Letchworth State Park (NY) August 30, 2011

Sunday, we reluctantly left Four Mile Creek State Campsite and drove a short 85 miles to Gainesville, NY.  Fortunately, Hurricane Irene stayed east of us other than some gusty winds.  We got all set up at Woodstream Campground with 50 Amp and full hook-ups (time to do laundry after our state park stay).  The campground, while a bit pricey and extra charges for just about everything, is a pleasant setting with a trout-stocked creek running through the middle of the park.

Cool mornings and pleasant days allowed us to open windows and not use the air conditioners (there is an extra daily charge for use of ac).

Yesterday (Tuesday) we set out to explore Letchworth State Park which claims to be the Grand Canyon of the East.  We started our driving tour at the Mt. Morris entrance with our first stop at the Mt. Morris Dam Overlook.  At this time of the year, the dam is dry which for us mid-westerners was odd.  It turns out that the dam is not a hydro-electric facility but was built for flood control.  The gates are open to control the winter runoff and spring rains from flooding upriver all the way to Rochester, NY.

From there we continued to an area of the Genesee River that is called Hogsback because of the shape that looks like the back of a hog.

Further on and after stopping at many overlooks, we arrived at the overlooks for Big Bend.  At this point the river takes about a 270 degree turn and the views are absolutely breathtaking.  We saw a group that were kayaking in spite of the low water levels.

The tiny red dots are the kayaks.

One of the highlights of Letchworth State Park is the series of water falls--Lower Falls, Middle Falls, and Upper Falls.

Lower Falls

Middle Falls

Upper Falls and Railroad Trestle

The park was originally part of the Seneca lands.  In 1859, William Pryor Letchworth acquired the first parcel of what was to become the 1,000 acre centerpiece of the long, narrow park.  His home is now the Glen Iris Inn which houses a restaurant and lodging overlooking the Middle Falls.

Tomorrow is another moving day with our destination in Pennsylvania.  We will be there through Labor Day weekend.

EASY LIVING!!

Sunset over Lake Ontario

While we were in the Niagara Falls area, we stayed at Four Mile Creek State Campsite on the shore of Lake Ontario.  While our site was completely in the open, the park was very nice and quiet.  The park flies both the American and Canadian flags--a lot of campers come from Canada because of the proximity to Ontario as well as the cost. 

The best part was the sunsets on Friday (August 26) and Saturday (August 27).  Each sunset was unique and surely God's creation!

Friday:

Saturday:

EASY LIVING!!

Old Fort Niagara (August 25, 2011)

Old Fort Niagara is located at the mouth of the Niagara River.  The history of the fort spans over three hundred years and was held by the French (1679-1759), the British, and the United States.  The British held the fort from 1759 throughout the American Revolution but yielded it to the United States in 1796.  The British recaptured it during the War of 1812 and ceded it again to the United States at the conclusion of the conflict.  As a result of the various ownership, the three national flags are flown daily above the parade ground.  In more recent history, Fort Niagara was a barracks and training station for American soldiers during both world wars.  Today, only the Coast Guard maintains a presence on the site.



Gate of the Five Nations (1756)--Named by the French in honor of the
 Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.



18-Pounder Battery (1840-72)

Casement Gallery (1872)--reinforced earthwork walls due to tensions with
British Canada during the Civil War.  Guns were never mounted.

Demonstration of cannon firing.

Cannon fired--LOUD!

The "French Castle" (1726)--oldest building of the Fort and also in the eastern interior of North America.  To calm the suspicions of the hostile Iroquois, the French designed it to resemble a large trading house.  In reality, it was a strong citadel capable of resisting Indian attacks.

Officer's Apartment

Commanding Officer's Apartment

This is your history lesson for the day!! :-)

EASY LIVING!

Niagara Falls, NY

 Yesterday, we got up early, took showers at the bathhouse, and headed out to find Niagara Falls attractions.  We purchased a discovery pass on-line which gave us admission to five different attractions.  The first one was the Maid of the Mist which is a boat ride down below the falls and is quite an experience.  We were given disposable ponchos to wear and it did protect most of our clothes.  The falls from this perspective were absolutely glorious:

During the most spectacular part of the boat ride, we had to keep the camera under cover because we DID get wet.

After the boat ride, we decided to go ahead and get wet some more at the Cave of the Winds attraction.  If we thought we were close to the falls on the Maid of the Mist, that was nothing!  On the Cave of the Winds walk, we were given yellow ponchos and sandals which make really neat shower shoes.  This was our opportunity to get up close and personal with the falls!

The specks that are yellow in this picture are standing in an area called Hurricane Deck very aptly named for the force of the wind and water.  I think Cave of the Winds was even more impressive than Maid of the Mist but both are the highlights of the park.  It is also interesting that Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States and draws visitors from all around the world.  We were on the Maid of the Mist with a Chinese tour group and also met some folks from Australia, a couple on their honeymoon from Italy, and several others who couldn't speak English.

To conclude our day, we rode the trolley around the park to the visitor's center where we were parked. 

The dogs were certainly glad to see us and we treated them to a car ride to find a gas station.  We ended up at Sam's Club in Niagara Falls and later took the truck to fill it up as well.  After supper, we headed out once more to find a PetSmart so we could get some canned food (Duke is reluctant to eat just dry food and we ran out of canned food while in Canada).  It is probably a good thing we had to go all the way to Buffalo because there is some road construction and we will have to detour when we leave on Sunday.  Always better to find out before Pat is towing the fifth wheel!  Storms woke us up during the night and once Abby settled down, we all went back to sleep.  

Thus ends another day in our adventures.

EASY LIVING!! 



