soooo.....July 19th-22
Tigger's fort made, pack filled, left my cat in Dusti's care and left for the Adirondacks.
I told my very knowledgeable driver Mr.W. I wanted to be as close to Crane Mt as he could get us, for our first night and we got to leave Thursday night (Yippee!) instead of Friday morning. I haven't been so excited to "go do" something in many years, If I don't calm myself down this poor kid is gonna think, "this old lady IS as crazy as they ALL say!" ...
so off we go to Cortland for groceries and smokes, (yes I smoked almost the entire vacation) Wally smokes flavored cigars, little larger than Zane's, but in no way offensive :)...
so Northward we roll in Mr.W wonderful Subaru :) I know little about the mechanics of motor vehicles but this sweet ride is in her "golden years" and I am not sure that she has all 5 of her gears, but Mr.W says she is trust worthy, so I BELIEVE , and off we go...
there is something out here I have needed and coming without knowing what "IT" is, has been a great leap of faith for me. I continue to hope that I will know what "IT" is, when "IT" happens !! LOL !
Mr W. takes main roads for a ways, then knows a back road that comes out in the "general area" we want to be in, route 8 ? maybe? then off main roads we go, BIG smile on my face !
We are, like the rising moon, climbing into the night and with every turn of the wheel, faith, hope, trust, youth, seem to return to me. the very bright stars that I get glimpses of thru trees of size(finally) are some how reconnecting me, to me.
we go from road to beautiful road, even in the darkness it is beautiful, and I am so GLAD Mr.W drove !! I got to look out at everything I wanted to see, if I wanted to see it again he would turn around, no problem. gotta pee?.. no problem. such good travel manners!.
I have not been able to ride mountain roads since the CRV left...I have so missed this, to the core missed riding along a gravel road in low gear on a one lane road, trees over head or open stars and sky, all is beautiful on a mountain at night.
Our conversation, was easy and unstressed and silences filled with wonder of all I could see. a rebirth for my desire to be free that night. so many times I thought gad that's a bad looking stretch of road I wouldn't take Z's car over it, Mr W. is sure to stop now..... nope.:).... on ward and upward we go, SWEET!
Mr.W is looking at old maps, and knows where I want to be, but me, I am totally guessing!
...to the top of Crane Mt Rd. somewhere around 2 am we passed a barn and 2 cars camping near it, onward the green Subaru chugs what a SWEET ride...230ish we reach a big sandy spot in the road, so much fun, but I have to pee and Mr. W. needs to sleep....... so sand bar here we sleep.
oh my we forgot to ask Molli and Scott to borrow the air pump we have a queen mattress to pump up by foot pump ! 330ish we are still blowing it up.
I am taking very short turns to try to help, poor Mr. W, who is turning blue and dead tired, he worked all day Thursday, then packed then drove for hours just to entertain me .... and here he is stuck at the top of some mountain road now with a crazy, windless, old lady!
he just wants sleep, thank God we are on sand, mattress is full enough, sleep comes,... Quickly.
the next morning I slip out to find a glorious morning in full swing phone says 9am ! wow 5 hours of sleep. wonder how long till Mr.W. wakes? as I run the previous night thru my brain, the morning sun and birds greet my jumbled thoughts, snaps me out of self scrutiny , back to living in the moment... grab the Nikon and wipes go for a morning walk, where the wonderful mountain road continues out... It gets really narrow and rough fast, I am glad we stopped where we did. I am sure the little Subaru is glad too !!
when I make my way back to camp, MrW. is up and packing, crap, I hate having someone else do the work. camp is quickly taken down and off we travel in search of coffee....and tonights camp.
back down Crane Mt. Rd. just before "the barn" there is a minivan parked with a plywood sheet on top of it with a tent on top of that LOL ! I had to have pictures !! LOL! at "the barn" (that has had work done on it recently,) I shift in my seat as we pass, to see the view it has ..." HOLY SHIT , STOP! " I know where I am, I have never been here before, but I recognize the view from a picture J posted on Facebook! .. this is Putnams barn, my brother helped do some of the repairs on it !! we are later to find out where we camped was less than 2 miles from JandRa's.
all I asked was put me as close to Crane Mt as we can get. he put me on top of it. Bless you Mr.W.
