Lake George, Here We Are

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Lake George, Here We Are

When we awoke this morning about 6am it was 44 degrees outside. I would say that that was a bit nippy. But it was 54 degrees inside, but we don’t notice it because we are so warm in our sleeping bags. But Tom turns the heater on so that it feels good to get dressed.
A little something to add about the cold, “wet” sleeping bags from yesterday: I believe that condition was my fault. We have always left the vents open in the trailer. There’s one in the lavatory and one in the main compartment of the trailer. I never understood why it was left open when it was so cold. I always thought that hot air rises and all the air that we heated would go right out the vent. So Tom closed that vent. The result was that we had too much hot moist air in a closed room so we had condensation on the walls. Tom opened the vent later in the day. We had no problem with condensation this morning and I slept well all night. I did have that extra blanket tucked between me and the wall though.
Considering we didn’t do any stowing last night and we didn’t hurry through breakfast, I think we did a good job of getting out on the road by 9:45! We went west on the Massachusetts Turnpike and north on an Interstate up the east side of New York to Lake George. It took about 2 ¾ hours driving time which doesn’t count restroom stops and map stops. We decided not to eat lunch at the last stop but to continue on through to the campground which “The Man” said was only 12 minutes away. It was. We didn’t do much about getting settled because the sun was shining on our picnic table and we wanted to eat in the sunlight. We have “eaten out” so seldom because of the weather that we didn’t want to miss this chance. Tom grilled pork chops for tonight’s dinner but we ate inside because it was getting colder and dark.
At 10:40 this morning we achieved the highest elevation on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was at 1724’. The views were wonderful.
A note about state maps: We try to make sure we get a state map of each of the states through which we travel. We learned that last year on our trip west. They tell you where you are, how far you have to go and where you are going to be next. But getting these maps is challenging. Now that the states have to tighten their belts they can’t afford to just continually supply them willy-nilly. But if you are persistent you can get one. In one of the states we couldn’t get one when we were entering the state but could when we were leaving. There was a tall stack of them on the desk. Go figure. As we entered NY today the first Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk with many ads for tourist attractions. No maps. The next Welcome Center with information had no one tending the desk and no maps on the desk. But I continued to look and sure enough found them in a rack with two stacks about 12” high. Go figure. One of the states, I think it is Vermont, is selling advertising on the face of the map. There are various ways to pay for maps for tourists and residents.
At the western end of Massachusetts there was a noticeable change in the trees. There was a little more color in the hills and mountains. We might have been two weeks early but now we are only one week early.
One of the strangest things that we saw today was the overhead foot bridge that allowed the hikers to cross the road safely. The sign on the bridge read “Appalachian Trail.”
Our campsite is in the open if you look up, but we are surrounded by pine trees. There are long yellow pine needles everywhere. While we were eating lunch we decided that the staff must have “groomed” our campsite by raking or blowing the pine needles off of the stones that are where we were supposed to park. We may not have found the exact place to park if the pine needles were still there. A yellow jacket came almost immediately, stayed for a while and disappeared. Evidently it didn’t like what was on the menu.
Finally we just stopped site prep and trailer prep to sit in our chairs that we brought with us. You know the kind: they’re the aluminum tubing chairs that when you sit in them you can sort of recline. It felt so good to just sit outside and look at the sky and the clouds and the trees and drift off to sleep. Who cares if the temperature is 60 degrees.
Dinner was great, dishes are done and the log is being written. I have some things to do tonight and then to hop into bed early. I hope. We will still be here tomorrow night and then Thursday is another moving day and another laundry day, the last one. This is another reminder that our trip is gradually winding down.