Week 13

July 29^th – August 4^th 2013

Getting close to the end of our stay in Syracuse. On August 24^th 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).

Week 12

July 22^nd – July 28^th 2013

Our next destination (98%): New York City.

The weather got pretty nice, cooler and sunny.

J. took a course to renew her PALS (baby life support something).

Work days. Switch days.

Emailing and calling – to deal with new contract (J.).

On Friday, after J.'s Pals course, we took a walk to downtown Syracuse. There was Arts and Crafts Festival. Slightly warmer than previous days, but still pretty pleasant to walk. Too many stands with different monkey business (paintings, photographs, pottery etc.). Some food stands. Relatively interesting. Also, we discovered that we did not visit this part of town before / sad. Actually really pretty – without cars. Evening and afternoon: taking it easy, movie at home, J. was staying up.

Thursday, July 25^th 2013. J. had to go to the hospital for some paperwork. Around 10.04 am we left Syracuse and were heading South, later East – to visit Fillmore Glen State Park. In one of the villages along the way we saw a stand next to the road with books. J. made me stop and turn around. We were told that during the weekend, there is “area” yard sale, mostly along the road and going for 12 or so miles. We picked up some books (maybe eight) and he wanted only five dollars. Unfortunately, there was as well his small barn and J. continued her hunt and spent another four dollars for quite a few things. It was interesting and nice. Good. Fillmore Glen (named after president Fillmore), really nice picnic areas, well kept and not much to see from parking areas. Pleasant temperature, sun and light breeze, one of the most beautiful days so far. We walked through the glen and enjoyed the nature and small creek. It was impressive and exceptionally beautiful. We walked back along the rim. Back in the parking area, we walked a bit back to see “cowsheds”, a waterfall with big stone overhang, where apparently cows were hiding from sun. The drive to the other side of the park, small dam (?why and what for?), isolated and hidden in the forest. Part of the old gorge trail. We saw a waterfall, no path to it, we tried to go down and almost fell few times on the muddy sides. We made it down (relatively unharmed with really muddy shoes) and enjoyed really gorges waterfall. Drove through Moravia and Homer, again and again really nice rolling hills and farms. Cortland – town, similar to Syracuse, maybe. Road closure, to welcome NY Jets (whatever that is – sports team). Drive home. Tired. Great day.

Week 11

July 15^th – July 21^st 2013

Hot and humid. Hot and humid. Hot and humid. Very unpleasant weather. Many work days for J. Relatively uneventful week. Some practical stuff, groceries and errands.

Saturday, it cooled down some and it looked like Friday night was horrible – fallen branches and trees. Drove to Sodus Bay area. Few stops along the way. Smaller waterfalls – Wolcott (in the village with the same name). Farm stands. Sodus Point Lighthouse (not operating anymore), it is open as a museum and it was pretty interesting. As we were inside, we heard some storm and rain, but luckily it stopped before we left. Really nice and pleasant area. Village (or town), small beach, quiet a few houses, pier – pretty nice. We stopped at the farm animal rescue place. Old barns and buildings, pigs, chicken, goats, horses, somewhat interesting (quite interesting for J.). Couple detours along the way (fallen trees and wires). Chimney Bluff State Park. About 2.5 miles walk – along the lake (not very impressive bluffs) and back through the woods – hot, humid and buggy. Drive back – home at 4.44 pm. J. was switching back to night shift again. As I said, relatively uneventful week.

Week 10

July 8^th – July 14^th 2013

(Wednesday) 8.17 am, the breakfast at Alto Cinco Restaurant in Syracuse (2 voting great, 2 voting average). Cloudy, hot, humid, not raining yet. Family time at home till 10.27 am. Visiting Tinker Falls, about half an hour from Syracuse. Pretty, too many bugs. Visiting Pratt's Falls in the same area. Raising humidity. Town of Cazenovia, Lorenzo historic park. We did not feel like waiting for the tour of the mansion, so we walked around, there was a short movie and an historic exhibition. Interesting and quite enough. Town itself, park and walk around. Many stores visited, lunch at the Seven Steps down (in the basement of the historic hotel). Nice restaurant, pretty much empty. Great food. Chittenango Falls – really strong due to the rain. Close to the parking lot, pleasant visit. Drive home. Family time for the rest of the day. Rain on and off. Nice and enjoyable day. ###

(Saturday) J.'s parent drove home (9.45 am – 6.05 pm). Not much for us – movies, relax, read, homework.

(Sunday) J. is switching back to night schedule. Some practical stuff, errands, groceries etc.

1000 islands

(It is actually 1864 islands in 1000 islands region.)

Salmon river falls.

Lake Ontario, just a small stop along the way.

 

Tibbitts lighthouse, it is still working.

Sunset, village of Clayton.

