Raquette Lake

Raquette Lake is the largest lake in the Adirondacks.

It has a surface area of nearly 10 sq miles and a shoreline of 99 miles. Only 12 miles of shoreline are accessible by automobile. Until 1933 transportation in this area was provided by railway and steamship but  when the highway was built in 1931 it killed off the older modes of transport.

We took a scenic cruise on the lake on a boat patterned after the older vessels.

This church is on the original townsite. It has been restored and regular services are held here again.

There are a boys camp and a girls camp on the lake. They have been in operation for nearly 100 years and attract campers age 7-16. Tuition is $12,000 FOR THE 7 week season but as uniforms are required the average cost for the summer stay is $15,000.

This is the boys camp.

At the other extreme of the camping experience are those who take a canoe into the wild and sleep under the stars…

Tomorrow we’ll be starting home. We’re taking the I routes and pretty much driving through so I don’t plan many photo stops. Thank you all for coming along with us.

Tom

Adirondacks

Our niece Danicia and her husband own a small resort in Inlet, NY on Fourth Lake in The Adirondack Mountains. We arrived Monday and are leaving Saturday for the long drive home.

This is their lakefront taken in the early morning with the fog still blanketing the lake.

This is the cabin we’re staying in. It is their off season we got the best one.

Yesterday we took two short hikes. The first was to Ferd’s Bog

Then we walked part of the trail to Budd and Sis Lakes. We didn’t go all the way to the lakes but the trail followed a mostly dry streambed through the Eastern Hardwood woods. This is the sort of woods we had where I grew up and I’ve always loved them. So different from the forests of the Northwest.

Tom

Dollism

This International BJD convention established the timing for this trip. One of the highlights of any BJD convention is the photo backdrop area where you can pose your dolls and photograph them in the settings and props provided.

Here Jon and Shayla pose in the woodland setting.

Like in the Sasha Festival there is a costuming contest. BJD costumes tend to be more extreme than Sasha costumes.

Lots of dolls for sale. BJDs are all about customization. Wigs change, eyes change and when you purchase one new you have choices of skin color, body type and if you buy it blank you can have a custom face up… Dollmore was showing these two Alexias. This is exactly the same doll. Different wigs.

Tomorrow Dollism winds up and we’ll be off to the Adirondacks Monday morning.

Tom

Randolph

Many of the small towns locally seem to be holding their own at best. Randolph, for whatever reason, be it enthusiastic local boosters or… seems somewhat prosperous. There is a decaying downtown business block but Bob says that there are presently plans to renovate it when funding becomes available. The little inn we’re staying at is in the old fire house, completely renovated. Being in the heart of Amish country makes it a desirable travel destination.

This  is “Vern’s Place” a restaurant across the street from the inn that serves breakfast and lunch. We had breakfast here every day of our visit.

Randolph Presbyterian Church

In a little downtown pocket park we found this nice mural.

Today concludes our visit here. We’ll be going on to Buffalo which is only 1 1/2 hours from here. The next blog post, or two, will be from Dollism. 

Tom

Barn Quilt Project

A couple of years ago the local tourism board promoted the “Barn Quilt Project” Local businesses were invited to take a 4’x4’ backing board and paint a representation of a quilting square on it. They made up a map showing all the locations where the quilt squares were posted. Carol and I set out to find as many as we could. Many are now gone. Some of the businesses have closed and some of those which remain have removed or repurposed the board. Still, enough remain to make for an interesting hunt.

Tom

Western NY–Amish country

When I lived here there were several Amish families in the area but they have multiplied since. This is beautiful country; rolling hills with farms interspersed with woodland. The trees are just barely beginning to show the colors which will paint these hills orange and red in a very few weeks.

Amish do not use automobiles so horse drawn buggies are commonly seen on the rural roadways.

Neither do they use tractors or self powered equipment of any sort. This is farming the way my grandfather did it back in the 20s.

As it happens we were out on our drive when the schools let out. Note the footwear on these Amish kids.

Tom

Burton, OH

OK, so technically we’re actually in Randolph at this point. Last night we had a very nice supper with my uncle and aunt and two cousins. We’ve not seen them in 4 years, since my dad died, so it was marvelous to see them all again.

Today’s photos were taken Sunday while we were still with Carol’s aunt. Unlike others I’ve posted, these have been run through some of my favorite PhotoShop filters to enhance contrast and saturation. Gives a more dramatic look….

Burton Fire Hall

Congregational Church

Hill Hardware

Hopefully tomorrow some local images….

