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Last Sunday, not yesterday, I drove out to first Booneville and Tug Hill to really see snow. Did I! It was like a sled in the old Escort, when I opened the door, snow blew in. I spent the night skulking around Booneville, skiing in the parking lots while the snow never stopped. I found a wash bay place that was still under construction. But it was cover and had a heated concrete slab! Still, it was a rude awakening at 10F below. Then I drove through to my NY 30 via old NY 28 in Blue Mountain Lake. There must have been five thousand sledders in Old Forge-Thendara. In the hamlet I stopped for gas and coffee. Someone ran in and said there were sleds on fire so I paid and raced down NY 28 to the flames a block away. Some Moe & Rons from Rochester put a kerosene-electric torpedo to heat up a plastic, rubber gas and oil filled snowmobile, fairly predictable. Four uninsured, gassed up sleds blew between two old wooden houses. Lucky we got it out before any of the houses were damaged. The column of black smoke and orange flames were quite impressive, but unlike the movies. In the movies, when gas tanks blow, they pep it up with a few pounds of C-4. Face it, sledders are dumb! The sleds were a total slag heaps when the flames were doused. Old Forge was quite depressing, it's a huge resort town crawling with Jerseyites.

But once I got into Hamilton County, the scenery and road got better. Not muched happened, except Eileen and I got married in Saint Armands on Mt. Pisgah in the justice's house in our socks. It was a ten below white out day, normal Saranac Lake. The Escort's right rear strut tower rusted out and it blew through the speaker above it. I nursed it home carefully on a cold slushy night. Now I have the Eagle Summit. With all wheel drive, 2.4 liter 16 valve 4 banger and five speed, it eats up the backroads in comfort compared to the Escort. The Escort was a great simple car that got always better than 30 mpg, but it was simple. Which was a virtue for repairs but not for comfort. Parts for that Escort were always the cheapest.