July 29th – August 4th
2013
Getting
close to the end of our stay in Syracuse. On August 24th
we will travel about 4 hours to our next destination, New York City.
J. found an apartment in Harlem. Everything should be more less set
and ready to go (as much certainty there is with the job of travel
nurse). J. has to get some blood testing and physical done for the
next assignment. Otherwise nothing really special – more work
nights, couple of switch days – we will be more then thrilled to
get rid of those. The life goes on ...
Wednesday.
Easy going morning, nice and mild weather, J.'s day off. Via Thruway
90 and then road along Seneca Lake we were driving to the village of
Watkins Glen. An hour and half (and perhaps some change). We made a
small detour to visit Seneca Mills Falls. Nice country, house now and
then, a lot of farming and really tall corn. Small county roads,
couple of smaller settlements. Quarter of a mile walk along a mall
river. A waterfall, used to be some kind of mill side. Bustling town
of Watkins Glen – summer is in full swing and people are
vacationing (good for them). Almost full parking lot at the state
park – Watkins Glen. We visited the park with J.'s parents, but we
did not walk along the whole gorge and it looked really interesting.
Relaxing walk along the gorge and it was indeed gorgeous (not
counting all the people who were there). Many incredible sites, few
“water falls” - water falling on the rock and creating “rain”.
Steps, steps and more steps. We walked almost to the other side of
the park, where we saw remains of railroad bridge (impressive). Got
warmer a bit. We walked back, left the gorge at one point and cross
it on the suspension bridge (unbelievable views) and finished the
walk on the rim trail (not much to see). We ended up walking the
stars down to the gorge entrance. Really great. In close proximity to
the town, there were several more waterfall sites. A – small and
tall along the main road (kind of goofy site). B – in the middle of
village (town) of Montour Falls, within the residential area,
actually between two houses. Anyway, it was incredible site, very
tall and pretty big fall, cute town. C – at the end of street, in
the woods with oh so many signs “posted – private property”. We
saw it, but we could not get really close. D – within the town's
park and campsite. Walk way along the stream (short walk) and really
nice waterfall with high cliffs all around.
Still
relatively early, we decided to take a small detour and drive to the
town of Corning. Same or similar landscape. Bigger town, several
blocks long main street, while entering the town we passed the Museum
of Glass (the main attraction of Corning). We parked on the main
street and strolled along. J. went into several shops, otherwise
there was nothing super special. Many shops were displaying or
selling … wait for it … glass. Still, pleasant and pretty town
(or at least this part). The interstate to the village of Bath, where
we had a hotel room booked. Small and not very interesting, very
small main street, we even missed the hotel along the way. It was
very old building (traditional one) with the bar and restaurant on
the main floor. It was a bit strange (we got keys on the bar). We
walked to the main street and one into the diner with funny name
(Chat-a-Whyle) for a dinner. J. had fish and chips, I got chicken and
bacon sandwich with cheese and santa fe dressing – sounds boring,
but it was really tasty sandwich. Done with the day, pretty tired.
Thursday.
Cloudy and rainy morning, pretty sad. We left around eight o'clock,
got on the interstate and within half an hour parked in Stony Brook
State Park. It was quiet and empty, it was humid and misty, not rainy
yet. It was about a mile walk through the gorge. Even it tried to
rain few times, we were lucky enough and did not get really wet. We
did not meet any people either (it was a relief after yesterday's
visit to Watkins Glen). Wider gorge, stream in the middle, several
waterfalls and peaceful beauty all around us for an entire walk.
I
think we left around ten o'clock and were heading to the Grand Canyon
of the East – Letchworth State Park. Instead of interstate and
arriving from the east side, we drove on county roads and arrived
from the west side. It almost felt like fall. The park is pretty long
and obviously, there is a river in the middle (more less). Big
railroad bridge (not used anymore). First view of the river. Walk to
the Upper Falls. Walk to the Middle Falls. Museum. Lodge. Extremely
well maintained park. To our surprise, relatively empty. Longer walk
to the Lower Falls. Several view points. Visitor center. They were
mainly spots to view to river and waterfalls, there was no real
hiking to the falls or around. There are many trails in the park, not
just suitable for quicker walks (us). We stopped by Trout pond (no
visible fish) and had our lunch.
Indeed, with
all the beauty of nature around us, the time was flying by as we were
making our way through the park. The weather got pretty nice, breezy
and sunny. There were few moments that it felt like real fall. Oh
well … the view has to be absolutely amazing in the fall when
leaves are changing colors. At one point, we were watching several
birds (falcon, hawk, who knows what it was) flying around – it was
unbelievable. We actually saw several more birds sitting on the
cliffs. Few more view stops and we were at the last one – Morris
Dam. There was a huge wall in the middle of the valley and almost no
water – just river. We drove for about ten minutes to the dam area.
Apparently, it is dry dam – they catch water in case of flooding.
We were told that a month and half ago, the dam was full – hard to
believe and imagine. We missed the tour of the dam by about twenty
minutes. Quick stop in the village. Nothing really special. We made
one more small detour to the town of Geneseo – nice main street
with farmers market. Interstate and drive home (113 minutes).
