Fife & Drum

Yesterday was the annual Ticonderoga Street Fest, where the main road through downtown is closed and local vendors and groups set up for everyone's enjoyment. It just happened to be the same weekend that there is a special fife and drum music event at the fort, so the participants had a parade though the Street Fest at 10 AM, just as we arrived. Talk about great timing! Each group was a bit different (including one that fired their rifles), but they were all fantastic. What was great too was that they waited enough time in between groups, so you could really hear what was being played. It was amazing to see and hear these re-enactors that came from Vermont, Massachusetts, and even Rhode Island. Below are the photos as they passed by...

The Bell Tower

Dave came up with an excellent idea to display the huge bell that we acquired at a recent auction. He devised a bell tower and once the rain stopped yesterday, we installed it in our yard. Setting the poles was fairly simple, but hanging the bell could have proved to be a challenge. However, with the New Holland sporting one of its forks, it raised and held the bell perfectly so Dave could attach it.

Then up went the embellishments...

Here is the completed project, and it goes well with our castle and iron farm implements in the background!

Much Needed Rain

The weather has been gorgeous this summer, but the heat and sun have made it near drought conditions. This week is putting an end to that though, with showers predicted daily. Today we had a deluge. We have needed the rain, but certainly not all at once! 2" in an hour is more like the tropics.

We have never seen puddles in the backyard before, but as soon as it stopped, our sandy soil absorbed them.

Even the goldfish almost swam out of their pond. Tadpoles also floated to the surface, taking advantage of being able to munch on any algae around the rim.

When the sun came out, so did our resident deer. She is around every time we are home, and I am sure more so when we aren't home! Today she spent an hour out back eating and drinking from the leaves. She wasn't afraid of us going in and out of the house but probably thought, "what are THEY doing here?" Dry or wet, we sure love our woods and wildlife.

Threading The Needle Bigtime!

We happened to be in Paradise Bay when one of the tour boats came cruising through. It certainly is tight quarters to maneuver in.

This is The Morgan from the nearby Sagamore Hotel, but the Mohican also comes through on their daily tours. They have to stop before going out the narrow passage inorder to get aimed in the right direction, most likely with help from stern thrusters.

They blast their horns to make sure everyone stays out of their way. Worked for us!

Seeing Red

We always keep an eye to the sky when we are out boating. However, storms can sneak up on us on Lake George since it is surrounded by mountains. That is exactly what happened to us a few days ago. With only a 20% chance of rain, we headed down to our favorite spot in the Mother Bunch Islands. We anchored for lunch and thankfully Dave dove the anchor, securing it around a rock (the bottom is hard with poor holding).  That's when a dark cloud peaked its head over the western shore mountain and we watched it for awhile trying to determine which way the rain was headed, hoping it was going south to north away from us. I even checked the radar and it showed clear skies (amazing there is cell/internet out there). As it became larger, it looked to encompass the whole northern lake, so I knew there was no sense in trying to race back to Ticonderoga. Just as I looked up again and exclaimed to Dave that this one cloud had switched direction and was moving really fast from north to south, a chilly north wind kicked in and a squall hit. Other boats were dragging anchor, but with being hooked around a rock, we stayed put, which was good because we were just a few feet from the rocky shore. We were getting pummeled with rain though, when Dave remembered Moxie's boat cover was on board.  We hid under it for about half an hour, laughing like crazy (and seeing red!), until the storm passed and the sun came out again.

Luckily there was no thunder until after it passed, so I think this storm formed over our heads. We figured that we better head back north and a little closer to the launch ramp, which worked in our favor. The sky darkened again, so we bypassed swimming at the Waltonian Islands. Shortly after we hauled out Moxie, another squall hit. We sure got all 20% of the much needed rain, but please not on my head!😉

By Land and Sea

During our stay in the Thousand Islands we explored by land and by sea. By land we took Gulliver out to Cape Vincent and the Tibbits Point Lighthouse. This is where the river meets Lake Ontario. It still amazes us to see all the huge wind generators on Wolfe Island.

By sea, we used both the kayaks and the Sea Fox, sometimes both in the same day. We have found that kayaking is much better early in the morning before the wind picks up, especially since there is so much current to contend with. Of course we love getting through the tightest places.

The morning that we went out to the Rock Island Lighthouse, the current was really screaming, so we ducked into their boathouse.

How many people get to paddle inside a shipwreck? 

We saw lots of bird life, especially loons.

Up Otter Creek, we came across a couple of families of Canadian Geese in the marsh.

Dave's pike...nope, he didn't catch it, just found it floating. He doesn't look too thrilled about touching it. 😉

Speaking of fishing, this little aluminum skiff was certainly outfitted to the hilt...

We would have loved to watch the owners shoehorn this boat into the boathouse.

The end of a perfect adventure. The Antique Boat Museum's auction is coming up in August so we'll be doing it all over again. I think Dave is ready now...

Holy Cow!!!

Holy Cow (!!!) was the name of one of the Poker Run boats we saw, but it also describes the whole "Thunder On the Bay" experience. Keewaydin State Park has one of the biggest launch ramps in the area and can handle the many boats that come for this Poker Run America event. That's why we planned on camping there for the first few nights of our trip. What fun it was to watch these boats come in, launch, and start up their boats!

At one point we were out on the road and saw this catamaran sideways on its trailer and made a quick U-turn to go back to the park, because we knew that was where it was headed. What a rig and boat this was!

It hydraulically righted itself to become flat and ready for being put in the water.

The owner did all the work himself and he was such a normal guy, talking freely to us about the boat and his addiction to boating. In fact many of these boat owners were just normal people (many with families on board) with a bit of money to spend on what they love to do.

Friday evening and Saturday morning we walked the docks in Alexandria Bay, looking at all the different boats. They certainly are diverse and there is a vast array of powerful engines.

There was even the biggest Boston Whaler we have ever seen...a 42 foot Outrage with 4-350 outboards on it!

We talked to the skipper of the pace boat about where the turbine engine Aqua-Mania was, because we hadn't seen it, but he said that they were having some issues. What a bummer because Alex Bay is this popular boat's home port.

The only twin turbine powered canopy boat on hand was My Way and the dock was literally packed with people waiting to hear it spool up to start. It needs that enclosed canopy area, because it has been clocked at going 242 mph!

I loved seeing the heat rising from the jet exhaust as the boat made its way out to the start of the run.

There were spectators galore too, and the boats all did a parade lap behind the pace boat past the park where we were (I'm glad we were on land and not kayaking). Then the green flag was up and they were off towards Ogdensburg, then back to Clayton and finishing back at Alex Bay.

You couldn't miss the helicopter in hot pursuit!

Here is a quick video to give you an idea of the experience as they pass by Boldt Castle. Listen closely and you can hear the turbine.

On Sunday when we were kayaking, we got to see all the boats head back to the launch ramp. What a great event to come up to the 1000 Islands for! I think that there was even more enthusiasm this year because the poker run had to be cancelled last year due to the high water and flooding. We'll be back!