End of the shortcut...

Before leaving Natchez we took a quick driving tour to peek at the mansions in the daylight. Very, very beautiful. One of the old Mississippi paddle boats, the American Queen, was parked at the dock - another thing that might be fun to take at some point in our lives. (It's probably a toss up which is cheaper - taking the boat or filling the gas tank on Rambo!)

And then we were off heading west once again on our "shortcut" to Florida as my mother in Texas says. To tell you the truth the scenery doesn't give one much to write home about and one doesn't even want to think about the traffic around Dallas/Fort Worth or those "peculiar" noises Rambo decided to start making. And with poor radio reception and a "missing" MP3 player with lots of books on tape to listen to (it has now been found - in John's coat pocket hanging on the hook in NY - and is on it's way to Texas thanks to the US mail & Jeff!) - anyway with not much else to do we think of food and look for interesting places to eat.

Saturday we had lunch at Twinkles (the name itself should have warned us off!). Sunday it was lunch at Squealer's (need I say more?). Yesterday it was lunch at the New Cafe of Waslow (established in 1928 - when does it become old?). One thing Jane & Michael Stern don't seem to mention in their road food books is that "home cookin'" doesn't necessarily mean "from scratch" these days. Many times it's the creative use of canned goods put together with care in the kitchen. However, they're always interesting and they aren't franchises.

The Texas tourism guide is, hands down, the best guide any state has to offer. Almost every town in the state is listed along with a bit of history and what there is to see and do. These tidbits I relate to John as we tour along. John was anxious to get to our final destination so we didn't take any side trips, but I do want to go to Eastland sometime. Eastland is the home of "Old Rip", the horned toad. Apparently (and the guide says it's true so it must be true...) when they built their courthouse in 1897 they sealed a live horned toad into the cornerstone (nice folks...). In 1928 they decided to build a new courthouse but wanted to use the same cornerstone. Wouldn't you know it? That old horned toad was still alive! So they took him on a national tour where he caught pneumonia and died a year later. However, they put him in a little glass casket and he's on display in the courthouse. Now wouldn't you want to make a stop too?

But we and Rambo (complete with an ever increasing volume of noise) were on to Brady where we made it safely last night (and where we know we can get "from scratch" good home cooking!) Stay tuned...

Mississippi...

First, another note about yesterday... I forgot to mention that near Dahlonega is the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi (although I cannot personnally attest to this since it was raining so hard we didn't want to go looking for it). The other bit of info... the start of the Appalachian Trail is near there. Again, the rain kept us away. However, we DID get plenty of "hiking" last night in Douglasville. John thought it might be a good time to find a replacement for his glass French coffee press that got "separated" into several pieces during the "relocation" part of the drive to Vicki & George's. Sounds easy enough except John had remembered he'd only spent $20 for his (he conveniently forgot it was also on closeout sale) so insisted we keep looking until we found one that was comparable in price. Two malls and at least nine stores later... (I was about ready to send out a call for one of you to please ship him one and I'd reimburse you on the sly!)

I apologize to Alabama (especially to the northern part that's very beautiful) for having breezed right through today. George had recommended we drive part of the Natchez Trace that runs between Nashville & (you guessed it) Natchez and we wanted to get there while we still had daylight. (We started the parkway drive in Jackson, MS.) For those of you who aren't familiar with the Natchez Trace, it was first used by Native Americans as they moved from the north to the south and back. Later, the trail was used by boatmen who took boats down to Natchez, sold them, and walked back to their homes in the north. Some walked for six months or more. Now the National Park Service maintains it as a scenic parkway. There are numerous points of historical interest along the way and several places where you can still see and/or walk the trail (including the section in the photo). We could have camped there (for free this time of year) but it was a brisk day, they had no hookups (electric or water) and the back of the van is at the moment not much neater than the rooms of some teenagers. But the real truth was, the thought of a real bed in a warm room with running water and a shower was worth the price (even John didn't complain).

Tonight we're in Natchez. For being the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi and as wealthy as NYC at one time, it's much smaller than we expected. We didn't make reservations at the historic hotel downtown because they didn't mention parking in their ad and we assumed Rambo would be a problem. Next time we'll know better, get a room there and stay a couple of days. Turns out parking would NOT have been a problem plus the hotel is right in the middle of the city. Everywhere is walkable from there with lots of interesting shops and many, many historical buildings. Perhaps next trip.

Tomorrow? Still heading west...

A "Dah" Day....

