![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Here's where we wound up camping out:
We slept the good sleep of the tired, then woke up and had a fabulous time eating breakfast and brewing up coffee on the Dometic Origo stove that S recently acquired.
These are single burner alcohol stoves, very popular on sailboats. I'm mildly obsessed with the idea of constructing a galley box for this one. It is also so much more portable and easier to set up than the Coleman double-burner. I'm not sure about relative fuel efficiency between this type of stove vs. a white gas backpacking stove, but if the efficiency's at all close I'd be totally happy with this style as a mainstay for camping.
After seeing most of the sights in the park, it was time to hit the road again. We didn't make it too far at first. On our way out the day prior, I'd noted an establishment called The Village Tart, in Schuylerville, that looked like fun, to judge by the Pegasus sculpture out front. When we reached Schuylerville in the morning, I declared my intentions to stop and investigate. And lo! The Village Tart was open, staffed by an extremely friendly and charming person. Time for a treat.
They had an intriguing-sounding beverage on the menu, called the Periwinkle, so naturally I had to have one. It had some fun mixture of fruit or tea, plus limeade. It was as delicious and refreshing as it looks.
I also had some creme brulee, and S had a lovely slice of lemon crumb cake. Yum.
Thus fueled and hydrated, we continued on our way. On our return trip, we managed to find a bike path that had eluded us on the outbound ride, because the initial portion of the path was all grassy! An entertaining stretch.
Shortly after the lovely path segment, we were back on the roads with the terrible shoulder, and the temperatures started to climb. Both factors led me to a spontaneous decision to pay a visit to an intriguing-looking building, which turned out to be The Blockhouse of Stillwater, transported to the site from other places where people didn't really want it anymore for some reason:
As much fun as it was to check out the inside of the Blockhouse, which was quite the fortification, it was perhaps even more fun to find a spot where we could take a quick dip in the Hudson river. I don't know how great the water quality is along that stretch, but it's likely to at least be better than in Albany.
Refreshed, we continued. Soon we were past the terrible section with no shoulder, and shortly thereafter found ourselves back on the bike path just outside of Halfmoon, which runs along an abandoned section of the Champlain Canal. The shade along that section was welcome. By that point, with tired legs, an unhappy arm/hand, and a sore butt, I wasn't exactly riding at a consistent pace, but we were close enough to home that I knew that if I could just keep on going, we'd be home soon enough and a shower would feel amazing. We paused for a brief rest and bottle refill at Peebles Island, then carried onward as the heat continued to build.
By the time we made it back to the Corning Preserve, however, my energy was really starting to flag and I was dreading the hot climb back up Clinton Avenue. Then I had an idea: why not stop in at the Olde English Pub at the base of the Skyway? My recollection was that they had a patio, which is helpful when you've got fully loaded touring bikes and there are still pandemic-related risks to indoor dining.
And lo, the food was great, the beer was refreshing, the rest was helpful, and we even got in a quick game of Scrabble on S's recently acquired vintage travel Scrabble board:
Then it was up the hill and home again.
And that is all, for this trip, at least.
We slept the good sleep of the tired, then woke up and had a fabulous time eating breakfast and brewing up coffee on the Dometic Origo stove that S recently acquired.
These are single burner alcohol stoves, very popular on sailboats. I'm mildly obsessed with the idea of constructing a galley box for this one. It is also so much more portable and easier to set up than the Coleman double-burner. I'm not sure about relative fuel efficiency between this type of stove vs. a white gas backpacking stove, but if the efficiency's at all close I'd be totally happy with this style as a mainstay for camping.
After seeing most of the sights in the park, it was time to hit the road again. We didn't make it too far at first. On our way out the day prior, I'd noted an establishment called The Village Tart, in Schuylerville, that looked like fun, to judge by the Pegasus sculpture out front. When we reached Schuylerville in the morning, I declared my intentions to stop and investigate. And lo! The Village Tart was open, staffed by an extremely friendly and charming person. Time for a treat.
They had an intriguing-sounding beverage on the menu, called the Periwinkle, so naturally I had to have one. It had some fun mixture of fruit or tea, plus limeade. It was as delicious and refreshing as it looks.
I also had some creme brulee, and S had a lovely slice of lemon crumb cake. Yum.
Thus fueled and hydrated, we continued on our way. On our return trip, we managed to find a bike path that had eluded us on the outbound ride, because the initial portion of the path was all grassy! An entertaining stretch.
Shortly after the lovely path segment, we were back on the roads with the terrible shoulder, and the temperatures started to climb. Both factors led me to a spontaneous decision to pay a visit to an intriguing-looking building, which turned out to be The Blockhouse of Stillwater, transported to the site from other places where people didn't really want it anymore for some reason:
As much fun as it was to check out the inside of the Blockhouse, which was quite the fortification, it was perhaps even more fun to find a spot where we could take a quick dip in the Hudson river. I don't know how great the water quality is along that stretch, but it's likely to at least be better than in Albany.
Refreshed, we continued. Soon we were past the terrible section with no shoulder, and shortly thereafter found ourselves back on the bike path just outside of Halfmoon, which runs along an abandoned section of the Champlain Canal. The shade along that section was welcome. By that point, with tired legs, an unhappy arm/hand, and a sore butt, I wasn't exactly riding at a consistent pace, but we were close enough to home that I knew that if I could just keep on going, we'd be home soon enough and a shower would feel amazing. We paused for a brief rest and bottle refill at Peebles Island, then carried onward as the heat continued to build.
By the time we made it back to the Corning Preserve, however, my energy was really starting to flag and I was dreading the hot climb back up Clinton Avenue. Then I had an idea: why not stop in at the Olde English Pub at the base of the Skyway? My recollection was that they had a patio, which is helpful when you've got fully loaded touring bikes and there are still pandemic-related risks to indoor dining.
And lo, the food was great, the beer was refreshing, the rest was helpful, and we even got in a quick game of Scrabble on S's recently acquired vintage travel Scrabble board:
Then it was up the hill and home again.
And that is all, for this trip, at least.
