Day 91 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANN D!! MAY ALL YOUR BIRTHDAY WISHES COME TRUE!!
54 degrees this morning and raining with 20 MPH winds. There were some things we needed from town, like COFFEE, so we drove Southeast & over the Lake & South again to Burlington. We were reminded once again how much we like this City and Vermont, in general. The biking trails for one thing, and the courtesy they pay to bikers for another thing, and everything is so clean – like where is the litter – it’s been pretty bad in some places we’ve gone thru.
Got coffee beans for the future and coffee drinks for this morning, kitty litter to keep the girls happy, and then went to City Market for some groceries because we’d heard there was a great Co-op there. Yes, this place was incredible – wonderful produce and breads from local bakeries and prepared foods, hot & cold food bars, sandwiches made to order, you name it. Hey, New Paltz would be a great place for you to open your next store! We had lunch then drove around Burlington, down to the waterfront, around the colleges, and checked out a campground in the area. Then we headed back to our campsite. The rain stopped & the wind died down somewhat, high 64 degrees, and the sun was going in & out of some really nice clouds. We sat outside and read our books for awhile.
We walked down to Lake Champlain & then along a pathway by the Lake which had a few campsites on it, until we came upon some really nice houses. Figuring it was private property, we turned around & headed back towards our campsite. Next we walked a ways along a campground road to a sign for the Office so we could officially check in. JC saw us & waved us in to the garage of one of these nice houses. This was the Office. We paid up & got to chatting with him. Turns out he bought this property in 1985. He’s a French immigrant, still has a bit of a French accent, and I would’ve guessed him to be about 50 years old after watching him as he jogged ahead of us to lead us in our vehicles to our campsite. Well, he’s 72 years old and he & his wife maintain all this property themselves. He has built 10 homes on the property of various sizes & styles, and they rent them out. The home they live in is 8 years old & French Provincial with a stone face, 3 stories, overlooking the Lake, and he did everything himself including the masonry & a massive fireplace in the center. He invited us inside – the place was incredible. The house next door to this one is about the same size and style but has cedar shake on the outside so it looks different. That’s the house we saw when we’d turned around thinking it was private property. He took us thru the back yard & showed us the pathway we’d just been on, telling us we should check out the new Airstream trailer that had just arrived. We walked down the pathway and an elderly gentleman, the owner of the new Airstream trailer, was outside; he started talking to us & we learned they are from Montreal and they’ve been leaving their trailers here all year since the early 90’s, first a 19′ Mallard trailer & then just today they moved their brand new Airstream 26′ trailer in. His site was located in the trees by the Lake. Seasonal campsites are $4000 per year for a large, private campsite with sewer, electricity, & water. Montreal is 1-1/2 hours from here and they come down every May and leave every October. Not bad, eh? What’s also amazing is that there’s no way we’d have known there are 10 homes on this acreage with this beautiful setting AND a campground with tent & RV sites, too.
We walked back to our campsite vowing to walk the rest of this property before we have to leave. Who knows what we’ll find…..
Rob took some pictures of the great sunset and the ferry which goes from Plattsburgh to the island & returns. End of Week Thirteen.
Thanks for remembering my birthday! I am still celebrating. The photos are stunning. I hope you will put together an album at the end of your trip we can look at online.
Rob says that’s a good idea! (If we have time between travels, LOL, I say.)
Thanks for reading and happy birthday again!