The Raybrook Frog

I was travelling home from a visit to the farm when I passed this store on Route 86 in Ray Brook, New York. With Christmas just ahead, I decided to stop and look for possible gifts:

The store is called The Raybrook Frog, a curious name until I encountered this froggy bit of chainsaw art on the front porch. It was holding what appeared to have been a cupcake (or ice cream cone?) and a coffee cup. Furthermore, the porch/deck floor boards had been cut out to accommodate the frog, suggesting that it'd been carved out of an existing tree stump when the place was built:

The store was open for business and hoping to attract Christmas shoppers. I left the dogs in the car and went inside, bringing my camera along so that I could take you shopping with me:

And discovered a sort of Adirondack themed wonderland:

They had expensive Adirondack style furniture and furnishings as well as much cheaper knickknacks and old fashioned souvenirs. Furthermore, everything was on sale:

If I had been a wealthy owner of an Adirondack Great Camp, I could have furnished the whole place here:

The Adirondack theme seemed to revolve around Balsam, Birch, Pine, Deer, Moose and Chipmunks. Hey, I was good with that!:

Candles, birch Art, balsam sachets and incense, woven throws and lots of atmosphere:

Hand woven pack-baskets, more candles, less expensive Adirondack themed items:

Strings of lantern and trout shaped lights, wilderness sound recordings, Native American and old timey pioneer folk music, more baskets, pine and balsam scented soaps, towels, place mats:

It was indeed a fun store, just filled with everything I could imagine:

More Adirondack furniture:

And even beds and lamps. The beds were covered with Adirondack furs, quilts and plush moose and bears:

So much was made of birch bark that I momentarily worried if the birch trees were being wiped out for use in Adirondack themed furniture. But then I realized how much of it there is and how it is cut for pulp and firewood. It does grow like weeds up there. I guess the birch population is safe:

I did buy some Christmas gifts and took them to the counter. I'll show you some of them on a future post:

From The Deer River Flow To The High Peaks Region

I was on my way home with the dogs from a weekend stay at the farm. We began the journey on Port Kent Road which became Red Tavern Road, part of the historic Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. But when we arrived at Route 30, I turned south on the highway because to continue on the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike would have involved seasonal, unplowed roads. Besides, Route 30 had plenty of its own gorgeous scenery along the way:

The wetlands of the Deer River Flow abutted Route 30 in many places:

All the snow had melted the day before, leaving an autumn-like golden hue to the water's edge. There was so little traffic on Route 30 that I was able to stop anywhere on the shoulder of the road to snap pictures:

The Adirondacks has much real wilderness which can only be accessed by hiking or canoe, but it also has much "almost wilderness" which can be viewed from the comfort of one's car:

And even in these relatively flat sections of the Adirondacks, there were almost always mountains in the background:

More glorious wetlands, part of the Deer River Flow:

And I stopped briefly at Barnham Pond, whose shoreline laps the shoulder of Route 30 just north of Paul Smith's, a sort of combination college and town:

This was a December morning but the waters were not yet frozen over:

But then I turned southeast on Route 86 toward Route 73 and entered the high peaks region:

The scenery was glorious and we were just north of the towns of Ray Brook and Lake Placid. But I'll post more about Ray Brook tomorrow: