Fun in the Finger Lakes

Auburn, NY

Camillus, NY and the Erie Canal

Steam Engine Museum in Camillus

Sophie and her new friend Midnight, the mascot of one of the Erie Canal boats.

Chittenango and Cazenovia

Chittenango FallsBreakfast in Cazenovia

Chittenango is the birthplace of L.Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. They've painted the sidewalks on the main street so that they are yellow brick roads.

Canaan, New York





Visiting with family

and playing on porches.



 





Shanty- Canaan

July 4, 2013

We started the morning with a quick visit to Monitour Falls, near Watkins Glen.  The waterfall was at a little park at the end of the main street and a nice way to spend a few minutes while Grandy packed up the RV.

Ty and Sophie were excited to put on their patriot clothes today for the 4th of July.  They were also excited to see all the flags out in parks and in front of houses. 

 

The highlight of yesterday’s longish haul from the Finger Lakes to the Berkshires happened when I got tired of the same pretty scenery and decided to “red road” it on Route 22. Almost immediately there was a classic New York Central Locomotive sitting next to a general store with a couple of other rusted out classic cars. Ty was riding with Alex and was overjoyed when he saw the RV pull over.  He loved exploring the big diesel engine and wanted to know why Mommy's car and Grandy's bus have tow hitches that look different from the trains couplers.

 

 

 

Very quiet 4^th in Canaan with a nice cocktail hour and nibbles up on High Thyme with most of the usual folks. And of course Ty & Sophie were indoctrinated in the ritual of climbing the lean-to roof.



Ty and Sophie spent the rest of the evening after coming down from the hill running around the yard, having a blast.  They finally went to bed around 9:30, completely exhausted, after announcing that this house is lots of fun!

last day Watkins Glen KOA

July 3, 2013

To repeat, the list of stuff to do here includes Pool, Mini-Golf, Playground, Pirate Ship, Jump Pillow and Waterslide. We managed to do every one yesterday with 2^nd visits to both the pool and jump pillow. And still managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done.

But in the end the Water Slide was number 1. Ty did a great job of leading the way up the stairs with a slightly nervous Sophie right behind .. and Grandy bringing up the rear to keep an eye on things. The first couple of runs Sophie and Gandy did a tandem run but for run number 3 Sophie got a bit of a surprise when Grandy set it up as before and then gave her a solo run...which Alex had okayed. The report from Mom was that the first realization came quick and showed some concern but that instantly turned into pure joy… and no desire to go with Grandy again.

At the pool Sophie is very comfortable going under water and Ty is working hard on his swimming but above all just plain loves being in the water… especially with the new Grandy tosses Ty game. Sure am glad there’s the Hot Tub to relax and big sign saying “Over 16 Only”.

One more full day here and then off to the Shanty for the 4^th and a weekend meet up with Jeremy and family. For non-family folk, the Shanty is a mid-1800’s village one-room meeting house that in the late 19^th century was pulled up 2 hills using logs and mules and placed on a small log provided by the cousins who have rather larger houses at the top of the first hill. Along the way there have been several additions to the house and a ‘sleeping barn” and it even got indoor plumbing in the 60’s.

One additional note from today.  While making a run for dinner supplies we decided to stop by one of the many wineries around Seneca Lake.  We found a fun little winery, Catherine Valley Winery, on the southeast side of the lake and stopped to find a bottle of wine to go with dinner.  We tasted two reds and both liked the Noirette much better.  They also had a batch of hard apple cider so of course that was a must try.  The cider is fantastic!  Nice and light and crisp with old English varieties of apples.  Of course we had to get a bottle of that too. 

Watkins Glen KOA

July 2, 2013

Well we’ve now run pretty much the full spectrum of campgrounds. The KOA Watkins Glen is basically a miniature Disneyland. Starting with the 4 story tall inflatable water slide next to the 68’ by 44’ jumping pillow it’s a short walk to the indoor heated pool/hot tub and then onto the miniature golf course and finally the 44’ Pirate Ship… where was all this when I was 10 and we were camping at Deep Creek lake in a surplus army tent and mom was cuddled up in the back to the station wagon.

 

 

Good news is Alex back after time for the meds to kick in a good night’s rest. Also nice that today has been a reasonable mix of bright sunlight and a few passing showers.

Big Question

July 1, 2013

Pretty rough night, Alex has been struggling with breathing for a couple of days now, pretty much since Cuba Lake. It got bad enough that she drove herself down to the ER in Geneva last night. The big question is this caused by allergies now that we have moved north which are reminiscent of Diana’s reaction when she first visited Canaan or is there something in the RV that is causing it. Obviously there is nothing more terrifying than not being able to breath.