Waving goodbye to Vicki & George we headed south, well below the ice storm coming. It was only then, when driving was a bit more leisurely, that I thought to ask John what he thought those Methodists shouted through their bull horns. He "politely" educated me that folks in the 1800's didn't have access to electronic bull horns (DAH!) but rather just blew through horns from bulls like a horn. Now why on earth would they think that sounded better than church bells?!

Zipping out of North Carolina, through South Carolina, we arrived in no time at the Welcome station in Georgia where we picked up some tourist info to help in our search for lunch. Back on the road, I began reading about this little town of Dahlonega. It was 5o miles off the main road, but suddenly it occurred to me that we were no longer racing to get away from the ice storm (DAH!), so why not take a side trip?

If you are like us, you may not have realized that Dahlonega was the site of the first gold rush in the US in the early 1800's. In fact they mined so much gold they even put one of the US mints there. It was abandoned during the Civil War (no surprise there...). Even though some gold is still mined there today, their major gold digging appears to be from tourists. All the shops in their very pretty downtown have now been redone into quaint little shops for tourists. John & I aren't much into shopping, opting to go through their gold museum instead - not a whole lot on display but what they had was interesting (and their movie gave John a chance for a brief nap).

But the real reason (other than lunch which was nothing to write home about) I wanted to come to Dahlonega was to go to the "Funky Chicken Art Project" described as art in an old chicken coup. It was about 10 miles out of town. Some interesting garden type art but with prices waaaaay above my price point.

So it was on to Atlanta - we brought them driving rain which I'm sure they were only too happy to have. (Rambo & I were less than enthusiastic! - we haven't dared look in the back for leaks yet...) Past Atlanta, we're now in Douglasville, GA. Who knows what today will bring? (DAH!)

And we're off....

4:30 a.m. - kitty alarm goes off (deaf cats are like deaf people - the deafer they get the louder they talk... plus we have a cat who feels the need to relate how every morsel of his "Dad's Gourmet Cat Food" tasted.) At any rate, we were up dressed, breakfasted, showered (not necessarily in that order but at that time of morning who knows for sure?), last minute furnace repair, Rambo started (amazing!) and made it out of the garage, the truck unstuck from where it had frozen in the driveway and put in the garage. At 5:30 (A.M.!) we're ready to go. I think even the road crew who were doing their early morning snow plowing and sanding were amazed. We must admit it was rather touch and go whether or not Rambo would actually make it up our little road (even the road crew waited at the top of the road to see if we made it) but finally all cylinders clicked in and we were off.

On to points south. The roads were clear. Once it got light enough to see (Pennsylvania by that time) the surrounding area looked beautiful with snow. Then, further south, ice on trees. And further south SUN, SUN, SUN!!! We stopped for lunch in Martinsburg, WV, a lovely little city. We had obviously arrived in the south where fried catfish, green beans with ham & onions & even lima beans appear on your plate. Next trip to NC I'd like to stay a night here (my butt seems to think a 15 hour drive is too much to do in a day). Martinsburg has lots of historic buildings including an old Methodist church (now used as an office building) built in the 1700's without a bell tower. Turned out they didn't believe in the noise bells made so used a bull horn instead to call folks to workship. (Any suggestions on what exactly they might have called? The brochure didn't say.)

Driving on, Rambo was happier by the moment and rolled over 250,000 miles. Just as we were within 40 miles of where we take the interstate south the sign that says "If the yellow lights are flashing, tune to 1620 am" was doing just that - flashing. Now the thing about Rambo's radio is that the dial doesn't light so it's impossible to tell what frequency you're on not to mention it doesn't get very good reception (and in this case 1620 was not to be found). The emergency windup radio was way out of reach somewhere in the back. And the new little MP3 player we recorded books on to listen to on the the trip that also has a radio has gone "missing" (don't ask). Soooooo... 10 miles later we run into miles of bumper to bumper traffic almost stopped. Luckily we were at a exit which we quick took. Hauling out the map and consulting with Miss Garmin (our GPS unit) we headed across country to pick up the interstate further south. It was a beautiful little (as in LITTLE) road, very windy (as in WINDY - hairpin turns etc), and up (as in UP), up, up. The way Rambo had been packed (as in hurriedly) things were very secure on the smooth interstate. However, on this road a lot of items (which will go unnamed), decided to relocate themselves - some multiple times. (John has already spent time this morning picking up bits of broken glass and putting things back into more secure locations.)

