Camp Kiwassa, NY

Thursday was another beautiful day following a cool night with great sleeping. We began the day with a family tee shirt tie dye. Most of us escaped dying ourselves in the process. It was a lot of fun and we will have the shirts as souvenirs of the vacation.

Again lots of water activities. Carol and I got in some Bay River Skiff sailing even though the winds were pretty light and fluky all day. We also got out on the canoe for a while and took pictures of Diane, Roy, Sam and Joshua on their way for a transit of the lock by kayak. They reported that a great time was had by all. Sam came back with a few water lily flowers and a big smile!

Roy and Diane treated us to a great Porter House Steak dinner. The steaks were terrific and at $6 per pound, one of the great bargains of the week. Too bad we can’t find a great bargain on diesel fuel.

It is now early Friday morning, the sunrise is gorgeous, and all the boats except our canoe are packed for travel, either to home or in our case on to our Raquette Lake waterfront campsite. It’s a bit sad as the kids leave for home later today and Carol and I will spend the rest of the last full day at Camp Kiwassa decompressing and enjoying a meal at the Paul Smiths college restaurant. Tomorrow morning we leave for Raquette Lake for the start of about 10 days of camping. Then we head off to Rochester for visiting friends, planning this winter’s skiing, and some more sailing and power boating.

Camp Kiwassa, NY

Wednesday and our week is half over L. It was another action packed day. After breakfast, Carol and I went for a canoe ride on a still and quiet lake. Very nice. Next a group left for a climb of Mt. Baker. The trailhead starts near the center of the town of Saranac Lake. It was an easy climb for most and we were especially impressed that 3 year old Sam made it most of the way. Grandpa had a rough time getting down even though he was using two climbing sticks. His climbing days are definitely numbered unless he can find a way down on either skies or a chairlift.

In the afternoon Steve, Nate and I took a boat trip over to a lock which leads to a series of lakes about 5 ½ feet higher than Lake Kiwassa. The lock was fun and a first for Steve and Nate. On the way back we got drenched by a sudden rain squall. No pictures of the squall.

Supper was a real treat with Quesada’s wiped up by Steve and Diane featuring left-overs from earlier in the week.

Camp Kiwassa, NY

Our second full day at Camp Kiwassa was packed with activity on both land and sea. I started my day with a bike ride to Lake Placid – well I almost made it there. A 16 mile trip seemed like 60 with the hills, rough roads, and heavy traffic. Today I’ll select a less traveled road and continue my hill training.

When I got back to Camp, Deb was busy making her famous Oat Fudge Bars. Yumm!

The motor boat was once again the big hit on the water. Lots of fun tubeing and riding fast. We had great winds all day and had several trips on the Bay River Skiff. Joshua got to steer for a while.

We finished the day with a campfire by the lake with S’mores!

Camp Kiwassa, NY

Carol, Joshua, and I left Clinton NJ a little after 9:00 on a bright sunny Saturday morning for the drive to Camp Kiwassa. It was a bit of a white knuckle trip for me with frequent stops to check our load, but my reinforcement seemed to hold up for the entire trip. When we arrived at Kiwassa Lake, it was a little like coming home, being our second year here. We quickly settled into “our” rooms and got the water front set up with our fleet of six boats. After one full day, the aluminum boat with our dinghy motor has become the favorite.

We celebrated three birthday’s yesterday morning with the opening of some presents. I got a load of bike riding stuff, a reminder that I brought my road bike and had better get riding.

The weather? So for after one day, it has been perfect. Cool nights for blanket sleeping and sunny and high 70’s for daytime swimming. The afternoon wind came up for some brisk but fluky sailing – pretty tricky. It will take me some time to learn the Bay River Skiff, but so far I’d say she likes a lot of wind. I did ship a little water over the side yesterday. Perhaps today I can get someone out on the power boat to take pictures of our two sail boats under canvas.

Clinton New Jersey

We left the beach bright and early Friday morning for what should have been a short drive to our Daughter's house in Clinton NJ. But instead of short, the trip was plagued with more troubles with the boat and trailer. First the crutch I built to hold the masts up, came apart and we had to stop on the very busy I 295 in NJ to create a lash-up so we wouldn't loose the spars over the side. The next series of mishaps occurred when the frame of the trailer began to distort under the stress of the "new torsion bar" suspension system I installed before leaving home. What a mess, tires rubbing on the fenders and wearing through the license plate holder. Our plate is now floating around somewhere on NJ 31. Oh dear!

So what was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon playing with the grand kids, turned into a trip to Lowes and an afternoon under the trailer trying to beef up the frame. I think it will make it to Saranac. When the boat is off the trailer for a week, I'll find a shop which can do some welding and make a better job of it.

Assateague Island

We finally got away on Wednesday 6 July and drove to Assateague Island on the Ocean side of Maryland's piece of the Delmarva Peninsula.

Carol has never been in favor of me taking the borrowed Bay River Skiff on my now homemade trailer - too much hassle for a vacation trip. Today we got a little preview of just what a hassle we would be in for. Somewhere just north of Williamston, the old sunbrella cover started to shred. Since rain was threatened, and a lot of our camping gear is stored in the boat, quick action was called for. Fortunately we found a Walmart right off 17 in Elizabeth City and purchased a heavy duty plastic tarp and some shock cords. A little work in the parking lot and we had a nice new boat cover.

Our campground at Assateaque was just fine for a beach site - no shade trees. Lots of nice surf noises and a cool ocean breeze most of the time. There is lots to do at this National Seashore Park. Lots of bike trails and kayaking. They have a terrific new visitors center which does a good job of teaching about the herd of wild horses and the steps they take to cap the size of the heard. Think medication administered with a shot gun! On Thursday evening a band of these wild horses visited the campground. The mostly just ate grass in our campsite, although they were a little too close for comfort. Our neighbors were eating dinner at the time, and the horses joined them enjoying the human fare. It was a most unpleasant experience for these folks as you might imagine.

Summer Road Trip

We're nearly packed for our summer road trip northward to New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Michigan. Wednesday we will head up via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge / Tunnel and to our first campsite at Assateague National Seashore on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Then it is on to our Daughter's in New Jersey and then a week in a turn of the century house in the Adirondacks with both daughters, their husbands and 4 grandsons.

We've packed a few toys for the trip including my road bike, a kayak and a borrowed Bay River Skiff sailboat. It will be interesting to see how our mileage turns out, but I'm not looking for the usual high 40's on this trip.

If the picture looks a little smokey, it is. This year in addition to our usual oppressive heat and humidity, we have heavy smoke from a nearby forest fire! We can't wait to escape!