We rented cabins at Blue Mountain Lake, which was about a 3 1/2 hour drive. Our cabin was adjoined with the Johnsons and shared a nice front deck/porch. Papa G and Sandy had a cabin right on the water. Our choices were bit limited because we needed dog-friendly accommodations for Mr. Otis.
The first night we planned on eating at a pizza place on Raquette Lake, about 15 minutes away. Greg and I had eaten at this place years ago during a camping trip. Let's just say we won't be going back. We had outside eating, so at least the kids were occupied playing with sticks and rocks, but after an hour and a half of waiting for food, we finally gave in and left. Apparently they were short-staffed in the kitchen and the servers were new and so forgot to even put in our appetizer order. We had a bunch of beers and threw a $20 on the table and left. We scrambled to get the kids fed when we got back to the cabins and then grilled some burgers for the adults. It worked out OK but threw off our meal planning for the rest of the weekend.
Then we had a campfire that night and roasted marshmallows.
On Saturday, we split up to go on two different hikes. The men hiked up to Castle Rock, with a view overlooking Blue Mountain Lake. The ladies took all the kids on a hike to Rock Lake. It was 1.6 miles round trip and basically flat. However, it was more difficult then we expected because of so many boulders and big muddy pits to navigate around. Gennie took charge of Cate and I had Graham in a backpack, so thank goodness Sandy was there to be a literal helping hand for Clare and Parker. The girls loved it and we had such a nice time.
During the afternoon, Graham took a nice long nap while I hung out at the cabin with him and everyone else went to Papa G and Sandy's "beach" to swim. We went back over there that night to cook dinner. A thunderstorm rolled through while we were cooking out, so we had to pile in the cabin for a little while.
Graham unloading the cooler for Sandy
I did not get a video of the dance party we had this evening, but it was so much fun and such a good memory.
The next day was boating day! Papa G rented a pontoon boat for us to cruise the lake. We packed up lunch and found the perfect spot to beach on Osprey Island.
The boat came with a tube and we used it a lot at the beach to just drag the kids around in.
And then, big shot Clare went for a loonnnggg ride behind the boat in the tube! She did awesome and loved it so much she didn't want to stop. Clare especially loved the big bumps.
Then we just went cruising (with some naps involved)!
And finally the cliff jumping...it was about 15-20 ft high. Greg, Eric, & Gennie all swam over to try it out. As soon as Eric jumped, Otis was in the water too. Otis climbed up to the top but did not jump off that high. Greg jumped twice. Gen couldn't quite do it. But there's always next year! Then we had to get everyone back in the boat with no ladder. Pulling a 90 lb soaking wet dog up on a boat is not so easy. Otis was having none of it and swam back to the island. Greg ended up bringing the tube over to him, putting Otis in it and then getting him onto the boat from the tube. We provided a good 10 minutes of entertainment for the other people on the island.
The next day it was time to head out. We drove to Old Forge to visit the famous hardware store and grab lunch. Then we walked around the lake a bit before getting back on the road.
Such a great trip and we can't wait to go again! Some other random photos and videos:
We got home around 4:00 and decided to set up the baby pool to get a couple more hours of outdoors time. It was the first weekend it had been warm enough and not raining to use it!
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