Saturday Continued, A Slight Detour:

As we drove out of Albany it started to rain, then it started to pour, visibility was not good but we were taking it all in stride as we knew Sunday was supposed to be a beautiful day.  Listening to music and enjoying our conversation, all of the sudden in the middle of our lane in front of us lay the entire wheel from a large tractor-trailer truck that had been ahead of us.  Going about 60 mph I knew there was nothing for us to do but crash.  It was so scary as we were in the left hand lane on Interstate 90 and there was traffic in the lanes next to us, and oncoming traffic coming in the other direction.  As we braced for the inevitable, hoping we wouldn’t get hurt or killed, my friend swerved a little to the left so only half the car would go over the wheel.  I could feel the car slanting as we went over the wheel full force.  The airbags deployed, the windshield cracked, and the wheel went under the belly of the car and me.  Then I felt us on the ground gliding forward, my friends hands still on the steering wheel, arms wrapped around the airbag, trying to keep the car from going over the divider.  We landed.  Able to unbuckle my safety belt as it was now cutting into me, and noticing the car was smoking, both of us miraculously uninjured we jumped out of the car afraid it would explode, into the torrential rain.  Unfortunately the car did not fare as well as us.  It was totaled.

The next four hours were surreal.  People stopped to see if we were OK.  Eventually we realized the car was not going to catch on fire.  We got inside to protect us from the rain but it did not protect us from the other traffic as our car was not completely out of the left hand lane but was not drivable either.  I was nervous and it was weird because there was no place safe for us to go until help arrived.  Eventually a State Troopers showed up and pulled up behind us with his flashing lights.  I felt much safer with him behind us.  About a half hour later a giant tow truck for the state showed up.  He towed the car and us too, to the Avis Rental office at the Albany airport.  We filled out reports and an hour later we were given a new car.  A bit shook up having realized just how lucky we were after listening to our own possible outcome scenarios, and those of strangers, we decided we should continue on our journey, enjoy the fact that we were in one piece and able to do so, and that’s what we did.

We arrived in Lake George in the early evening.  Being that it is not season, we knew we’d be able to find a room.  We drove a couple of times through the center of town eying the various accommodations and chose a place on the lake called “The Georgian,” that looked like it would be good for us.  Just happy to stop and lie down for a bit, it was what we needed most of all.  About an hour later we went to a place recommended to us called “George’s,” and ordered some nice seafood and wine.

Sunday:
The next morning it was just as beautiful as they predicted, hard to believe that the day before had been so rainy and messy.  Stepping outside our room I saw Lake George and the Adirondack’s for the first time.  I love arriving places in the dark and waking up to a beautiful surprise!  They say there is nothing like a New England Fall (see Lake George photo).  I don’t know if that is true but they are spectacular.  This time of year is really wonderful.  Although it is off season I suppose many others were there to check out the color’s too as the hotel seemed to be full.

Leaving the “Georgian,” we wanted to do a little walking around the lake to get a better view of things.  Being short on time we decided to do so near Ft. William Henry (photo above), an old fort that is on the Southern tip of Lake George and dates back to the French and Indian War in the late 1750’s.  Sometimes I forget how much of American history is so close by.  A little later we were driving and wanted to take the car on a ferry and cross over to Vermont, but the ferry was closed for the season.  While driving to the bridge we caught another old fort called, Fort Ticonderoga.  It too has a history dating back to the French and Indian War continuing through the Revolutionary War.

We spent most of the day in Vermont driving through the mountains, marveling in their countryside, buying gourds, little pumpkins, and maple syrup from farmers, me snapping lots of photos and all and all being good tourists.  Driving through Bennington we said our farewells to our beautiful fall day in Vermont.  Soon we crossed over into Massachusetts, later Connecticut, then New York and late Sunday night NYC.

So the title of this piece is “5 State Fall Foliage” and I’ve only mentioned 4 states.  The 5th state was New Jersey.  The way the states are shaped in parts and how they built the freeways, you sometimes have to leave NY to get back into NY.  Giving Jersey its due, their leaves were beautiful too.

It turned out to be a long two days.  It was really a three-day trip, especially given our accident.  But it was beautiful and come next fall if you get the chance, if you don’t live in the area, try to catch a New England fall.  Make reservations early as things get booked, and also perhaps go a little sooner then we did, although spectacular we were a little late ourselves particularly further north.  And if you’re looking to go to Lake George, I can recommend “The Georgian Resort.”  We didn’t eat there, but the rooms were nice and comfortable.

To find out more about the Lake George Adirondack area or tourism in Vermont either click on the links below or cut and paste them into your browser.

http://www.visitlakegeorge.com/

http://www.travel-vermont.com/