the Lake and the Woods

Lake George, NY Year Two + Bonus Adventure

Lake George this year was SWEET. Instead of camping at Roger's Rock, we got a very well kept 100 year old log cabin on the lake, called Smith's Crows Nest, right outside Ticonderoga.

The place had six bed rooms, two bathrooms, one shower, and a dock leading from the back porch out to the lake. My friend's Dave and John brought their boats, a Cobalt and a Wakester. VERY sweet boats. Both were rigged for wakeboarding and tubing.

My friends were there since LAST Saturday and stayed a week. I was able to come and stay Wednesday til this passed Saturday. I left Wednesday in the late morning and it took me 5 1/2 hours to get there[parkway/thruway/87/9N]. I listened to a lot of music and snacked on beef jerky. I really love long drives.

I got there mid afternoon and selected the largest empty room which had a KING sized bed. It was . . . awesome. I dropped my stuff off, sat back and had a beer, met some new people, chatted, decided to take a nap, then woke up for dinner. It was sausage lasagna with just MOUNDS of cheese on it. SO GOOD!

The next day was slightly rainy but we took the boats out anyway. This guy Tim was a pretty crazy wakeboarder. He was aggressive, all over the place. John went out and was more low key, but he pulled a really nasty nose dig that made him face-plant on the water. We even heard the SMACK of his face and arms hitting. Brutal. He was definitely done for the day. I decided to pass on boarding that afteroon, lol.

The next day though I went out and tore it up. I was so impressed with myself! I am a really sucky wakeboarder, but on this outing I had a buncha nice runs. I even hopped the wake and edged around a bit. A great rush.

When we got back we had these awesome chicken fajitas waiting, with homemade salsa and guac. I musta had 3 or 4. Yawmz. Afterward I was introduced to a game called Buckethead. Easy to learn. You basically have to get rid of all your cards and the first to do so is the king and gets the head of the table, the last to get rid of his cards is the Buckethead and has to wear a hat of some sort. This time it was a Smirnoff Ice 12-pack box with eye holes cut in it. Unfortunately, I was the buckethead most of the time and I probably sported that box for several hours over the course of my stay. Another game we played was "high stakes" Bocce. Basically, it was doubles Bocce and the losers had to jump off the pier into the lake. Unfortunately, a friend and I had to jump into lake. Suck'd.

Friday, was just mellow boating, canoeing, and loafing around. We got pizzas from town and spent an hour chasing a bat out of the house. Sabrina caught it with a little basket and a badminton racket. Tim's two year old daughter said, "that bat is disgusting like my poopies." That reminded me of Thai. I turned in early.

Saturday morning we packed up and cleaned. Now, it certainly is a small world. I have a pal from out in woods of PA. I decided since it's kiiinda on the way home that'd I'd stop in on her and say Hi. Turns out Tim and his family whom I'd just met at the cabin are from that same town. It came up in passing, "I'm gonna stop in on a pal out in Saylorsburg on the way home." They were like "WHERE?! That's our town?! Who're visiting?! OH, WE'VE KNOWN THEM FOREVER! Funny what a strangely small world it is in the truth. I'd say most of us are within ONE or TWO people of most witnesses in NJ, NY, PA. These little things keep happening.

So, I head over to the woods of PA [8/9N/87/thruway/84/209] and hang with my friends out there. We went to this hick resturant/bar/grill and had dinner, I did karaoke-- PAINT IT BLACK, by the Rolling Stones. I got all into it and cheesed it up real good. We went back to the house and watched the DVD of that show Freaks and Geeks. Awesome show. I left the next day and made the journey home [33/78/287/parkway].

Now I'm back in the old saddle again. Reflecting, like I do. People of PA and upstate NY are so stinkin' nice. I like it out there a lot. I don't know if I could live out there, but I will certainly make a habit to visit. The drama levels were refreshingly low. And I loved that my cell phone didn't always work out there. Felt GREAT to disconnect. Maybe I'll retire out in the boondocks somewhere and forget about the suburban silliness. Ha.

Thanks for reading!

BV