Day 6, Saturday 17Sep16 - Driving, Howe's Caverns

Saturday we had a lazy morning at the campground and decided that rather than return to Gettysburg battleground we would work our way towards home and stop if there was something that caught our fancy.

Since we had a late breakfast at the campground, we decided to skip lunch and head for Howe's Caverns which is just south west of Albany, NY. June and I have driven by so many times and never stopped, Ed and Jean were there many years ago.

The drive was pretty uneventful, we had a tail wind most of the time, so that was a bonus.

If you have never taken the time to visit Howe's Caverns, you should, it is worth the stop.

As you enter the visitor center, there is a Harley on display that was built by Orange County Choppers...definitely the bike to ride on Halloween.







The caves themselves are quite amazing, to think that in 1842 a farmer stumbled upon these caves by following his cows to a hole in the ground they gathered at on hot summer days. The farmer explored it by letting himself down with ropes and gave tours himself.

It became more accessible to the public until 1929, when elevators were installed.  It is about 150ft underground and about a mile long. The tour covers about 1/2 mile of it, the remainder is 'unconditioned' meaning pretty much like it was since it was closed around 1900, but tours are now starting thru that section since last year.  It takes $150 and 3 hours.

Much of the tour is on elevated walk ways.

The caves were formed by water erosion of limestone over millions of years. It has stalagmites and Stalactites, don't ask me which is which.

After about a 1/4 mile walk you get into a boat to float down 'Lake of Venus' for another 1/4 mile.

The lake is narrow and the boat bangs off the walls, and as the guide says "If the wall is getting to close to your face, move your face".

After the boat ride you walk back up the cavern with a few more stops, one a the bridal alter, where over 275 weddings have been held, the first was Lester Howe's daughter in 1854. The alter is complete with an embedded calcite heart that is back-lit...pretty cool.

The tour is ended with a one of the coolest parts, the 'Winding Way', it is over 100 yards long and barley narrow enough to get thru, just fascinating.
















Howe Caverns was a great stop, from there we tried to go to Brown's Brewery in Troy, NY for dinner, but when we called, they don't take reservations and it was an hour wait, so we moved north and stopped in Glens Falls at 99, it was still pretty good.

We arrived home safe and sound around 10:30 PM, it was a great trip but good to be home.

It was a great trip, a lot packed into less than a week.

As usual, here are the statistics.

About 1155 miles of driving, using 54 gallons of Diesel, at an average price of $2.55/gal, for a total fuel expense of $137.  We had a strong tailwind much of the time, driving at 63-65 mph, we got fantastic fuel economy of over 21mpg average.