For the last day, we first went to Musee D’Orsay where we saw impressionist paintings and other French art movements. We strolled along the Seine with sandwiches in hand and walked outside the splendor of the Louvre. We bought souvenirs for our loved ones, drank slushies that melted immediately because of the heat, and went thrifting. After a nap at the hostel, we bagged our bikes and stepped out for dinner. We got some Italian and then wandered the streets of Paris and saw Notre Dame at night. Finally, after in last long light together, we headed back to the hostel and crashed one final time.
It was a somber morning in the Teen Treks world, knowing that our fellow trekker would be leaving due to a fractured wrist (we miss you Henry). Although we were sad that our friend was leaving, we trekked on. We discovered that the bridge we were supposed to take to cross the Irondequoit channel was closed… Our options were to flag a boat down, or do a 10 mile detour (I think you know what we chose) . The first boat we tried to flag down completely ignored us, so we decided to test our luck at the marina docks. Luckily a small fishing crew was going out and agreed to take us and our bikes 30 feet across the channel. After crossing the channel, we were in for a sweet surprise. There happened to be an amusement/water park on the way! We decided to stop for a few hours. After going on most of the rides, we decided to get some lunch at a local restaurant. To follow up our super fun morning we enjoyed some beef-on-weck and onion rings. After lunch and dip-in-dots, we hit the road again. We finished riding around the lake and hit the Erie Canal! As we near the end of the trip we reminisced on some of our favorite memories, and the cool people we met. Shout out to Borax Man (aka Dave), Mark, Shannon and Hailey, Wensel, and everyone else. We ended off the day with some classic Chicago Hot Dogs.
Today, we woke up too early. We attempted to go to a bakery before our boat ride across Lake George, but when we arrived it happened to be closed. Instead we spent that time enjoying Lake George. The boat ride lasted around three hours and we learned some cool facts about the lake, a canon was fired from the boat and a nice couple bought us all ice cream. After the boat, we started our bike ride that was around 30 miles. The sun was very hot, and it was very hilly, but super scenic in the end. When we arrived at the campground, we got settled in and the camp ground was very pretty. We had chicken burgers for dinner. Next, we went fishing/swimming along the lake. We finished our day off with donuts, star gazed and hung around the fire.
We started off the day strong by navigating to the Palace of Versailles. We spent most of the day wandering the most opulent building we had ever seen. The entire building was covered in gold, marble statues, and 30 foot tall oil paintings. We then wandered in to the gardens of Versailles where we lounged in the shade and enjoyed some freshly squeezed orange juice. Next we headed back to the hostel and unwound with some music on our balcony. We then went out to dinner and enjoyed a traditional French meal. Finally, we got some delicious sorbet for dessert and went back to our hostel for some much deserved sleep.
Day 17 was pretty fun. We started off the day with some oatmeal for breakfast and we started to bike. We stopped for a grocery store and got food for lunch. After lunch we got back on the road and headed for the campsite. We got to our campsite and set up all of our tents. We finished setting up and called an Uber to bring us to the famous dinosaur barbecue. We ate an amazing dinner of different kinds of barbecue and other foods. We where all stuffed and we called a Uber back to the site. We played some cards and ended our day.
Today was an easier day of biking, and I really enjoyed biking on the downhills and bike path. We saw Cooper’s Cave and ended up in Lake George. After setting up camp, we spent the afternoon swimming, having mud fights, eating ice cream, and exploring town.
We started our morning early so we could tackle the biggest day of our trip. The hotel had a cool pancake machine. After fixing some minor bike issues, we eventually made our first stop at a bakery with pretty good food. We went into the pool at Saratoga State Park which was super fun and they had a water slide. We also gained social confidence by talking to lifeguards. We did a water tasting of the springs, and then got ice cream. At the end of the day we had a relaxing evening and campfire.
We started off by getting some hostel breakfast in Ghent and heading to the train station. Most of the day was spent traveling as we took 3 different trains to get to Paris. Once we arrived, we settled in the hostel and immediately got some dinner. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the tippy top while it was dark out and we got to overlook all the lights of the city. We then got back to the hostel and crashed.
Last night half of our group slept outside and we all woke up to the realization that today was the last full day of our adventure. After our bikes were packed up and we ate breakfast we started biking to Ashlawn farms where we were already half way to the campsite. We bought sandwiches and quiches along with coffee and baked goods. We ate, talked, and hung out until we went back on our bikes. Then we had one flat tire, but soon later we went to our favorite store, Stop & Shop, where we had chips and salsa. Later we made it to our campsite and went to the beach where we swam and played catch. Then we went out for dinner and had hot pizza and garlic bread, with ice tea. We biked back to the campsite and hung out enjoying our last night together.
Tsssssss…. The Lake Ontario trekkers awoke to the sound of the best pancakes on earth (Alana x Betty Crocker collab). A perfect way to start off our shortest day. Nothing can beat 20 miles and chocolate chip banana pancakes. With extreme confidence (from the magical pancakes) we hit the road. We trekked over hills slanted 70 degrees for what felt like forever. Jokes on us it was only 11:00 am. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed a scenic waterfall. Which was followed by Duncan hand fishing and catching a little crayfish. We headed over to Chimney Bluffs State Park, and went swimming and hiking. After that, we headed to our campsite and went swimming in a saltwater pool! This is the best campsite so far. Adam made homemade pizza and s’mores to end off our day. Day 16 was pretty chill.
