Ok, I can’t resist the gas station lady’s invitation.  We are going to the Star Trek Museum.  Admittedly, my expectations are pretty low but I just have to see what they have.  I was sooooo wrong.  The place is amazing and everyone involved in it so enthusiastic and filled with series information that one can’t help but get pulled in.   The sets are not original but meticulously recreated versions of those used during the series filming . I get flashbacks from episodes as we walk set to set..a transporter room, the main saucer hall, Bone’s sick bay, Kirk’s quarters, engineering, a turbo-lift, and the bridge.  Take a look at me in the captain’s chair…Kent too!

Our guide reminds us that all the Trekkies have Lucille Ball to thank for Star Trek’s very existence.  She produced and pitched two very expensive pilots convinced the series was right for Desi-Lu Productions.  Her persistence paid off.  Star Trek the series came to be.

Incidentally, we met the guy who owns the place.  He was sitting in the front lobby literally watching paint dry as he was personally rebuilding one of the Enterprise Bridge sets.  Interestingly he also spent some 30 years as an Elvis impersonator.  He still sports the hairdo.  It takes all kinds!

If you have even a passing interest you have to check this place out.

We go for lunch out again today.  We try the Hot Biscuit Diner in Ticonderoga.  It is breakfast all day on Sundays.  Not bad.

The fort has a long and interesting military history that ended in its destruction followed by years of neglect.  Fortunately, reconstruction is well underway and the enthusiastic kids giving tours seem well informed. We enjoy our walk through.  Some of the fort-life demonstrations are done for the season but they still have cooking, cannon and small arms demonstrations.

The big draw this weekend is the Horse and Harvest Festival.  There are craft booths and delicious food truck BBQ but the main theme is the role of horses in military life through the years.  A pair of oxen yoked and ready to work mostly model patience and serenity while chewing their cud.  We do see them drag a log up to the split rail fence demo area.  A team of Belgians is seemingly content to pull wagon loads of visitors.  Spirited saddle horses bravely demonstrate their role as transportation and as partners in battle as calvary men fire from the saddle.  The entire affair is a great primer on the evolution of American fighting forces from the French Indian War, through the War of 1812 on thru the Revolutionary War.

The final demo is a fox hunt; the modern, kinder version.  12 horsemen, 11 dogs, and a scent dragger person (they have a real name but I can’t recall it) take to the fields to show us how it is done.  There are a few hiccups but we get the gist of it.   The scent dragger takes a head start to lay out the trail.  Soon the hunt master shouts the hunt is on and the dogs set off yipping, fanning out then regrouping in search of the scent.  Once found, the real barking begins as they and all the horsemen take off at a full run zigging and zagging hot on the trail.  It all ends when the dogs find the scent dragger and get treats.  Beasts and riders all seemed to have great fun.  Today’s event is complicated by traffic crossing the scent trail, including the aforementioned BBQ truck, and the throng of ill-prepared spectators (including us) some accompanied by their own befuddled pets standing in the hunt path.  It is a first for us as Fox Hunt spectator.

We stop at a local soft serve place, the Wind-Chill Factory on the way home.  The sundaes are yummy.

We are signed up with the Northeast Hot Air RV’ers to camp for the three days just off the festival grounds (the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airfield) in Queensbury NY.  Our fulltime travel complicates getting parking documents but hopefully its all worked out now.  Kent makes a reconnaissance run in the car to find the entrance gate we are to use and confirms, we are all set.

We roll in, park the car in the towed lot, and make our way to the front row on the crest of the hill overlooking the launch field.  It is a hay field, just recently bush hogged, so bumpy underfoot and tire but the location is prime!

Night one.  It is cold and winds gusting to 23 mph.  Launch is VERY unlikely but we take the shuttle down to the field to check things out anyway.   The crowds are surprisingly large.  We maneuver through the souvenir tent emerging with only my medallion.  We grab cider donuts and a gyro for diner.   We see that the balloon pilots are making their way to the briefing tent.  The answer is as anticipated.  There will be no flying tonight.  We are a bit disappointed but know we have a couple more chances to see a launch.  We head off to warm up and to bed early.  We need to be up at 5am.

Day two is perfect.  The early launch is a go.  We are down on the field again right among the balloons as they inflate and take flight.  We get a glimpse of the patterns and colors as the first hump on the ground forms then they pop upright like brightly colored lightbulbs.  Each one makes me smile as we are swallowed up by the action all around us.  Winds aloft move them off from the field quickly once they are airborne.  All but a couple colorful orbs are gone.  Left standing among them are a huge Panda Bear, an enormous Snowman, and a towering Tasmanian Devil; the lovable special shapes.

The evening launch is splendid. The air is calm and the balloons linger over the field.  We are among them again for the launch and revel in watching them overhead.  Two new special shapes come in; a lion and Mr. sun.  20 or so balloons, including the special shapes, stay grounded for a tethered moonglow.  The pilots pulse the burners to create a light pattern.  That part is not overly impressive tonight but it gives us a little more viewing time for the special shapes and a nice closing for a great day.

One more launch.  We sleep in a bit and watch the final mass ascension from the hilltop where we camped.  Weather is great for ballooning.  As they lift off, I am reminded that this perspective is great too. One gets a better feel for how grand the whole thing is.  The balloons swirl in the light currents over the field moving right, left, away, and toward as they mill about seeming to linger just so we can enjoy watching them.

This festival is great fun and I can’t imagine an easier way to experience it than with this group from this hilltop.  People are friendly, helpful and fun.  The shuttle runs regularly and smoothly.  They have activities and games for kids and adults.  There is no traffic to contend with and you can come and go through the day between the launch field and home.  There is free coffee and donuts in the mornings and bargain priced Stewart’s ice cream throughout the day.  What more could you want?