Day 68 Boonville, NY-Blue Mountain Lake, NY

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Jo Day 68 (Oct 7):  Chilly 43* this morning at the Stysh's Brown Barn Campgrounds in Boonville, NY.  Misty sunrise = wet towels to hang up and dry in the van.  Kevin, Alan and John took off for their colorful 63 mile ride with Vince cheering them on...Vince said "wow, they look really good together...like a synchronized team."  Thanks Vince, we wish you a safe and fun adventure and hope to see you again!  You must reserve at least two days in advance for the Lake Durant campground, and we were not able to do that.  The campground office told Janut to be there at noon if she wanted a camp site. So Janut, Bob and I took off about 20 minutes after the guys.  There were a lot of things we would have liked to see and do (walk to the river with Bob at the Brown Barn, eat breakfast at Keye's Pancakes, eat lemon meringue gelato at The Northern Lights Creamery, shop for NY magnets and key chains, hike on the river trails, and take more photos of the fall colors) but we were on a mission to make sure we had a campsite at Lake Durant...so we needed to get there at noon.  Janut gave me 15 minutes to run into a bakery in Old Forge...the pressure was on...so I ran across the street and got in line, it was 10:23am and it looked like 12 items were already sold out!  There wasn't much left.  I lucked out and the old guy in front of me forgot his wallet in the car and had to get out of line (he said the place smelled like his grandma's kitchen).  Before he returned they asked me what I wanted...I took the last two cherry brownies, 4 of the 5 berry muffins (the old guy was staring at the berry muffins, so I left him one), the last lemon cornbread cookie,  2 of the 4 lemon ginger scones, and the last 2 monkey breads (the old guy asked what monkey bread was so I explained it to him after I took the last two).  They had more monkey bread baking in the in the oven (the old guy will just have to wait).  There were two whole quiches in the case so I said I'll take one whole quiche.  The sales girl said I can't buy a whole quiche because they are sliced for the daily lunch combo (comes with a salad).  Bummer, no quiche . Tick tock, tick tock ... oh, the pressure!  I'll take your last bag of homemade granola, and that small round loaf of bread (some sort of Scottish bread).  After spending $42 in the bakery, I ran back to the van in under 15 minutes, a new record! We got to the Lake Durant campground at exactly noon, the guy in the office was surprised that Janut made it there by noon, he turned around to the employee behind him, pointed at Janut and said "she's the one that said she'd be here at noon." Janut said "I told you I 'd be here at noon, so here I am!"  There were seven spots left, and we got one!  I was hungry and Cathy, the campground manager, recommended  a restaurant in Indian Lake (about 8 miles away), so we went there, it was mighty tasty.  I wanted gelato at the Northern Lights Creamery in Inlet but Janut said "No, I'm not driving back 44 miles just for ice cream and then 36 miles to the campground.  You have to find something closer. At that moment I really wished Janut was a "foodie".  I found "The Happy Camper Ice Cream", only a mile away.  We drove there but it was boarded up and closed for the season or forever, hard to tell.  In any case, my quest for ice cream was over...we headed back to Lake Durant where the guys rode in about 30 minutes after we did, good timing.  The office guy said we had a lake view...uh, we could see the lake better if they'd cut down some of the trees! Our camp site has a short little trail to the lake where you can see....a rock in the water and the fall colors.  Alan kicked the rocks and  leaves away to make a soft sandy pad for his tent...sometimes he looked like he was doing a little dance. John thought he heard rain drops, but it was just tiny pine needles falling onto his tent and inside his bike bag.  Kevin studied the bike maps.  Janut documented the upcoming mileage and campsites and took Bob for a walk to the other side of the campground, but forgot her camera (so no pretty sunset picture tonight).  I read my book and watched the campers next to us set up their campsite...they hung up a blue tarp between the trees so we can't see them...or maybe...so they don't have to see us?  Kevin made a very tasty dinner, spaghetti with Italian meatballs...complimented by the yummy Scottish bread from the bakery.  The fall colors are brilliant, as well as tonight's stars and the crescent moon.
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Kevin Days 68 and 69.  Boonville, NY to Ticonderoga, NY.    Ticonderoga NY to Hancock, Vermont.
A quick catch up post for the last couple of days as we had no cell service.  The fall colors have exploded in the Adirondacks, and we had spectacular weather on Friday  which really made the colors pop.  Saturday was cloudy and a chance of rain. Luckily it didn't rain, but the colors are much more subdued. Riding was great-although very hilly through the Adirondacks.  Sunday we entered Vermont, via ferry across Lake Champlain. Weather again was cloudy.  Vermont is hilly, and we crossed the Green Mountains today, via the Middlebury Gap.  While only 2,000 feet in elevation, the Gap is steep! Two sections with 14% gradient! Glad to have that 26-27 granny gear combination!  We took the Covered Bridge alternate instead of through the town of Middlebury.  Sadly the covered bridge has burned and was closed.  But we laugh at closed bridges!  We carried out bikes across the burnt out bridge. I'll put up some more pix in a separate post. I'll add captions to pictures as I remember what they are!