The Mail Boat!!

We had planned to do the Mail Boat a day later than we ended up doing it - because it was an outdoor activity of more than three hours.  So when we saw the weather was supposed to be great on this day of the trip and iffy the following - we decided to do the mail boat on the good weather day (brilliant planners that we were)

so off we went early to ensure we got on the ten passengers (would be cramped) mail boat--- for the adventure -

we got some great water views of homes along the Chain of Lakes and met lots of great dogs who came with their people to get the mail.  the mail boat "first mate" stands on the bow and the captain blows the horn to let people know they are approaching- then the folks and their dogs head to the dock to exchange mail bags which are labeled with their names... the Mail boat packs doggie biscuits in every mail bag where the house has a doggie customer LOL---

at one of our very first stops the lady exchanged not only mail bags but also a tray of brownies for dog biscuits- so we had a morning snack along the way!

the binoculars come in handy when sighting the customers- if no one comes down to the dock then the mail goes back into town... at some docks they do the front-in hand off and at some a drive-by hand off from the rear of the boat...this depends upon the depth of the water around the docks...

one of two planes we spot as transport to and from the lake houses-

 

 

we spotted several loons along the way- stunningly beautiful markings on these water birds when you see them close up!

 

 

the boys on the mail boat had recently become "world famous" in the Adirondacks due to press coverage of their mail boat runs on the front page of the prior week's Adirondack Express:

 

First mate Lance and Captain Bob on the front page! (above) and Lance awaiting a drive-by hand off from the back of the boat (below)

a happy customer awaiting the delivery - this one passed via fish net----

the lifestyle on the lake is very seductive- you could imagine yourself whiling away the hours reading under the trees or on the dock (as we saw many folks doing)

some fans have a display at riverside of their cabin and dock---

the tour boat passes our path- as we near the end of our run...despite the dearth of hotel rooms nothing has been crazy crowded- our fears of having to secure a seat on the mail boat run were not born out as we had only one other passenger along for the trip...

the covered bridge in Old Forge- signals the end of the run and the return to the dock!  We head to lunch up the road a bit...

seen along the roads all over ADK Park- camp firewood for sale - sold on the honor system by cubicle of wood-

we were on our way to the North Creek station where Teddy Roosevelt caught the train after McKinley's assassination- so that he could be inaugurated as the next president- 

somewhere along the way we forgot the above message as a nation-

OK- no reason except they were cute & in the gift shop at the North Creek station

we took the scenic route there and the scenic route back and decide to walk next door to dinner-

 

"tomorrow" we would head east and south - beginning the day with a nearby attraction - Great Camp Sagamore (a Vanderbilt home) and then on towards Lake George and Saratoga.... the trip is in the wind down - so keep following along we are only a few days away from the end!