Tom

Shayla

This trip was planned around Dollism, an Asian BJD conference held in the US for the very first time. The primary sponsors are Mint on Card, a BJD company, Dollheart, a supplier of dolls, clothing, shoes and accessories, and Den of Angels. DoA is the largest online community of BJD collectors. Since we will be attending a BJD convention I brought one of my BJDs along.

Shayla is a Fairyland MiniFee girl. MiniFee is Fairyland’s 1/4 size dolls. 1/4 size dolls are ~17” tall. In this photo Shayla is admiring Horsetail Falls.

The second day we followed US Rt 12 along the Clearwater River. Here Shayla watches the river go by.

Carol’s aunt has an antique love seat with three teddy bears posed on it. I thought I’d take a photo of Shayla with them but Carol and her aunt both thought that I needed a Goldilocls. With a quick change of wigs Shayla could oblige.

Here is a closer shot of Shayla in her new hairdo.

Tom

Day-08-Into Indiana

Well, the good news is that tomorrow we ought to arrive at Carol’s aunt’s house in Ohio. The bad news is that she doesn’t have any sort of wifi or other internet access so while we’re staying with her these updates will be catch as catch can.

In planning each day’s drive drive I use Google Maps directions tool and our GPS unit as well. I have been surprised to find that Google Maps give different options when called on different days. I finally got Google Maps to route me correctly and was then able to translate that to our GPS. Tomorrow we’ll try it again… 

I love old commercial buildings with advertising messages painted on them. This beautiful example was in Chenoa, IL.

This marvelous old Victorian Home is also in Chenoa.

Further along, In Forrest, IN they are renovating the old railroad depot.

This has been a great drive. We’ll be with Carol’s aunt for 4 days and then with my relatives in Western NY. Then on to Buffalo for Dollism…

Tom

Day-07-Iowa

Today we drove sort of diagonally across much of Iowa. Our GPS unit identified a very interesting route. Not one I’d have found myself. The down side is that it was all on divided limited access roads so not particularly scenic; of course Iowa is not the most scenic state we’ve gone through anyway.

Also,for the first time this trip we hit some nasty weather; rain, wind, just ugly. Fortunately just one storm and less than 30 minutes.

This tourist trap was next door at one of our gas stops.

as was this farm implement dealership.

This photo was left over from yesterday. It is the bridge carrying Rt_12 across the Missouri River

Tom

Day-06-Sunday Drive

Zell, SD

When we are on the road we to MP3-Disks. Music I’ve ripped rom our own music collection so all songs we like and an MP3 CD holds about 5 hours of music so one disk lasts most of a driving day. For Sunday driving we have a few Gospel disks. Think Gaither Homecoming and similar. Pastors have told me that the theology of these old songs and while I agree, I keep listening to them. This is the music of the church of my youth. I’ve tried more modern Christian music with, I suppose, better theology but boring. I love the spirit of the old hymns and spirituals.

A few days back I shared a shot of one of the old time grain elevators which I mentioned are becoming obsolete. Today I’ll share a shot of a modern grain storage facility. State of the art….

Finally, as it is Sunday, here is something sunny 

Tom

Day-05-Eastern Montana

A few days ago we visited an abandoned gold mining town. Today we realized that towns are still dying.

Roundup is not doing really well but the old store building at the corner of 1st and Main has someone with faith in the town’s future; although I think I’d not hold my breath.

In many of the towns all of the commercial buildings are boarded up and abandoned. In at least one case the town seems to have disappeared without a trace except for this old school building. There just must have been other buildings here once….

It is possible, in this country, to drive well over 100 miles without passing a gas station. Occasionally, if you watch, you an catch a glimpse of the frontier. It is quite possible to imagine that this might have been a homesteader’s cabin.

Rt 12 has been improved and relocated several times through its history. At one time today our GPS showed us a full 1/4 mile off what it thought was the road. In an older upgrade it bypassed this old bridge over the Powder River.

Tonight we are in Bowman, ND. Tomorrow evening we have reservations in Watertown, SD.

Tom

Day–04–Billings–Doll Museum

We drove from Butte to Billings but instead of simply driving I-90 we chose to drive Rt-12 which parallels I-90 but 30 – 50 miles North. Our GPS really really wanted us on I-90 so we had to turn it off until we were nearly 1/3 of the way along.

They call Montana “Big Sky Country”

Once we left Rt 12 and started South toward Billings we passed through the little town of Lavina. This is pretty much the whole town.

Approaching Billings we got a really nice view of the city.

We had seen in the doll magazines that there is a doll museum here.Legacy Doll Museum. Not the very best doll museum we’ve ever been in but really a very special place.

Tomorrow we’ll take Rt-10 back North to Rt-12 and follow it to Bowman, ND. Hopefully there will be an antique shop or something there.

Tom