Our drive to this region of New York was very interesting as we faced winding country roads for about 1 1/2 hours through lots of little villages. This is something I find very charming as small town here are called ‘The Village of….’. However the drive was a tad challenging as it had many hills to climb, lots of 55 mph, to 45 mph to 35 mph to 20 mph and back up. So slow progress was made.
We are staying at the Lake Lauderdale Campground by the Village of Cambridge. I wanted to come here so we could tour the Monastery of New Skete. We did tour it but not the way I had hoped for. I had reached out to the Monastery a couple of weeks ago asking when would be a good time to visit. I had a responds from Brother Gregory saying anytime would be good. Well we arrived on a Saturday and found out the Gift Shop was closed on the weekends. When we saw a sign that said to ring for assistance we rang it and shortly after a man answered.
Now a disclaimer again. I wanted to tour this Monastery as they are famous for breeding and training German Shepherds. I read the books they wrote and they have been at it for 30 years. When I told this to the Monk that answered he said ‘well you can’t go to the puppy kennel or the training facility’. He then continued that he had received a call a few years ago from the Canadian Mountie Police telling him they were using the books for training and he said he wasn’t sure why they called. So my guess is that this Monk was pretty clueless about why people reach out to New Skete. Well we were told we can tour both chapels/churches and walk the grounds. We were also invited to use the hiking trails on the 500 acres property anytime we wanted. Oh, and we could sit on the benches and maybe get lucky to see a dog come by.
Admittedly all this turned out to be lovely. The churches were beautiful, so were the grounds and gardens. We could hear the dogs barking but ended up not seeing any. Of course the gift shop was closed so I can’t say what was offered or provided there.
While we were in the area I also visited the Nuns of New Skete as they are known to bake and sell cheesecakes. I also visited a covered bridge/museum close to the campground.
We spend 4 nights here and the weather was nice, warm during the day and cool at night. We met some very nice people here from the Campground hosts to her friends, plus the neighbors we had for 3 nights that live 1 hour from here and make their own Maple Syrup. They gifted us a bottle and it is yummy!
Tomorrow we are moving on towards Shelburne VT. It should be a 2 1/2 hour drive and I am looking forward to this area as I have a wish to do list which includes the Shelburne Museum as well the Country Store. VT Teddy Bear 🧸 Company, Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Factory Tour and Burlington. We only have 4 nights there so I might be busy…..
No comments:
Post a Comment