3 Lakes Trip - Saranac Lake - Part 3

We woke up to our second morning at Saranac Lake to sunshine again! Our friends made a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausages. We sat around the table for some time and talked before making sandwiches for lunch again. Today we would kayak across Middle Saranac Lake and hike (climb) Ampersand Mountain!

From Alltrails.com: "Ampersand Mountain Trail is a 4.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Saranac Lake, New York that features beautiful wild flowers and is only recommended for very experienced adventurers. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from June until March. Dogs are also able to use this trail."

DISTANCE                   ELEVATION GAIN

4.9 miles                      1811 feet

"Only recommended for very experienced adventurers" never mind that we had a 4, 6 and 7 year old with us, but they had great practice playing adventurers at the campsite all day!

No photos from the paddle across the lake because of strong headwinds but I do have this short go pro video!

The hike started out very easy, nothing more than a walk through the woods, and a little buggy but turned into a serious hike soon after and all the way up the mountain. It was a tough hike for myself and the only reason I made it, was watching 4 year old Isaac climbing up the mountain!

Let me tell you about a huge misconception about my kids... someone recently asked me "can you give me a list of your kids favorite hiking trails in Cincinnati" the truth is, there are non! My kids don't have favorite hiking trails because they don't like hiking! They do love an adventure though and that usually gets them through the hike! The first mile on the hike, I had one kid actually in tears crying "I hate hiking". He soon came to me and apologized because he realized how cool of an hike this was AND he beat us up and down the mountain. If I would give my kids the option of staying comfortable in our living room, campsite etc or go on a hike... they would always choose to be comfortable at home BUT I give them an extra push and they are always (seriously ALWAYS) glad they came a long!   well an extra push and a big bag of Swedish Fish in my pocket got them through!

On top of the mountain we were greeted with amazing views of the Adirondacks and some astronaut ice cream from our friend Matt! We explored the summit for a little bit, took a lot of photographs, and made sure kids didn't tumble down the mountain.

The pictures below you can see how far we paddled/ hiked that day! The first picture is from the summit of Ampersand Mountain (3,353 ft) and you can see our campsite (arrow) below! The second picture is of Jake at our campsite pointing up to Ampersand Mountain.

The way back down was tough!!! Apparently not for the big boys and Finn, all 3 of them just ran down the mountain and met us at the trail head! Isaac had a tough time and eventually fell asleep being carried by his Dad... Fireman's Carry Style! The paddle across the lake was not to bad but we did fight some headwind again!

We spent the evening around the campfire. The big boys, Ian and Jake, made dinner for us. Kielbasa & Jambalaya, I posted the quick recipe HERE! This was probably our favorite dinner of the trip. And we finished our Family Olympic Day events! You ask what Family Olympic Day is?

Scroll up, the second picture of our post you can see our home made trophy! We played about 10 games throughout the trip. The Roberts Family against the McGill Gamily. The winner gets to keep the trophy BUT needs to display it on their mantle at home for the year! Some of the games were (and we had funny names for them), who sets up their tent the fastest, who gathers the most firewood, who tells the spookiest camp fire story, who has the most mosquito bites, who catches the first fish etc. The other rule was that next year we are battling for the trophy again and the winning family has to come up with the games. The Robert's won but the McGill's are going to fight hard next summer and win it back!!!

The big boys (and Dad's) also played who can pull out the biggest rock out of the lake. Jake won and since no one caught a fish we counted the rock as the "catch of the day". Jake won us that game! Finn had such a bad allergic reaction to mosquito bites and required Benedryl that we decided we don't even need to count bug bites that he would win that game as well!

The next morning was sadly our last... we cooked breakfast and started packing up the campsite. It was a little bittersweet. We all would have loved to stay longer but we (the Mom's more than anyone) were really looking forward to a hot shower and a real bed! We will be back though Saranac Lake! 

Next stop was Lake Placid (hotel) and introducing the Robert's to our favorite pizza and swimming hole before we went on separate ways again! It was hard to say good bye but all good things have to come to an end... and next stop for us was VERMONT!!!

You can click here to read about PART 1, PART 2, and PART 4 of our trip!

 

 

UPDATE! and about 7 months later I finally put together a small video from our go pro footage. Enjoy!

Ohio Road Trip - Part 1 - Travel Photography

WARNING lots and lots of pictures!!!

I used to say things like "Ohio is flat like a board" or "I wouldn't want to live anywhere in Ohio except for Cincinnati". Looking at a map though, I realized that I really haven't seen much of Ohio except for I-75. We decided that we needed to change that and so we left on our Ohio road trip.

