First… our weather… really, really warm, is not providing snow. We did have about two minutes of what they called winter mix, but all we saw were big fat rain drops. Sigh… Love the rain, but it is time to switch to snow…
Some more of our enjoyably named roads…
New York highway 29A, locally known as “Turkey Farm Road,” is a four mile stretch of road connecting Route 29 and Route 30. We have not seen any turkey farms on the road, but there is one area with a farm that has goats and cows. Another farm, but I try not to look at it because they bring in beautiful young Angus, fatten them up then they disappear and my heart weeps.
Blue Barns Road is also known as New York Highway 110. We take that road when heading to the Clifton Park area… just outside Albany. Have seen one very blue barn… so not sure where the plural comes in.
Then, we have Washout Road… a very curvy hill winding down to the Mohawk (Tenonanatche) River; so makes perfect sense to have such a name, especially during heavy gully-washing rains.
And, though Washington Irving’s primary residence was in the Hudson River area, he spent a substantial amount of time in Johnstown, our sister city. He wrote about the Catskill Mountains, just South of our area. Until I refreshed my knowledge about the geography of the area, I did not remember that the northern part of the Catskills and the southern part of the Adirondacks actually merge along the Mohawk River. So, because Irving lived in New York State and wrote about our general area, we have Sleepy Hollow Roads in many cities and townships throughout New York State.
Then there are Crane’s Road, Crane’s Hollow Road… all kinds of ‘Crane’ options. And, though Rip Van Winkle was written about old Rip snoozing in the Katskills… we share the pleasure of having Rip Van Winkle Roads and Drives in our area too. It is wonderful to drive through areas that carry the magic that Irving created so long ago.
Oh, there is so much exciting about our area, I could ramble on for days… though I am a total novice, and I may not have all my facts straight at the moment, I keep learning and expanding my knowledge of the area and will correct any misconceptions as I learn of them. If you will indulge me I will ramble about one of our trails tomorrow…