But, finally we got to George & Vicki's who welcomed us with open arms and martini's. Only rain predicted for today for points south. Atlanta here we come!

Here Piggy, Piggy...

Thanks to a friend, a friendly pig sculpture "protects" our parsley bed. He does look rather cute peeking out of the snow. That was yesterday and oh what a difference a day makes. Today that little pig is no where to be seen - he's hiding out under another foot of snow.

I like snow. I also like not having to deal with snow. And John REALLY likes not having to deal with snow especially when he goes out to start the snow blower and finds the front tire on the tractor (to which the snow blower is attached) flat. (It's had a slooooow leak for several months but husbands do not always listen to their wives about getting things fixed...) Thanks to a portable compressor (and a few choice thoughts, I'm sure) the tire now has air (for a day or two) and the snow has been blown away from the driveway and walkway.

While the radio was merrily playing "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", John & I were merrily packing up rusty old Rambo in preparation for going south tomorrow (no snow, short sleeves... you get the picture). In addition to seeing my Mom & sister & brother-in-law & nephew & his wife & who knows how many other crazy Texans, we'll be going over to Florida for another Habitat build. This one starts on Dec. 30th so one wonders what we'll be doing for New Year's Eve. Sleeping the night away after a hard day's work? Uncorking champagne bottles with our hammers? Will Rambo even make it there? Ah, the suspense...

Keep checking the blog. I'm refreshed, renewed and ready to keep you updated (if you're interested) in the amazing un-adventures of two ordinary folks.

November....

Do hope you voted on Tuesday. If your election workers were like us, they worked polls from 5:30 AM!!! until 9:30 PM!!! (and that doesn't count the 20 minutes our group waited in the cold for the custodian with the keys who overslept). We appreciated every single one of you who exercised your right to vote.

This year our local voting place was moved from the old schoolhouse (NOT handicapped accessible) to the church next door (IS accessible). I guess "separation of church and state" does not apply when it comes to voting. Dick, who has been our precinct chairperson for years, felt very comfortable with being "king for the day".



November usually brings snow to upstate NY (actually we had much more than shown but I neglected to take a photo).

Now... about that "notch" in the roof and that pile of stone rubble. Over 20 years ago when we were younger and less wise, we built a beautiful stone chimney (the younger part) without much - okay any - footing (the less wise part). And it all came tumbling down this fall when we had the building pulled into into a more upright position. "Our" plan is to have John clear away all the stone, then we'll figure out how to rebuild it - something to think this winter as we look out the kitchen window.

Plans are in the works to put leaky old Rambo back on the road the middle of December. It's a toss up whether or not John will repair the leak/s before we leave. While you & I are waiting anxiously to find out (perhaps me more than you), I'll be taking a "blog vacation". Have a good Thanksgiving and, if you're not too busy, join us December 17th for the beginning of another adventure.

Art...

Colgate University this past week featured the outdoor art installation of NY artist Willoughby Sharp. This one, called "Ice" is being contemplated by Seattle artist Wynn & NY attorney Bridge. If they look like blocks of ice (the installation not W & B), they are. If they look like tombstones, you're right (could Halloween have anything to do with the likeness choice?) And, yes, they're melting. Things begin, things end................
The other installation, "Air", I was too late to photograph. It was a 6 foot weather balloon anchored in the small lake on campus. It, too, was supposed to dissipate although I think that happened rather more quickly than the artist might have intended. It was VERY windy the day it was installed so was whipped every which way on the lake. The next morning it was gone. No one seems to know what happened to it - perhaps Mother Nature took it away (or sank it) or perhaps some party loving individuals might have decided it "acquire" it. Unfortunately few locals recognized it as "art". The word being circulated around Hamilton is it was Colgate's latest effort to keep the geese out of the lake. It did work for that.
Lest you think "art" was strictly confined to campus, penguins were emerging on the home front. Wynn & Bridge helped paint the black part of their little walnut bodies (that's the part which you, of course, do NOT see in this photo). These and other items will be for sale at our local Hospital Auxiliary sale on Dec. 1. If you can't come to ours, plan to attend one in your area in support of your hospital. These little guys are cute but they are very time consuming to make. If their price were based on a decent hourly wage, rather than NO wage, you could expect to pay at least $15 each for them. If you're interested in a bargain, come to our sale!!!

Westward Ho!

