2014-07-30

Yesterday, we drove to Lake George so Marilyn could do some Outlet Mall Shopping. She needed new clothing for an August wedding of a close friend. Since we did not have cell phone service at Lake Lauderdale CG, we called Splendide while shopping. The washing machine had decided that it did no want to dry clothing. The tech sent us an email with directions to eliminate a lint buildup. We followed his directions, and they eliminated the problem.

This afternoon, we decided to drive to the town of Cambridge, NY to see if they had a fuel station where we could get diesel fuel for the motorhome. Of course we turned in the yopposite direction out of the campground, because Marilyn wanted to see what the town (Shushon) in that direction looked like. It is just another little town, but it had an old covered bridge built in 1858, and closed to traffic in 1962. This bridge has been replaced by another bridge, and can not be traveled on. The old man at the Shushan Covered Bridge Museum gave us a brochure entitled “The Bridges of Washington County) NY, so when we left, we set off to see three more covered bridges, which are still in use today.

We next saw the Rexleigh Covered Bridge in the town of Jackson-Salem, NY was build in 1874.

Next was Buskirk’s Red Covered bridge, built in 1857, crossing the Hoosic River at Hoosic-White Creek.

Our final bridge of the day was the Eagleville Covered bridge built in 1858.

Type at you later.

2014-07-28

Today has been a rainy day, so it is time to write a blog, especially since I have not written since the 21st.  We went to 4 more cemeteries to take pictures of headstones, and we went and did a little sightseeing.

When I did my last blog on the 21st, I forgot to include a picture of the Paper Mill covered Bridge and falls in North Bennington. Marilyn says the one with the falls is a perfect New England picture setting.

On the 23rd we went to Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke to get pictures of Marilyn’s 1st cousin’s 1x removed ancestors headstones (Paul Gifford, a chapter 57 member).

Next, on the 24th we went to 3 different cemeteries in the Bennington, VT area. In the Grandview Cemetery we found Lyman Tombs and his wife Eleanor Stearns. Lyman was Marilyn’s 3rd Great Grandfather.   

At Kinsley cemetery, David A Rudd was another 3rd Great Grandfather of Marilyn’s.  

Our final cemetery of the day was Old Bennington, and the headstone of many in the Rudd family including Lieutenant Joseph Rudd who fought at the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War. In addition to family, This cemetery also contains the grave of Robert L Frost, who’s poems many of us read in school. 

 

When Marilyn and I were first married in 1967, our first apartment was in Schuylerville, NY (named after General Phillip T Schuyler of revolutionary fame, although at that time it was named Saratoga, not to be confused with Saratoga Springs located 10 miles away). Therefore, we had to get an updated picture of our apartment (lower front in the following picture) which, other than color is unchanged.

 

July 25th, we toured the Saratoga Battlefield in the Saratoga National Historic Park. There were actually 2 battles on September 19 and October 7, 1777. The defeat of the British here was the turning point of war. This monument inside the park was erected in 1931 by the NYS DAR to commemorate the unknown   soldiers of that war.   As we drove back through Schuylerville we stopped for pictures of the monument to the Battle of Saratoga.

 

July 26th, we toured the General Phillip T Schuyler house. This was his third house at this location. Number 1 was burned during the French & Indian War, and number 2 was burned by Burgoyne before his surrender. Because winter 1777 was coming General Schuyler had the 3rd house dried in in just 4 weeks. We were told that his primary house in Albany was more luxurious, so we will tour it sometime in the future.   That evening we joined the seasonal RVers at Lake Lauderdale CG for dinner of a dozen steamed clams, grilled sausage links, chicken thighs, potato salad, three bean salad and an ear of corn for $10 each. What a feast.

 

Yesterday, the 27th, we drove to Kinderhook, NY to tour the home of Martin Van Buren, the first president to have been born after the Revolution. We had a wonderful tour of a beautiful home.

Hugs, and Type at you later.

