5. We begin the TOUR de FR .....(Friends and Relatives)!

What a great trip! The rain has abated Friday, as we leave our nice spot at Taughonnak Falls State Park, NY, heading for our friends' Lisa and Bill Deddens “camp” somewhere between Chester and Ludlow, Vermont. Today will be another transit day, but we hope to get there in time to visit, walk, eat and play some music! 

Bill and Lisa also live in Jupiter FL, where we’ve been friends as long as we can remember…..except we’ve never seen their cabin in Vermont (although we’ve heard many tales of the fun they’ve had there for years). By happenstance, they’re at the cabin at the same time we’re exploring New England this year, so there’s no way we’re leaving this area without seeing them. The cabin is called a “camp” up here, and is a perfect little magic place deep in the woods on a mountainside, with a fast running creek just behind the deck. The “creek burbling over rocks” sound is soothing and constant, just the relaxing sound you need to kick back and enjoy the place. 

After getting lost a couple of times, we found the camp, and explored until supper time, when we headed into Ludlow, VT to eat at DJ’s Restaurant and Grill. Bill and Lisa are, of course, friends with the owner and waitress, so we had a great time and scrumptious food. 

Afterwards, we returned to the camp and Bill got a fire going in the pit by the creek, so we could play some music together in the chilly nighttime.

What a night…we’ve always said we’d get together to pick and grin in the mountains, and we finally pulled it together. Lynn and Lisa hung around with us, petted Sheldon, and sang with us until it got too cold for them. Bill and I kept it up a little longer, then crashed. The temp got down to about 40 degrees that night, so once the fire burned down, we were just cold Florida people! 

The next day, we had a custom breakfast of fresh eggs from the farmer across the road, and Vermont bacon, chef’d by Bill on the old gas cookstove. Again, a perfect meal and perfect surroundings. We staggered out to the car, and went sight-seeing along the back mountain roads, and up to the Okemo ski lodge and trails overlooking Ludlow. What a view across the whole mountain range! 

We kept exploring, found great mountain bike trails on Okemo, an expensive antiques show at the Lodge which we skipped, and (while filling up with gas) an early 1960’s VW Combi pickup truck some guy drove in from New Hampshire!

Pressing on, we visited the "Castle" built in Ludlow by Vermont's governor in the early 1900's, now used as a fancy hotel and wedding destination. WOW! Incredible woodwork and masonry everywhere we looked.

After that excitement, we had to say our goodbyes and hit the road for Hookset, New Hampshire, to visit our niece Ashley Aders, her husband Micah, and their two sons Jonah and Titus. We are too close to their home to miss seeing them a short while during our trip. 

These states up here are really close together, so we made it to Ashley’s home in just a few hours. Vermont was so lovely to drive through, especially the small scenic village of Woodstock, VT. Too pretty to photograph from a moving truck, but trust me you’d like to park and wander around there a few hours on a weekday/non-tourist day!

Just past Woodstock, we ran across the deepest Gorge in Vermont, Quechee Gorge...surrounded by tacky, crowded tourist businesses. We kept moving! We noticed lots of emerging fall colors among the trees and forests which were everywhere. Lots of protected unimproved land here, national and state forest lands, making up the beautiful mountains. As we got into New Hampshire, we found less colorful foliage, so that state’s colors will probably come later than Vermont’s this year.

What a joyous meet up we had in Hookset, NH with Ashley, Micah and the boys! They love the Casita, the kayak, and playing around with us. We loved getting to meet the little guys on their home turf, and played with them as much as we could. Ashley made a fantastic wedding soup for our supper, then we headed out to see a local City Fair …which proved to be so popular that we couldn’t get to it because of intense traffic on the 2-lane roads in that area. NO worries, we used the traffic-jam to catch up on each other by jabbering pretty much full-time, until we gave up and turned around to find some ice cream instead of the Fair. 

We found a Hotrod-theme diner specializing in homemade ice cream, and loaded up. Those little guys can pack away the ice cream for sure! We did our best to keep up, and I think I succeeded. Thankfully, Micah and Ashley were able to get them to sleep after we loaded them with so much sugar and chocolate just before bedtime! 

Tomorrow we leave for for Hollis, New Hampshire to meet up with an old friend, Cliff Conneighton, from high school and early-college days. We'll check in when possible! 

