Forging Ahead: An Update

Wow, it has been almost a month since I posted last. Unfortunately, that is because we have had lots of rain and have been doing projects and "routine stuff" (as my mother used to called it). However, we had a great few days up in Ticonderoga with friends Arlyne and Charlie who live in Cape Coral and were visiting in their Airstream campervan. We road toured the area including the Champlain Bridge and the Fort St. Frederic ruins in the Crown Point Reservation, along with a boat ride out on Lake George in Moxie. Our highlight of their stay was our walk to see the beaver action on the upper LaChute River and we had more sightings than we have ever had before! One was so close that it gave us a big tail slap, alerting the rest of its kin to watch out. Arlyne and Charlie also got a tour of our Glenville property, but the rain set in again, so their time here was short. It was fantastic to get together again with them, as it had been more than 10 years since we had seen them and stayed at their dock in their canal when we were cruising on New Horizon.

This past week we finally had some nice hot weather and went back to Ticonderoga. We spent one day in Foxie on Lake Champlain, launching in Westport, and cruising north to Split Rock Point, then over to McNeil Cove, and Converse and Kingsland Bays in Vermont. We headed back south on the east side of the lake and into Basin Harbor before ending up near Button Island. The water was pretty weedy and turbid from the recent rain, so for old times' sake from our cruising days with our dachshund Scooter, we anchored off the little island we call the 'Button Hole'. It certainly was calm that day, but you can tell that storms were moving in. 

The following day we kayaked from Hague on Lake George, down to Arcady Bay, viewing all our favorite camps, boat houses, and wooden boats (photos can be seen in posts from previous years). It was a super hot day and we planned on swimming off one small island, but unbeknownst to us, gulls had nested on the island and we couldn't get near it as the parents were dive bombing us! Luckily, we found a sandy, shallow spot to take a quick dip to cool off, and then headed back to the house to turn on the a/c and do inside chores and a few upgrades. 

Friday was another scorcher of a day, but we had to get work done outside the house with tree trimming with the pole saw, along with mowing, weeding and bush trimming. We completely filled up our utility trailer with brush...more like overfilled it. 😉 Now we should be set for a long time (hopefully). We completed those projects just in time before a huge thunderstorm moved in. The lightning was amazing and one of our town beach lifeguards shot this photo...

Yesterday was a perfect day to take the Thunderbird to Old Forge for A.C.B.S.'s 31st Annual Fulton Chain Rendezvous. This is an antique and classic boat show held on the Fulton Chain of Lakes, starting from the protected 'Pond' into lakes 1 through 4. This was our first time for us, and we have decided that next year we will bring Flash to be on display and perhaps even spend a couple of nights there exploring this area in the Adirondacks. Below are some photos of the unique boats, including the start of the parade led by the local fireboat. 

We also met up with Mike Glenn, who is the president of our local antique outboard club. He represented the club with a few of his outboards and his Neiman Marcus plexiglass pram.

At 8:00 this morning we were out kayaking on Lake George again, before the boaters had a chance to 'wake' us. By 9 AM we were swimming off the north side of Anthony's Nose! We knew storms were predicted, so to beat the southbound weekend traffic we came back to Glenville early, arriving and settling in with 5 minutes to spare before the thunder started yet again. It may be rainy but things sure are green around here. We try to stay positive and do what we can when the weather allows. Like where we were yesterday, we are 'forging' ahead!

 

Gassing Up In 2023

This weekend was the annual Gallupville Gas-Up that we always attend. We love all the antique engines, equipment, vehicles, etc.! This year there were more vehicles riding around the grounds than we have ever seen before. Dave brought up his Cushman that used to be used in the G.E. plant in the 1960s. It was perfect since it doesn't mind going slow and has a custom made little seat on the back for passengers...aka, me! 

He also brought up his Tote Gote minibike that was a big hit with the older crowd. In the background of the photo below, that is the huge Case steam engine that it usually running the sawmill, but yesterday it actually was driven around a bit (a grand feat in itself and difficult to steer).

We have seen most of the displays in previous years, but there were some new-to-us things to discover. The washing machine display was gigantic!

We also saw this commercial size washer...

This corn husker is very similar to the one we have in our yard.

I have a milking machine just like this at home, minus the attachments. It has flowers in it instead. 😄

Our property also has a rototiller like this one:

To top it off, we also have a bulldozer like this too. Maybe we should have our own gas-up!

This steam engine was our highlight of the show. It had three different whistles and a siren hooked up to it, and any passers-by were welcome to pull the strings and get an ear full of sounds.

Classy water pump...

Farmalls and John Deere's lined up. The mini tractors and bicycle were an added treat, all in pristine condition.