Wow! Is that the Grand Canyon? Sure is, the Grand Canyon of the East that is - located in Letchworth State Park in the western part of NYS. Also in the park is this falls, beautiful but slightly smaller than Niagara Falls a few miles to its north.
While we did enjoy an afternoon in the park, our real goal was to visit our friend Pat and her family in Buffalo. Other than "just passing through" on the highway, we had never been to Buffalo. Buffalo has GREAT food including Buffalo chicken wings (have they made it to your area yet?). The other local food is "beef on weck" which is thin slices of roast beef served on a kummelweck roll with pan drippings and LOTS of horseradish. Schwabl's has been serving them since time began or almost anyway. Schwabl's also has great German food so it's a really good thing for John's waistband that we live so far away. If it hadn't been for Pat's daughter Fai cooking us a fantastic dinner for later in the day, I'm sure John would have ordered one of everything for take-out.
But there are other things to do in the Buffalo area besides eat... If you saw the blog this spring, we visited Millard Fillmore's birthplace. (Our 13th President & the only one born in NYS.) In East Aurora is the house he & his wife lived in when he first became a lawyer (a starter home). At the end of his life (let's hope anyway) he was buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. The cemetery also has other notables including Carrier who invented air conditioning and Southwick the dentist who is given credit for the electric chair (yuk!). On the subject of dying... if you're in Buffalo and feel you've expired but aren't sure, perhaps they'll take you to the Amigone Funeral Home or if you're sure you've expired you can be taken to the Bury Funeral Home.
Back with the living, the Basilica in Lackawanna (a suburb) is incredibly beautiful and well worth a visit. According to the brochure there are between 1500 and 2500 angels in the cathedral (can't believe someone hasn't come up with a closer number). Father Baker, whose idea it was to build it in the 20's, wanted you to be able to see an angel no matter where you were in the building.
In downtown Buffalo there are lots of interesting buildings (unfortunately the driving tour given on the city web site sounds good but is absolutely impossible to follow). However, we did manage to find the old post office (the eagle was both quarried & carved on Vinalhaven Island, ME). The last photo is the 1906 Calumet Building. Those smudges on the photo are hail stones (Buffalo is never far from winter!).
So the next time you're in western NY, take time to visit Buffalo. While it's lost half its population with the closing of industry, things now appear to be on the upswing and there are lots of interesting things to see and do plus the food is terrific!

It's apple pickin' time in NYS

Rather than going anywhere this past week (the weather here was just too beautiful to leave!!!), friends came to us. An apple fairy must have visited our trees this spring because, even though the trees had very few blossoms, they are loaded with apples.
Sydney (the first gal on the ladder) and Bailey (the second gal on the ladder) had never made apple cider before. So, just in case you never have either, they're going to show you how it's done.
First you pick the apples (dah!), then put them in a garbage can filled with water to wash them (did dunking for apples get started this way?). Throw the apples in the hopper while John (his arm was about ready to fall off when we finished) turns the wheel to chop them into little pieces. Smooth the apples pieces out (almost as good as making mud pies), put the top over the apple mush, and turn the crank to squeeze out the juice. Then, of course, you have to taste it to make sure it's just right. And, if you're really lucky, your grandma (Melody) takes you for a ride in the little red apple wagon.
Later in the day when the grownups come to make cider, a wee bit of wine somehow makes the cranking a whole lot easier (that's Pamme hiding behind the crank). Beware though, this close to Halloween, it just might turn you into a very scary beast! (Actually, that's ugly dog Ed who doesn't like either cider or wine - go figure!)

Earlville State Forest

See the sign but where's the forest? It's actually behind the camera but this view is not to be missed either.
So why a trip to a forest? Well, it's been a bit rainy and a bit chilly which are actually pretty good conditions for collecting edible fall mushrooms. So I called Sally, my friend who's an expert (although she would deny it) on the subject, and we went on a foray to the state forest. Actually the forest is just one hill over from where I live but there's this little problem of some VERY curious beef cows who live in the pasture in between so, rather than walking, we drove.
The road through the forest is beautiful anytime of year but it's particularly beautiful in the winter with snow and makes a great cross country ski trail. The cows have gone to the barn by then (or perhaps to the market or your dinner plate) so if you are game for a fairly exciting downhill run (and a fairly strenuous uphill climb on the way back), you can ski from our house over there.
But... back to mushrooming. We found LOTS and LOTS of different kinds. It is amazing how one can walk along and not see any. But if you stop and really take the time to look hard you can usually spot some.
By now you're probably imagining all the wonderful mushrooms we're having for supper. Well, the sad news was that none of those we found in the forest were edible. However, all was not not lost as we stopped by Craine Lake where we knew there should be shaggy manes growing. The picture is our total harvest which Sally was generous enough to let me have. The little white thing next to my reading glasses is the mushroom in case you didn't spot it. Now to figure out how to share with John....

