New York and More Dambo Trolls!

 June 17, 2026

Before crossing Lake Champlain by ferry, we saw a few interesting things in Burlington, Vermont.

Black granite sculpture of two whales' tails

World's tallest filing cabinet

Burlington Earth Clock

looking through the stones toward Lake Champlain

Next, we drove up to Grand Isle and took a 15-minute ferry ride across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh, NY.  We delivered an early birthday gift to our favorite Girl Scout, Nora.  We buy cookies from her every year to help her meet her sales goal.  She promptly names her stuffed bear "Minty."   

We spent a few days with these Luther cousins, including some geocaching.  Brian took Nora to find a Girl Scout-themed geocache.  

We stopped at an unusual outdoor sculpture garden, too.

The Last Supper

I am not sure what the firing squad and begging figures represent

We traveled on to Tupper Lake in the Adirondack Park, to the Wild Center, and found five more Dambo Trolls.  We watched river otters in their indoor tank and heard a talk about bird adaptations.  A screech owl named Luna was in the lobby afterwards.

Luna at the Wild Center

Rainy weather caused us to change our camping plans and head to Watertown to a motel.  We have many memories of this part of New York when our son, Joel, was posted at Fort Drum, and we drove up there for his deployment ceremony before he left for Iraq in 2009.

                                            World's Largest Life Saver near Watertown.

We camped at Fillmore Glen State Park near Moravia, NY, where Millard Fillmore, 13th  president of the United States, was born.

reproduction of the Fillmore cabin