by Jessica Kuzmier

Created on: January 24, 2011   Last Updated: June 02, 2011

One of the greatest benefits of local traveling is that you can pick the destination you want to see, then just get into the car and go. You don't have to check out State Department warnings. No lines at the airport either. Just pick your destination, and as long as you can get your family sitting in one place for more than two minutes, you can pack everyone up and begin your journey. You could even change your destination without losing expensive deposits. That is how my husband and I wound up going to John Boyd Thacher State Park one particular Sunday in April.

John Boyd Thacher State Park is located outside Albany, New York. Some of its main attractions are wide views, limestone caves and a waterfall. But what it is most known for is Indian Ladder. This is an irregularly formed escarpment that the native peoples used to make their way through the rugged terrain. Because of all the rock formations, my husband and I decided to visit the place in early spring, before the foliage muted the views. By the map, it was hard to tell if the Indian Ladder was actually in Thacher Park or not. If we could access it, that sounded like it was a cool thing to experience.

The day we started out for the park was clear, but somewhat hazy, which could be a debatable situation for the quality of photography,. But it was certainly good enough for a drive out to the area. We weren't exactly sure which park we were going to, seeing that Indian Ladder was the ultimate destination, so we could just go somewhere else if the weather was too oppressive. It was a Sunday, which could mean large crowds, but we started out in the morning. If we got there early enough, maybe most of the people would still be at church, Sunday brunch, or sleeping off Saturday night.

The trip there turned out to be an adventure in itself. To get to the park, we had to drive on minor state highways that seemed to have been designed for extreme driving Hairpin turns hidden in bushes popped out of nowhere; the glare of haze added to the adventure. To add to this, we started to run low on gas. Inexplicably, despite the proximity to Albany, there seemed to be no gas station. The hairpin turns acted as bookends to small hamlets. So at first, despite the obstacle course, civilization acted as a hope for refueling. But hamlet after hamlet passed with no service station. I felt like I was in California, where they have signs saying, "no services for fifty miles", except someone forgot to put up the sign here. So up and

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