The old courthouse

When I was down in Fort Myers Florida visiting my sister and brother-in-law Bruce and Karen Miller, I learned a very interesting story from Bruce. He was a contractor working for Reynold Anselmo owner of PanAmSat a satellite service provider operating a fleet of communications satellites headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Bruce did everything from renovations on their large home, eventually building huge telecommunication centers for Anselmo who was instrumental in breaking the telecom communication monopoly which at that time was controlled by Intelsat an international treaty-based organization which included the USA.

The story goes that Anselmo was staying at the Equinox Inn an exclusive hotel located in Manchester Vermont. Anselmo noticed a shabby old county courthouse building just across the street and got the idea he wanted to purchase it. Back in Connecticut Anselmo told Bruce to go up to Manchester and purchase the building but was told by the village managers the courthouse could not be sold because it was a government building. With that information Bruce reported back to his boss that the building wasn’t for sale. Undeterred Anselmo sent Bruce back to Vermont to inform the town managers a private individual would like to renovate the building and bring it back to its original state all this while he was building a satellite station in Napa California. Long story short, Anselmo got his way, hired artisans to renovate the building no stings attached. I was so intrigued by Bruce’s story I set off for Manchester to check out the old courthouse.

It’s a must see if you’d like revolutionary war history and beautiful old colonial homes in one of the most beautiful settings in New England.

Bill’s Camp

Today I entered the Adirondack mountains in New York. These mountains are truly wilderness with many lakes and rivers.
Hiking, mountain biking, fishing,backpacking ,canoeing, kayaking, you name it the Adirondacks immense and would take years to discover all its treasures. After dinner like to stroll around the campground where I always find someone interesting to talk to. Tonight I ran into a fella named Bill who set up camp for the summer. Tool shop, stainless steel barbecue with marble on the top a bed set up on this is deck which was only a couple feet from the river. Bill was really knowledgeable about the rivers and hiking trails plus other points of interest which I may check before I leave. Bill had a variety of canoes and kayaks, all very compact and lightweight because they were made of Kevlar. You know someone is really in the paddling if they only cover our canoe and kayak. It really helps talking with a local especially here because there’s no Internet. It’s hard to find the best trails and campgrounds unless you meet someone, and Bill was a wealth of knowledge.

Hiking the Rooster Comb

Today I got a late start waiting for the rain to stop and the weather up above was very unsettled. I took a chance anyway, deciding to hike a trail called the Rooster Comb in the Adirondack mountains, a distance of 5 miles round-trip and a 1700 foot elevation gain. I was hoping the clouds would lift by the time I got to the summit, but because of the rain the night before, I couldn’t help but notice all the mushrooms and fungi. I made it to the top, clouds were clearing and the sun was trying to come out.

The trail was very dark and raindrops were dripping from the trees from the previous night’s rain. It was slow going because I kept on taking out my iPhone to snap pictures. The Rocky sections were very slippery so I had to watch each step especially up near the top where it was very steep. The view from the top was quite stunning even though the clouds haven’t lifted over the mountain peaks but the valley down below was visible and quite beautiful. It was late So I couldn’t stay up there long, so regretfully I headed back down.

These are some of the mushrooms and fungi along the trail.