I really didn't plan this trip like I plan other trips. I only had two nights/ three days for this trip and not much time to plan anything. Checking Pinterest brought a ton of ideas but what we really wanted to see where these three main things: Hocking Hills, Cuyahoga Valley and Put-In-Bay. We have been to Put-in-Bay but that was 13 years ago and without kids. Or other main goal was for the kids to collect more National Park Passports. See more about that HERE

Checking our National Park map we decided we would also add Hopewell Culture and First Ladies in Canton to our trip.

We left in the morning and our first stop was Hopewell Culture Historical Site in Chillicothe.  

As soon as we arrived we were invited to join a Atlatl demonstration. We never even heard of an atlatl (Have you?) and to hear about it's history and get to use one was an amazing start to this trip!

Afterwards we checked out the Indian mounds, learned about the history and Finn finished up his first Junior Ranger Program of the trip!

These pictures below crack me up... very typical if I try to take a picture and Finn is not the center of the universe (or the picture!)

From the Hopewell Culture we headed out towards Hocking Hills. Like on many trips (SEE HERE) we had to make a U-turn and save a turtle from it's looming death. We decided on Old Mans Cave for our first stop in Hocking Hills. But not before a quick lunch break with Spam sadwiches in the parking lot. Haha

It rained that morning and all the colors were so vibrant plus the waterfall was really strong!

We loved the stone bridges and all the little tunnels and caves so much we spent quiet a bit of time there.

We left Hocking Hills to head towards our tee pee we booked for the night near Logan, Ohio. It's only a short drive (maybe 25 minutes) and we checked out Logan Lake on the way. Another tip for road trips is that whenever you see a fruit stand.... STOP! We always buy something for a snack and talk to the locals about events or other things happening in the area!

We arrived at our tee pee mid afternoon. Set up camp and relaxed for a little bit. Our tee pee was next to this pond and as cute and entertaining it was for the kids during the day... at night it was LOUD! At some points during the night, I seriously thought there was a donkey in our tee pee. It was that LOUD! haha

After we settled in and relaxed we decided to head over to Rockhouse and take a (very) small hike there.

Rockhouse was really amazing and except for the million steps going up and down it was a relatively easy hike.

Back at the tee pee we fixed dinner... a family favorite and such an easy meal to make on a camping trip. Only three ingredients: Jambalaya Rice Mix, Crushed Tomatoes and Kielbasa.

We ended the night with a serious talk about behavior and expectations we have from the kids and settled in our tee pee.

My highlight of the day: driving down the winding roads towards Hocking Hills and realizing how stunning Ohio really is!

The kids highlight of the day: Throwing the Atlatl.

Scot's highlight of the day: learning about the Indian mounds.

 

Have you been to Hocking Hills? We can't wait to go back as there is so much more to do and see!

Out West Trip 2015 - Day 6 & 7 - Zion National Park

Day 6: Left early in the morning, stopped at Glen Canyon Dam and drove to Zion National Park. We camped at Watchmen Campground and explored the area and swam at the Virgin River.

Day 7: Lots of rain. Hiked to Emerald Pools and got caught in a hail stone. Lots of flash flood warnings and trails are closed. We were suppose to stay here for 3 nights but with the weather forecast looking grim we decided to pack up that night and drive through the night to Los Angeles.

Day 9 McGill's Go Up North - Saranac Lake

Day 9! Probably my favorite day of the trip! We had to get creative with our daily numbers because I forgot a pen/ crayon/ marker at the car and that was a 20 minute paddle (one way) away from us.

About 3 minutes after waking up, Finn was already fishing again.

It was really chilly that morning and I forgot my long pants for the trip (which I didn't, I found them at home at the bottom of the suitcase). After trying to warm up by just being busy and making breakfast, I decided to crawl back in my sleeping bag and lay in the hammock. It didn't take long for my little snuggle buddy to find me and join me. We stayed like this for at least an hour!

Late morning, it warmed up a little (but the sun never really came out that day) and we decided to go for a little paddle across the lake from us and explore this little island. We first paddled over to the cliff where we watched people jump from the cliff the day before. Jake climbed up to the top to see if he would want to jump down later and the answer was : NO WAY!

While on the island we looked at our map and decided on a plan for later in the afternoon.

To make it easier for you I decided to show you with help of Photoshop where we were and where we decided to go. The blue arrow is where our campsite is located. The yellow circle is where we parked the car and the boat access to the lake. We decided to kayak to the lock system in the Saranac River this day (blue line). It took us about 2 hours (but we took our time with the kids) one way to get there.

