A Visit With My Sister - Part 3

Despite the bad weather during my sister's visit, we had a lot of fun. While passing through Malone, New York, we noticed that Bokie's 1950s chrome and pink drive-in diner was open for the season. Of course we stopped and ate lunch there. Bokie's is always fun and we always have a hearty meal:

We also visited my neighbors' sheep farm, less than a day after the first lambs were born:

Twin births mean tiny lambs, so the farmer puts mother and babies in a small pen to protect the little ones from being trampled by the flock and to help the ewe and lambs stay close while they bond:

We didn't dare enter the pen with the young, dangerous ram, but this pen had an old man of a ram who was content to ignore us as we visited. That's him lying down. He never even turned his head to see who was entering his pen:

On the other side of the barn was another group, this one without any rams, and all of the ewes were ready to give birth at any moment:

Doug, the friendly Morgan Horse, was loose and accompanied us wherever we walked. He likes people, sheep, dogs, cats - and nearly everybody. He likes company:

This mother had two lambs, though one was behind her when I took the photo:

Another pen of ewes. The colorful markings, like the red blotches, are used when giving medications so the farmers know who has been dosed already. Imagine trying to keep track without marking the animals!

If you remember a couple of earlier photos of two lambs born ahead of the others, they had by this time grown rapidly to an amazing size. We stopped and said hello to them before we left:

From The County Fair Back To The 1950s

My sister was visiting, and we were attending the Franklin County Fair in Malone, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). We'd already seen the goats, cattle, horses and most of the poultry. This white turkey was our last stop before exiting the poultry barn:

We ambled over to the midway, but it was too early and too rainy to find much excitement there:

Next we headed to the 4H Barn, where we saw a sleeping pig named Legend. The sign said he was a registered Berkshire boar, four years old. It appeared to me that Legend didn't care about anything but getting his sleep and food:

There were lambs and baby chicks and honey bee exhibits:


We treated ourselves to a maple milkshake and I liked this egg size display. We walked through the commercial barn, stopping to look closely at a leather working booth where I bought a new wallet:

Then we walked out to the arena and grandstands, where there appeared to be some kind of horse competition. Like the children with goats we saw earlier, though, this turned out to be a practice session for the real judging yet to come:

It was lunchtime by then, so we left the fair and headed to Bokie's Diner, just up the road a couple of miles from the fairgrounds. Bokie's is a pink and chrome recreation of a 1950s drive-in, a favorite summertime stop:

Even the parking lot was fun. My sister tried out being Marilyn Monroe:

And we both joined in as ice cream scoops, though my head didn't fit into the hole:

My sister as Betty Boop:

We headed for the door to see what the menu had to offer:

Inside was decorated in 1950s style, with period music playing on the jukebox. The menu was big on hamburgers, fried shrimp, etc:

The tabletops were covered with 1950s newspaper clippings, postcards and old class photos:

We enjoyed our lunch and left for home, but first I wanted to try being Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps this was my true self:

From Chateaugay To Malone, New York

I left the New York State Trout Hatchery (see yesterday's post) and began my drive home. I began in the town of Chateaugay, set on the high plains of Franklin County and chock full of dairy farms and windmills:

In the village of Chateaugay were plants making both McCadam and Cabot Cheese. Like I said, this was real dairy country:

I stopped at a farm store just to look around. They sold both brands of cheese, hardware, farm supplies and just about everything else:

Just outside the farm store was this old, abandoned house. It was so distinctive that I couldn't resist taking a photo of it. It would have made a great haunted house for Halloween, wouldn't it?:

I drove through the bustling village:

The main road through Chateaugay was Route 11, and it was busy. Tractor trailers roared through town, one after the other. The hotel had a sign advertising their home cooking and proclaiming that truckers were welcome:

The Catholic Church looked prosperous:

It was lunchtime when I arrived in Malone, and I couldn't resist stopping at Bokie's, an old fashioned drive-in restaurant:

Everything was pink (even the lines on the pavement) and chrome, with a 1950s theme:

The 1950s theme continued inside and the place was busy. I later learned that they would be closing for the season in two more days:

They had an ice cream counter and a full menu with a large variety of hamburgers and fries. I got a "Studebaker," a cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and bacon, and a pumpkin milk shake:

The owner walked around, making sure everyone was happy and making popcorn to keep those waiting for food contented. It was fun food and a fun atmosphere. It was no wonder the place was so popular. As for the calories and cholesterol, I tried not to think about that:

Driving To The Farm By Way Of Plattsburgh, Part 2

The dogs and I were on our way up to the farm, taking a new route just for variety. We'd already passed through the city of Plattsburgh, New York and the little prison town of Dannemora. The highway took us right alongside Chazy Lake with a splendid view of an Adirondack mountain:

The area was not at all densely settled and I thought it would make a lovely place to live:

We also passed by Upper Chateaugay Lake and Lower Chateaugay Lake. I can't remember which picture is which lake. They were both beautiful:

I pulled off into a boat launch parking lot for a look at a narrow inlet:

And then, still on Route 374, we entered the small town of Brainardsville:

Brainardsville was notable primarily for the huge windmill farm just to its north. I could see the monstrous windmills just ahead (along with farm silos) as I drove through town:

Just north of Brainardsville I began seeing more and more windmills. I was supposed to turn west on County Route 24 but kept going just to see the windmill farm:

There were an uncountable number of them, scattered throughout what appeared to be hay fields:

And they were BIG, perhaps 4 feet in diameter at their base:

I supposed that these farmers were doing well financially. They had income from both their crops and from the windmills. Having satisfied my curiosity, I turned west on Route 11 in the little town of Chateaugay and headed toward Malone, New York:

Malone was a fun place with all the classic sights of a small city. I was particularly taken by this pink drive-in, Bokie's. I thought what a fun place to take a family this would be:

Bokie's Drive-n was wonderful, but I was on my way to the farm and had to move along. I did stop at a convenience store to use their rest room and buy a coffee. A woman, all smiles, insisted on holding the door for me as I entered and another, with her arms full of groceries, insisted that I go ahead of her in line. When I said no, that she had her arms full, she laughed and said she was a mother and this was nothing. She insisted that I go ahead. The people of the north country are amazingly friendly and polite. I'm sure I'm going to like it there: