Adventures with Grandpa

I had a meeting this morning at The Wild Center:  Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks in Tupper Lake, NY and my father gamely came along to mind the two wee ones while I discussed heritage tourism.  The Boy remembers his last trip there several years ago, but neither Grandpa nor The Girl had visited The Wild Center and so it was a family adventure of sorts.  If you're in the Adirondacks or the North Country this summer, it's well worth the trek to Tupper Lake.

Everyone loves the otters:

and the moose:

But I'd never been on the outdoor trails surrounding the Museum, so I was eager to see what they are like. ....  despite the persistent light drizzle ALL DAY.

We walked all the way down to the water.  Well, "all the way down" conveys a distance a bit farther than the  mile total there and back.  It's a gentle, well-groomed trail with periodic interpretive flags for the nerdy among us.

 
We viewed the oxbow, gazed at the water lilies, noted the water skates, and searched the skies for something other than clouds.

Near the end (or the beginning, if you start that way) of the trail system, there's a new playground made of natural materials.  As in:  you climb on logs, through logs, and play with chunks of wood.  It's pretty much BobWorld.

It was a pretty great way to start our summer vacation!