We explored this little island for a little longer and in the back you can see our campsite (blue cross)

We paddled back to the campsite, and made a big lunch so we wouldn't get hungry on our adventure. First time in 10+ years that I had Spam and surprisingly we all loved it! Finn made us a big bottle of lemonade to take and he has perfected his way of mixing the powder with the water. Throw it up in the air as much as you can...

And off we went... the fist half of the trip was a little strenuous, crossing big bays with lots of wind and boats. But the second part of the trip went through the river and that was really peaceful and beautiful. Of course Finn had his fishing line out most of the way.

The lock happens really quickly after a bend and a boat was already waiting for us, so we joined them in the lock. We had to hold onto the rope and the locks closed and the water rushed in. It was pretty cool. The other side of the lock opened and we were in the Lower Lake. Pretty cool.

We decided not to go any further but to stop at the locks and have a break. The boys were allowed to operate the locks and that was really fun for them. They needed to use a lot of muscle power but they did a great job!

We took a lot of pictures there since it really was absolutely beautiful. The picture of Scot and I cracks me up... this is not how I usually pose and I am not sure what possessed me to pose like that haha I guess I was super happy!

There is a lock operator who lives at the locks all summer. She has her house (in the background in the last picture of this block), her little boat and her dog there. She opens and closes (and answers a million questions from our kids) the locks all day and writes down each boat and passenger that goes through. Really a cool job and I am a little tiny envious for it. But Scot says, I would get bored after two weeks.

Ok and the shoe saga continues... remember how I packed Toms and Flip Flops... well the Flip Flops decided to break on this trip. The Toms were back in the car (and really useless on this trip) and now this. I was barefoot for the next 24ish hours!

(I love the above picture of Scot and Jake so much). We went back through the locks to paddle back to our campsite. This time we switched off. I paddled with Jake and Scot with Finn. Jake and I had some pretty cool conversations and he had lots of his stories to tell me, plus he taught me some pretty cool Boy Scout camp songs.

After another 2 hours of paddling we finally arrived back at the campsite!

The boys went swimming again, while Scot and I fixed dinner.

I brought a flint and steel with us and this kept the boys pretty entertained trying to make a fire!

Soon after Finn fell asleep in the hammock and we were able to just relax at the campfire. He slept in there until about midnight when Scot and I carried him into the tent.

It was just a really peaceful day with my favorite things to do in life (camping and kayaking) with my favorite people.

Day 8 McGill's Go Up North - Adirondacks

We woke up in our little hotel outside of Quebec, took advantage of the continental breakfast and got out of there before 9 am. We had another 4 hour drive to our last big stop... The Adirondacks!

I am asked a lot how the kids do in the car. I have to say very good for kids! Of course they fight and whine, here and there but we try to ignore it for the most part. Also, Audiobooks and snacks are a big key! What usually happens is that the kids will be on their Kindle for 45-60 minutes (I usually get them a new game the night before a long road trip), we then turn those off and listen to an audiobook for at least 30 minutes. Finn claims that he doesn't like Narnia but he still listens and quietly colors. When we stop to get gas and the kids have been good since the last rest stop they can each get a treat at the gas station. Also, this time we played a bunch of games such as Road Bingo and Mad Libs. Our entire road trip was a little over 40 hours driving time both ways and yes it was hard some parts with the boys, but it really was worth it and we try to make the journey part of our trip, and not just the destination.

Before we arrived at the Adirondacks, we had to cross back in the US and also exchange our money.

I am kicking myself a little that I don't have any pictures from where we picked up our kayaks. We rented the tandem kayaks for 3 days from St. Regis Outfitters in Saranac Lakes. The staff was amazing and they answered all of our questions (and the boys had a lot of them). They transported us to the boat ramp and even provided us with a map. It really was a great experience and we highly recommend them. I know we will be back one day!

We booked a campsite on Saranac Lake which was on a peninsula and only accessible by boat/ kayak. We chose a campsite (actually when we booked it was almost full) near the boat ramp but not too close. It was about a 20 minute paddle to get to the campsite and of course we had to load all of our gear into the kayak. We actually ended up having to make two trips.

The campsite was amazing! We stayed at #56. Each campsite has a large fire pit and an outhouse, which was surprisingly clean but still scary to me haha I have a thing about outhouses but that's another story. I made Scot sit in front of it whenever I needed to use it.

The kids went swimming and the water was pretty warm. They loved jumping off this smaller rock and we all enjoyed watching people across the lake jump from a much higher cliff.

