Our next ocean view will be the Gulf of Mexico and the Texas coast.

We spent a few days in the Boston area visiting with family and friends. Saturday we got to spend the day with Dick and Vivian (our son-in-laws parents). We got to have a yummy breakfast in the charming seaside town of Rockport. After that we drove over to an apple orchard where we bought apples, cider doughnuts and cider. Fall is really in the air! It was good to visit with Dick and Vivian and tell them some of the fun things about our Maritimes adventures. On Sunday we moved to central Massachusetts where we visited with Merrily and George in East Brookfield. George ( a wonderful cook) presided over the barb-b-que and we enjoyed our visit as well as our dinner.

Next stop-- the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York.
This is the view we have from our motorhome at our campground near Corinth,New York. We are a little early for lots of fall colors but a few trees have changed.

There is lots to see around here so hopefuly we can post some of our explorations for everyone to read.

We are camped in Bar Harbor. The coastline in Acadia National Park is lovely. We will be here for a week and hope to get caught up on some chores around home as well as tour the area.

A group of us suited up for a jet boat ride on the Reversing Falls of the St John River. Our driver, Marc (in the red), guaranteed he would give us a great ride and that we would be wet! Are'nt we attractive?

Here we go down the river, against the current of incoming tide. At this point the Bay of Fundy is pushing the St. John River in the opposite direction. At high tide, the Bay is 14 feet higher than the river outlet and salt water can be found 60 miles upriver.

Here we are spinning around in the water.

Our driver, Marc, took us by the observation platform so we could wave. Of course, the cuff of our coats were full of water that promptly ran down our arms (and farther!) as soon as we raised our arms!!

Here we are about to enter the wave. Karen is in the back row with her head down--it only helped a little with the amount of water getting into the rain gear.

Here we go through the wave. Despite the rain gear we were all pretty wet! It was short but fun ride. These photos of the boat ride were taken by Bob--thanks to him for sharing!