Best Western Sovereign Hotel-Albany

As luck would have it, I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone 10 days before my departure to hike in Italy and tour around Turkey. Fortunately, it was not a bad fracture so I was able to travel, and could even carry some weight with my right arm, but couldn't hold a backpack on the shoulder.

My itinerary is: fly from JFK to ...

Upstate New York is just lovely, wooded hills broken up with patches of small farm land - old red barns next to white houses set into brilliant green fields. The thruway is occasionally high enough to look down into small valleys that look like christmas villages. The air was cool, misty and the traffic minimal. All of which was a blessing today after yesterday. I actually went to the car and got a sweatshirt.

I saw cows colored ...

The first part of the ride from the village of Lake George to Glens Falls is mostly on a bike trail. It was nice to have a shorter, much flatter ride the next day down to Easton Mountain, where I attended a retreat over Labor Day weekend.

After the fun experience of really checking tire pressure and filling to specs I was on my way - sounds simple but Visions are not. Too much hardware in the way and make sure your have a gauge with a little hose.
First stop, a short hop to Albany to visit with friends I see far too little of. Delightful way to begin the trip, and a shady spot for the bike to roost for the night.

... one or two ridges to cross. There's a great downhill leading to the Alcove reservoir, southwest of Albany. We camped that evening at a lovely marina on the shore of the Mohawk river, just west of Schenectady.

... top ot the climb urging the overweight and older pooch up the hill. I could truly relate as memories of Donner Pass came to mind. I got to the hotel way before the luggage and went for a swim in the pool that might have been 70 degrees and had a turkey sub delivered for lunch. Tonight is the t-shirt swap, not quit sure how that is going to work. Tomorrow will be a big day of climbing, the White mountains in Vermont!

Got into JFK and waited forever to get my bags and then the rental car. Got into Albany at bout midnight frank till 4 am when bars close out here. Woke up had some of the best corned beef hash ever and then drank heff and some cool german bar. Now off fishing in Saratoga. Who knows what the nite will bring!

The night before I left, I took my bike and rode along the Jordan River Parkway near Saratoga Springs, watching a beautiful sunset go behind the mountains. Sometimes I like to just be alone.

... it's a major stop on New York's barge canal system, one of the largest oil storage/distribution centers on the Atlantic seaboard. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area is center for a busy agricultural and resort trade. The Hudson River! From the Adirondacks to the Atlantic it twists in Rhine-like charm; steep banks thickly wooded, wide bluffs dotted with homes historic, events significant. Inspiring country! Catskill crests in the west rise misty, mysterious with ...