Wild Apple picking

Well, today we decided to go for a ride, still warm enough for shorts and T shirts, we headed out after lunch with no planned route, just headed east.
We took the Woodbattle Road up in Lewis County and it is a tar road, mostly single lane and narrow.  Temp was about 70 and sunny.
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The leaves have started to change, this soft maple is turning red.  not a lot of co,ors yet..
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We came to First Bridge, I am sure Jack from "Shipslog",  http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/ would have a problem getting his rig thru here, my mirrors almost touched the caution markers.
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We have hundreds of Apple Trees along all the roads, these were nice and red, very hard and bitter, didn't take long to spit these out.
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This was the next tree, loaded with apples and we stopped and tasted these, they were OK but tart.  You don't eat much of the apple when you are tasting these wild apples as you can end up with a stomach ache.
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We went thru a little community called Bellwood and crossed back into tie country on the Liberty Road which was a narrow tar paved loose stone road.
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.We stopped at this big apple tree which had nice small sweet, firm apples, these we ate a couple of and headed on our way.  
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We stopped farther up and found these wild red apples, they were nice and firm and sweet so we picked some to take with us.
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We found this old cemetery called the Liberty Lots, we love wandering these places, we found that the majority of the men buried here were all Civil War Veterans, the metal fence and stone was around a Captain from an Artillery Company from the Civil War.
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Just past the Cemetery we found a nice tree with these large reds, nice flavor and taste, a little on the soft side but we picked a few for later.
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We found a row along side the road of about 5 trees, all different types, the ditch was loaded with apples and deer and bear tracks and lots of bite marks on the apples and claw marks on the trees where the bears shake them for apples.
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We found another tree, these apples were very sweet, juicy and so we picked a bag to add to our pile we had, we will take them back to the Complex and give them away to our neighbors.
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Look close and you will see the heads of wild turkeys we saw, there were about a dozen of them that crossed and flew into a field.
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Nice Road Trip, not a lot of colors yet but we have cooler temps coming along with some rain so it should be soon.
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Fall Camping

Well, we had our Check up Wednesday morning at the Heart Doctor, I an still throwing *(PVC;s) but me AFib is controlled so, we loaded up the camper and headed out on the road headed north up into the mountains, we found a nice Camping site up at Cranberry Lake. The weather was cloudy and temp was about 60 degrees.
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My little Honey shared the driving and we switched off and got to cranberry lake.  Anna Mae did most of the setup of the camper but I held my own.
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I stacked firewood, split kindling wood, and got the fire going for some warmth, the temps at the lake were in the high 50's !
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I am cooking dinner, Pork, sliced onions, and Potatoes over an open wood fire .
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We relaxed after our dinner with a nice fire, some great conversation and very quiet.
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We relaxed and watched the sunset ouer over Lake and it was a beautiful night.
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View from our Campsite, we packed everything inside the camper and car and turned in early, but we were not gonna sleep all night,  outside at 5:30AM we heard growling, snarling and rummaging around the campsite,  it was a BEAR CUB.
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Needless to say we were awake till it quieted down,  tried to go back to sleep but it came back.  Nothing damaged but some Bear Scat and tracks around the site. I could not get a picture but googled and foun

d this one that is close to what we saw..
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First thing in the Morning My Honey is making old fashioned perked coffee in a old aluminum coffee pot we have had for years, Good Cup of Joe !!!!!!
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Breakfast was delicious and we headed out to do some fishing today !
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We had a few bites but didn't catch anything but enjoyed the sunshine.
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The river is down, every fall they draw the water down 3 to 4 feet to make room for snow and Ice and spring run off, other wise up above i would be normally standing in water!! 
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We had lunch and then headed out for a walk up towards Bear Mountain !
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After our walk I think I dozed off !!!!!
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Relaxing around the campfire..
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Well, we watched the stars, saw satellites going over and saw a couple Owls. was a great couple days. 
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Don't forget our Vets !!
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Labor Day Picnic at West Side

Today is Labor day, for the past 11 years that we have lived here at West Side Terrace we have had a Labor Day PICNIC !
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Bill Thompson, Me, Daryll Clarke and Mark Berman were the cooks,  Bill buys the Hot Dogs and Hamburger at Fort Drum Army Base, he is retired from the National Guard.  I get the Marinate Pork from Eddies Meat Market in Indian River, it has a dry Rub and when I get the big steaks I cut them
up, put them in a plastic bag and add my seasoning to it for 10 days before I cook it.

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The 4 Chefs not standing in the Smoke,  meat is cooked and we are heading inside, we have 50 apartments hers and we have 32 apartments coming, about 42 people eating !
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Salt Potatoes, Baked Beans, Salads, chips & Dip, Maple Syrup Salad, Mac & Cheese, and Tossed Salad.

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.Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Pork Steak, Pork Strips, Cheese Curd, Cheese which all tasted good.
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The Desert Table help cake, fruit tray, apple and cherry pie, strawberry shortcake and watermelon, we eat a lot of watermelon here as it is good for hydration !
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3 Tables on this side all full of residents, man in glasses on left is Korean Veteran Jim Blackwell..
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Lady on right has Hearing Aids on with no batteries in them, the lady on left in glasses is disabled from motor vehicle accident after she hit a Moose and was almost killed!  Gentleman in black shirt with back to wall is Deaf, uses sign and is a lot of fun, his wife has degenerative joint disease. 

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Above is Daryl and Pam, Daryl is a Lay Speaker in Churches, across is Bill and Cheri who like their toddies and Daryls wife Pam.  The orange card that says 4 on it is how the 7 tabels get up to eat, I draw a card and read off a number from 1 to 7 to see who gets up to eat !
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On the left is our little Italian Lady Jean who does a lot of italian dishes for us to eat.
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In back on Oxygen Machine is Dave Brown,  my Korean War Navy Shipmate and retired Fort Drum Fireman and then a Barber !!
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Eating on the left is Wayne Laplatney who was Air Force during Korea, and Nathan and Bruce.
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Last table is Mark sitting with My Honey Anna Mae, with the Beard is Bill Jenner who has MS but eats constantly but never gains any weight.
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We serve all our meals Buffet Style which makes is easier but slower.   We might be getting older and some of us a little frail but after the meal there is very few left overs.
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Anyone that could not come down to eat that was home I fixed them a plate of food and took it to their apartment.
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Well hope everyone had a Great and Safe Labor Day and Thank You to all our Veterans Past and Present.
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