Scot and I decided not to go swimming but just enjoyed ourselves relaxing and watching the boys.

The great thing about this campsite was that we had a huge area for ourselves. There was no one around. The kids were free to explore, swim and be loud as they wanted.

In the evening we all were tired and just really relaxed. We all took turns in the hammock.

Scot made us a great Spaghetti dinner.

This little guy followed us around the campsite on out first day there.... no wonder after Scot fed him :/

We made a huge fire, with sticks and leftover firewood from a previous camper. The mosquito's up there were really minimal and they only really came out at night but not even where it was too bad.

After using up most of our wood and playing enough with the fire, we all went to bed happy and relaxed.

Day 6 McGill's Go Up North - Tadoussac, St Lawrence, Mer et Monde

We woke up on Day 6 at our campsite at Mer et Monde overlooking the St. Lawrence. I didn't sleep most of the night because of a crazy lightning storm, trying to figure outHOW safe we actually are, and counting the seconds between lightning and thunder. We woke up to a very drizzly morning but we were all safe and sound!

We hung out in the tent for a while, hoping the rain would stop and the sun come out. A few times we thought we were in the clear and then it started again. Scot eventually went outside and made us bacon in the drizzle. What a great husband/ daddy!

The rain stopped a few minutes at the time, but not only was it wet, it was really chilly. We did see a few whales from our tent, so that was worth it!

So here is where things took a little turn for the worst and I really don't have any pictures, so here is a picture of a pretty flower! The rain kept going and going, so we decided to get in the car and get some coffee. Closest bakery we could find was back in Tadoussac (about 25 minutes). Went there, got coffee, sunshine in Tadoussac, we are excited and drive back to the campsite... still raining there. From the car to the campsite, we have to take a small walk across rocks... I forgot to pack myself any other shoes besides Toms and Flip Flops... Can you see where this is going? My Toms are nice and wet and they are not really meant for climbing over slippery rocks. I have my coffee in one hand, my camera in the other hand and.... ouch I fall and hit my tailbone HARD, plus scrape the side of my left leg. (It's now 16 days later and it still hurts like crazy!).

I spent the next hour crying in the tent. This was bad... and we are suppose to kayak for 4 hours later in the afternoon!

Scot and the kids decide the drizzle will never stop and make the best out of it, so they explore! From the distance, I was praying no one else falls and gets hurt!

This last picture, isn't our campsite, but look how amazing this looks! If there is a next time, then I want to stay here.

We decide to drive back to Tadoussac, to go to the Marine Museum, have lunch and run a few errands. Three years ago we bought Finn a Beluga whale at the Museum and we promised him that one day we will show him the whales. Finn named the Beluga, Beluga and has been his best friend ever since. He decided with the $20 from Oma, he would buy Beluga a friend. So, he bought Baleine the Humpback whale. Baleine means whale in French.

After we purchased Baleine, we sat outside and enjoyed the view of the Fjord. In the picture below, you can see the ferry we took across the Fjord the day before.

Three years ago, Scot and I ate at this restaurant (below) and we had THE most amazing Fish & Chips. We talked many times about it and looked forward to having Fish & Chips again here. Unfortunately they changed owners and the food was less than mediocre. We were very disappointed. BUT luckily the sun FINALLY came out and it stopped drizzling and it warmed up!

I forgot to mention that during the course of the day, something bit Finn on both eyelids and under his hair on his neck. His ears were actually bloody from all the bites. We gave him some Benadryl, but it didn't seem to do much for him. I felt awful for him!

We took a little walk on the beach in Tadoussac and collected shells, sea urchins, pretty driftwood and sand glass. Our spirits finally started lifting and we all looked forward going back to our campsite and start our kayaking tour!

On our way home, we stopped at the Post Office to send our postcards to friends and family.

We got back to the campsite, and got ready for our kayaking tour. I tried to rest as much as I could as I was in so much pain still from the fall.

We met up with our Tour guide, Sammy. Sammy was German and French -Canadian. He was only 20 years old and about to start studying Marine Biology in Japan. He works in the summer as a kayaking guide and in the winter as a ice fishing guide. He was also very interested in History and told us the history of Quebec, which Scot and Jake found interesting. We all loved him and seriously hope we see him again! 

Sammy, also explained to us the marine life in the area and we talked about the whales we would hopefully see. He then helped us get our gear. We all had to wear a neoprene suit, a kayaking jacket, a kayak skirt, neoprene booties and a life jacket. It took some time to get all that gear on and I was seriously struggling getting the suit on with my tailbone hurting like that.

