Mmmmmm - so nice to wake up in my own bed. We've been doing a lot of travelling lately. I warn you, this is very long and quite possibly full of details no one wants to know, but this is the trip post I've been promising.
We got out of here Sunday August 7 about 1:30 after a stop to Wegmans for a last-minute supply run. Our first stop was
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We pulled into Crystal Grove campground and herkimer diamond mine around 7pm, checked in, set up camp, and sat down to a no-cook dinner of pasta with fresh tomato sauce. We settled in for the night, but my night was interrupted quite a few times by incidents of the Intestinal Uck of Doom.
Amazingly enough, I felt shaky but otherwise OK the next morning. We dressed in our shabby clothes, donned our diggers' bracelets, breakfasted on bagels, and took our tools down to the main digging site on the property. The mine itself is an open pit strip mine. One side was exposed rock face. The rest were piles of tailings to either sort through or crack into. I realized pretty quickly that my night's distress had left me ill-equipped for sledge work, so I grabbed our seive and trowel and set about sifting through tailings.
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By lunchtime, we were both covered in dirt. I seemed to be finding a bit more by sifting, but he had found more hunks of rock with small but nifty specimens. We had to wash our hands and arms before munching on our sandwiches. We set out again shortly after.
I climbed up an embankment of tailings to resume sifting and
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At about 2:30pm we admitted defeat for the day. We had found some crystals, but nothing spectacular. First order of business was to round up my shower stuff and some clean clothes. I don't think I've ever needed a shower that badly in my life. My clothes, shoes, hair, and skin was bronzed by the powdery, golden dirt that was everywhere in the mine.
Once we were both clean and decently napped,
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Two nights of broken sleep were wearing on me, but our alarm was set for 6am. The office opened at 8 and we were intent on checking out right away to get an early start on the road. It was cold when we woke up, but we were soon dressed and taking down the tent. By 7:30 we had eaten and had the car fully packed. When our watches, which are 5 minutes fast, said 8am, we drove up to the office. We hovered in the car until it was 8:15 on our watches. Then the owner of the mine ambled out of the house and over to the office. Check out was quick and we were soon on the road and into the Adirondacks.
A right turn onto county 114 took us to state 29. Then we headed north on 10. I figured county routes 112 and 129 would make a good shortcut to 30, though 129 turned 6 before we hit 30. It wound a narrow path through the woods and mountains. I lost count of how many camps we passed.
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Finally we passed a large metal gate and found the Visitor Center a little after 10am. We were greeted by a dog and a friendly woman who gave us the option of catching up to the 10am tour and paying later or hanging out at the visitor center until the 11am tour. We opted to catch up and we hopped back in the car to follow an SUV up the gravel road, past houses and mining buildings, then down to the pit where they conduct tours.
The pictures don't really do it justice. Chunks of rock lying around are dotted with garnet, and the dusty, rose-colored gravel underfoot is garnet. Mine cliffs rise on three sides of the pit, the walls dotted with garnet as well. That early in the morning the sun isn't yet overhead. We caught about half of the speech about the history of the mine, then the guide showed everyone how to take a bucket, dip it into one of the two deep pools which had flooded when the mine had hit the water table, and sluice it along the ground to wash away the smaller grit and dirt. After the water runs off, the gems sparkle and catch the eye.
Then they let us free to find our own. We experimented with a few different spots and found a bunch of smaller pieces right away. One would have to be in complete sensory deprivation and quadriplegic to not find garnet at the Barton Mines. To sweeten the deal, the Barton garnet is much harder than most other garnet deposits - 8-9 hardness. Sure, only 3% is gemstone quality, but who needs perfect specimens.
Toward the end of the hour, we had to head back to the visitor center, but the nice thing is that admission doesn't limit how many trips you can take into the mine. We went right back out on the 11am tour, wolfing down sandwiches as we followed the caravan into the pit.
I got into the groove that second trip. I found a rock right next to the closer pool that angled up and away from the water. It was the perfect shape to catch rocks after rains or winter. I spent the entire time sluicing and excavating behind that rock and found several palm-sized chunks of garnet. I also found a lot of medium-sized chunks caught by that rock.
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We were both getting tired by the end of the second trip, but decided to go down for a third so we could get pictures. While I took the time to listen to the whole speech that time,
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Final measurement was 2.8 pounds, but they charged us $2.50 for the lot of it. Even the kid at the counter wowed at the big chunks we'd found. It was so low-impact, beautiful, and fun. I would recommend that everyone who can and who enjoys gemstones should visit the Barton Mine sometime.
We'd intended to leave around 3pm, but it was only 1 and we'd already had more than enough time for garnet mining. We twisted and turned back down the mountain and headed north on 28. Near Indian Lake we caught 30 south. We were thirsty and a little hungry, so we decided to stop at the first restaurant that was open and looked nice. What we found was the Adirondack Mountain Grill.
