–It was just a ride without an agenda. Well, I did want to get some Almond Joy
ice cream at the end of the trip. But other than that, just a ride. We wanted to
meander, turn down intriguing country roads, see how the leaves were
progressing, poke around some pretty towns and see the sights (farms, cows,
geese) alongside the road.
–We made a big loop east from our house in NYS, north through Vermont, west in
Orwell, VT. to cross Lake Champlain at its narrowest point, riding the 12-vehicle
ferry into Ticonderoga, NY, then south along Lake George, east out of Saratoga and
home again.
–And we weren’t the only ones making this state-to-state loop. On the ferry, we met a
couple who had picked 20 bushels (!) of potatoes in NYS and a few bushels of apples
in Vermont. After exiting the ferry, they planned to stop for raspberries just below
Ticonderoga and corn further south.
–Best of all, though, was the pumpkin man!
His farm is in Vermont, his customers are in NY, his loop is made daily.
We spotted a funky antique shop just below Ticonderoga where things left to weather
in the yard proudly sported price tags and inside, well-organized chaos was the name
of the game.
Who knows how, in this place of such abundance, hanging on the back of a door, I found
a US Domestic mailbag , perfect to upholster something with.
At a tag sale, I found 40 old horse show ribbons, an interesting base for a drafting table
to turn into a dining table and a nice oldish (the 60’s) weathervane with a copper squirrel.
We saw the beginning of the leaves, plenty of barnyard inhabitants, just about everything
anyone would want to see on a beautiful fall day. I got my ice cream!
–But, for some reason, maybe because I was so charmed by sharing the small ferry with a
big old cart full of pumpkins, I just can’t get that pumpkin man out of my mind.