crossrhodes

The boondocks of northern NY was Don’s stomping ground for a few years while he was stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. The base has been closed for over a decade. His old house is gone, as are most of the buildings, replaced by new housing developments, businesses, and an international airport. Don says in about 5 years, you won’t even know there was a base there at all.

A stone’s throw away from this ghost town is the foot of the Adirondack mountains. If you’ve never been to the Adirondacks, you’re missing out on some beautiful scenery! It is scattered with lakes and towns named after lakes. I’d never seen so many lakes along the roads and highways.

We visited the lakefront summer home that Don’s grandfather used to own up there. I stepped out of the car to take some pics of the lake only to be greeted by a swarm of black flies! Ugh!!! I was told they are all over the place this time of year. Annoying!!! I took most pictures from the inside of the car for the rest of the ride through the mountains. I would’ve liked to have taken more nature photos but the flies kept me in the car for most of the ride through the mountains.

Wandering through Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, we came upon this BBQ shack on the side of the road. It’s no ordinary restaurant. It was also a camp of some sorts with cabins for rent adjacent to the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. It even had a roaring campfire, camp store, ice cream stand, live music, etc. It’s cute if you like that sort of thing. But as my father-in-law said, Lani’s idea of roughing it is staying at the Holiday Inn Express as opposed to the Marriott. *LOL* Right on, old man!

I love driving through the country, but I can only take it in small doses. A day trip is fine; I’ll even do an overnighter. But on our third night in the Adirondacks, my father-in-law called to check on me and James. He knew the two of us must’ve been bored out of our minds already!

Whenever we visit Don’s aunt in northern NY, we try to take a day trip across the border to Montreal, Quebec. On my first time up there, we just drove around and stopped whenever we found something of interest. This time around, I consulted a couple of online travel guides and knew exactly what I wanted to see.

First stop was the famous Hebrew smokehouse, Schwartz’s, on Saint Laurent. Their original smoked meat sandwich was highly recommended by a friend and food critics who claim it trumps the best of NYC delis. It’s a little hole in the wall next to bigger restaurants, but it had the longest line of people on the boulevard. We opted for the take out counter and ate our lunch at a local park among the locals… people and pigeons alike. I wasn’t disappointed, their smoked meat was flaky tender and savory with just the right amount of spice. However, I have had more memorable taste sensations in a deli in midtown Manhattan. Perhaps I am just biased, having been raised for half of my life in the NYC metro.

It was a good day for weddings, apparently. There were 2 different wedding parties on the church grounds and a few more walking near The Quays (the port area).

I really enjoy walking around historic neighborhoods in any city, their cobblestone streets and detailed architecture. We had a good time in Montreal on Saturday. According to James’ blog, he had a good day, too… although it’s hard to know how teenagers really feel inside when grumpy is all they show on the outside =)

Upon returning stateside, I made a prank call to my mom. I told her to come get me in Canada coz border patrol would not allow this brown girl back into the U.S. *LOL* She should know her kids well, but she still falls for our pranks half of the time!

Anyway, click here or on any picture above to link to the album. I also threw in some pics of our first Montreal visit in 2003. More weekend adventure pics to come!

Here’s a sneak peack of our weekend. Look closer… closer… closer. See the water beneath my feet? Can you guess what we’ve been up to this weekend? Bungee jumping? White water rafting? Sky diving? Hmmm…

No longer are the days of singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall or fighting over radio stations to kill time on a family road trip.

Today, on the drive to the Adirondacks:

• James is playing Xbox on the built-in TV in the van and listening to music on his MP3 player;
• I’m listening to MP3s on my PDA/phone and drafting a blog on my laptop;
• Don is on a work conference call and has the classic rock station all to himself;
• and we both logged onto our laptops at a WiFi rest stop.

We are a wired family, in more ways than one, or should we say wireless. Yet I can’t help but reminisce on road trips in the simpler days of my childhood. We sang to the oldies on the radio; my parents harmonized, us kids followed along. I still know the lyrics to Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Sad Movies. Even on shorter drives to church on Sunday mornings, we practiced our choir songs in the car. I miss those days! I would willingly give up today’s technology for a day — just 1 day — to go back in time on a road trip with my family of origin just one more time. I will video tape it for posterity, have the VHS transfered to DVD, and watch it on my laptop today on the road =)

P.S. I wrote this blog on the highway. Now I’m posting from the back parking lot of a motel somewhere in Northern NY… piggy-backing off their wireless… shhh!!! I’m feeling naughty. *hihi*

Thanks, MG! | Make your own!