Monday Septermber 29

September 29 Monday, Royal Mountain Campsite, Ephratah, New York

The morning didn’t start off so well, but thanks for the great service from Rouse tires (notice I am getting into the American spelling of “tyres”!) in Middlebury it all ended up well. We had to set the alarm this morning to make sure we were organised and into town by 8am. Ian put more air in the tire, but the valve stem leaked so badly, there was no way we could drive on it. He walked down to the lake to get cellphone reception, called the company at 7.30, and by 8.10 their truck had arrived to repair the valve stem, pump the tire up, and we on the road by 8.20. They started working on the brake linings as soon as we arrived and we were back on the road again soon after 10. Just so grateful for the service from a great company.
After the last five days of unseasonably warm and humid weather, it turned much cooler with drizzle all morning. We called into the supermarket in town, replenished the pantry, and decided it was time to get moving and start the final part of the trip with a drive West.
We crossed into New York state from Chimney Point, across the bridge over Lake Champlain, and felt quite sad to be leaving New England, it really is a wonderful part of the country.
We took the scenic route 9A down the western shores of Lake George, which is quite picturesque and a reasonable size, and stopped at a lookout point for a lunch break. There were very public places on the lake. It looks to be a very affluent area with some very nice weekend “cottages”, and upmarket shopping areas.. The township of Lake George, at the end of the lake is a very big tourist area, many hotels and accommodation with the accompanying shops….reminded us a bit of Queenstown.
We took the interstate down to Saratoga Springs where we exited to head west, and Jilly in all her wisdom took us through the centre of town! We didn’t stop, but enjoyed looking at this very very upmarket place, made popular by thoroughbred horse racing. The main street was lined with very exclusive restaurants and models of fullsize horses were everywhere.
Before long we were back out in the country heading along the bottom of the Adirondack mountains through Johnstown and to the campsite.
Not many photos today, as spent most of the time travelling, and maybe it was all a bit hohum after yesterday.




Comments

Dixie_Belle said…
It's so wonderful to run across your blog! I'm from Indiana and had the chance to explore New Zealand for three amazing months during your summer. Good to see you saw some of Indiana- most travelers here just hit the big states and miss our sweet little Midwest. How much longer will you be in the States?
Meg Lipscombe said…
Wonderful to hear from you, and glad you "fell" upon the blog. We are now heading back to Fort Wayne, due to arrived Oct12th, will be storing Ruakiwi with the lady we bought it off, and returning next year for a trip out west. We have a four day stopover at my brothers in Atlanta before arriving back in NZ Oct 19th
Glad to hear you spent 3 months in NZ, most visitors are lucky if they allow 2 weeks.
....have just checked out your blog...I am amazed, congratulations on your writing, we both read it with great interest.
What part of Indiana do you live in? We didn't spend a lot of time exploring the state, but enjoyed what we saw.
Dixie_Belle said…
I'm from southern Indiana, down by the Ohio river, about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati. Our sleepy little town is known for it's historical buildings. We just had our most beautiful festival of the year, an outdoor fine arts show with artists invited from all over the country. I was able to spend so long because I received a grant and a fellowship. I have so many wonderful Kiwi stories that I plan to share on my blog, and it's been great reading about your adventures. It's safe to put your email on my comments, because I check them before they're published (I forget how I did this, but you can look into it if you want to try it). I'm at ehapplegate@hotmail.com How's it feel driving on the other side of the road? I did okay except for roundabouts and pulling out of parking spaces.