Mr.W.'s amazing road sense will be shown to me all day, this our 2nd day, as we make our way form Crane Mt. to Warrensburg and around to several campgrounds all very expensive, cheapest we finally agreed on. after a full day of seeing pretty stuff, thru out a large part of my brothers territory, we found J's place left a note and went back to our camp site, 84a I believe.... was the best in the campground, true.
a walk along the Schroon River, a wonderful dinner, stir fry and rice, yum, and then the dessert? gourmet S'mores... yeah let me tell you this summer may have seen inches fall off me, but not for lack of eating great things. (ask me I will message you S"more ideas.....) if I had not lost the pictures of these 2 days(+), you would be looking at a very Happy, Mr.W getting ready to eat his 2nd. Gourmet.S'more., my favorite remembered, lost photo... .
But yet another beautiful night in the Adirondacks. another beautiful night of pumping and blowing...... do you know how big a queen size air mattress is?
With some nervous energy about tomorrow with my brother and sister-in-law (whom I haven't seen in 25 plus years.)...I admire the stars, and the human strength I am sharing the evening campfire with.... sleep comes not so quickly this night...
a morning call for a ride and I am off with J, and MrW. has a day without the crazy old lady to watch out for. He wants to fish and see all he wants to see, however I left him to break camp alone. J gives him many leads and confirms places Mr.W. had in mind...and a pick up this crazy lady time....
after some sight seeing we get to Jand Ra's she fixed us breakfast sandwiches (I already ate 1/2 a bagel in camp) which somehow I consume, (cuz it was yummy !) and off to check out a new local buisness called Glamping. oh my goodness I want their outdoor kitchen. i was taking pictures this morning and my camera malfunctioned, said "card needs to be reformatted."....all the pictures from the previous 3 weeks are gone... I am devastated and have to just let them go blank card gone.
JandRa have a camera so some of my day is photographed. Enjoy...
he is ever the Professional I will try to get his blog address here he is opening business now
before the climbs...
other than grey hair, he hasn't changed a bit....
with a view of Bell Hill ....
I did it.
Lord I have no idea why you lead me here, but I came, I climbed.
... it hurt but did not kill me.
thank you for this experience,
I am humbled as I sit and enjoy the view thru warm fresh tears, (almost the first since leaving Washington.)
It is here that I realize,
trust still lives within me, I am still capable of trusting,
I am just learning to let go of those that did not deserve my trust.
the wrongs they did are theirs to live with.
I gave all in the name of love because thats how I roll.
I'm good.
So much grief from the losses of my Father; 2 fathers in-laws; a big sister, I didn't get to say goodbye to; to many friends that left way to young; wouldn't they all, every one, be grateful for this adventure to climb the side of Crane Mt? Yes. without a doubt. so suck it up Larena and get on with life.
the (haha) "love of ur life" is divorcing you. You've lived through divorce before it hasn't killed you yet.
Starting over at 49, wobbly I say "piece of cake" !
Please God, I have no camera, please remind me of this view on trying days. Thanks Be !
after a wonderful treat of dinner out, and more local tales, we stayed the night in J&Ra's (no blowin' that damn air mattress up to night), I am TIRED ! I missed my new cuddle buddy, but a good nights sleep was had by both of us, and Ra made us homemade waffles with strawberries and homemade whipped cream for breakfast YUMMY !! they went off to church and we with new to Mr.W maps went off in search of gemstones and caves.......this is the wonderful day we had...
the Black Hole
Thank you brother J for the maps and places to see... quite simply this was the weekend I realized the change in me... just because I can be a hardhearted old bitch, doesn't mean I am one.
I really hope to get back here.
like mountains for pleasure; Gold as a fever; and our first night, Crane Mt. drive.
where I saw the true you, the girl you once knew, the one with the dream in her eye.