After we were all geared up, we got some lessons on how to hold a paddle, how to enter and exit the kayak and so on...

There were about 30 other people kayaking that day, but luckily since we were the only people not speaking French we had our own tour guide. Sammy helped us in the water and we started our tour. Jake and Finn did great paddling and we saw our first Minke whale soon. But then things went crazy...

About 30 minutes of paddling, lightning struck in near distance. We were told to paddle immediately to shore to evacuate. More lightning struck and the guides were starting to yell a little more for us to hurry to get to shore. We got to shore, immediately had to get out, walk up the beach, climb up these boulders, climb back down on the other side.... remember my tailbone and we have a 6 year old with us! We could hear thunder in the distance and the urgency for us to evacuate grew more and more.

In the picture above, do you see our kayaks in the very distance? After climbing over the boulders, we climbed up this hill, through some thick brush and through mosquito hell.

We finally reached a little road, where a pick up truck was waiting for us. Unfortunately there were too many people and we decided to walk back!

The tour was cancelled, we were bummed but hoped to do the tour the next day and this was kind of a fun little adventure.

We went back to the campsite, and started making dinner. Scot and I ate the most amazing steak, which totally made up for the bad Fish & Chips we had for lunch.

At the end of the night, we all sat around the fire again... I looked over my left and there was a whale... but this whale was doing something different, that I have never seen other whales do before and the whale had a white front... OMG a humpback whale!!! They are even rare for up there but we were told that there was a young one hanging out there this summer. We couldn't believe our luck and he gave us a show for the next 10 minutes. It really was amazing and the best possible ending of this day!

Day 5 McGill's Go Up North - Quebec City

Day 5! Woke up early, cleaned up the Airbnb, packed up and made a plan on how to get the car back out of the courtyard without scratching it up anymore haha. Luckily two of the neighbors already left and that gave us a little more room to get the car out.

The video below is after we turned the car around inch by inch inside the courtyard... all that was left is to drive through this walkway. Sorry for the poor quality, Scot and I were more concerned with getting the car out then video taping. But we did it! This time no scratches either!

Today we would be driving up the St Lawrence River, over the Saguenay Fyord and to Les Bergeronnes where we were camping at Mer et Monde.

First stop outside of Quebec is the grocery store and stocked up on camping food, water and snacks.

The drive along the St. Lawrence River is just absolutely gorgeous and even the kids put the Kindles down to look out of the windows. The river turns into the Gulf of St. Lawrence along the way.

The last picture above is looking up into the Fjord. And on the other side of the Fjord is Tadoussac. A beautiful little town about 25 minutes from our destination! We are almost there!

We were lucky and didn't have to wait for the ferry at all. But even if, I don't think we would have to wait long as there are three ferry's operating at the same time. As soon as we parked the car on the ferry, we got out and started looking for Beluga whales. Unfortunately we didn't see any but the kids still thought the ferry ride was very exciting.

We arrived at our campsite at Mer et Monde and the first thing we did was explore. The campsite sits on a rocky cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence. There are small little tidal pools everywhere and just jumping from rock to rock was a lot of fun (and extremely dangerous as we found out THREE times later!)

Soon after we sat up our campsite we spotted our first Minke Whale. It was pretty awesome seeing AND hearing them for the first time.

Scot and I started dinner. The kids ate Tortellini and Cucumber Salad and we had these amazing Beef Rouladen which we picked up earlier that day at the grocery store. Finn and Jake finished their dinner before we did and left to explore some more while we finished. We didn't even finish eating when we heard this blood curdling scream, followed with a French lady trying to get our attention. We ran over the rocks (which wasn't the easiest) and found Finn in the water. The water up here is about 40 degrees. He was obviously cold and shocked but he screamed his head off because he thought the whales are coming to eat him. It was funny after we pulled him out, dried him off and warmed him by the fire. This was accident #1.

I wish I could remember the story Jake is telling us in the pictures above but he is a great story teller and I love how animated he is in these pictures.

We all decided it would be best to only explore from now on with an adult and stay close to the campsite for the rest of the evening. We made a fire to warm up Finn and we just loved sitting around it and watch for more whales. Jake did a little whittling with a stick he found and Finn "helped" Daddy with the fire.

This place is just so amazingly beautiful. I could sit forever in my little camp chair and look for whales. Unfortunately the mosquitos can be a bit much in the evening up there and we were all tired and decided to go to bed early.

The view from our tent was just incredible and worth driving almost 20 hours north east from Cincinnati!