Sunday, August 9, 2009

Adirondacks

2,300 miles, 7 days, 6 states + Ontario.

Here’s our itinerary:

Chicago – Canton (OH) – Corning (NY) – Glens Falls (NY) – Rochester (NY) – St. Thomas (Ontario) – Chicago.

The first stop was Massillon, a town of 30,000, 15 miles east of Canton. Massillon is known for one of the most tragic instances of anti-union violence in the history of the United States. However, when we arrived the town was peaceful and even greeted us with an Antique Auto Show.

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During all of our trips, I realized that there are only three important institutions in every, even the smallest, town: a church, a funeral home, and a tattoo parlor.

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Day 2 took us on historic route 66 through Allegheny National Forest.

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Kane PA, another little town we rode through, looked like a typical small mid-western town – full of life in the past, but bleak prospects for the future.

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Just a photo opportunity and a chance to stretch our legs.

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We started day 3 in the Watkins Glenn State Park. It has a mile-and-a-half-long, eight-hundred-stone-step Gorge Trail, and Howard and I walked it to the top.

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Indian Chief Vintage. What a beauty. We spotted it on the parking lot in Watkins Glenn.

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Fort Ticonderoga, originally Fort Carillon, was built by the French military between 1755 and 1759 during the French and Indian War near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York. The fort attained a reputation for impregnability during the 1758 Battle of Carillon, when 4,000 French defenders repelled an attack by 16,000 British troops near the fort.

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Here’s another fort, His Majesty’s Fort of Crown Point, which played a key role in Britain's efforts to wrest Canada from the French.

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Skaneateles, NY, a town of about 8,000 residents, is situated on the northern end of the Skaneateles Lake. In the historic downtown district, shops and galleries are housed in restored buildings dating back to 1796.

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Long Lake, NY. Howard and I just stopped there for a quick lunch and an opportunity to fly over this beautiful lake. But, after some consideration, we decided that a couple of pictures next to a plane would suffice.

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Another short stop somewhere in the mountains.

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Antique Boat Museum located on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in the picturesque river-side village of Clayton, NY. The museum has a very large collection of unique and beautifully preserved examples of great North American pleasure boats.

Restoration room.

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The 106' houseboat La Duchesse was built in 1903 for hotelier George Boldt, manager of New York City's famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Both Howard and I failed to take a picture of the boat itself. Here’s an old photograph of the boat.

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However, I took a lot of pictures of the interior.

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Niagara Falls.

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Detroit from Canadian side.

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After 3 years of riding, this is the first picture of me actually riding the bike.

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