North-country trip

We spent the week of the 4th at camp with Nana and Grandad. The whole country was hot, and northern NY was no exception. No air conditioning, though being in the trees helps, and we almost lived in front of fans. Perhaps because of the heat, the deer flies were thick and persistent. Just being outside usually meant having half a dozen flying around your head.

Some highlights:

• Sam's first camping trip! Grandad, Sam and I spent a night at the nearby Higley Flow state park. What fun! Sam's first camping trip. Smores & all. And good news--the deer flies go to sleep around 10 pm... after which the mosquito flocks emerge! Needless to say, after Sam went down, there wasn't the extended father-son shooting-the-breeze-under-the-stars session I had hoped for! But Sam did well and had a fun time, and most importantly, slept very well, despite the INSANELY LOUD RAVENS YELLING ACROSS THE CAMPGROUND FROM 6 AM ONWARD. Grandad slept well too--best night's sleep in years, he says! Woke up that morning to the smell of bacon from the only other group of campers on our loop. Ended with a hike on the Beaver-Pond Trail. Couldn't have been better!
• Many days at the state-park beach with Nana and Grandad. The water up there is generally on the cool side, and getting used to it takes some time. Not yet. Last Thursday, for instance, the water temp at 4' depth at 10 in the morning was 84 degrees. Wow. Sam got his introduction to Marco Polo and will never be the same.
  
• Discovered the joys of the Higley Flow nature center activities! The naturalist (B.A. in sculpture, now getting her second degree in bio) was a joy and a delight. (Sam and naturalist and Nana pictured below looking at pond critters in a bucket, including shrimp, diving beetles, and a baby catfish.) Made fish sun catchers with us in the 90-degree heat (including visits to what she called the "warm glue-gun station in the parking lot"). She also had some good advice regarding the deer flies: To get rid of them, stand next to someone else for a minute or two and then run away. The flies are observant enough to notice your friend, and lazy enough not to chase after you.
  
• Dinner at the fancy "1844 House," the best dining in the North Country, imho. $17 prix fixe dinner. And Sam behaved great! Every year he's better and better. Did well in church, too, and had a great time exploring the old 1876 sandstone church after the service.
  
• The annual trip to Colton's Hepburn library, the canoeing trip around Arbuckle (how did he not see the two turtles? We'll never know), numerous trips to the Higley Diner, a visit to Allen Falls, coloring on old tractor-feed computer paper, &c.
• A "craft" with Susan in which she and Sam made superballs. Didn't know you could do that at home.
  
• It was a long time for Sam to be without other kids. Mid week he asked, plaintively, "Mommy, when do other kids arrive?" Fortunately, near the end of the week he finally met another boy, Christopher, close enough in age to play with. They had a fun exchange while making sand castles:
  

SAM: What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a scientist because I already know all about science.
CHRISTOPHER: I want to be in the army. Maybe in the air force, I don't know yet.
SAM, after a silence: But I don't want to grow up. I like being a child.
CHRISTOPHER: Yeah, me too." (pause) But, you have to grow up...
Sam agreed. They sounded very wise and philosophical.

Great seeing N&G, and I know they had fun with Sam, and even gave him his first pair of swim goggles.

Returned to a delightful visit with the Dechers of Vermont--photos of that to come...