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Here are more photos if you'd like to see: 

Trip Pics Album

4. Ithaca , More Falls & Kayaking Cayuga

Today broke sunny and cool, with no wind or rain in sight. PERFECT for kayaking, so Lynn and Sheldon rode down to Lake Cayuga with me to get going.This was the first time I used a full skirt on the kayak. Everything went smoothly, and we were off. Lynn and Sheldon stayed ashore to explore the Park and Marina on foot…I preferred the quiet solitude and beauty of the water! Cayuga is the longest of the Finger Lakes, second largest overall, and is big enough to lose a first-timer like me. So, I stayed along the shoreline looking at the cliffs, birds, and lakefront residences and boathouses. 

I found a beautiful modern-design house under construction. It looks like a potential movie set. Hey, I also found two small waterfalls dumping into the Lake! Geeeez, gravity is pretty cruel to water in this area of the world. The expedition was so great that I went again this evening, after our other adventures. Nice change after so much rain delay.

Our next tourist stop was Ithaca, home of Cornell University, and a big “walking only” area downtown called “Ithaca Commons”. Urban touring really means “shopping” in one form or another, so we attacked. Great street side pay-parking machines put us on foot close to the Commons, It’s a several blocks long, beautiful wide paved and beautified area with businesses lining the sides. One huge construction  was underway, about one block long, which disrupted the ambiance. We found some local artisan shops to browse, and I even found a pair of hiking pants for 70% off due to Lynn’s shopping skills. Sweet! 

We found ourselves at “Red’s Place” for lunch, and after a beer and a unique beef sandwich we returned to the truck and headed out for the inevitable “Ithaca Falls" viewing. We assumed it’d be a cheesy small waterfall, but were stunned to find a huge wall of water tumbling down a rocky gorge just 1 mile from downtown, right in a residential part of town. It was formerly used by local industry for hydro power, but that's all gone now. We hiked down to the base of the falls, which was roaring and spraying furiously from 150+ feet high. A nice college couple took our pic down there, and we got some more photos from the street. All our Falls photos don’t do a good job of conveying the power and force of the water crashing down. We’ll show you the pics anyway! 

Seeking a place for ice cream, we followed our Google GPS suggestions and found NO ice cream at two of the places. BUT we ran into our new college friends from the Falls at a small shop in the Commons, and got their suggestions for some other falls to visit nearby. That led us to discover  “15 Below Ice Cream”,  hidden in a small storefront, where the ice cream is flattened out very thin on a super-frozen prep table, then rolled into little frozen ice cream  tubes, about the size of a mini-cannoli. We got 5 of ‘em, with chocolate syrup and an Oreo. No photos, we were too busy eating. 

We headed back to camp, I got another kayak ride in, and Lynn and Sheldon relaxed. Tomorrow we head for Ludlow, Vermont , to visit Lisa and Bill Deddens. The weather has cooled, it’s more like what we expected for Fall weather now, and we are stoked to see our friends and some new vistas.

All our trip photos are at this link if you are interested:

Trip Pics

3. Watkins Glen & Waterfalls

The wind & rain caught up with us today here at Taughannock Falls camp, so time to head for a tourist destination. We’d already planned to visit Watkins Glen at some point, so this was it. Driving 30 minutes through  beautiful countryside put us in a great spot.

To start our trip, we drove past the UPPER viewing spot for Taughannock Falls, so stopped for look. This is the same falls we saw yesterday from down below. Pretty from up top, too. As we were staring at the falling water, a group of touring bicyclists arrived, having ridden from Brooklyn, NY. I was jealous as heck, and took their group picture with one of their cameras…forgetting to take one with my own. I got a pic of their bikes to remember the moment! Onward and upward.

The rain was sporadic when we arrived at Watkins Glen Gorge State Park. We’d heard this was a MUST-SEE hike, because of all the beautiful waterfalls. Deceptive location, though: right on the main street through the town of Watkins Glen, amongst the businesses and food places, there’s the parking lot and visitor center for the Gorge…WTH??? Turns out, the Gorge and Park surround a portion of the town, in peaceful co-existence. We got out our rudimentary hiking gear (good shoes, a water backpack and 2 jackets), and headed out. The Gorge hike was about 1 1/4 mile in, then the same back out, with 800+ steps UP going out, and DOWN coming back. 

