Oct. 6 Stowe, VT. to Lake Champlain and Lake Placid, N.Y.

40 degrees when we left the condo about 9:00.  Every morning we see more leaves that have turned on the trees at the condo since we arrived a few days ago.

Driving along we saw signs for duck crossing and turtle crossing.  Tie By Night Fly Shop.  Seams Perfect seamstress sign.

We're driving on U.S. Highway 2, which runs from out here to the Cascades Mountains in Washington State. This is granite country-even street curbs are made from it in some towns.

We're headed to Lake Champlain, which is in Canada, VT. and N.Y., being 124.9 miles long!
We just read that the Navy has a new guided missile cruiser this year named USS Champlain.

As we approached the lake, the GPS kept saying "recalculating, recalculating."  We sat in our car for the 15 minute ferry ride across part of it to the N.Y. side.  It costs $10 for the car and passenger and $4.00 each for additional passengers.  The lake can freeze since it gets to 40 below here.  We can see the Adirondack Mtns. 

A few miles later we were in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where the altitude is 234'.
Drove around the old AFB where Maury used to work from 1979-82 or so.  The housing has been sold for apartments and little else is there.  The hanger where his helicopter was housed was still standing.  He was commander of a rescue squadron and the Dept. of Defense Rep. with the people who prepared everything up for the '80 Olympics.  They worked on it for year, including mass casualty exercises and all kinds of things.

Saw cafes with Texas Red Hots advertised-chili dogs.  Subs are called Michigans here, unless you now go to Subway.  They said it was that way back then, too.  Lake Placid railroad. The weathermen today are saying the leaves are at their peak this week in N.Y. and some of Vermont.  Even with Tom's nice camera and lenses the colors just aren't as vivid as when you are near them.  Disappointing for me in doing this blog.

We ate our sandwiches in the car by the lake before driving over to the Ausable Chasm, which is where the Ausable River runs through a gorge before dumping into lake Champlain.  When they lived here, you walked all along the edge in the woods.  Now there is an admission fee.  We walked onto the bridge which sits over it and, wow, is it ever far below!  Again, trees looked so bright that I
pointed out for Tom to shoot. (with his camera, not a gun!)

We are seeing these trees alongside roads and everywhere else, but Susan and I don't know what they are.  They are getting prettier as the "flowers" and leaves continue to turn red.  The flowers are a group of hard berries, or something,

This tree was pretty to Tom, since his color-blindness prevents him from seeing the reds and oranges that are vivid to the rest of us.  A shame.

 This is some of the Adirondack Mtns.  Today they are a blanket of color, but we are too far away for  it to be as pretty in this picture as it was from a parking lot.

 

 

 

Lake Placid

These are  the ski runs on Whiteface Mountain which were used in  Olympics.  It was so beautiful with all the colorful trees in between the them.

Flags at the entrance to Whiteface Mountain

                                         The ski jumps from the Olympics  are still in use

 This church was nearby.  This month's challenge for Tom's photo club at home is to take pictures of doors and doorways, so this caught our eyes.

                                 Maybe this video of a fork of the Ausable River will come out.
                                 We parked near a bridge where they had cornstalks tied to the poles
                                  all across it

Keeseville, N.Y.           near Lake Placid
Maury and Susan showed us the big French Catholic Church they attended when they lived practically across the street in an old house built between 1840 and 1850.  It looks like it hasn't been painted since they left in '82.  Maury built a chimney on it so they could burn wood, since they couldn't  afford to pay for 500 gallons of oil every 3 weeks or so!  There were a couple of small churches made of granite.

Back in Lake Placid a small bookstore is for sale for $1.5 million.  It is on the touristy street, with the lake behind it.  Town is full of tourists today.  Lots of Halloween decorations in yards everywhere.
A pretty synagogue with a menorah made of blue glass on the front wall.  We've passed  soccer games in several places this week and just now, a girl's.

Back down the highway, stopped for pizza, drove to ferry, and another hour more to get back to the condo.  Three of us got haircuts this morning in Plattsburgh, so the day was 10 hours long, but very fun, as they all have been.  Only 2 more days here in VT.