Hayrides...

Rides were also being given in Catskill Game Farm's junior fire truck, which was run by a 1957 Nash Metropolitan. 

Horse and oxen power...

Kid power! I say this every year, but we really like seeing the young kids getting involved in riding the various pieces of equipment and vehicles around.

This steam roller was being driven around and it looked like it was challenging to steer. It also looked like the easiest way to get gas to run it was from the gravity fed plastic gas tank. Hey, whatever works and at least the owner was out having fun.

This massive John Deere intrigues me as to why it was so big compared to the other tractors, and I found out it was used to work in the tall sugar cane fields. 

So that's it for this year's Gas-Up photos. It is another one of those events that is a must see, 'right of passage' for us. 

The First Plunge

The first of June was a perfect day for Dave to take the first plunge of the season in Lake George. The water was 63.1 degrees so he wasn't in very long! 

The air temperature was close to 90 and hopefully we get lots more days like this to enjoy the lake and Moxie, before the summer crowds arrive. The lake is all ours for now though!

😎

Turtles, Beavers, and Loons, Oh My!

Yay, we finally got back out on the water today! What a wildlife sighting day it was to start off the summer season. We kayaked the backwater creek of Lake George's Northwest Bay and it sure was good to be back in the clear freshwater again. Beavers have been busy on this section of the lake and we saw several new lodges. This one was the largest of them, and it also looked like they were trying to build a dam across the creek (we also recently saw 4 very large beavers on the upper LaChute River here in Ticonderoga).

Then the turtles were out in full force, sunning themselves and warming up from the 58 degree water.

The highlight of the morning was seeing this loon nesting in the reeds. They build their nests very close to the water because they have difficulty walking since their feet are made for swimming. 

We also saw the same loon earlier in the morning swimming in the vicinity of the nest. It swam underwater right next to Dave's kayak.

To top off this gorgeous day, we saw a bald eagle soaring overhead, and I saw the biggest snapping turtle ever, resting on the bottom of the lake. We are ready for more adventures, but it is going to be hard to beat all we experienced today.

Too Close For Comfort

Yesterday morning we had a new visitor to our fish pond. A Great Blue Heron must have been flying overhead and he (or she) apparently has phenomenal eyesight to spot our tiny concrete pond. 

We stood by to see how close it would come with us standing in the window watching it. Although it became uneasy and tried to sneak around and approach from around the back side of the Rhododendrons, it still managed to get too close for comfort before I chased it away (notice the hummingbird going to the feeder above the heron's head in the first photo).

This gigantic wading bird was too tenacious, so after the third time I chased it away, we put more fencing up over the water. Hopefully the goldfish didn't think the tall heron was someone coming to feed them. Normally they line up at the surface when I come out with their food. What a shock that would be! Instead, the fish are hiding in the rocks and only coming out at night. Maybe they are smarter than they let on to be! 😉

🐟🐡

The Dam Meet

Our first antique outboard meet was held today at the East Sidney Lake Dam Recreation Area out towards Binghamton. There was a nice turn out for this event, although most of the displays were on land. We didn't put anything on display or for sale since we didn't know anything about this venue, but Jim Ryan went with us, so it made for a fun day. Here are a few of our favorites:

A couple of brothers brought their late father's remaining collection of pre-war Evinrude and Johnsons. At one time Dad had over 100 motors. 

#460 last raced 50 years ago. It runs on a mixture of methanol and castor oil, and shoots three foot flames out the exhaust.

An impeccably restored pair of Mercurys that looked like new. The black one is model 110 from the early 1970s, 9.8 HP. The silver one was a late 1950s Mercury mark 20.

This vendor had a great collection of vintage restored gas cans amongst other items.

Here is an identical pair of orphaned Mark 20s waiting for adoption.

A 1928 Penn Yan. These boats are double planked cedar with a layer of asphalt impregnated canvas between the layers, making them watertight.

The Penn Yan had a matching 1928 Johnson opposed twin kicker.

The crates were almost as nice as the antique outboards. The original cardboard box still had its motor and gas tank in it. Ironically it was originally being shipped to an owner in Schenectady.

The owner attempted to run this hydroplane, but it kept stalling and had to be towed back.

I like pink but have never seen a pink outboard before. It is a West Bend brand and ran fantastic.

We also stopped to check out the top of the dam. Looking lakeside, we heard that in 2006 the water rose so high that some of the trailers up on the hill in the campground floated across the top of the dam.

Looking down at Ouleout Creek:

This was a great way to start the season, and if the weather allows, next weekend we will have our Wagemaker Wolverine at its first show.