2014-07-21

Since we arrived here at Lake Lauderdale Campground, we have visited 4 different cemeteries out of the hundreds in the are to take pictures of ancestors’ tombstones. I have found which cemeteries to visit through Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com.

On Friday the 18th, we went to St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, NY to find graves of my ancestors. My Mother was a McDonald, and her father’s ancestors were buried there.

 

On Saturday the 19th, Hoosic Cemetery, east of Troy, NY for pictures of Marilyn’s Father’s ancestors on the White, Rothermel and Rudd side. 

 

Sunday the 20th found us at the Hinsdillville Cemetery in North Bennington, VT. Here we found Grant White’s headstone. He is Marilyn’s 4th great grandfather. Of course there were pictures of other ancestors too.  

 

Today, the 21st, we drove to the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, NY. We were impressed with the Chapel enough to take a picture but were unable to see the inside.   There were 7 Rothermels buried in Section K lot 237, but only 2 had stones.

 

One of the famous people buried in Oakwood is Samuel Wilson credited with creating the term “Uncle Sam”

Hugs, and Type at You Later.

2014-07-18

We left Adirondack Gateway Campground yesterday, driving back down NY 8 through Russia to Poland to NY 29. We followed NY 8 east about 110 miles to Cambridge, NY. We are parked in Lake Lauderdale Campground north of Albany and Troy for more cemetery pictures.

Fortunately we can use the campground WIFI in the activity center because we are in a no-Verizon area, and we will be here for 2 weeks (10 PA days, and 4 full price). Our phones pick up the WIFI from the rig, but not my Surface. I will blog some, but not every day.

Hugs, and Type at You Later.

2014-07-17

Marilyn and I took a nice 200 mile ride around the Adirondack’s. We left the campground and drove north on NY 8 to Speculator where we picked up NY 30 which we followed to NY 28 and on to Blue Mountain Lake where we drove past the Adirondack Museum (we need to go back to this museum.  We drove past many pretty little lakes like this one. There were also mountains like Bullhead Mountain.   AAA says to allow 3 hours at the museum, so we will need a whole day. Next we followed NY 28 to Old Forge NY. They held the train for us to purchase our tickets on the Thendara Railroad. Here are pictures of the train. Of course we were robbed of our previously furnished plastic money and baubles by the notorious Loomis Gang. We were saved by the Shifty Eyed Railroad Police and Hanging Judge, but they did not give us back our stuff (glad we did not have to use our own), The whole cast waited for us back at the station.

We had a fun day even though we were not able to check the weather, Facebook, search Google and read email except in Old Forge.

Type at you later.

2014-07-16

Yesterday our wonderful two week visit with my sister Ann and her husband Garry came to an end, and we drove 90 miles to Adirondack Gateway Campground in Cold Brook, NY. There is negligible Verizon Service here at the campground, so i will have to take the Surface sightseeing to see if I can publish later.

During our two weeks in Ann’s driveway, we visited cemeteries, and I did get pictures of tombstones of some of my ancestors. My sister Loretta came down from Rochester one afternoon with her son and his family. We enjoyed seeing them. We also had a nice visit and dinner with Garry’s sister, Ginger, and her husband, Bobby.

In addition to stopping at cemeteries, Marilyn and I drove to Canada across the Thousand Islands Bridge to a No Frills Grocery Store to get a couple of President’s Choice products that are store brands of Loblaws, a Canadian grocery chain.

Today we plan to take a drive through some of the Adirondack mountains.

Type at you later.

2014-07-05

We really had a great time hanging out with Larry and Carolyn Jarvis for two weeks. the two lobsters apiece from the Fire Hall’s Lobster Fest were definitely delicious.

We left Larry & Carolyn on 7/1, and drove about 150 miles to my sister Ann’s driveway near Oswego, NY. I did manage to spend a few hours one afternoon in the genealogy section of the Oswego Library, and yesterday morning, I drove out to Peck’s Cemetery where I got pictures of one cousin’s grave, plus one of my father’s Aunt May’s grave.

Tomorrow my sister, Loretta, will be coming down from Rochester with her family.

Type at you later.