ready, set, roll!!
Goodness! How do I even describe all the sights we have seen our first week of full time RV life? WARNING: This may be a long post! I have tons of pictures to share! It was a whirlwind for sure! We visited SO many places in a short amount of time. I won’t bore you with pictures I took of barns (Well, maybe just one). Something else about me……I think barns are dreamy. *Sigh Now, on to our adventures!
our eyes have seen
We started out in New York. Seems when I thought of New York all I could picture was one gigantic city but now that I’ve been there, my thoughts will be of the stunning mountains, waterfalls, streams and rivers.
Our first excursion was a boat tour (through Uncle Sam’s Boat Tours – great value for a 2 1/2-hour tour) through the 1000 Islands in Alexandria Bay, NY. It’s where Thousand Island dressing originated. Oh! And I got a copy of the original recipe on a postcard. SCORE! (Unless you don’t like Thousand Island dressing. But we do so…. SCORE! 😊) We opted to tour Boldt Castle along with the boat tour as you can only get to it by boat. All I can say is WOW! Look it up and read the story. It’s sad and the entire Boldt Island was a work of love.
A few stops just because
We visited Wellesley State Park on a whim because we saw signs to it and had no real itinerary. It was very pretty and we discovered they have camping for reasonable rates. They have a small beach, a marina, camp store and a few playgrounds throughout. My favorite part was looking out across the water knowing I was looking at Canada. How fun is that? (I might be just a little weird that I think that’s cool.) (Ha! I am banking on my kids not leaving any comments about that last statement. LOL!)
Our next stop was Clayton, NY which reminded me of a beach town. It was right beside the water but there was no beach that I saw. There were many local shops and boutiques. A popcorn shop, ice cream shop and a cool little book store, to name a few, but my favorite was the Ace hardware store. Yep! I LOVE general stores, hardware stores and country stores. (I’m a bit of an old soul.) Those stores have just about anything you can imagine!! Who doesn’t love that? (Don’t get me wrong. I love to shop local and I do that with our reservations and most of my purchases but that’s a post for another time.)
1000 Island Parks Historic District has been one of my favorite places to ride through. I adore old houses. (Like I said – I’m an old soul. Again, I’m banking on my kids not leaving comments. 😊) When I visit towns like these, my mind races with images of how things used to be. Streets bustling with dapperly dressed men and women going about their business. Children laughing and running down the street to the general store for a penny piece of candy. *Sigh. We saw houses throughout the district straight out of the 1800’s. We also learned from the locals the water is shut off on the island in the winter, although a few families will stay on the island through the winter. Brrrr!!!
The next day we rode through Cape Vincent and stopped by Tibbett’s Lighthouse where we could see a wind farm in Ontario, Canada and some beautiful views across the water.
our ears have heard (the water)
Get ready for some incredible water photos!!
Not much I can say about these next few places that the pictures don’t already say. God makes some amazingly beautiful scenes. Places are captioned under the photos. These two places (AuSable Chasm, my favorite, and High Falls Gorge) did have a fee for entry but, as you can see, it was well worth it. Stunning aren’t they?
free things to do
There are many free things to do in the Adirondack Mountains as well. There is the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge (They operate off of donations so we did donate but it isn’t required.) and many hiking trails. We hiked the Cobble Lookout Trail to an incredible ledge. It stated it was an easy 1.3-mile trail but it felt like 13 miles and you can see from the picture, it wasn’t what my description of easy is but it was a great hike just the same. (This was the perfect exercise for my hip!)
As we take these day trips, we normally pack our lunch and drinks in a cooler but every once in a while, we find a local place to eat. I am finding my handsome driver seems to always be the first one that says, “I’m hungry!”. We may need to change his name to Hungry Driver. (Sometimes maybe even Hangry Driver!! Shhh! Don’t tell him I said that. Lol!)
The town of Jay has a covered bridge over the East branch of the Au Sable River where we stopped to take a break and put our feet in the water to cool off. (It was above 90* that day.) It cooled me off but I was a bit freaked out when I pulled my feet out of the water at one spot and there were these tiny little black worms crawling all over my feet! EWW! I don’t normally freak out about bugs but there were about 15 in one spot on my foot and when I looked, they were all over. That DID freak me out. So, I moved. (I checked my feet several times at the new spot before I left them in the water. 😊
Budget consciousness
We shopped for a few groceries and were surprised to learn you get charged for bags when shopping in New York. Remember the brown paper bags? (I guess it depends on your age.) When I went to school, we used those brown paper bags as book covers. Anyone else? They don’t have plastic bags anywhere. I wondered why everyone was just putting their groceries, loose, back in their carts.
They also charge a deposit for any cans or plastic bottles (.05 cent per bottle) and you get reimbursed when you turn them in at a redemption center. We have been saving ours but can’t seem to find a redemption center near the areas we are staying. Guess we will carry them around until we find one close. The frugal side of me wants that deposit back!! If I don’t get it back, I feel like I am just throwing money away. Try that once. Seriously, try it. Take a $5 dollar bill and throw it in the trash and walk away. Isn’t that hard??? (How’d you like that little money lesson thrown in there? 😊)
in closing
I hope you enjoyed reading about and seeing our first few destinations! Let me know in the comments if you have been to New York and what part. If you live there, tell me about your hometown! If you haven’t been there, what town or city would you like to visit? Which photos did you like best?
Until next time, much love,
Kim
Deb Ridenour says
America has so much to offer! The photos you’ve taken are just gorgeous. We don’t use plastic or paper bags any longer. (At least I try not to. I use reusable bags from Boone Supply.) I really admired the architecture on and in the castle. Pretty amazing finds you’ve come across in the first leg of your adventure. Blessings for safe and happy travels! Until next time… much love right backatcha!
Kimberly Baker says
Honestly, I can’t wait tour West Virginia. I feel like I’d look at it differently.
We use our own bags too. (My favorite is my thirty-one bag with Campers all over it. 😏)
Michele says
Enjoyed reading your blog & seeing the photos.
I have been to Jamestown, NY (home of Lucille ball, you know i love lucy). Been to Niagara Falls, NY on my way to Canada, and of course New York, NY and buffalo.
Thanks for sharing your adventure🙂 Safe Travels
Kimberly Baker says
I’m still learning the whole blogging thing. Lol! My handsome driver (aka hubby) noticed the captions covered the pictures 📷 so I’m working on fixing that.
Sounds like we have some more visiting we need to do in New York!