During the hike, we encountered huge waterfalls coming down from the sides of the Gorge, and others from the main river. It was magic, I tell ya. We had to walk under some of the falls, and through some short rock tunnels. The Gorge was rather narrow, lots of water-crashing noise constantly, and WET mist and drips everywhere. The rain came and went, sometimes hard and sometimes drizzly, but it didn't matter. The water flow was intense from all the rain this area has endured in recent weeks, so we had spectacular falls to see. The photos don't do justice to the sights and sounds, it was a blast. 

We were fizzled after returning to the town of Watkins Glen, so headed for food, at what turned out to be a great Italian place. For fun, because we are still carbohydrate junkies, we ordered a side of their “World Famous”  garlic knots, which are made-to-order, taking at least 15 minutes(!). Well, forget the rest of the meal, the garlic knots were DEFINITELY world-class, we had to drag ourselves away from them to eat our pasta. Nice Riesling and local beer, too (Ithica 8 Days a Week Pale Ale - a Beatle-esque beer choice). Fun meal. 

Afterwards we shopped, then drove out to see the Watkins Glen road race course, which has hosted some of the most prestigious racing events in the last 50 years. It was hammering rain, and they wouldn’t let us in for a look-see, because of a private event going on at the track. Bummer, but good incentive to figure a way to come back in the future to drive this race course.

Driving back from the track, we accidentally drove through Montpour Falls, a tiny town some guy told me about while we were hiking the Gorge. Bottom line: it’s supposed to have a huge waterfall coming down right at the end of Main Street, behind a white house. Well, he’s right! We found the house by chance while driving through town navigating by GPS, and damned if there wasn’t a huge waterfall right there behind it. There was no nearby legal parking we could find, so Lynn took pics out the window when we got close…and she got a photo of the plaque too! Tourist heaven, I tell ya. 

We made it back to our camp, where the rain seems to have abated and temperature is dropping. Supper beckons, so that’s it for today. Thanks for reading this baloney, we are having a fun time! 

Our album of trip photos if you’d like to see more:

TRIP PICS New England

2. Shenandoah, VA to Taughannock Falls State Park, NY

We hit the road from our great campground in Shenandoah State Park, to attempt to outrun the rainy weather by heading north a day earlier than planned. Destination: Taughannock Falls, near Ithaca, NY. Lynn finagled a change to our camp reservation, so boom, we split. 

“Rainy" is a polite way to describe the conditions most of the day during our drive. A massive dump of H20 constantly on the road, and on all our road companions, for 5 hours was the reality. Scenery? Hahahahahaha! Mostly it was the “scenery” of spray from the wheels of wall-to-wall 18-wheel truckers. It got so bad I actually wore out my windshield wiper blades, and had to stop at a small-town Chevy dealer to replace them. 

We blasted through several states in one day: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and finally arrived in New York. The last hour or so of driving was sublime, with beautiful scenes of farms, swollen rivers (the Susquehanna was incredibly high, fast and muddy), and almost NO TRAFFIC! Pennsylvania included a stretch in Amish country, where one intrepid buggy driver passed us at high speed as Lynn tried to take a photo of the offender! 

Hunger and low-gasoline overtook us a couple of times, so we made some unscheduled stops. Once I got us lost and turned around, so we accidentally visited the uniquely-named town of Quiggleville. Sort of expected it to look like Munchkinland in Wizard of Oz! 

We DID  stop at a chain gas station called “SHEETZ” twice. They have a big take-out food operation inside, but both times we couldn’t bring ourselves to trust the quality of the burger/dogs/tacos they cooked, because of the name of the place. I wasn't going to load a bag of Sheetz in my truck, and Lynn feared having the Sheetz while driving. Hahahaha, I crack us up! Anyhow, Sheetz is apparently all over the place up here, it may happen yet. 

We made it to our campground  at Taughannock Falls State Park in time to hike out to see the Falls just before it got dark. Wow! I think it’s the tallest falls in the East, or something to that effect. We took Sheldon on our mini-hike, and he wasn't too happy being at the base of the Falls with all the noise and spray enveloping us. Again, recent rain in the region from Hurricane Florence  meant the Falls was carrying much more water than usual, so it was an impressive sight.