St. Lawrence Seaway...

In case you've not been following the weather in the North American mid-west, rainfall is way below normal affecting the water levels in the Great Lakes and, thus, the St. Lawrence. This past weekend was the traditional "end of the season" closeup for the camps in the Thousand Islands, not to mention it was Canadian Thanksgiving - always a reason to get together with friends for good food and conversation! And it was WARM!!! (as opposed to the times we've helped close up camp when snow was in the air). John & Terry hoped to get in one last (also the second but last sounds better) sail of the season. The photo is of their dock (the original point of this paragraph). The water level is so low there you can walk across to the other side. Need I say more about sailing?
Warm weather, however, still encouraged porch sitting with the neighbors. Other contributing factors may have been WAYYYYYYYY too fun at Canadian T-Day the day before, Connie & John on the swing already had coffee made, and there was a LOT of stuff to store and clean out in preparation for closing up camp. Staying at camp any longer is NOT advised as everyone who's leaving feels free to bring you everything that's left in their refrigerators.
Luckily the camps are small and there were six of us so battening down the hatches for winter didn't take long. In fact, our friend Terry, his aunt Doris (can you believe she's 93?!!) and his cousins Carol and Susan were still smiling when we were finished.
And the last photo? If my mushroom identifier is right, it's called Witches Butter and was growing in Terry's yard. It was probably about 8 inches in diameter and got oranger (and bigger!) every day we were there.

Excuses & Sackets Harbor...

Fall, beautiful weather, too many days away from home, too many fall chores to get done, laziness... never enough time to do everything so this blog ended up at the bottom of the heap. My apologies for not posting an "out of time, be back later" notice.

Frost has not yet come to this part of NY so this flower bed is happily awaiting "leveling" to later in the month although I did "reposition" those rocks on the left in preparation for downsizing next spring. Too much travel + too many flower beds + too little time = chaos!

Down at Craine Lake in Earlville our friends, Judi & Scott, are wondering where their summer cottage went. Gone forever... but soon to be replaced by a new (except for the part wall on the right that allows them to build again on the site - don't you love code regulations?!) year-round home. Geese are flying everywhere right now, especially at the lake, so it's amazing there aren't any in this photo.

But enough local stuff and on to... Italy? Nope! If you can believe it, it's an outdoor restaurant in Sackets Harbor, a beautiful little village on the east coast of Lake Ontario.

It has a wonderful protected harbor that the US Navy used as a major shipyard and its headquarters for the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. Today the barracks have been "redone" into very nice private housing. And of course the harbor is filled with sailboats instead of military vessels. As the courtyard and harbor suggest this area is definitely "protected". For some reason the winds from the lake sweep up over the village carrying the "snow that's measured in feet" to the Tug Hill area to the east and Oswego to the south. Locals told us that in the winter they always call ahead to Watertown for weather conditions, only 8 miles to the east, before venturing out.

Continuing north and east along the Seaway Trail you can find the Chaumont Barrens Preserve (if you're REALLY dedicated). And even then, you definitely need to read up on what exactly alvar is (we didn't have a clue and the sign was NO help). The internet tells all though, so if you're interested... http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/preserves/art11823.html

Tillie's Back!

Tillie the VW has been on the road again adding Massachusetts and Maine to her state map and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Bridge said she ran like a top most of the way refusing to start only one time. Even then she was only half a block from the best VW mechanic in Nova Scotia and the repair was minor. (Tillie must be Irish with the luck she has had in choices of places to break down.)

At any rate we met up with Bridge in Tillie on Vinalhaven, Maine unloading from the ferry. I love the new sign that's appeared in the ferry loading area - am not sure if it refers to people or cars...

Photo 3 is Bridge in the ocean in front of the cabin where we were staying(cold as in brrrrrrrrrrrr is the only way to describe the water in that part of Maine!) Bridge was feeling a pit drowsy before he went in but was awake for hours after that little dip so I guess it did what it was supposed to.

Photo 4 is at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. You are seeing the backsides of 4 of the 8 mule hitch (take my word - it is NOT easy to take a photo of 8 mules all at once let alone hitch them up and get them to go anywhere).

Photo 5 is the "Philadelphia" at dock at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum - a wonderful little museum on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain especially if you're interested in history and sunken ships.

