After a long day with my dear dad up at St. Elizabeth's hospital in Utica nervously waiting while a new pace maker was inserted. After my gig on a snowy winter night at the Georgetown Inn, which turned out rather well considering how bad the roads were.
I was pleased with the turn out and touched by those who traveled these back winter roads for dinner and a little bit of folk music! Leigh Yardley and her niece and nephew and husband Bruce. Patty and John Grossman. Fast Edward Vollmer and Rich Grant. Tommy and Peg Hoe. Last but not least Jim Kitchen of the Mountain Top Golf course and his girlfriend Amy Jeffery.
I played a good two hour set of music and mixed in a bunch of originals I haven't done in a while.
I brought one of my beautiful cast iron, wooded seated stools and several of my mom's hooked rugs for show and tell.
The evening ended up out at the bar doing a couple tunes with Tommy and Eddie. It was a musical moment! I just love these two characters! We've been dear friends for many many years now.
Saturday morning dawned in blue and sunny. Bill and I loaded up our snow shoe gear, camera's and water bottles and headed north to catch the Dog Sled Races.
I've never been to a dog sled race and know little about the rules and what nots but let me tell you! These were some excited dogs! It was a perfect day. I counted at least 15-20 dog trucks! I was under the impression only husky dogs ran in these races like up in Alaska. Wrong! There were gray hounds and other short haired breeds all tethered to sleek wooden sleds just barking and shivering with excitement at the promise of a race!
We then went to the Hard Times Cafe for lunch. I didn't get to sit at my usual table where there is a book shelf over head and a copy of Woodswoman II. This book is out of print and the only one of that series that I don't have so every time I have a meal at the Hard Times, I try to land that table to pick up where I left off reading that book. The Hard Times was PACKED with snowmobilers. The whole Adirondack Park was packed with snowmobilers! The mountains sounded like a freaking bee hive swarming with so many of these machines! I know the locals count on the tourism of all these people coming up from PA and NJ the cities. It was so loud! Everywhere you went! Out on the lake cutting ice or snowshoeing. Nothing but noise. It made me sad.
It must of been golden and spiritual to have been able to live in the mountains back in the days before motor boats and snowmobiles, freight trains and cars. Sometimes, even more than the visual beauty of the mountains. I yearn for the quiet. The birds and trees, wind, water and leaves and a peaceful yoga like trance float in my kayak.
After a cold beer and a chef salad. We headed north again and ended up on my favorite lake of my childhood. Raquatte. There we watched a bunch of locals cutting the ice like they did in the old days, but with a gasoline powered engine conveyor belt to a truck that hauled the heavy blocks of ice by truck up to the ice house. The blocks of ice were two toned with the top layer thick with grayish blue compacted slush and snow. The bottom of the block was pure, clear diamond like ice!
I was glad to see this operation but again bothered by the constant buzz of the snowmobilers as they sped around the lake in their thousand dollar suits and even more than that machines. Hey they were having fun! Just not my scene.
So we left Raquette and back to Inlet we went to get at least and hour of snow shoeing in! The trail we took was in a busy family oriented place called Fern Park. There are cross-country skiing, snow shoe trails. An ice skating rink and a sledding hill. The trail we took actually joined the trails with which the dogs were racing! So we got to see the dogs running behind the scenes and not only on the start and finish line. Pretty Cool!
The night ended with a wonderful dinner with my dear old lady friend Ann Cochran and her husband John at The Woods Inn. The Woods Inn is one of my favorite old Inn's in the Adirondacks restored with antiques from the era of the great old camps. I've played several times in the cozy tin tiled ceiling bar downstairs and have had many memorable dinners there with friends and family.
The night ended with the most amazing fireworks! It was my loudest mountain day ever and late getting home.
Today I rest. Oh wait nope...I've got to hit a grocery store at some point.
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