The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 22 - Grand Isle, VT to Weeedsport, NY

Monday, September 30, 2019

Drive Report: 258 Miles / 5:04

Quote of the day from the Teamster:  "That's not a 35 mile per hour curve.  I took it at 45." (I kid you not.)

Quote of the day from Yours Truly:  "Aaaaagggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Street name of the day:  Hooper Dooper Avenue (I kid you not - Part II)

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, on with the show...

As anticipated, we were up and about early this morning.  There were a few minor things to take care of before hitting the road.  Chief among them were feeding the pet chipmunk a final meal of peanuts and getting some propane in The Rig.  Wait - it wasn’t the chipmunk’s final meal - he survives.  I meant it was the final time we would feed him.  If the chipmunk is reading this I bet he’s relieved.  Prolly thought he had a terminal disease or something.  Sorry buddy.

This is him.  Susan was hoping to teach him to watch me for her so that...well...never mind.  That's just what she was hoping.  I convinced her that chipmunks in general, and this one in particular, were exceedingly unreliable and had terrible memories.  Besides, he had a side hustle with me working for almonds and hazelnuts.  Who do ya think he's gonna watch out for? 

Anyway, after fattening the chipmunk up for the winter, we were off.

This is me driving The Rig on water.  Susan tried a couple of days ago, but The Rig's tires were sinking into the waves.  Hmmm...  There's a story in there somewhere.

OK, OK, OK - This is a shot of The Rig on the ferry today when we crossed Lake Champlain first thing outta the gate.  We were first ones to bark, so I was able to have Susan take that first pic for me.  I wanted to clear that up so as to retain my reputation for speaking only the truth here at The Thin Blue Ride.

We spent most of the day today skirting the Adirondacks, so that's what the reader is gonna see the most of.  (Uh-oh, just ended a sentence with a preposition.)  I liked this one just because of the long downhill stretch and the mountain in the background.

We finally concluded, with the help of a web site found on Google, that the fall colors were just starting to change as we drove South on I-87.  The reader can see that in this pic.  And no, those things in the road have nothing to do with fall colors, though they are colorful and it is fall.

There were some interesting bluffs mixed in along the route as well.

Along with, surprisingly enough, many of these small lakes.  By the end of the day we were just entering the area known as the Finger Lakes.  Look it up on Google Maps - it's an incredibly apt description.  I, of course, was hoping for a moose.  Nope.

I like these cool old iron bridges.  They don't do anything for Susan, but then she's a Teamster, not a member of The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Worker's Union.  (Nope - not kidding - look it up.)  And thank God for small favors - otherwise I'd have had to type that a ton of times over the course of the trip. 

This is the Hudson River just West of Chestertown, NY - over which said iron bridge carried us.  It's kinda typical for rivers and creeks around here.  Wide rather than narrow and rocky rather than muddy.  The Hudson was vital to colonial development and a big deal in the Revolutionary War.  West Point (the Army's service school) was established along its banks in order to secure the river.  Of course, West Point is about 190 miles further South where the river is much larger.

This is my favorite pic of the day - well, besides the chipmunk for whose silence I out-bribed Susan.

This pic was taken much later in the day and is not of the Hudson River.  I took this one for the scenic value alone.

This one was kinda cool what with the colors starting to change.  Unfortunately, they don't show up too well on the left side of the highway owing to the shadows.  But it's a decent pic, none-the-less.

This one is much better.  It was just a nice drive today.  In some ways I wish we were coming back in a week or two.  I'll bet the colors would be vastly improved by then.  In other ways, I'm really glad we're headed home now.

We finally made it to Weedsport, NY (Again - I kid you not.) and our home for the night.  That's right, the "Dirt Museum and Hall of Fame."  Now, I had a hard time imagining that even the good folks of Weedsport would be so lacking in entertainment as to fill a museum with various types of local dirt.  Turns out I was right.  It's actually a museum honoring dirt track car racers.  From it's website, it looks to be full of old dirt track race cars, tow trucks, support vehicles, etc.  I kinda would have liked to go in.  But when I called, the 80+ year old guy who runs it said this was their busiest time of the year.  Apparently there's a Dirt Convention somewhere nearby and he was planning on being there.  (Yet again - not kidding.)  Ya don't wanna miss a Dirt Expo.  All the other attendees will (wait for it...) dish dirt on ya!  Hahahahahaha.  Sometimes I'm so funny I crack me up.

Oh - note The Rig photo bombing the pic - just above the bushes to the right of the flag.

That's it for today boys and girls.  Was I at the top of my game of what?  (Internet demerits for anyone who chooses, "or what" over "top of my game".)

Till next time.