You said you'd lost her, well I think I've found her, she's right here, with a beautiful smile.
Well we left the mountains, on our way back to our towns, and soon the signs they turned green.
The wind millls were turning as our ice cream was melting, and you spoke of your dreams,
like winning the lotto, Hope for tomorrow, and our first night, Crane Mt. drive.
Now you see the true you, the girl that you once knew, the one who's living her life,
you thought you'd lost her. But she's always been there the one with a beautiful smile.
We sat by the river Near a place called Stillwater and talked about the great things in Life.
-by Wally Armstrong Jr. 8/4/2012
-author unknown
To let go doesn't mean to stop caring,
it means I can't do it for someone else.
it's the realization that I can't control another.
To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try to change or blame another,
I can only change Me.
To let go is not to care for,
but to care about.
To let go is not to fix,
but to be supportive.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the out comes,
but to allow others to effect their own outcomes.
To let go is not to be protective,
it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny,
but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,
but to search out my own short comings and correct them.
To let go is to put the past behind, learn from it,
but, concentrate on today.
To let go is to fear less and Love more.
it was really beautiful
on one of our many to hot to hang at Dusti's days we went for walks along 600 mile creek and Gridley creek. these days I walked barefoot for the first time since I was 8, innocent still ! LOL !
I wonder... if I could go back, would I protect that little 8yr old me, or would I let the experiences happen just as they have, to make me the Me I am today?. walking thru the woods following Mr.W as we bush whack our way in to a pretty cool place, I was deep in these thoughts and crash snap biff got the camera out and pointed took 3 shots but all blurry ! a hawk fell through the tree tops to the ground right beside us! WOW! moment to moment Larena !
more fish
Liam having some fun at Grandmas
mother maple tree
trying not to fall cuz you know W is watching, and you left the camera over by him..... dont fall... dont fall....
beautiful slate rock
so 3 beautiful months with My Sheldon Family, has done me a world of good. it was not an easy 3 months, but my Dearest Dusti put up with me clear through the end. Thank You Dear Dusti, there is no truer person in my world for me with out you, "I would be lost and bereft."
6 comments:
So beautiful. Where was this?
in New York VV. some in the Adirondacks most around tioga and courtland county
It was a very good summer for me. I guess you can never have to many people that knew you when... specially when you need to find yourself again.
Omg, I've finally had the chance and the peace and quiet to look at every picture and really contemplate them. There are so many wonderful shots. Love the kids on the swing, you holding the child at sunset, the water, the rocks, and I LOVE Wally's poem. There's interesting movement in picture 32. How did you do that? I'd love to take a week and just be still in nature.
Vancouver Voyeur, Glad that you finally had a moment to yourself Honored that you spent it with me. I am so sorry that I wasn't able to kiss Jameys ass for another second, I need to see you, when are you coming to Wa and how long to I get to keep you ? Zane just said you can stay here with or with out doggy, so please come stay as long as you can.
now for the pictures, holy smack I am only 1/3rd of the way thru and I have a chip malfunction, and I lost over 3 weeks of pictures... so many more to come it is hard for me to get them loaded hurts my body to stay in one position for long and computer is one I can over do easily just trying to keep up with Facebook ! I am going to pay for picassa again soon and then it will be easier I had wanted to stay current thru blogger but Dustis computer is dial up and would not support it so now check back every few days I will be adding Journaling on the pictures so I may answer the #32 question. when does your puppy arrive and what is his name?
We drive to Ohio on the 7th to pick him up from Kym's house. His name is Lambeau, for Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. Can you guess who named him?
I saw some of that chat on fb.. LOL !
travel safe Have they been getting him used to riding in a car I hope ! the younger the better ! I am so excited you are getting a puppy !! wow lots of work but oh the JOY !! I am going to have a shepherd after my little Ivy, but she is only 12 and still has a good 10 years :) I like Lambeau, think it is going to be good to hear M yell it often in the next few months ! take lots of pictures K !
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