Taking the ferry across the Lake Champlain we headed to Tupper Lake, NY for a stop at the new Natural History Museum (also called the Wild Center). We can't say enough good things about it. A beautiful facility and it's only going to get better. It's a MUST SEE the next time you're anywhere close. The bridge goes across the "pond" - don't you love the stick railing? It looks so easy but I'm sure it's not.

Further down the road at the end of Long Lake you can enjoy the air both on the ground and in the air or do as we did and have lunch while you watch the planes take off and land on the lake. The trees are not quite in full color yet, but pretty nonetheless.

And lest you think this trip was all fun and no work, that's John on the tractor & our friend Karol moving BIG rocks around to rebuild a terrace in front of the house in Vinalhaven. Thank heavens for big machinery/toys. Years ago when the terraces were built they probably used men, rollers and perhaps a horse. (Of course those men were probably also younger and knew what they were doing!) Even so, our modern day guys did a pretty decent job.

Poolville

Poolville is one of those "destination" communities... you just don't pass through it on the way to anywhere. One needs to know it's there and hope the GPS can find it.

Admittedly there's not much in Poolville except for some beautiful old homes and a great little restaurant. It's so small in fact that I couldn't even find a population for it. Getting there from our direction is always fun as you get to pass the neighborhood goat commune - lots of little kids around. I'm not sure who's watching who in this photo...

Just on the outskirts of Poolville is the "Poolville Rural Cementary" (I always wonder where the city cementary is when I read that sign.) It's very old with headstones dating back to the early 1800's. And to leave no doubt in your mind that it is rural, that's corn being grown in the field along side.

Poolville is also home to a little known but very popular art gallery. In fact the number of folks it attracts would make many galleries very envious. If you're in the area please note it has "unusual" hours - Wed. & Sat. only from 7:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Some galleries serve refreshments to attract visitors. This gallery works the other way - it takes your garbage... We try to visit at least a couple of days a month. Care to join us?

Family Fun Day...

Well we didn't stray far this week (a turn of the season cold pretty much wiped me out for any travel.) However...
This afternoon was another of our town's planned bicentennial events - Family Fun Day. After many days of hot dry weather, it of course rained most of the day. Our residents should work for the postal service - rain, snow - some of us still manage to turn out.
Most of the kids had never played any of the old-fashioned games. The sack race (can you believe we actually had to make our own burlap sacks?! - the feed companies use plastic or paper these days) was as much fun as always even if we did have to limit it to three at a time (we ran out of burlap for bags!)
Then there was the "hollerin'" contest but we could only get six kids to give it a try and two of them wouldn't do it unless no one looked at them (am sure that doesn't stop them at home!) Surprise, surprise! The shyest one had the loudest scream going (somehow the kids didn't quite understand the difference between hollerin' & screaming but no one was going to argue. Not to mention the adults were all too shy to compete themselves...)
The pie eating contest - (personally I find eating contests disgusting but I was outvoted.) For a bit of history it was called the "William Bulkley Pie Eating Contest". Now you may think I'm trying to associate "BULKley" with eating but in fact he was the person who developed the Chenango Strawberry Apple in our township. And the pies were, of course, apple.
For a little more exercise in the rain there was the spoon race where you had to race balancing a raw egg in a spoon (the wimpy adults including myself are all under the eaves of the roof watching.)
But the most popular game of the afternoon proved to be the good old fashioned egg toss. On wet grass it was pretty unbelievable how far a raw egg could bounce without breaking. Eventually we had a winner. Then the kids wanted to play again & again until all the eggs were broken. The rain did come in handy after all....

The GREAT New York State Fair!

The end of August in upstate wouldn't be complete without a trip to the New York State Fair (at least once every 4 or 5 years). As always there was lots to see and do...

The sand sculpture is a good place to start (if only because you can look at it while you enjoy your baked potato with all the fixin's - still only $1). Then there was angora rabbit shearing in the poultry barn (it also houses the rabbits). It's also where they have the "Crowing contest". I fully expected to see/hear folks imitating roosters but, I guess when you've got the real thing on site, that's not necessary. Instead they put the "contestants" in cages where they have 15 minutes to crow. The most crows wins (we didn't stay...). For some chickens it was a "bad hair day". Tom looked like he was dreading November. The goose was huge - probably mean too. Back at the rabbit shearing - all that fur came off that rabbit! If your cholesterol is low, a trip to the fair is a good way to raise it a notch or two. You can get anything fried...