London, Ontario and onward

Last Sunday, we left Michigan and headed across the border into Canada.  Our plans were to stop outside of London, Ontario for a couple of days before moving east.  On our one full day, we ventured into London to try to find the London Tree Trunks which are tree trunks that have been carved with chain saws and are positioned in various locations.  We only found two of them since we did not have a brochure to point us in the right direction.  One interesting facet of London was the number of people walking in the downtown and surrounding areas.  I guess with the price of gas at more than $5.00 a gallon, people walk instead of drive!  The two tree trunks that we did see are pictured here:

 

The one on the left is titled "Shining Brightly" and the other one is "CCH Crusader" in front of a Catholic school.  The artist for both is Robbin Wenzoski.

The campground where we were staying was not really very good with old electrical service.  We had thirty amp service but we kept blowing the circuit.  Even my hair dryer blew it.  I ended up doing laundry in the campground laundry because I was afraid I would get a load of wash partially completed and poof.  Thank goodness we have a built in surge protector!

On Tuesday morning, we left Golden Pond (campground) and headed east towards the United States.  It probably took us at least an hour and a half to cross the border.  Customs should have two agents at each lane so that one could do the questioning and the other could search the vehicle.  Of course, since the government doesn't have any money, I guess that idea would never work even though it might put some people back to work.  Anyways, both our vehicles and our RV were searched.  After that experience, we proceeded to Four Mile Creek State Campsite recommended by Linda and Howard Payne (www.RV-Dreams.typepad.com).  It is an extremely pleasant campground right on Lake Ontario and close to all the attractions around Niagara Falls.  See the next posting for pictures and impressions!

EASY LIVING!!

Last Day in the Thumb (Port Sanilac, MI)

This past week, we didn't really do much other than enjoy the weather.  Pat, an early riser, left the pups and me a couple of mornings to take pictures of the sunrise over Lake Huron.



Thursday evening, we ate dinner at Uri's Waterfront Dining and had a wonderful dinner with an equally wonderful setting overlooking the Port Sanilac Harbor.  We decided to eat out on Thursday because there was an Antique Boat Show scheduled for the weekend.  We thought it was to be held all day on Friday and Saturday, so we drove into town again on Friday.  Unfortunately, the show didn't actually start until Friday evening but we were able to see a few antique boats--please note the names of each:  Whiplash, Tendonitis, and Timbertoe.

 



While walking around, we saw these three Harleys :







Kickstand of one of the bikes

So our stay in the Michigan Thumb is almost over--we leave tomorrow and head for London, Ontario.

EASY LIVING!!



Another Beautiful Day in the Thumb (Port Sanilac, MI)

Today started out very chilly at only 48 degrees but oh how nice after the 90's that reached all the way up to Michigan just a week ago.  The winds from yesterday did die down so the weather was practically ideal and we could open the windows and turn off the air conditioner!! The campground is pleasant but it doesn't have the outdoor woodsy environment.

We played tourist after running a couple of errands.  Our first tourist stop was at the Blue Water Winery.  While we waited for the wine tasting to be set up, we took a walking tour of the vineyards.  The owners have a few Alpacas and we learned that they are smaller than llamas.  Llamas are actually used as guard animals and the coats are totally different between the two.  The Pope's robe apparently is made from the wool of alpacas.


We also learned that vineyards plant roses to be aware of pests that might infest the vines before damage is done. 

After the walking tour of the vineyard, we were given the opportunity to taste three wines for $3.00.  We selected a dry white, a semi-dry white, and a sweet/fruity red.  The semi-dry white was the best but we didn't like it well enough to spend the $16.00 a bottle for it.


On our way back through Port Sanilac to the campground, we stopped at the harbor to admire the boats at the dock.  We found the perfect boat--the white one behind Pat! :-)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing until after supper when we went to Forester Park for some ice cream (YUM)!!

Thus ends another day in the life of Pat and Susan--Easy Living!

Visits from Children and Travel Day to Port Sanilac

Last weekend, we enjoyed a visit from our son, John, who drove from Jeffersonville to Kalamazoo to visit both us as well as his Uncle Mike and Aunt Joanne.  Saturday was busy as we met some friemds of Mike and Joanne's for breakfast at LaRue's in Kalamazoo (wonderful buckwheat pancakes!).  After breakfast, we drove to Grand Rapids to visit the Gerald Ford Musuem.  The museum is very interesting and very well put together to follow Gerald Ford's career leading up to his presidency as the only president to never be elected to the office of either president or vice president. 

Replica of cabinet room

John, Pat, and Mike with Gerald Ford statue

After John left on Sunday, Cathy arrived to spend time with us and Uncle Mike and Aunt Joanne.  Besides going to dinner at The Blue Gate in Shipshewanna, Cathy spent time visiting with us.  Abby and Hallie (Cathy's dog) enjoyed playing together and became very good friends.

Today, we departed Kalamazoo but not until we solved a problem with our hydraulics.  When we put the slides in, it didn't sound right and then the landing gear would only rise a little bit at a time.  After talking to our RV repair place, Indiana Interstate RV owned by Paul Cross, we were able to slove the problem.  It was a reset on the battery that had popped and just had to be reset.  We finally started our 250 mile drive across Michigan at 10:30 am.  At about 3:30 we arrived at Forster Park in Sanilac County--what a lovely setting with trees sitting right on Lake Huron shore.  Unfortunately, the campground is very sandy and with our size and weight, we couldn't back into any of the available sites.  The folks at the campground were very nice and refunded our camping fees.  We ended up down the road a couple of miles and were able to get a site at Lake Huron Campground with full hook-ups and 50 amp service.  I believe this is a relatively new campground and doesn't have many scenic attributes but, at least, the camper doesn't sink into the ground!  We did meet some very nice folks and plan to have them over for supper tomorrow.  We are not very far from Lake Huron as evidenced by these pictures:

So ends another day on our journey!  EASY LIVING!!