Summer Vacation – Part 2

The Adirondacks

There’s a carved wooden sign on the side of the house that says “Tripp Haus”. I suppose it was intended to create that chalet kind of feeling, and the long, steep driveway you have to climb to get there, and the tall skinny pine trees that flank both sides of the house definitely help create that feeling.

My parents are what they call snowbirds. They live in Florida in the winter and at the Tripp Haus from July through October. The Tripp Haus (.kzm| get Google Earth) is located just off of Route 9 in upstate New York, and when I say upstate, I mean upstate. The closest town, Warrensburg, is four miles away and has a population of about 5,000 thousand people.

The Tripp Haus is named after Tripp Pond, a dumbbell-shaped pond which I have canoed across more times than I can remember. The Haus is set into the hill, and when you walk in you quickly hit a balcony that looks down to the bottom floor. I can’t say why, but this layout is somehow perfectly in tune with the surroundings. There’s a screened-in porch outside the sliding glass doors, and it’s one of life’s simple pleasures to sit out there, with a view down to the wide part of the lake, and listen to the wind blow through the trees.

I love going to the Aidrondacks. It’s a four and a half hour drive from Princeton, but it’s worth the gas. Once you’re up there you’re in a different world. A world of tall evergreens, empty roads, starry nights. Sure, it’s a tiny upstate town with nothing to do and nowhere to go, but that’s what’s great about it. You can’t go there and NOT relax.

The summer days are usually in the mid seventies to low eighties. The humidity is bearable. The nights are usually a little cool. The scenery is beautiful and my parents don’t leave until after the leaves turn because there’s nothing like driving down a hilly Adirondack road with a forest of fire-bright trees expanding to the horizon.

This summer Ann and I decided to be unusually nature-ish and take a hike along the Hudson river. The only problem is, we couldn’t find the trail. But instead we found a canoe rental place.

“Hey, you want to go canoeing?” I asked excitedly.

“Sure. As long as you do all the paddling.” Ann replied.

Deal.

The Hudson was so shallow that we bottomed out a few times. Most of the time we were in only a foot of water. But the current was strong, and we just drifted along, soaking up sun and trying to take artistic pictures of the mountains reflected in the water.

Another great benefit of the Adirondacks is the meat. Oscar’s Smoke House is a fine family establishment in Warrensburg that sells the best smoked turkey (and beef jerky) that I have ever had. They sell a variety of other meat and cheese products, and they even do mail order now via the Internet. Every time we go up there we are treated to a fantastic steak from Oscar’s, prepared by my mom (who is, very literally, a gourmet chef). Mmmmm. Thanks Mom.

We did other fun stuff, like playing tennis and putting together furniture for my parents (who were so happy that my Ikea experience was available that I got the impression they were waiting just for me before buying that TV stand…).

It’s always sad to leave the Adirondacks, and it was no different this year. Hopefully we’ll be back next year to sit on the porch and listen to the wind and look out on the lake and dream about never going back.