getting out in the mountains . . .

DH and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary this weekend. So we just used that as a nice excuse to get out for one our treks around the Adirondacks. We started out by driving up to Newcomb and visited here. I wish I had taken a picture of their butterfly and hummingbird gardens, just beautiful! I hope to plant something similar at the lakehouse, ah someday! Anyway we walked a trail and it was beautiful, could hear the bullfrogs, saw a chipmunk, heard lots of birds but just enjoyed the quiet.

Unfortunately it started to pour, and there was lots of thunder and lightning so we finished our hike and headed back to the visitor center. Next we headed off to Long Lake and Hoss's. There are so many great books there, keeps us both busy for quite awhile. I got an awesome pair of Minnetonka sandals, half price. I am always the bargain shopper. They have a tree growing right through the store.

After an ice cream cone we headed down to the lake and walked around and planted ourselves in rocking chairs on the porch of the Adirondack Hotel , a turn of the century hotel (or is it Hotel Adirondack) where we sipped a cool beverage. We poked our heads inside and a young woman said feel free to wander around and so we did. All the doors were open to the rooms upstairs that were not occupied. Many were decorated with victorian furniture with handmade quilts on the beds, very pretty. This picture is from 1930.

We sat there and watched one of those little sightseeing planes take off on the lake, pretty cool. I was too chicken to go up (what with the storms in the area and all), actually I was just too chicken.

It was very idyllic so it was a little hard to get up and leave but we did.

We met up with this guy first however. Walt said it is a snapping turtle and he didn't look any friendlier than the alligators that we saw in Florida so we steered clear of it.

We drove on to Inlet, NY which is beyond Blue Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake, both beautiful lakes. We stopped in at the Kirsty's Red Dog Tavern and had dinner. We have been there before and it measured up to be just as good this time around. It's off the beaten track a little so if you every in the area ask for directions.

We then headed on to home arriving there around 10 p.m. after many miles on back roads. We almost ran out of gas because almost all gas stations in the rural parts of NY are closed by 9 p.m. but we drove until we found one, phew. It was a great day! In fact we have decided to head back to the area in July and spend a couple nights so we can explore some more. We even made reservations here which is so unlike us, but we decided to go for it!