I'm NEVER driving a scenic road again!

July 23, 2007
Wolcott, NY to Pownal, VT

256.9 miles
Heavy overcast and rain all day!

I’m never driving a scenic road again! At least not in this part of the world! What a day! I think in this older part of the nation, with lots of tiny old roads, I’ll stick to better traveled highways! I was cruising along, happily enjoying the countryside, as I love to do, when I came to an old railroad crossing, which was a little too low for my big box. 12’8”. So I had to find my way around it. Next was an underpass that was only 10’. An hour later, I found my way to a highway. Not fun.


I began the day on the Seaway Trail – New York’s National Scenic Byway, a 454-mile scenic route paralleling Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

You’ve probably noticed that I spend most of my time in the country – this trip is for me to enjoy the beauty of our land.

I’ve been to the cities – I’ve seen the museums, I’m out this time to see the land! There’s the little problem of no rest stops, no places to park – but it’s worth every mile! The small towns, even though many are struggling, have so much personality and so much charm!

It pleases me to see how many American flags fly in these little towns – on so many homes, on so many street signs and businesses! People may not be happy with the current government, but they sure seem happy to be Americans!

I’m seeing a lot of corn, again – the farmlands cover way more land in way more areas than I knew! The rest of the vegetation changes though – I’m seeing huge weeping willows (?) – I’m not sure they’re weeping willows, because they’re so much bigger than any I’ve seen, but they’re sure weeping somethings, and are so elegant and lovely! And huge sunflowers!
(no pictures of the lovely photo ops today – my camera seems to have developed blindness! The LCD window doesn’t see anymore. And I discovered that my pointing abilities are lacking! Not sure what to do about this little turn of events!)

Love this area – hand painted signs on trees advertising Christmas trees and home made maple syrup. More of the little towns that show all the signs of stress and heartbreak, but also lots of hope!!

Most of the day was spent today on roads under repair – rather than just the 4 or 5 construction zones a day I’ve been averaging – but at least on the New York Tollway, they seem to do it right. The road is lined with big lights, so them must do all the repairs at night! And their rest stops, which they call service areas, are the most intelligent I’ve seen – they have gas stations, and restaurants, plus the rest area facilities!

This is the Adirondacks area – and is gorgeous! Passed thru the ‘Central Leatherstocking Region’ which 8 of 10 New Yorkers call ‘upstate New York’! Wondering where the name of this region came from? A clue - it really is (or was) a type of clothing! You can find out the rest of the story from the many museums located in the region! They specialize in fun signs too – as in a restaurant that advertises it’s ‘raw bar’ two nights a week. I’m going to choose to believe that means oysters and the like!

It’s rather a hippyish area – purple houses, lots of mystics and psychics, peace signs and dragons! And way too many snowmobile road signs! There’s a Petrified Creature Museum near Cooperstown. The Petrified Creatures Museum of Natural History was established in 1934. It’s one of the oldest museums in New York State and is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents as an "Educational Museum of Science and Nature". ”The Petrified Creatures Museum of Natural History is a hands-on discovery center where you can actually learn about fossils, then dig for fossils and keep what you find FREE. All this while roaming through a nature path filled with life sized DINOSAUR statues.”

One of the little villages has signs posted stating they operate under the “right to farm law”. The what? This relates to laws allowing farmers to pursue their work without threat of nuisance lawsuits – like the people moving to the country from the cities who then find the smells and noises of farming offensive – like it wasn’t there when they bought their country digs! Interesting article about it at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DA133FF93AA1575AC0A967958260

After meandering all over the countryside, as explained in my opening of this particular day’s post, I found my way thru Albany, NY (worth a visit some day – the architecture was old and spectacular!!) into Vermont, still in the rain, and beautiful and green, with tiny roads!

And into a setting so tranquil, I wish I could stay forever! At least until it gets cool! Or cold!


Pine Hollow campground
342 Pine Hollow Road
Pownal, VT  05261
802-823-5569