August – Ithaca, Watkins Glen, and NY’s Capital District

Have you thought about subscribing so you don’t have to worry about missing anything?  If you are unable to get the subscription link on the right side of the [computer] page to work, just send me an email asking to be notified when there’s an update.  I’ll send you a private email with a link every time I post a new… post.

Sunflowers near Waterloo

After our stay in Olean we took a short drive over to Robert Treman State Park just outside of Ithaca.  It’s a great park.  The camping was “primative” – a nice bit of field with small trees, a picnic table, and water spigot roughly 75 feet away.  No electric and only limited hours where generator use was allowed.  We were just fine but had it been hotter or had we spent more time at the site during the day, it would have been toasty.

The thing about this area are the gorges.  And the resultant waterfalls.  Absolutely wonderfully amazing.  We saw dozens of spectacular falls and walked gorge trails that offered pools and holes and slabs and undercuts and a never-ending, ever-changing, other-worldly experience.  There were short sight-distances with surprises around every corner, and then sections that would open up into breathtaking views.  There was beauty in the microcosmic trickle falls and the towering “bigger than Niagara” torrents.  In no particular order, our favorites were… all of them.

While we were there, a massive rainstorm went through.  We went back to many of the falls to see the difference.  The volume was impressive, but all of the nooks and crannies we’d enjoyed exploring were hidden.  Less was more.

For some reason, the swimming area was closed

From there we drove out to visit family and friends near Albany.  We took our niece and nephew to the county fair which was a blast, did a few quick pop-ins, and then it was back to Central NY for a couple of weeks just outside of Watkins Glenn along the Eastern shore of Seneca Lake.

We drove out on Route 20 and, while there were a lot of ups and downs, it was scenic and relaxing.  Except for the 2 mile stretch of the “largest outdoor antique meet in the world” in pouring rain with pedestrians everywhere and in NY pedestrians don’t care if you weigh 32,000 pounds, they walk where they want when they want and assume you can see them.  I gave as much room as I could and didn’t stop and that worked.

Our campground was only a couple of years old, was beautifully built and the roads were spacious.  It also offered FHU (full-hook-up sites) which was a bit of a splurge but welcome after Robert Treman and a week of moochdocking.  The sunsets were incredible.

We hiked Watkins Glenn with my uncle who came out to visit, went to the Hilliard Classic Grand Prix, and got Mission tortilla chips in the shapes of race cars.  (Yes, they taste better then regular shaped chips.)  We toured the Corning Glass Museum and watched them make glass things.  We drove out to Letchworth State Park.  We listened to a young man with an old voice named Jacob Gilpin who will be famous some day.  He has next level talent combining deep nostalgic vocals with energetic guitar, seemlessly blending folk rock, country western, and something new.

We also ran into a couple from NC that turned out to be from where we’re from and among other connections, she used to work across the hall from my mother.  When people say, “It’s a small world,” they really mean it.  This morning we were talking to our campground host and found out she graduated high school 30 miles (and 4 years) away from where Renee and I did.

Part of me thinks, “wow, amazing coincidence.”  But I also can’t help but think we’d find common experience with anyone if only we took the time to look for it.

Higher than Niagara

If you look closely, you can see the trail to the right

Early October, 2024: Sticks and Stones May Break Our Bones, but Spiders and Snakes Really Creep Us Out

New Bern, NC

Have you thought about subscribing so you don’t have to worry about missing anything?  If you are unable to get the subscription link on the right side of the [computer] page to work, just send me an email asking to be notified when there’s an update.  I’ll send you a private email with a link every time I post a new… post.

I’m going to jump ahead in our story to now (sort of like this clip).  This jump is also sort of a metaphor about how fast summer slips by.

Axel ponders a jump of his own

We left Stafford and spent a few days in Suffolk, VA, a bit south of Newport News and on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp.  It was a little odd to be at a campground again after weeks of moochdocking, but other than the occasional feeling of being surrounded by cultists, it was pleasant enough.  We went up to Smithfield for their “Vintage Festival” where vendors hawked old McDonald’s style drinkware – featuring the Smurfs, Star Wars, and Snoopy – from folding tables set up on closed streets.  Other “antique treasures” included Corning crockery, Fisher-Price toys , and the other bits of detritus that can often be found skulking about in dark paneled basements with high-pile shag carpets and stained pool tables covered with macrame supplies. 

Center of the Swamp

We also went into the ‘Dismal.  It was a bright sunny day, there’s a giant lake in the middle, and it was incredibly peaceful.  Apparently they used to keg the peat-stained water from the swamp for trans-oceanic voyages because it was so clean.

From there we overnighted at the Morris Farm Store (a Harvest Host) in Barco, NC.  We could see the ocean from the parking lot and bought a 2 pound bag of peanuts in the shell that were the most flavorful we’ve ever had.  I also bought a coffee cake that, while tasty, wasn’t nearly as good as what my aunt makes.

From there we moved into the Croatan National Forest for a couple of weeks.  We stayed at Cedar Point for a few days during our shakedown last March.  This time we’re on the north side at Flanners Beach, just outside of New Bern.  It’s quiet, functional but deteriorating – proof if anyone needs it that nobody thinks they’ll get reelected by funding our national parks.  To be fair, I’d prefer more funding for highway maintenance… but still.

The Neuse River from Flanners Beach

Anyway, we’ve enjoyed the stay and the punctual squirrels who start chucking nuts on our roof at 0700 every single morning.  It was funny for a couple days, then not so funny, and now it’s coming back around.

The squirrels have multiple arcs of fire

What’s not funny and hasn’t been funny and won’t ever come around are the giant spiders a local referred to as a “banana spider” that are huge.  HUGE.  And everywhere.  Ubiquitously everywhere.