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy here too, so we have contingency plans: Explore Ithaca, Watkins Glen, and try to sneak in a kayak paddle on a nearby lake (Hey, this IS the Finger Lakes Region, there should be one handy). Sunny predictions for the following day, so maybe some hiking and biking? Hope so!  Negative Inertia is going to kill me on this trip: sitting while driving is OK if you can get out and move vigorously a lot when you arrive somewhere. Rainy weather hampers that regimen. Otherwise, this trip is going great, and we’re seeing good stuff! 

Not too many new pics today; because of the rain we couldn't see anything! However, here's the link to our pics if you'd like to see them: TRIP PICS ALBUM

1. Waynesville, NC to Shenandoah State Park, VA

Waynesville NC start trip

9-23-18 Today we start Lynn's carefully planned trip to explore some parts of New England we've never seen. What an itinerary: Shenandoah State Park, VA, then to the Finger lakes in New York, onward to (briefly) visit friends and relatives in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, then  a week in Acadia National Park, ME, some time in Salem and Wareham, MA, then drift back to Waynesville sometime in mid-October. 
We're loaded for anything there is to do: Paddling, hiking, biking, reading, exploring, visiting, driving, touristing, shopping...whatever it takes. Oh, and Sheldon is coming too, so there's dog stuff to take into account. This trip will be fun.

Shenandoah State Park, VA first camp destination

 First day out was mostly just driving 7 hours in pretty countryside. We took the highway up north and east of Asheville, ending up in the Shenandoah River valley at Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah State Park. We picked our own pretty campsite, nice and flat, dry and private.

 The Park is right on the river, and this area has received MUCH rain recently, from Hurricane Florence, plus the downflow of rivers up the mountains from here. Thus, the river was ROARING, high above its banks, brown water full of fast-moving debris. Good sense kept me from trying to kayak in this situation! We hiked some, but the trails were muddy and slippery, and it was still raining, so we decided to hit the area's most highly-touted tourist attraction, Luray Cavern. 

Luray Cavern is its own tourist entertainment center: huge cavern underground (of course), with restaurant, old car museum, toy museum, fudge and gift shops, etc. all built atop the cavern to rake in the tourist dough. We went for it, and loved the Cavern. We took a guided group tour, because the guide was reputed to be informative and funny. Our guy was a little of each. We learned Stalagtites hang from the ceiling (they hang on "TITE" to the top of the cavern), while Stalagmites grow up from the floor of the cavern ('cause they "MITE" grow up to the ceiling someday). The tour was long, lots of walking on dark paths with railings, with impressive sights of all kinds of ancient rock formations formed from water action and chemical reaction. We learned that it's almost impossible to take a good photo of this stuff with a phone camera... so mostly we just looked and listened and enjoyed the uniqueness of the place. Go see it if you get a chance!

After the Cavern, we ate at their restaurant (expensive & barely adequate), and ran for the door before we succumbed to the gift shop or the fudgery. We decided to drive up the mountains to explore the world-famous Skyline Drive, which takes in the entire length of Shenandoah NATIONAL Park (different Park from where we are camped). Wonderful fun twisty drive UP the mountains to get to the park. We gained admission to the Park for FREE with our "Geezer" pass (a card which gives you free admission to all National Parks if you are old and have purchased the card in advance), and drove about 5 miles on Skyline Drive to a "scenic overlook"... here's what THAT looked like on this rainy day. 

Sooooo...there was NOT going to be any pretty driving scenery atop the mountains today! That was enough Skyline Driving for us, so we drove carefully back down the mountain & looked for other sights. Our campground, Shenandoah STATE Park, has a place called "Cullen Overlook" which is touted as the perfect place to watch sunsets. We checked it out in the rain, and were surprised by the beautiful scene it overlooks. A huge oxbow area of the Shenandoah River is spread out below you, enclosing a lush forest mixture of forest and meadows with the mountains arrayed behind that. We loved it! 

We're back now, with Lynn ready to cook supper. We're heading out tomorrow, driving to the Finger Lakes a little early, hoping for better weather and a safe place to kayak paddle. Thanks for reading this stuff! 

Here is a link to more photos of this trip, if you'd like to see them: 
LINK to NewEnglandTrip photos