Sorry for the delay in posting Days 17 and 18, but as you'll learn, we took a little rest...
Day 17 we left somewhat-sad Whitehall New York, and headed toward enormous Adirondack State Park.
See Bob and Jim trying to negotiate choice of roadways: Bob with his comprehensive Rand McNally, and Jim with his Harley book. I see them in that dialogue, and think of Jim Byrne's great song, "Of whom shall I be afraid?" - well, this is a pretty scary consultation to me, particularly when I have Ms. Garmin (the GPS) at our disposal.
En route, in Fort Edward New York, we came upon Jim's definition of a perfect breakfast stop: small family restaurant with a bakery. Great server and those bizarre (from our Canadian perspective) prices for breakfasts (i.e., bizarrely cheap). Breakfast was, in fact, delicious. See the very blurred but nonetheless fun shot of Bob coming out of the ladies washroom (the restaurant was virtually empty and all four of us wanted to use the washroom before we left, so Bob did the sensible thing - Jim used my camera without flash to memorialize the moment)
Riding through Adirondack Park was in fact beautiful - beautiful scenery, and beautiful park roads with surprisingly light traffic.
Took photos of Bob and George taking photos of the bikes (seems like we've done a lot of that - so this photo is like the story within the story), and of Canada geese walking around adirondack chairs in U.S./New York Adirondack Park...
Stopped in a town within the park to get gas - photos of a couple of pretty rfepresentative homes for the that part of the world, and a store showing that, Yes, Martha, they do make adirondack chairs in Adirondack park (and, apparently, canoes)
We had lunch in Rome New York, near Utica (isn't it interesting that the cities of the world - and countries for that matter - are picked up as place names elsewhere... we've been to Mexico, Poland, Espana, and any number of international cities). I think if I was founding a new town I'd want to find a distinctive name appropriate to the unique qualities of the place, or of its vision.
We decided to head north to Belleville Ontario where my brother Keith lives, with partner Kathy, and Dylan, Laura and Kaitlin in a beautiful stone home a short pitching wedge away from Albert College of which he is headmaster.
We arrived after a suitable dinner hour, to be met with a beautiful dinner of barbequed steaks, veggies, salads, wine and killer brownies after.
For people who received 4 ruffians upon virtually no notice, with all of the attendant risk that neighbours and friends might think they had been overtaken by a motorcycle club, and to have their beautiful front hall with its sweeping staircase littered with motorcycle pants, jackets, and helmets, they were the very model of gracious host. They even put up with daughter Laura being converted into a biker on Jim's Harley.
I toured the beautiful old 19th century college with Keith, with its chapel with stunning stained glass, etc., but was particularly taken by the photo of the 1889 "Glee Club" in which not one of the school's apparently most gleeful was even hinting at a smile.
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