Chases Lake (although everyone pronounces it Chase, without the s, and writes it that way, too) is located at the tip of the Adirondacks in New York state, where my Dad is from. As kids, every other summer my sister and I would fly to New York solo to meet my Dad (who would fly in from Germany).

He and his siblings owned a cottage at Chases Lake, which they inherited from their folks and we would spend a chunk of time there in addition to my Grandma’s house and Aunt Betty’s.

Photo from Chase Lake Facebook page.

When I was in college (I think. my timeline could be way off here), my Dad bought his own place, not far from his family cottage. I love the familiarity of the lake and that there are still no motors allowed (it’s such a small lake that anything with a motor wouldn’t make sense anyway). We took the girls for a canoe ride…

And one afternoon Sammy, the girls and I went for a walk in the woods and got caught in a rainstorm…

My Dad and his wife planned a get-together with cousins and Aunts (no Uncles left).

It was a cold day, but that didn’t stop the kids from enjoying the water.

It was great to finally share this part of my life with the girls. It’s been eight years since I’ve been back. Definitely won’t be another eight before we visit again.