Ticonderoga, NY

 

Broke camp this morning and headed east on 104.  Took some back roads, i.e. not interstates, for a while before we cut down to the New York Thruway (otherwise known as I-90).  It kind of parallels the Mohawk River through the heartland of New York State.  Just as I-80 duplicates the route of the Indian trails, the railroads, and the highways, I-90 does that on the East Coast.  We stopped at a rest stop named Indian Castle and they had a descriptive plaque (see below).  According to the plaque, the Mohawk River narrows and cuts through the ridge which separates the Great Lake watershed from the Atlantic coast watershed – kind of like the continental divide in Colorado/Wyoming. 

 

About thirty miles west of Albany, we got a call from Char who was travelling north toward Albany.  She and JT were heading for Vermont.  Long story short, we were both headed for I-87 so made arrangements to meet at the first rest stop going north.  It was great seeing them (and Cousteau – the Aussie Shepard).  First time in over a year, we had seen Char – nice to have the pandemic over with 😊.

They went on their way and we headed north toward Ticonderoga.  Got off I-87 and took some two lane roads north.  Probably not the most direct way, but it was an interesting drive through the Adirondack Park.  The AP is not a normal state park, but rather a huge area in the New York Adirondack mountains.  Lot of farm land, stone quarries, dairies, etc.  We’re staying at Brookwood Campground near Ticonderoga.  There’s an interesting historical site – Fort Ticonderoga near here.  As a matter of fact we passed it when we made a wrong turn and ended up at a dead end which was actually the site of the ferry across the lake.  The main reason we came this way was to meet up with Joyce Backus, nee Kopf.  Her family was long time friends with my parents.  The last time we saw her was at Mother’s funeral.  She actually lives in Ramsey, NJ, but has a summer park trailer at Brookwood.  They have been here for about ten years and come up every summer.  Her husband, Fred, passed away in February and she’s still coping with that loss.  Their 63^rd wedding anniversary would have been tomorrow (Wednesday).  Had a good conversation with her and enjoyed touring her site and unit.  She’s up for a couple of days with one of her grandchildren – Morgan.  Fun reminiscing. Below photo is from her patio in front of the park trailer.

 

Tomorrow we head for Vermont and try to get by the border patrols that Tom III has set up.