The Smiths Go Northeast Day 10: Heading Home!

We had such an amazing vacation, but I do regret planning such a long driving day at the end :(  The boys really hung in there, but it was just a long day...

One last vacation cache after introducing Jackson to the super-tasty hamburgers at Wendy's!  LOL  He seriously thinks they are amazing!  We were directed to this very quaint park to answer several questions in order to log the cache.  Perfect after-dinner activity before the last leg home!

The Smiths Go Northeast Day 9: Lake Saranac, NY

Needless to say, the weather continued to be not quite in our favor during the rest of our time in the Adirondacks.  It was our only day to do some hiking there, though, so we set off ready for mud and rain.  We managed to stay dry on our hike, but it ended up being a bit more challenging than planned...like we ended up on a very slippery spot and had to seriously think about the best way to continue on.  

Mountain Goat Magoo, over here, however, found this rope to just climb his way up!  Looking back, I can't believe I wasn't freaking out more!  Jackson was pretty far ahead of us, and Graham was pretty free... 

Luckily, we all made it to the top!

Then, we lost Jackson!  It was quite terrifying for a few minutes!  As we slowed down on our climb, a few other families had caught up to us, and Jackson had scampered ahead and was with them at another overlook.  They called out to us that he was with them, and I was so thankful for other nice people keeping an eye out for a kid they didn't know!  Phew!

Time for a snack!

As if keeping our kid safe wasn't enough, they also took our picture :)

We hiked back down uneventfully, and headed off to do a little caching!  We did not stay so dry this time, but some strategically placed and sized rocks provided some shelter.

We found the pirate treasure!

Graham plays the little brother role so perfectly!

We headed back to the hotel for sandwiches, naps and quiet time before another canoe trip!

Our canoeing went so well the first day, that Josh decided to set us on a longer course and paddle to a cache!  We got caught in a rainstorm again, but the weather cleared up so nicely afterwards again!  The lake was just beautiful, and it was so fun to have a new activity we all enjoyed!  When we reached the cache location, only Josh and Jackson got out while Graham and I held down the "fort."

After paddling back to the hotel, we got ready for dinner at Tail O' the Pup BBQ restaurant.  We'd passed it our first day in, and we noticed the BBQ sign and the playground!  

The restaurant was sit-down, but it looked like there were different stations set up throughout the area.  There were lots of cute decorations we walked around to see at the end.

A ski lift from the Lake Placid Olympics!

Of course, we loved the lobster statue!

Dessert at The Pine Cone for one last treat on vacation!

Then, it was back to the hotel for the boys to head to bed, and for us to get the car packed up for an early departure in the morning...

The Smiths Go Northeast Day 8: On the Road to Lake Saranac, NY

We set off for the Adirondacks in New York!  We checked into our amazing hotel with enough time to unpack and lay Graham down for a real nap!  We stayed at Gauthiers Saranac Lake Inn, and the reason it was so wonderful was it sat right on the lake, and there were all different boats to use whenever we wanted!  Like, we walked out of our room, down a few stairs turning the corner, and we were on the shore of the lake!  We anxiously watched the weather while Graham finished his nap to try out canoeing as a family of four before the rain started...

Well, we got out ok, but then it did a quick downpour before the sun was shining again!

Jackson did a pretty good job paddling, but I just couldn't relax enough because I was so worried about him dropping the paddle in the water!

My buddy while Jackson had a turn paddling!

This was an amazing way to relax!  

See?  The kayaks, canoes, SUPs, and paddle boats just sat here all day!  There were also life jackets to borrow as well as bikes, baby hiking backpacks, fishing poles, and more!  We could have stayed LOTS more days!  

We went back to the room to clean up for dinner at Blue Line Brew.  It's in a converted garage, and we had a great waiter and delicious food!

All of the rooms opened to the outside with Adirondack chairs out front, so Josh and I sat outside enjoying hot cocoa after the boys laid down :)

The Smiths Go Northeast Day 7: Franconia, NH---Montpelier, VT

There was more fun on tap as we drove to Vermont to visit Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory AND Vermont Teddy Bear Company!

Josh and I had loved our visit to Ben & Jerry's on our original trip, and Graham was excited about everything, but Jackson truly was excited to see the ice cream be made!

Everyone needs this vehicle...!

The samples at the end of the tour are the best part!!!

The Flavor Graveyard!

Jackson decided he was most sad that the Fossil Fuel flavor was no longer around.  

We all loved the ice cream tour and tasting, and Jackson now points out Ben & Jerry's ice cream anywhere he sees it!

Josh and I did NOT visit the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory last time, so this was new to all of us!

There was an amazing play and picnic area spread out in a field in front of the building.  PERFECT for a picnic lunch and burning off some steam before the tour began!

Obstacles made out of pool noodles!

Various toys to try out

And, fun photo ops!

Just like our bride and groom teddy bears at home!

The first stop on our tour was the cutting area.  The sign lays out each individually cut-out piece of a teddy bear.

Then, the pieces are sewn together...

This showed the bears coming out on an assembly line and a map for where they are shipped to.  We also saw the hospital where bears in need of repair are sent for patching up, as well as the design area for any special requests.

Just lounging in the gift shop with these big guys!

A little side trip on our way to Burlington...

Another webcam cache along the waterfront in Burlington, VT!  We're not quite as easy to spot, but Jackson is on Josh's shoulders...

We set out to do a multi-cache that was super-fun to work on (all the stops along the way were unique pieces of art), but we were stumped at the end and couldn't find the final.  We thought it was pretty clear where it should be hidden, but we looked high and low and all around, but came up with nothing...except a parking ticket when we got back to our car a few minutes too late.  Double bummer!

But, then we found some whale tails totally in the middle of a big field/park across from an office complex.  Random, but really pretty!

This was also a cache, with an opportunity for some fun posing!

Josh had come across the listing for this ENORMOUS cache, so we searched it out.  The oldest of us three thought it was awesome (definitely the biggest we've ever seen), but it was about now that the littlest cacher let us knew he had enough :(  This ended up being quite a long fit lasting through a drive to dinner, being seated at dinner and lots of attempts at distraction... Finally, Graham calmed down, and we all enjoyed a pizza dinner! 

We took a little walk after dinner to this neat statue...for a cache... before heading to the hotel!

Obviously, bedtime was imminent for Graham, so I kept him in the room, gave him a bath, unpacked and set up beds while Josh took Jackson swimming.  Perfect timing for some Daddy-Jackson time!