(no subject)

[felicula]

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 mechanchaos's parents' house out in Niles, NY. We took our usual 96-14-318-5&20-38 to get there. We stopped for about an hour to chat and stretch and borrow tools. Then we headed into Skaneateles to pick up 20-13-5-county 114, which took us through Cazenovia, Chittenango, Canastota, Oneida, Utica, Herkimer, Little Falls, and finally into the small town of St Johnsville.

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. mechanchaos weilded the pick mattox, the sledge, the hammer, the chisel, and the rock drill.

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 mechanchaos got back to pounding rocks. After an hour or so, I scrambled over the loose rock to where he was and examinined the rock face nearby. He was exhausted and I was quickly getting there. We're not in the shape we'd like to be. I was delighted to see some perfect crystals growing in the exposed vugs. Unfortunately, their location was such that they'd be smashed if someone tried to cut them out of the rock. I think that's the hardest part about herkimer diamond mining. The surrounding dolostone is a bitch to chisel through, but the crystals that grow in the vugs are so fragile. I think it would take a lot more practice than we've had to learn just when to hit heavy and when to be extraordinarily careful. I'd love to learn, but I don't know if I'll have an opportunity to.

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, mechanchaos cooked some pre-marinated chicken over the grill for sandwiches. I absolutely love Wegmans' Chicken BBQ Marinade. We used the evening to take a walk into the office / rock shop. For Aidan, we bought a bag of rough for sluicing. For ourselves, we bought two locally-brewed root beers. Mmmmmmmmm. Unfortunately, I was back in the bathroom shortly after for reruns of the previous night.

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. mechanchaos was certain that 6 was a one-way road until we saw signs facing the other side of the road. Thirty took us to 8 east. Rather than take 8 to where it meets 28, we turned to follow signs for Gore Mountain on a road that I saw would also take us to 28. Our destination was off of 28 on Barton Mines Road. Barton Mines road snaked upward for five miles. The farther up our car climbed, the more disrepair the road was in.

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. mechanchaos found a lot too, though he discerned more small, clear garnets.

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, mechanchaos grabbed some images with the digital camera. (Thank you again and again, kareila and alierak!) Then we took it easy and nabbed some more garnet before the tour finished and we weighed in.

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. mechanchaos enjoyed his Buffalo chicken sandwich and I could barely finish a quarter of my delicious and enormous homemade lasagna. At first we were the only ones in there, but later a couple women came in for lunch as well. We left there sated and glad we'd stopped.

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 mechanchaos's misgivings. It meandered through woods which opened up into farmland and a very confused farmer graciously pulled over to the side and motioned us past. But this time the map was right. The gravel gave way to pavement and we found the turn we needed. Finally we made our way to 49 and found Delta Lake State Park.

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. mechanchaos didn't want that, so while I was sorting through the garnet, he put up the tent. We got suited up and went to the public beach area... just in time for them to close up. We went back to the campsite and contemplated dinner. Neither of us were very hungry, so we were fully satisfied by splitting my leftover lasagna.

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 mechanchaos to want to close the windows again, even though no one had a good view to see in. We compromised with closing one window halfway and got to enjoy the view and each other.

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 mechanchaos to see. We took our time getting dressed and packing up. I suggested we cook the boca burgers that ought to have been our dinner the night before for breakfast. mechanchaos set out to do just that, and I repaid his work setting up the night before by taking down the tent.

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 mechanchaos some of the places I'd seen before. In Rome we passed by Fort Stanwix. Then in Utica, we took a walk around the old Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center main building. Somehow walking around there at midmorning on a warm, bright, sunny day doesn't give it the same ominous feel as when circling it just about sunset on a cold, occasionally rainy, late-autumn / early winter day. That, and perhaps some of it's negativity has been exorcised for it's reopening as an archive.

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 mechanchaos's parents' place in Niles, NY. They weren't there when we got there, so I ate my sandwiches and relaxed while mechanchaos put our borrowed tools back and wrote a note in case we headed out before they returned. The note turned out to be unnecessary, so we showed off our rock finds and chatted until about 4pm.

From there, the roads were all familiar. We got home around 6pm and I crashed. It felt divine to be back on our mattress. mechanchaos was an absolute doll and unpacked the car. I don't much remember that evening aside for feeling that the trip was too short and getting rest.

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 amberrattus and whitesnowrosere. At their apartment we found amberrattus and chatted for a time. Then we went to UB to hang out and grab a word with whitesnowrosere and ninepointsatyr.

Sunday, we packed up and had the car ready at about 12:30pm. A call at noon had let us know that whitesnowrosere was up. We headed out with Aidan in tow and paid amberrattus, whitesnowrosere, and ninepointsatyr a visit at amberrattus's and whitesnowrosere's apartment. It was nice to converse a while. I think it was 4 or 5pm before we headed back to Rochester.

Saturday the 20th, we were back in Buffalo. We had bruschetta with my folks, then prepared to head out to whitesnowrosere's graduation party. I was nervous going into it since it was at an unfamiliar house with some people I knew and more folks I either didn't know or was vaguely acquainted with. I'm definitely more of a wallflower in large groups of people.

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 sheltered_dream, who I'd only met in passing previously. After dark fell some folks left and I ended up having a beer. A number of folks had gathered in the garage and I relaxed enough to more heartily join in some conversations. As the night wore on, lots of old stories came out of the woodwork along with lots of laughter. mechanchaos and I got caught up on what's been going on in our absence. As the crowd thinned and it got later, I waxed spiritual with Liz, whitesnowrosere, ninepointsatyr, laefin, Damon, and mechanchaos.

Even when it was time to leave, we were still chatting with folks. I happened to mention the trip to the garnet mines and laefin asked, "the garnet mine in the Adirondacks?" It turns out her family has a cabin in the Indian Lake area. She even knows the owners of the Adirondack Mountain Grill. Conversation was interrupted by a request to take it over to amberrattus's and whitesnowrosere's apartment, which we did.

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. mechanchaos and I grinned and talked about the party all the way back to my parents' house.

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. mechanchaos and I crashed out in the family room for a short time. I got up a half hour later to grab a shower and change into my clothes for the day. We'd planned to go to Our Lady of Victory for a Mass and so I could light three candles. We made it to the 10am folk mass. On the one hand, I still feel uncomfortable with many Catholic prayers. On the other hand, I can still find meaningful connection to the service in the places where the message intersects the center of spirituality. I'm getting more skilled at stripping away the Catholic trappings to still find a connection with the service in ways that make sense to my faith.

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 whitesnowrosere's graduation party. I'm also glad to have had the experience of two different mines. Maybe getting to know laefin better will give us an excuse to get out to the Adirondacks again. Now to tackle the rest of the time before school starts...