A VISIT TO FORT TICONDEROGA--RAWSONVILLE, VERMONT TO TICONDEROGA, NEW YORK, AND ON TO SHELBURNE, VERMONT—Tuesday-Thursday, June 9-11, 2015

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Rawsonville, Vermont--Tuesday, June 9^th

Winhall Brook Campground, Rawsonville, Vermont

It rained off and on all day so, we declared Tuesday a down day. We had enough energy to dump out Rosie II and to both take showers, but not much else for that day. The wifi signal was so weak at our camp spot that as long as we were disconnected from services, we drove back up the hill to the ranger station to see if we had a better signal there. We sat in Rosie with computers connected, allbeit with very slow wifi, to check on e-mail. Completing that, we drove back to our spot for the rest of the day/night.

Rawsonville, Vermont to Ticonderoga, New York--Wednesday, June 10^th

Left Winhall Brook Campground, Rawsonville, VT at 8am; it was mostly blue skies and 62 degrees. Starting mileage was 45,488.

We continued driving along and through the Green Mountains to the town of Ludlow. Some construction on this 2 lane, narrow, windy road slowed us down—we were kind of in a caravan of their construction, pick-ups and equipment trucks, and then cars, and then us, as they got themselves to the place where they were working. We finally got to the junction of 100 and 103 and took 103 heading west back toward NY. Pretty drive along here.

When we got to large town/city of Rutland, still in Vermont, we pulled into a Micky D’s for a 2nd breakfast. We also wanted to use their fast wifi. Rutland, right in the middle of Vermont, seems to be a growing town and 103 became the start of I-4 at this point. We continued to drive through a natural break in the Green Mountain Range and then as we crossed the border back into the State of New York, the road went back to a two lane. At the town of Fort Ann, we took highway 149 that connects to I-87 so that we could get around the south end of Lake George. Lake George is part of the Hudson River/lake system from the City of New York to the Great Lakes. After driving up I-87 for just two exits, we exited back onto 9N, which follows the shoreline of Lake George to the town of Ticonderoga.

The town sits on the narrowish La Chute River that links Lake George with Lake Champlain. The camping booklet from the New York Welcome Center showed a State Park with a campground near here. So, we drove out of town to find it, only to learn it was expensive and had no hook-ups. We had passed by a private campground to get to the State Park, so turned back to ask their prices and to see if they had wifi and a 30 amp hook-up. For about $5.00 more, we got hook-ups and iffy wifi at Brookwood Campground. The camp spot we were assigned was facing the road so our stay was noisy when traffic picked up in the morning. I will say that the campground owners/management seemed to be working to make the place nicer as new trees were being planted across the front of the property that when grown, will block some of the noise and provide privacy.

Ticonderoga, NY to Shelburne, VT--Thursday, June 11^th

Brookwood Campground.Near the town of Ticonderoga, NY Sunny morning with temperature of 69 degrees at 9:06. Starting mileage is 45,594.

Drove back toward town and stopped at a roundabout to take pictures of the bronze statue in the center of the roundabout. The town was the setting for historic battles and maneuvers during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. This large statue was built in 1924 on a tiered granite base. The lower part of the sculpture is composed of four life-sized figures of a Native American, a Frenchman, a Scottish soldier, and an American. They symbolize the four groups whose military exploits are part of Ticonderoga's past. The top part is the artist Charles Keck’s (1875–1951) interpretation of Liberty. The county’s historical society is housed in a rock building on the circle.

After admiring this bronze, we made our way to the Fort and got there in time for a tour. Formerly called Fort Carillon, it is a large star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain. It was constructed by Canadian-born French military engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, between 1755 and 1757 during the French and Indian War. It was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the American Revolutionary War.

The fort controlled the river portage alongside the mouth of the rapids-infested La Chute River that runs for 3.5 miles between Lake Champlain and Lake George. It was strategically placed in conflicts over trade routes between the British-controlled Hudson River Valley and the French-controlled Saint Lawrence River Valley. The topography of the area amplified the importance of this site. Both lakes are long and narrow, oriented north–south, as are the many ridge lines of the Appalachian Mountains extending as far south as Georgia. The Hudson River and these two lakes were a way through the near-impassable mountainous terrains to the east and west.

