The fourth leg was a stop in a town called Broadablin. This site (another 3 night stay) was in a campground with mostly seasonal campers. But our site was spacious and the campground had a lot of trees, the only down side was the sewer connection required us to move the RV to empty it. I only have 30 feet of drain hose, I needed about 40 feet.
We took a trip to the Saratoga National Battlefield, but that site was truly closed down. Not only was the visitor center closed, but so was the road for the audio tour. We did look around the visitor center, which included an overlook into the valley next to us. And we went to the start of the Wilkenson Trail, which was open. However, at 5 miles, this was a longer trail than we wanted, especially since we thought we could do the driving trail.
The rest of the afternoon was spent driving back to our campsite taking the scenic route. This included stopping at one of the locks on the Erie Canal/Mohawk River and talking to the lockkeeper.
We cooked in the RV for most of our meals. The exception was a trip to McDonalds to satisfy a craving for pancakes.
Sunday we took our bikes to the Erie Canal (Empire State Trail) outside Amsterdam. We biked five miles to the Schoharie Creek Crossing State Historic Site and looked at the history there.
V: We were soaking in the beautiful fall colors on the bike trail along the Mohawk out of Amsterdam. The Fort Hunter visitors center provided interesting pre-Revolutionary history. That area was home to people of the Mohawk Nation who knew they needed protection from the French. They lived inside the walled fort, built in 1712. The fort was damaged by an accidental fire in 1773 and was rebuilt farther north.
We did get an unexpected cancellation for our National Park Passport for the Erie Canal National Historic waterways. This was unexpected because the Erie Canal is not in our passport.
After Schohaire Creek crossing we returned back to Amsterdam. There was also a pedestrian bridge connecting the Erie Canalway trailhead and Amsterdam with a great view of the Mohawk River.
V– First night at Pine Park we met an interesting and beautiful creature – a Bengal cat. Originally bred from a wild Bengal cat and a domestic cat, the markings are gorgeous. First four generations of this hybrid are not considered pet stock as they were too wild. We met Riley through his very intricate catio (enclosed cat patio). We visited with Riley and his humans for a while.
We were told there are lots of coyotes in the woods and forests nearby and the next few nights I heard a very loud chorus around midnight. First night sounded like they were right across the road. The second night, they were further away but still very vocal. The harvest moon came up that night and was breathtaking just above the horizon. Photos could not capture the experience. But a few are attached here.
After the government shutdown, all the National Parks we planned to visit were closed. This sign was at Saratoga National Park. You can imagine, it was exciting to see this State Park Visitors Center and get some pieces of history of the area.
