Continuing on the marked path, we came to a fork. We could take the easier, stairless Rim Walk on the left…
.
.
Or the harder, your bad knee will be screaming and make you pay, Inner Sanctum trail to the right.
.
.
You knew there was only one right answer.
.
.
Stairs? Oh yeah. Hundreds of them.
.
.
But the views were totally worth it.
.
.
The farther down you go, the louder the roar of the water.
.
.
And once again I was glad the adventure trail was closed. I love to climb on rocks… but generally need a little more than string when it comes to a bridge.
.
.
Me. Loving the rocks.
.
.
The Inner Sanctum is the only way to see this chasm up close and personal.
Our day trip destination in New York was the little town of Keeseville, home to the Grand Canyon of the East.
.
.
We’d driven by this place on a previous vacation and vowed if we were ever back in the area we’d stop and explore.
.
.
In case you can’t zoom in, one of the best tourist attractions of the Adirondacks is under the C in Lake Champlain. Au Sable directly translates to “of the sand” which makes sense since the chasm is a giant sandstone gorge.
Looking forward to taking some good pictures, I was extremely glad cameras are smaller and lighter than they used to be.
.
.
After buying tickets and taking a quick look at the little history museum, we headed out over the bridge which was impressive in and of itself.
.
.
Entering the site, it felt like they knew I was coming.
.
.
There are multiple paths and trails but they all start here.
.
.
And like good tourists, we followed the yellow brick road.
.
.
Okay, we followed the yellow wooden squares… so sue me.
.
.
The first open outcropping looked back toward the bridge. And after that?
.
.
I knew my knee would not be happy.
.
.
It’s a shame they even have to post warnings like that, but you know some bozo bonked someone on the head down below at one time or another.
.
.
This was our first look at the chasm.
.
.
And I have to say I was hooked.
.
.
I was also glad it was off season and the “adventure trail” was closed.
.
.
Because that’s a bridge I had no interest in crossing.
Because there’s never a lack of ridiculous things to talk about.
.
.
Do I need to color rainbow animal poop? I do not, but speaking of pooping animals…
.
.
The required new Lord Dudley Mountcatten shot.
.
.
Another item has been added to the husband’s man cave display of torture implements old tools. A hobbler as seen on the upper left. He says it’s for cows, I’m wondering if it will fit in my purse so I can use it on him the next time we go antique shopping.
And lastly, something for Mark…who has a thing for flamingoes and likes to decorate for Halloween.
On our second day in Vermont we headed for New York. Seems crazy, but stick with me … it was worth it.
Of course we didn’t make it very far before my husband had to turn around and check out an old Ford truck.
.
.
It looked just like his… same year, same color except this was a 250 instead of a 150. Price tag, for a truck made in 1994? $22,000. That is beyond insane (and made me want to list his for sale as soon as we got home).
Back on the road, we pointed the car towards the Champlain Islands.
.
.
If you’re unfamiliar with this area, Lake Champlain is large. 107 miles long, 64 foot deep. There’s often talk about adding it to the Great Lakes but nothing ever comes of it.
.
.
There are a few ferries that cross it from the Vermont side, but the ride is pretty and we weren’t in any rush.
.
.
South Hero, North Hero….
.
.
And Grand Isle.
.
.
Miles and miles of nothing but farms, mountains and lake. (spellcheck changed lake to kale. No one wants miles of that!)
The husband asked me to find an old picture from his Marine Corps days last week.
You know, the one from the Pleistocene Era before digital photography… when you bought film, loaded it into a camera, took 24 pictures, unloaded the film, drove the film to a processor, waited a week to find out if any of your pictures turned out well and put the ones that did in a photo album.
As you’ve probably realized from my photo heavy blogs, I take a lot of pictures. Granted I took less then than I do now thanks to that glorious little delete button… but even back in the day I took a lot. So when the husband asked me to find that one special photo?
It would not be an understatement to say I was less than thrilled.
.
.
Our house is positively stuffed with photo albums. They’re in the cupboards….
.
.
On the corner of desks..
.
.
In the drawers….
.
.
And yes, stacked on the floor.
I combed through 72 photo albums before I cried Uncle and told him if he needed it that badly he could search the rest himself.
On our first night back in Vermont we headed to a little grocery store to pick up some staples and saw this…
.
.
Clearly someone takes their stickers seriously.
.
.
Well, I suppose it’s cheaper than a new paint job.
.
.
COWS!
Because I have to.
Next up was dinner at an old restaurant down the road from the resort.
.
.
Martells Red Fox has apparently been there forever and is a favorite with locals.
.
.
I can’t say I was overly impressed with the interior…
.
.
But the fox looked happy, so how bad could it be?
.
.
The cocktail menu was interesting. But as much as I love the band, I wanted to walk out under my own power and settled for a cranberry gin fizz.
.
.
This fabulous piece of art was directly over our table and after admiring the creativity, I pestered a few waitresses for information. Turns out it was custom made for the late owner by a local woman but no one knew her name or if she had a gallery. Missed opportunity there. She should have a plaque with her name and number underneath.
.
.
Dinner? It was fabulous. Pork tenderloin Marsala with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccolini. I’ve made chicken and veal Marsala, but never thought of pork. It was wonderful.
Advice. Everyone seems to have it, but no one seems to want it.
My late father always used to tell me not to take any wooden nickels, which seems ridiculous these days… but I suppose you could substitute ‘cryptocurrency’ for ‘nickel’ and call it good.
While I make a habit of never offering unsolicited advice, being happily married for 38 years people often ask for our secret and want advice on staying together.
Love, respect, and understanding. All important, but I usually default back to compromise and choosing carefully. Chemical attraction and lust fade, trust me on this. If you don’t have anything deeper to hold you together you won’t be searching for the traditional 40th anniversary gift. ( Ruby! Let’s hear it for hanging in there.)
I constantly hear people say you have to have things in common with your spouse to cement a relationship, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth for us… we’re very different people. But we find common ground in the type of life we want to lead and where we want to live it. That trumps his preference for television over my love of reading any day, even if it means a John Wayne marathon now and then.
My husband and I met and were married 6 days later. Guess I chose correctly. ❣️
Because our first trip to Vermont was a quickie, the husband wanted to go back and spend a bit more time in the same area… so that meant booking another condo at Smugglers Notch Resort.
.
.
Pro:
We’ve been there numerous times and enjoy the quiet, nestled in the mountains setting. When checking in this time around, we were going to luck out and occupy one of the newly remodeled units… which after our previous stay in the 1980’s horror sounded perfect.
Con:
My husband saw they booked us on the first floor. And since nothing upsets my husband more than people stomping above us, he immediately requested a top floor unit. Naturally there were no third floor remodeled condos available, so we were stuck in the Willows.
.
.
Tired. Outdated….
.
.
And very …. woody.
.
.
Pro:
It was clean, quiet and had a comfortable king size bed.
.
.
Con:
Would it kill them to add a bed skirt and a pretty spread?
.
.
Pro:
There were 4 beds in the unit. A king, a queen and two twins… in case you like a variety of sleeping areas.
.
.
And the master bath’s whirlpool bath was in the bathroom.
.
.
It even had its own television if that’s your thing.
.
.
Con:
There were two random cows overhead.
And Holy guacamole Batman! The wallpaper. How bad was it?
.
.
Really, really bad.
I mean, WTH? This is Vermont… not the southwest.
The decor mattered not one iota to my spouse. It was clean, comfortable, and had working appliances with no one stomping above him, he was happy. But no matter how many times he told me to enjoy the sunrise off the balcony….
.
.
I wasn’t forgiving him for turning down the remodeled unit.
Remember the crazy letter I got from the IRS back in June saying we owed over $55,000 on our 2020 taxes? The one that caused me to curse the government, their incompetent workers, automated phone systems, bureaucracy, H&R Block and basically everyone associated with tax collecting?
Well…. after a solid 8 hours on the phone with 4 IRS agents (who didn’t help), two appointments and numerous phone calls with an H&R Block agent (who didn’t help), another 6 hour phone conversation with 2 IRS agents (who were absolutely clueless), and a 3 hour nightmare trying to connect with a tax advocate (who told me to call the IRS agents) … it took me writing a hateful letter and sending it certified mail to get results.
Five months later.
.
.
Yes, the IRS in all their infinite wisdom realized they made a mistake when they recorded my husband’s Marine Corps pension as $270,000 instead of the $27,000 it actually is.
Did they admit their mistake? No.
Did they apologize for the stress and hassle they caused? No.
.
.
But they did tell me I wasn’t getting a refund.
The bastards.
.
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 