After the tour, we walked around and looked through all the buildings that were open. Spent some time watching a couple demonstrations of how the soldier’s uniforms and shoes were made and then visited the museum. This small museum has a very nice collection of original uniforms of the period of the fort’s history as well as buttons and other metal items found on the grounds. We had lunch in the small café/gift shop. Slow, slow service---I think the waitress having to carry all the extra metal all over her face and ears was too tiring for her. I looked around the gift shop that was full of a couple of busloads of elementary age kids but couldn’t settle on anything I wanted to buy.

Fort Ticonderoga ceased to be of military value by 1781 and fell into ruins with many of the stones taken away by community residents to be used in their homes and chimneys. The land first became State property, and then was donated to a college, which then sold it in 1820. It was purchased by William Pell, a wealthy businessman who realized its history and began restoration. It was then opened in 1909 as a tourist attraction.

The Pell family built a summer home at the base of the fort, overlooking the lake, which we drove down to. The absolutely lovely gardens have been restored using the Pell’s original kinds of plants and the design. The formal garden, near the house, was filled with bright blooming poppies, columbine, peonies, and many other flowers. Outside the formal garden walls, was a vegetable garden used to demonstrate the type of plants the soldiers would have grown to augment their military rations. We walked back to Rosie II through an old apple orchard with tons of marble sized fruit on the trees.

We continued driving north along Lake Champlain, through farm land on 9N/22 to Crown Point State Historical Site. Long before the American Revolution, the British and the French both claimed Crown Point in the struggle for a North American empire. Four failed campaigns to oust the French between 1755 and 1758 were mounted by the British. It was not until 1759, however, that the abandoned French Fort St. Frederic was taken over by the British.

The British immediately began construction of "His Majesty's Fort of Crown Point." This extremely ambitious fortification complex contributed to the British conquest of Canada and control of Lake Champlain as a communication highway.

In 1775, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the rebellious colonists captured the fort and secured sorely needed cannons and heavy ordnance which they promptly took to Boston. Crown Point was then occupied by General John Burgoyne's army in 1777 and remained under British control until the end of the war. The ruins of Fort St. Frederic, "His Majesty's Fort of Crown Point”, and surrounding lands were acquired by the State of New York in 1910. You can see where some walls and foundations were of the fort but that is basically all that is left of the buildings that once were here. Valerie got out and walked around taking pictures.

At this point, literally and figuratively, we took a bridge across this narrow part of the Lake Champlain and back into Vermont, landing at Chimney Point. So, the bridge goes from Crown Point to Chimney Point. We drove through huge dairy farms with humongous barns in this stretch of the road, now highway 17. Expecting more of the settlements we passed through, and afraid we were running on fumes, we breathed a sigh of relief that we found a single working gas pump at the Four Corners Store in the community of Addison (the receipt said; we had no clue). When Valerie went inside to pay for the gas, forget using a credit card at the pump, she bought some absolutely delicious cookies. They were cake like sugar cookies with raspberry filling. The gas cost $2.76 a gallon and we took 20 gals for a total price of $60.17 (not counting the cost of the cookies).

Turned left here onto highway 22A, and continued trekking due North. At the town of Vergennes, we spotted a small farmer’s market in a small park and stopped to check out their wares. There were not more than 8 vendors and although the produce was fresh and looked good, it seemed very expensive and so we didn’t buy anything. Pretty town that seemed to get a good number of tourists as it sits on a creek/river that flows into Lake Champlain. Highway 22A dead-ended at highway 7 here, and so we continued north now on 7.

In the next town, Shelburne, which seems to have become a suburb of Burlington, we located Shelburne Campground for the night’s stay. We were not real comfortable with the quality/looks of the site connections, so we got out our electrical sensing device before we plugged Rosie II in. Absolutely won’t use the water here, as the faucet doesn’t look clean. So-so, old, and tired looking place. Lots of full-time RVers live here, however. One unit, directly across from our spot, had bird feeders up in the yard and I watched a downy woodpecker and a chickadee for a while. Valerie and I decided we wouldn’t come back to the place, but it would do for one night—a lot quieter than a Walmart parking lot.

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