My blog pal Chilly from On the Bricks really liked my post with the Adirondack video. So I found another for ya, Chilly, man! I’m not sure where this is (the Adirondack Park is pretty massive, lol), but it looks like any other crazy winding road through the Adirondacks. Maybe now ya’all know what I was talking about when I said I hadn’t had a serious case of car sickness until we went to Buck Mountain near Lake George see my post about it here and traveled up Route 9 to Fort Ticonderoga see my post here. But the scenery is sooooo beautiful!
Anyway, watch this video I found on YouTube. I could only get through the first two minutes, then I was car sick again. Tell me how it ends. lol. The driver is bombarded by the biggest bugs I’ve ever seen, judging by the bug guts on his windshield!
When you can find them, hotel deals are nice, but camping is best for enjoying the Adirondack splendor!
Looking for some high-quality tactical gear? Travel gear? We are always looking around for stuff like that– I have two boys who are nuts over tactical gear, and we like to enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoors activities when we travel. We’re hoping to hike to the top of Buck Mountain and camp in the Adirondacks this fall!
I don’t think there’s any match for the fine quality of Blackhawk products at Brigade Quartermasters, Ltd., online. The Blackhawk brand was founded by Navy SEAL Mike Noell. Noell had a bad experience with defective military gear during an Iraq mission in 1993. Yikes! Noell survived the experience, and vowed he’d make sure people had dependable gear.
Blackhawk brand products are available to the civilian consumer, too. There are high-quality field packs, pocket tools, rappelling gear, and more. If you’re in need of some great gear– for work or for play– check out the Blackhawk brand at Brigade Quartermasters, Ltd.
Someday we Mecombers are gonna “RV” across the continent, you know. We’ve got our route planned out– crossing through New York, Ohio, downward to Missouri, all the way to Texas, then swinging back northward, up through Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and back east again. Can’t wait! But I suppose we have to buy an RV first, don’t we! lol! We will!
If you have an RV, truck, or SUV, check out Tweetys.com. They specialize in parts and accessories for heavy duty vehicles, work or play. They’re also a friendly bunch, willing to answer your questions (like, “What on earth are 5th wheel pin boxes and are they important?” That would be me asking such silly questions. Actually, I’ll let my husband handle all that complicated stuff; I’ll browse the cool RV stuff section.
Got an RV? Get RV ready– see Tweety’s for great service, great selection, and great prices. And tell them Mrs. Mecomber sent ya.
Sorry I haven’t blogged much. We are all in high gear trying to finish up the school year, and the gasoline prices have kept me homebound for a while. However, we do have some hopes to do some traveling this year! We have some things in the making, in particular a camping trip in the Adirondacks, and perhaps a hike up one of it’s mountains. We love the “strenuous life,” as fellow New Yorker called it (Theodore Roosevelt). We are very fond of TR, having read several of his biographies and seen many documentaries of him. We also have a neat computer game where you go on an expedition through the Amazon jungle and bump into him there, in the midst of a safari. It’s a pretty cute game and the kids love it.
TR made the African safari famous, too. Would you ever go on an African safari? I think I would! If you love safari (or love reading about it and looking at photos), check out the T. Jeffrey Safari Company website. They offer exciting Namibia safari hunting trips. My sons absolutely love the website. I’m sure they’d love for us to all go, but I can’t hit the backside of a barn anymore (I wasn’t too bad a lass with a gun, however). The gallery of photos at T. Jeffrey Safari Company are amazing. The best glimpse I ever got of Africa was Marlin Perkin’s Wild Kingdom; I’d love to see Africa for real! Imagine, roaming 200,000 acres on a family farm in central Namibia for a safari, or hunting for a week in the Kalahari Desert! Talk about the strenuous life! If you are into safaris, take a gander at the website. It’s an adventure in of itself.
Our biggest excursion of the summer of 2006 was to Lake Chalet Campground in Bridgewater, NY. It is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable campgrounds in the area, perhaps in the state. This site has a nice description with great photos.
Joe and Mary Pcola own the Lake. They moved to New York from Slovakia in the 1980’s.
The Utica Observer-Dispatch did a review of the Lake in 2005. “We stopped here one day because we saw how pretty it looks,” Mary Pcola said. “I said, ‘Oh my God, this is so beautiful. I want to live here.’ Joe said, ‘Surprise, you can - it’s for sale.’ So we bought it.”
The Pcolas have taken excellent care of the place. Joe zips along all day in his golf cart (which I almost destroyed–keep reading), delivering wood, collecting trash from the cans, weeding, and pruning. Mary and her little granddaughter were seen weeding and watering the gorgeous flowers. The bright pink phlox was in full bloom, and its heady scent filled the campground.
The prices are a bit steep. My dad says this is good, because it keeps the riffraff out. The other campers were very friendly. Most were seasonal campers, who parked their RVs here from April to October. They didn’t even mind us jamming on our guitars until 10pm.
There were very sweet and rustic cabins, too, but I didn’t see any but one that was occupied.
My family and my dad and his wife rented an RV/tent site for 4 nights. It was the kids’ first time in a tent, and camping, for that matter. They LOVED it.
The first night it thundered and poured rain, so we didn’t get much sleep. The kids crawled into the RV with us adults when lightning started to strike nearby (at 2 am). After the shaky start, it was nothing but UP from there.
We hiked around the beautiful lake, which is dyed emerald green. After dinnertime, dozens of swallows swooped down across the lake to nab tasty waterbugs. The birds left great ripples in the water whenever they hit the lake surface. It was like watching a ballet. Bullfrogs were very noisy, probably protesting the birds’ intrusion into their bug supply.
The scenery was so beautiful.
We fished, the kids for the first time. There were lots of small sunfish and bass.
We swam in the lake every day, played in the sand at the small beach, played at the kids’ playground, and played arcade games in the laundry area.
The boys learned how to split wood and keep the fire going.
The best part was sitting by the fire, with hot coffee in the morning and good conversation in the evening.
We feasted on grilled food every night. My adopted mom, Sharon, makes killer “shish kabobs without the kabobs.”
Too bad we couldn’t have stayed longer, as we didn’t even scratch the surface of all the things we could do here (canoe, go on paddleboats, etc).
We hated to leave, but the check-out day came, and we packed up all our goods for the ride out and back home. Unfortunately, my van doors had been left open overnight, and my battery was drained. I had to find Mary or Joe to get some jumper cables (my husband had taken them in his van to work with him, earlier that morning). Joe drove up in his trusty golf cart and offered to jump the van for me. When we had rigged up the cables and I started my van, the golf cart surged forward (scaring the willies out of me) and the cables tore off. Thank God no one was electrocuted! However, the battery surge shorted Joe’s cart, and he couldn’t get it started! I was sweating bullets, believe me, because I didn’t want to leave Joe without a working golf cart; I figured I’d have to have it repaired for him, or buy him a new one. Sharon, the wise wife of a car guy, suggested we check the fuse box. Joe popped open the hood and changed the blown fuse. IT WORKED!! Boy, relief was my middle name…. we shook hands, said our goodbyes, and all hopped back into our vehicles for the drives home. Never a dull moment, I tell you.
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However, we do have some hopes to do some traveling this year! We have some things in the making, in particular a camping trip in the Adirondacks, and perhaps a hike up one of it’s mountains. We love the “strenuous life,” as fellow New Yorker called it (Theodore Roosevelt). We are very fond of TR, having read several of his biographies and seen many documentaries of him. We also have a neat computer game where you go on an expedition through the Amazon jungle and bump into him there, in the midst of a safari. It’s a pretty cute game and the kids love it.