There was a woodworking demo going on outside the ag museum by the guy with the beard which John said was great. I went inside and talked to "Bob". Lunchtime for the piglets. (We did try to find Norm, our neighbor and the world's largest pig, but am not sure where they put him that day...) Lunchtime for the triplets (goats) and shearing time for the sheep (it was a HOT day!). Are those seals so did someone just do a bad job of shearing? Meanwhile in the dairy barn cleanup chores are going on while the butter sculpture stayed cool in the dairy products building (it's still possible to get a glass of milk there for a quarter). Back at the museum the demo is going on once again.

A lot of walking but a fun day!

Tillie did NOT take us to the fair (but we did go on a yellow school bus). Tillie has instead gone off on another adventure. From right to left we have John, Bridge, James, Emily (the dog is Roscoe). Bridge (who is the true owner of Tillie) came to take her on a three week adventure to Maine and Nova Scotia. John is pointing to the states of Massachusetts and Maine that Bridge will add to Tillie's window collection. Last word was they had made it to Bar Harbor with no problems (much to John's relief - he felt like he was sending his kid off to school!)

Canastota

So what do you think of when you hear the name Canastota? If your spelling and pronunciation is as bad as mine, wagons might come to mind. Now, lest you might think me too off base, Canastota did manufacture wagons, it's just that they were of the "dumping wagon" variety and not the conestoga wagons that went west.

These days Canastota is probably best known for the Boxing Hall of Fame. Is that where we went? No way - not even for the sake of this blog. Instead we went to our friend Don's 70th birthday party. (In spite of the fact that I couldn't get him to smile for the camera, he really is a happy fellow). His mother on the right said 70 years ago was "the worst day of her life" (she'd been in labor for 3 days). She, too, is a happy person who doesn't smile much for the camera. (She must be a bit older than 39...).

So what else is there to do in the area? Well, a couple miles south is Oxbow Falls County Park. Supposedly there are 3 waterfalls but exactly where they are is a little questionable - we didn't find them - perhaps spring is a better time to go. According to the sign, "the park is the northern (we thought they must have meant western) edge of the Helderberg Escarpment" formed 400 - 350 million years ago. Although the cliffs are overgrown in most places there are a couple of places you can look over Oneida Lake and the "plain" around it. (But.... can you believe everything you read? I did a search on Helderberg Escarpment and the only reference I could find had the entirety of it located in Albany County. Oxbow Falls seems instead to be part of the Appalachian Plateaus which extend from south of Rochester TO the Helderberg Escarpment south of Albany. These plateaus continue to rise to the south eventually forming the Catskill Mountains. But can you believe everything you read on the internet either?)

Continuing on a bit further south toward Fenner you come to the site of the 1615 Champlain Battle. It was here that Samuel de Champlain attacked the Oneidas, one of the six Iroquois Nations. He was unsuccessful. According to the sign... the attack turned the Iroquois Nation against the French. Over the next 100 years the Iroquois always sided with the English in battles against the French. Thus, it was "the most decisive battle in American history for it was here that the question of whether America north of the Rio Grande was to become an English or French territory was thus decided". (If you want to read other opinions, go searching.) All I know for sure is, this blog is written in English, not French, s'il vous plait...

Gilbertsville

What does one do when it's August but it's overcast and the temp is in the 50's? Well, I took the weatherman at his (a woman would NOT have made this forecast) word, did a load of laundry, hung it on the line, then headed off to the beautiful village of Gilbertsville for lunch with friends. Nick (photo center) & his wife Abbey (almost off the photo at the left) are the proud parents of twins who were off sleeping in some corner of this house that their great great grandparents owned and that is still in the family. It is lovely as are so many of the homes in Gilbertsville. It's been years since John and I had driven around the village but the old homes are still as beautiful as we remembered - a beautiful village to go walking.
Next "door" is another house and farm that's also been in Nick's family for several generations. The stone building Nick is standing next to is the oldest surviving "milk house" in Otsego County. It's been a LOT of years since it was used for that purpose.
Both properties look down the Butternut Valley and Butternut Creek. If you're a fan of "The Leatherstocking Tales" by James Fenimore Cooper, this is where Natty Bumppo shot arrows across the creek (or something like that...)
Can you guess what you're looking at in this last photo? It is right on the edge of Gilbertsville and was in the 1970's & 80's the world's best polo field. It's the Pete Boshwick Field (the sign is still up) and the owner still keeps it mowed and ready to go (and I thought I was an optimist!). Those little dots in the distance are horses - polo ponies I'm sure. So if you can put together a polo team this might just be the place to have a match.
Back home, the clothes are now "dripping" and we're considering building a fire in the stove. It IS August in upstate NY after all!

