We're Back in NY...But not in Civilization

Day 61: Robert Moses State Park to Rouse's Point, NY--95 miles

So far, NY wins the road competition hands down! The roads are great and we had great shoulders all the way through. There were lots of "share the road" and "bicycle trail" signs. We felt very safe and the drivers seemed to be conscious of us. Heath Maddox would be proud!

The second thing we noticed is that the people up here are a bit different than those we left behind in Canada. Some are very nice. You have no idea how the others are because they won't acknowledge your existence! It seemed we were nearly invisible in NY in our blaze-colored clothing and huge bicycles! A very weird feeling after all the friendliness we have experienced. Maybe they suspected our pictures of the border...

After about 10 miles of flat riding, we started seeing a lot of rolling hills--not really steep yet, but a taste of things to come in Vermont and New Hampshire. And then we climbed mostly to Chateaugay which was about 50 miles into the day's ride.

A unique thing we noticed about this area is that there were lots of houses and people, but no real evidence of industry other than the small farms. There were very few restaurants or other services, and all the farm equipment sales places were showing off equipment that looked miniature compared to the things we saw in Montana.

We rode across the Mohawk reservation, which was a little desolate and depressing. It seems they are in some kind of fight with NY State, but we didn't get the gist of it. We had lunch right after leaving the reservation at a deli--we were famished and stopped at the first available place. It ended up being a good stop and the sandwich was great.

In Chateaugay, we stopped for David's daily ice cream and I decided to have one too. I ordered a small, and it was HUGE! David's medium was much larger, so we were pretty full when we left there. It was Sunday afternoon, and the place was packed--but nobody acknowledged our presence. Very different from the usual questions we get about our trip...

After leaving Chateaugay, the "fun" began. We were going to try and stop in Ellenburg at about 65 miles. But the only motel was closed until 6:30 p.m. We didn't want to risk not getting a room after waiting for 2 hours, so we moved east. But every town we came to didn't have any hotel or restaurant services! So it was 10 more miles to Ellenburg Depot, 10 more miles to Mooers, 8 more miles to Champlain, etc. Finally, at 95 miles into the trip, we found the first available hotel in Rouse's Point--just on the eastern border of NY State.

We stayed at the Anchorage Inn and ate a great dinner there too. It was a really nice little hotel and Rouse's Point was a charming town. The people were friendly too! What a nice end to our stay in NY!