And we keep on tacking on the miles. On Friday night we got back from a five day jaunt up to the Adirondacks. Besides the joy of seeing my family waking up to 50 degree temps was a nice change.
My sister and her family live on Lower Saranac Lake and most mornings she and I sat on her dock as the sun rose behind us. It's funny when it comes to siblings. No matter how long the
distance is between us and the time between hangs it's always like we were back to when we were kids again. Besides a few chilly mornings the weather was perfect. That was a far cry from the 100
degree temps in South Carolina and the tornados in Cape May. We kept in contact with our neighbors and luckily we made it through unscathed.
While up there we did the full Adirondack circuit. That went from doing nothing, to boat rides on
Lower, to visiting Lake Placid, and finally checking out the old houses in Ausbale Forks. If you've been here for 17 years then you remember the two homes I purchased, one in 2004, the other next door in 2009.
Ausable Forks was about to take off and I was in early enough to watch the town start to transform. Then in 2011 Hurricane Irene came and parked herself over the area and the West Branch of the Ausable found its way over the wall and into both houses. The town has yet to recover. But real estate is always a good investment and if you can hang on long enough, always worth it.
I did a quick search on Zillow because there is a For Sale sign on the front lawn of 3 French Village Road. I thought, "How much could they be getting for this place these days?". Even thinking wouldn't it be funny if I bought it back. Remember, I bought it in 2009 after my neighbor pulled a murder-suicide inside and it was in foreclosure with the county. So let's see the history.
My wife and I at the time bought it in 2009 for $43,000. The floods came. And life came. And we sold it for $21,000 in 2013. At the same time we sold the house next door, for I think $6,500. Okay, please don't judge me. So let's see what's it's listing for now....
Ouch, that hurts. But that's just what it's listing for. But if it goes anywhere near that, well never mind. Water under the bridge, after coming through the house. While there Erin and I looked for our brick at the old Town Clock park. It was part of the town's makeover back in 2004. Since then the bricks have lost their level and the clock is behind in time, kind of like the town.
Saranac Lake has also has changed markedly since my first visit here in 1987. It was there that I first visited Paul Smith's College and turned both my brother and sister onto. She took the bait, set up camp, and never left. So walking around town was a good time. I even got to have an adult beverage, finally, with Erin, who became of legal partaking age last month.
But even though she's 21 she still has that kid in her and couldn't resist getting one of those squishy toys all the kids are raging about theses days. They're a cross between those sticky octopi we used to
throw at the walls when we were kids and the spinners kids with issues used to carry around with them. I remember stopping at 7-11 about 10 years ago on my way into work at the child and adolescent inpatient psych unit at Monmouth Medical. I bought a dozen for the unit. Great idea. I clocked in at 7am and by 930 they were throwing them around at each other and broke a reinforced glass window on the dining room door. So by 10 am they were in a box at the nurses station.
And to bring it a little towards fishing. Kids, no matter how old they are, just want to fish, and catch fish. Boy have I learned that the hard way. I pushed fly fishing on them too hard too early, and spooked them out of the sport, and fishing altogether. So it was fun to watch my big kid have fun with rod, and fish, in hand.
On the way home as the girls slept I put on the Millhouse Podcast to ease the ride. Remarkably we went from Saranac Lake, New York to Cape May, New Jersey, with maybe a 10 minute slowdown in traffic deep on the Garden state Parkway below LBI. That was weird. Friday afternoon in the summer?
I happened to pick out Episode 35 with Richard Stancyzk. Like most of the people on Andy's podcast they are legends from down in the Florida Keys. Richard owns the famous Bud & Mary's Marina in Islamorada and is one of the top guides in the Keys.
Like other podcasts I had forget if I had listened before, which I had done, but he was interesting enough to listen to it again. During that hour long show he talked about his son, Nick, who is a guide out of their marina. When I got back to Cape May I lugged in my computer and connected to the still working and strong Starlink satellite I had set up before we left.
It was then I learned that on Thursday Nick's boat had been struck by lightning as he headed out with a charter. The boat was towed back to the marina and he was airlifted to a local trauma enter where he remains stable but in a medically induced coma. So thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. Mother Nature is a bitch, but a wonderful and beautiful lady at the same time.
Today we'll be packing up both cars before the long ride back "home". It's been a month of staying in Cape May and with family and friends but now it's time to start the process of learning our new normal. We're getting a little tired of living out of suitcases and our cars and not knowing where anything is, but, it's all good. I told my sister, who is a teacher herself, that my body and mind are missing the feeling of returning to work both in the classroom and hospital. Boy, who would ever think that.
The above picture was taken just about a year ago when the fall semester started. It seems like an eternity ago and so much has happened in the past year. I'm looking forward to getting settled and back to work, which could be teaching, guiding, or picking up garbage around the Lowcountry. I don't care what it is I just have to do something productive, and keep the money coming into the checking account and not leaving it. But one thing is for sure, what a long strange trip this last year has been.