Sink? Swim? Sail? Regatta?

But first a bit of history...
A few years ago John saw an ad for a "free" Comet sailboat in Maryland. (Beware those ads that say "free"!) Then a harrowing (to my way of thinking) trip back to NY (rotten parts kept flying off - John took a friend. I stayed home and did fun things). Since then, John's spent many many hours (and $$) repairing it. If you think you can see the floor through the top of the boat in the photo, you're right (not to mention that's the bottom, not the top). It needed just "a little bit" of work.

In the meantime our friend Terry bought another old Comet - both boats were built in the 1930's (it actually HAD a bottom AND a top) for John to work on (guess he thought John would never get his back together). After a bunch of work and a quick sink to the bottom at the dock upon launching, it actually has been sailable the past couple of years.

This year both boats, (John's is named "Have", Terry's "Have Not"), were sailable - hence the regatta. One small problem, there is only ONE set of sails. However, since "Have" had never been in the water, it was questionable whether or not a second set of sails would, in fact, be needed...

This past weekend was the BIG launch on the St. Lawrence...
Photo 1 - John making sure the sails actually fit and work before he launches it.
2 - "Have" is backed into the water for the official launching.
3 - What is that bubbling stuff coming into the bottom of the boat? Surely not water?! (Turns out "somehow" a little round hole was letting water in.) Rather than letting it sink, they pulled the boat out, plugged the hole with a twig, and filled the boat with water overnight just to make sure the wood swelled enough to take care of any other small leaks.
4 -Male river muses...
5 - Day 2 - The mast and sails go up before Have is launched (a bit unusual but, hey, I'm only the photographer...)
6 - Have floats!!! And sails!!!
7 - And tows nicely!!! (Due to a "small" lack of knowledge regarding water depth on the other side of the bay, the centerboard started plowing bottom and more or less got stuck.)
8 - However, John & co-captain Leigh soon have their bearings and sea legs.
9 - They even get a bit adventurous (Are you thinking I must have a super telephoto lens on my camera? Let's just say it helps to be in the motor boat that stayed close just in case...)

Today? Perhaps a final sail before leaving Thousand Island Park... Then I'm sure the search will be on for that second set of sails!!!

The Mighty Hudson...

Surprise! The blog is early for a change. Instead of Tillie Tours, we joined the Waterville Travelers Club for a trip in Tillie's BIG "Uncle George" and headed for a luncheon cruise on the Hudson River around Albany.

The building with all the red turrets is the New York State capital. "No dome?" you say. The story goes that a dome was in the original plans. However, the rise (they call it a hill but I think that's stretching it a bit) it was being built on proved to be "unstable"... in other words the more they built the more they thought it might "slip" off the hill. So instead of adding the planned heavy dome, they opted instead for a skylight. (I might also add they were waaaaaaaay over budget, not that that ever has anything to do with spending public dollars.)

I sometimes forget Albany is a port city (it always seems too far inland for that) but the channel in the Hudson is 32 feet deep from NYC to Albany and over 200 BIG ocean-going ships load and unload there every year. What you're looking at on the docks in the photo are the parts to wind generators that are going up all over NY State. Just this summer we're able to see 19 more down the valley from us. Clean, renewable energy - we love it!

Further down the river we spotted a bald eagle, saw lots of beautiful cottages including two new Habitat for Humanities built homes, etc. The "cruise" was a relaxing thing to do on a hot summer day. Then it was on to the State Museum. GREAT exhibit, very moving, on the World Trade Center; another on the city of NY. There were LOTS of other exhibits but ninety minutes is just not long enough to see it all. By the way and wonder of wonders, NYS charges no admission...

On the way home we stopped at Johnson Hall (it's in Johnstown). When you think of plantations and slaves, upstate NY probably does NOT come to mind. However, NY did have a few including this one. Sir William Johnson was an interesting fellow (I'll leave it up to you to read in detail about him). However, he had a great interest in Native Americans (his second and third wives were both Native American - and in case you're wondering he only had one wife at a time) and was Supt. of Indian Affairs for the British in the 1760's.

Stay tuned - the next blog will be on sink or sail weekend... It's a 50/50 chance which way it will turn out.