Looking for similarities, both Cuba Lake and Cheerful Valley have a lot of grass & trees and rural, while Toronto was a lot of gravel and a few trees, fairly urban. Lockport was mostly trees with a little grass. Of note was that this didn’t flair up in Wellsboro but that was a different climate but also very early in the trip.

 

Well, after a stock up at Walmart Ty, Sophie and I have parked at the KOA.

 

 

Finger Lakes

June 30, 2013

We spent the day exploring Geneva at the north end of Seneca Lake and the western shore of Keuka Lake. For the second time this trip Alex showed up at a church only to fine that the advertised service wasn’t actually happening so we then headed down to Geneva to hit the 10am (web info) service only to fine that it was in fact 9:30 and we were exactly on time. Ty, Sophie and I did some exploring and after picking up Alex we spent the day exploring Geneva at the north end of Seneca Lake and the western shore of Keuka Lake.

Highlight of the afternoon was Sophie proving that she is very much Dad’s girl as she made sure that here Strider Bike hit every possible mud puddle.

Cheerful Valley Campground- Phelps, NY

June 29, 2013

Ty & Sophie are absolutely ecstatic. Ty had seen a model Class A back in Hanover and REALLLLLLLY want one. We checked in Buffalo but none in stock… found one today in Churchville (near Rochester)... and Sophie got a Princess coloring book. :) :)

 

This morning worked out nicely as the weather was better and the kids got a good visit to the Pirate Ship (where Sophie worked really hard on getting as messy as possible so she could change into the dress she wanted to wear instead of the boring shorts and T shirt Mommy chose) while Grandy packed up the RV.  Nice (mostly) red roads that were easily traveling and nice country side that is a lot flatter than I expected. When offered their choice of lunch stops Ty and Sophie decided PBJ in the Target parking lot was perfect.

Dinner tonight also scored high with everyone.  We were in Lyons (Sophie was excited since her lovey is a lion) and found a hot dog stand (Ty's favorite food) called the Red Caboose.

Cheerful Valley is another family oriented campground with lots of seasonal folks on the high ground and short term visitors down close to the creek. It’s a short run down to the northern end of the Finger Lakes. Which of course means that we are treated to a Wine Tasting at 7pm tonight. 

Favorite wine of the night- Rowhouse Red.  We might need to pick some up for our rowhouse back home. And of course Ian's reaction was priceless too- What?!  A wine tasting next to a playground?  You must be in heaven!

 

 

 

Niagara County Campground- Lockport, NY

June 28, 2013

Well the “Red Sky in the Morning” certainly came true as the rain has settled in. Certainly better here than in Toronto but it is frustrating to the kids as we are at a family oriented campground with a “Pirate Ship” plus swimming lake, miniature golf course & petting zoo. All-in-all a fairly typical “upstate” operation with a significant number of long-term sites that have permanent structures added on to old trailers.

Alex found a great diner in Medina for dinner last night “Ruby’s”… first “Liver and Onions” for me in a long time. :)

We did manage to find a break in the weather about noon for a visit to the Lockport Cave which is in fact a man made tunnel around the original 5 locks (50’ lift) which are now 2 much bigger locks. This tunnel diverted water to 3 manufacturing plants. Irony here is that the largest made the first “fire hydrants” and 2 of the 3 burned down. The kids thought the tunnel was a little dark and scary but overall the cave and underwater boat ride were a big hit.

Day 2 in Toronto

June 27, 2013

Day 2 of wondering around Toronto has reinforced everything that I had heard about how great this city is. Highlight of the day was the trip up the CN Tower. But really the day was more about walking around (and riding both subway and streetcars which were a first for Ty & Sophie). Again that heat wave meant heading back to the pool.

Woke up this morning a very pretty red sunrise, seems to match the forecast for the next couple of days for a fair amount of rain. But in the end we managed to have a dry day except for the spray from Niagara Falls.

From an RVer’s perspective the New York State Park at Goat Island Parking Lot #2 does it very well. As to the inevitable question about American versus Canadian side Alex’s answer is that the best view is from the middle of the Rainbow bridge with one foot in each country. Grandy wouldn’t know as he left his passport in the RV.

Lesson learned – if you’re going to do much traveling along the border the new “Passport Card” is a good investment.

 Ales's lesson of the day- it may be free to walk across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada but it costs 50 cents to cross back.  Luckily I found a stray $2 coin in my pocket because the only other thing I had were our passports and camera.  I left everything including my phone with Dad on the other side!