(Thursday 11^th, July) Slow start, hard to get started. I-81 north, detour to Salmon River Fish Hatchery, interesting, not many fishes. Great looking, very green area. On Salmon river visiting Salmon Falls. Nice views from the “rim trail”, sizable waterfall. Steep trail down to the fall, only I walked down and enjoyed the close up views and stood almost behind the fall. Cross I-81 heading west and from that point drive along Lake Ontario. Nice country, for most of the time we did not see the lake. Stop for the picnic lunch along the road (11.58 am). Driving towards Cape Vincent where we had a cottage for a night. Mixed weather, some rain drops. Ice cream stop. Town of Sackets Harbour. Old McDonald Farm, just stop – more like a family park for small children. Nice town – some shops, nice weather. Cape Vincent, cottage, light house on the lake and river (Ontario and St. Lawrence). To Clayton, small walk, dinner on the water (river) – nice. Back just a minute after the sunset. Movie. ###

(Friday 12^th, July) 8.35 am, left Cape Vincent heading to Clayton, New York State. Cooler weather, nice. Check the boats of the Clayton tours, talk to the staff and found out it would work for us. Breakfast – good. Tickets and leave on the boat at 10.00 am. Over an hour to the Boldt Castle. The guide pretty much did not stop talking – interesting and very pretty. An hour on the island with the Castle, impressive house with two stories not yet renovated. Great comparison. Boat ride back to Clayton. This time on American side, before we did partly Canadian side. Still great looking landscape. Drive to the town of Alexandria Bay. Not so nice – too touristy and tacky – just drove through. 1000 islands international bridge – visitors center – picnic lunch, short walk on the bridge, nice weather, great views. Tired. Interstate 81 and driving south, Syracuse around 4.48 pm. Family time. ###

Bridge to Canada as we were on the boat touring 1000 islands.

Boldt Castle, the stop on the tour.

Few pictures from the tour on the St. Lawrence river.

The US side of 1000 island area from the International bridge.

Finger Lakes

From botanical gardens at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Buttermilk Falls near Ithaca, New York.

 Taughannock Falls, main waterfall on the river.

Wine country on Seneca Lake, New York State.

Watkins Glen State Park near the town of Watkins Glen.

(Monday 8th, July) Hot and humid. Leaving Syracuse around 8.07 am. Heading to Ithaca. Stop along the way to see Ludlowille Falls. Small park in the middle of the village, pretty impressive (helped by recent rain). Ithaca, the home of Cornell University. Some lake views, stop for the coffee close to the campus area. Stop after seeing a waterfall, parking and walking along the creek. It was a gorge trail bordering one side of the campus (about 2 miles long). Just few minutes as we did not park properly. Nice start. It looked like really great walk, maybe next time. We drove through the campus, stopped to tour the botanical garden – nice. The whole campus of Cornell was interesting and pretty. Some more driving around, lost a bit and then driving through part of Ithaca to the Buttermilk Falls State Park. Pretty small town, we saw “modern strip mall” sad part. Smaller fall within the gorge and the trail following the creek up (a lot of stairs). We walked the short loop and could not believe how beautiful it was. Taughannock Falls, about 12 miles from Ithaca, huge 200 feet drop (saw it from the distance view point, did not walk to it – 1 mile). Cross Finger Lakes National Forest. Seneca Lake – stopped at three wineries where half of our group did wine tasting. Pleasant country. Almost 5.30 pm when we were approaching southern tip of Seneca Lake (Watkins Glen town). We were debating if we should stop and at the end we stopped at Watkins Glen State Park – most amazing natural site – relatively narrow gorge with small creek, it was really deep and incredibly carved. We saw small part of the gorge and were more than amazed. Dinner at Switz Inn – average fish and chips. About 8.00 pm at our bed and breakfast close to Hammondsport. Heavy rain. Movie. Sleep. ###

(Tuesday 9th, July) Small breakfast. Small detour to the fish hatchery near by – some small fishes, interesting. Town of Hammondsport – small and fine, nothing special even it is advertised as the coolest small town in the US. Who knew? Canandaigua – pretty long drive to this town on the top of the lake with the same name. Few stops along the way but nothing very significant. Hot and humid. Bigger town, pretty nice – Sonnenberg mansion and gardens. Interesting and well done mansion from the “golden times” in the US history. As well pretty gardens around, rain. Luckily almost done. Taking it easier after very busy and active yesterday. Slow drive from Canandaigua to Syracuse on smaller roads on the top of the lakes. Driving via Seneca Falls, Auburn, small detour to Montezuma Refuge – horribly hot and humid to take a walk. Small stop at Skeneateles – walk along main street and sit down for a while on the lake – pretty and peaceful. Home – family time. ###

 Sonnenberg mansion and gardens, Canandaigua, New York.

Driving home - Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.

Week 9

July 1^st – July 7^th 2013

Nothing special. J. had to work so she continued her night schedule. I visited Clark Park again. I as well went to Rand Tract Park (behind Webster pond). Surprisingly pretty and wild area in the middle of residential area. Too hot and humid. J.'s parents arrived on Saturday. We visited Wegmans grocery store in DeWitt and Aqueduct in the same town. Rain, hot, humid. We tour the town on Sunday, visited Erie Canal Museum, Camillus and its part of the canal. Nice and easy. We as well had a burger in Blarney Stone Pub (very good).