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From 30, we oops and ended up on 8&30 until I recognized where 8 turned north and realized that we were going the wrong way. We backtracked into Speculator an grabbed 8 west to 365 west. In the town of Holland Patent, we turned off the main road, since my state map showed a number of local roads that should give us a shorter route to Delta Lake. Unfortunately, we hit a dead end. The roads that went through on the map definitely didn't in real life. We backtracked to another road that looked like it would cut through to one that would get us back on track. About a third of the way, it narrowed to a one lane "seasonal highway". I said, "go for it," and we headed down it despite
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We didn't have reservations, so we had to choose a campsite. We decided to pamper ourselves and splurge on a waterfront site. The view was absolutely gorgeous and we were surrounded by the sound of the water lapping at the rocks. I wanted to be lazy and only spread out the tarp and sleeping bags to sleep under the stars.
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We were tired; so even though the campground was loud and it was still light out we retired into the tent. I insisted on opening the two tent windows that faced the water, then doffed my clothes to get comfy. This and snuggles inevitably led
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I don't remember when everyone else turned off the lights and the music. I was tired enough to drop off early. Unfortunately, I tossed and turned a lot. The ground at Delta Lake was much harder than that at Crystal Grove.
We didn't set an alarm clock, but I woke up when the sky was that color of blue that tells me it's not night anymore. I tried to catch some more sleep, but when the orange light of the sunrise dappled the side of the tent at 6:30am, I was keenly awake. The reflection of the sun blazed a sparkling path across the water and I felt obligated to wake
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After we'd eaten and packed up the car, it was time to head out. We decided to head through Rome then over to Utica. I wanted to show
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We thought we'd go to the Babe's Macaroni Grill in the area, but it wouldn't have opened for another half hour. Instead, we ate lunch at the Friendlys next door and got on the road.
We retraced the route we'd taken to get to that area, once we found our way onto 12,8, & 5. That way we could take 5 to 13 to 20 and from Skaneateles to
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From there, the roads were all familiar. We got home around 6pm and I crashed. It felt divine to be back on our mattress.
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After two days with morning appointments, we were back on the road heading to Buffalo to pick up Aidan. We planned to stay two nights and head home Sunday the 14th. Friday evening and Saturday morning and afternoon I spent cleaning out my old closets. Piles and piles of memories in there, I needed to sort through them and relive them.
After I finished, we joined my parents for dinner and we decided to head out in search of
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Sunday, we packed up and had the car ready at about 12:30pm. A call at noon had let us know that
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Saturday the 20th, we were back in Buffalo. We had bruschetta with my folks, then prepared to head out to
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There was more food than I think anyone knew what to do with. When the desserts were served, there were rice crispy treats, several kinds of cookies, brownies, and cheesecake cups in addition to a huge chocolate-and-vanilla cake. A while later snacks and dip came out. I can't imagine anyone going hungry at the party.
I ended up talking a while with
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Even when it was time to leave, we were still chatting with folks. I happened to mention the trip to the garnet mines and
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We had so much fun at the party. A couple days before, I'd pulled the (shapeshifter deck) tarot cards "memories" and "happiness". The party fit both. I'm definitely glad we were able to make it.
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Just as we were about to turn onto their street I had an awful realization. I was wearing a skirt. My skirt has no pockets. My keys were in my pockets... in my shorts back in their dining room neatly folded where I'd left them. We checked when we got there. My parents had locked the door. We went to Dennys on the corner to have some pop and use the bathrooms. I didn't want to call or ring the doorbell since they might either be pissed at being woken up or be pissed that we were back as late as we were.
Instead, we went back and sat in the car until around 7am when I finally saw a body flash across a downstairs window. Then I was off and running to ring the doorbell. A bleary-eyed mom opened the door to whom I gave a hasty explanation of what had happened. The most awful part was when she reminded me of the key they leave in the bike room in the garage. Until she said it, I had absolutely no recollection of any key there.
By that point what was done was done.
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After the service, I took the time to light one candle for my birthparents, one for the workers at Our Lady of Victory who handled me and my adoption, and one for my adoptive parents. On the one hand, I seek to forgive them all for the pain and rift that adoption causes in a baby. On the other hand, I wish them all peaceful lives at present. My hope is to do this once a year, and pray for the same during the year. Hopefully with this I can come to a place of true forgiveness and let go of the pain that resurfaces when I confront topics of adoption.
We also took a walk to look at the outside of the building where my mother would have had her room. Then we strolled through the gift shop and the Father Baker rooms and headed home.
Mmmmm. My mom made quiche for lunch followed by blueberry pie. Then I totally crashed out on the couch. At some point I moved from the family room to the couch. We'd intended to leave earlier in the day, but after no sleep and the lockout we really needed some rest before heading home. I think it was closer to 5pm when we finally left.
Today I feel much more rested. Despite the lockout, I'm very glad we got to
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