Even less funny was our trip along the Beach Swamp Trail.  I had to use a spider web stick again and there were a lot of spiders and my wife feels about spiders the way I feel about snakes and we almost didn’t take the hike because walking through the grassy field at the parking area for the trailhead I almost stepped on a fat green snake.  But we’re brave people and walked the trail along the high ground watching for spiders and waving the stick.  Renee said, “Jon!!!!!”  I stopped, took a step back toward her obvious distress, and she screamed, “GO!!!!”  So I went.  

Then she told me about the long (4 feet or so), fat, dirty, black/gray/green snake with the thin tail that was laying across the trail that I stepped over then (when I turned) straddled as it began slithering into the underbrush and fortunately went away.

Then she saw another smaller one slither off a few yards further along.  It was a long half mile back to the road.  I have not been excited about hiking any of the trails since.  Turns out that in addition to the water moccasins we saw, copperheads, coral snakes, and 2 different types of rattlesnake are also COMMON in the area.  And to think I started the walk more concerned about alligators.

Birthplace of Pepsi

We opted to go into town after that, enjoying a Pepsi at the building where Pepsi was born and having a nice conversation with a retired teacher from Guilderland.  We also visited with the bears, fed the ducks, got swarmed by pigeons, and gave directions to the local hospital to an older-than-us man who stopped and asked for them.

If you add a scoop of ice cream, Pepsi is almost as good as Coke

In a separate conversation, Pam and Steve invited us to stay with them on their sailboat in the Bahamas this winter.  We just need to get there, and bring our own food.  I wonder if they’d like a keg of Dismal Swamp water?

Nothing spooky about that

Cypress shoots reminiscent of Bamboo

Renee baked cookies

Jon made fried rice

July into August, 2024 – Olean, NY

Hey there, True Believers!  It’s been a quick minute since my last post and you’re probably out of the habit of checking in for updates.  How about subscribing so you don’t have to worry about missing anything?  If you are unable to get the subscription link on the right side of the [computer] page to work, just send me an email asking to be notified when there’s an update.  I’ll send you a private email with a link every time I post a new… post.

We packed up and moved out of Stafford after being parked for a month.  I was a little concerned about getting back behind the wheel but other than sending a forgotten candle shattering to its doom, the trip out went very well.  We even got the car properly positioned on our first go.

We drove a zig-zagging North Westerly route of interstate and four lane highway to Bedford, PA – home of the “Coffee Pot” for an overnight.  It was comfortably scenic once we’d cleared the sprawl of DC and readjusted to the rounded hills of the East from the dramatic volcanic shape of Hawaii.

After a Harvest Host overnight at a Bedford church (pleasant and surprisingly peaceful despite its closeness to the highway - and they gave us cookies) we continued north through the mountains of Western PA to the border town of Olean, NY.  We both grew up in NY, spent decades there, yet had never ventured into this corner of the state.  If I hadn’t gone through a brief period of wanting to go to St. Bonaventure, I probably wouldn’t even have known the town existed.

We had a site along the Allegheny River at a quiet and clean private campground.  It’s a big muddy thing (the river) that reminded me a lot of the Schoharie Creek, but with water.  The far shore was all woods so we were treated to deer, ducks, a beaver cutting and collecting saplings, and even an eagle that swooped in for some fishing one morning.

We settled into the day 1 routine of exploring town – finding a decent coffee shop, the local grocery and dry goods place, and getting a feel for the local vibe.  That last was challenging in Olean, it’s a town that seems to be unsure of what it wants to be when it grows up.  And what’s with all the giant statues of squirrels?

For the rest of the week we relied on tourist brochures and the internet.

First up was Rock City, right on the PA border.  The pull off from the road looks promising.  The parking lot is ok.  The gift shop/office/theater/museum looks like the set of a horror movie, the low budget kind that has such a well written story you can’t sleep for a week.  It’s okay, press on.  There’s a walk reminiscent of Bear Town that we thoroughly enjoyed, an easy hour wanding through boulders and eroded channels with one that looks like a perfect map of NY – Long Island isn’t part of it.  The trail isn’t long but is uneven and there are stairs at both ends.

We drove out to the Kinzua Bridge State Park rising through the Allegheny Forest’s gentle mountains and narrow glacial valleys (not gorges).  The park is situated at the National Engineering Landmark of the Kinzua Bridge which, a few years ago, was blown over by a tornado.  The remnants have been repurposed as a pedestrian walkway with a platform (including 1” glass floor) out into the valley where you can, as my Father poetically put it, look down on the flying birds.  Enjoying the views and nice hike, and feeling lucky, we continued on to the “Serenity Glass Park” in a town about 20 miles away.

Don’t go to the Serenity Glass Park.  There’s a reason it doesn’t have a website.

On our last day, Renee discovered we were only an hour from the Lucile Ball museum.  She is a huge fan so we had to go.  It was definitely worth the drive.  It was split into two separate downtown buildings, one about “I Love  Lucy” and the other about Lucy and Desi.  A few blocks away was the National Comedy Center (interactive museum) which was also a lot of fun.  This may not surprise many of you, but we played a contest where we told jokes trying to make the other person laugh and I didn’t win.  All three museums were accessible with clean restrooms and places to sit and rest.

Saturday was our travel day, but we were able to just beat most of the rain and it went smoothly.  Even the part where there was no turn around for the road our site was on and I had to back out.  Then turn around.  Then back back in to get the tow dolly.  But we got the car on the dolly first try so there was that, and an easy drive to Ithaca.

View from my dining room window

Absolute blast

Why yes, that is us on Lucy's sofa

[Heavy sarcasm] Oh no!  What happened to Long Island?

Bring me your children

New plan, let's all walk on the only part that didn't fall down

What's left of the "engineering marvel"

Walking on glass