Old Forge, New York – Part B
And rain. We were awake at the usual time, 5:00 a.m. We could hear each other moving around in the tents over the sound of rain. One of us said something about waiting until it let up before we got going. With that agreement, we both tried to get a little more sleep. Finally the rain let up a little and our bladders couldn’t take it anymore, and we got up. The morning looked terrible and the weather forecast posted at the camp building looked worse.
We decided not to break camp at that moment. Things may be better after breakfast. We put on our rain gear and rode unloaded bikes the couple of miles back to town. After riding with approximately 40 pounds of gear on the bike for so long, now it felt like a toy.
Over breakfast at Walt’s Diner we discussed our options. We elected to stay over in Old Forge. We returned to the camp, rented one of the cabins, took down the wet tents, and retired for a nap. All of this before 10:00. At about 10:30 we had another downpour. We had made the correct decision.
We were less afraid of getting wet and more afraid of the diminished stopping ability in rainy weather. The thought of the speeds achievable while descending a mountain and not being able to stop if necessary could have us literally screaming downhill.
Around noon we went back to Old Forge for lunch and to explore the town. Eating choices are limited in a small town, so we went back to Walt’s Diner. Fortunately, Walt’s place had pretty good food. I had the special, a hot turkey sandwich. This was made the way you would make it at home, from chunks of real turkey (lots of turkey) and covered with good gravy.
Note: The amount of effort necessary for this ride allowed us to eat just about anything that we wanted to eat. The hard part is trying to return to normal eating habits.
Our tour of Old Forge did not take very long. We walked to one end of town to get to the Post Office and mail some letters. We walked to the opposite end of town and went to the Old Forge Hardware Store.
The Old Forge Hardware store is a wonderful place. It bills itself as New York’s most general store. Besides being a great old fashioned hardware store, it had a furniture section (with log furniture), sporting goods, camping supplies, Orvis fishing equipment, music, clothes, and books. It would be easy to spend hours in this store. We bought a few things and headed for the library.
At the library we signed internet agreement and booked some time on the computers. We were able to catch up on some email traffic and post an update to the web log. We both sent our posting without reading the other. Our postings were very similar.
After a tough session at the keyboard, we walked back to Walt’s Diner for desert. We had something called blueberry crunch that is difficult to describe, but tasted very good with coffee. (See note above)
We rode back to camp for another nap and later walked into town for dinner at the local bar and grill. We had a nice conversation with the couple at the next table and then returned to camp to do our laundry.
At the camp building we met Vincent and Ineke Verhagen from the Netherlands. They were touring the eastern U.S. in a rented motor home. We were comparing our impressions of the area. One of the things that I said was that everything east of Buffalo seems so old. They both thought this to be funny because the oldest buildings in the area were only about 200 years old. This is hardly old by European standards. Everything is relative.
Since our return, we have received some email from Vincent. Technology is wonderful!
Our stay in Old Forge was just what I needed. The break from the road let my sore legs recover. The reality that we would not get to Bar Harbor released us from the pressure to push the mileage every day.
We left Old Forge on a brilliant sun shining day. My legs were fresh and spirits were high.
All I had to do was remember, the journey is the destination.
Wes
