I walked in the campground along the Susquehanna River. The water was mirror calm this morning.
We packed lunch and took our bikes into Williamsport.
Our first stop was the Little League World Series Field. It is beautiful!
We biked on the Riverwalk, a paved trail that followed the river. We rode on the northern side to the end.
We crossed the bridge and road into South Williamsport. We rode to the end of the path and crossed another bridge back into town.
The trail continued to the east and we found a picnic area. We were there just a couple of minutes when we felt the first drops of rain. We hastily packed up and lit out of there. We were 2 miles from the Jeep. We got rather wet…but it was warm rain and we had dry shirts in the car.
The rest of the afternoon, it rained. We took naps and read.
By dinner time, the rain had ceased and the sky turned blue. We grilled fish tacos for our dinner. Tomorrow we are heading home. We both have follow-up appointments and a few other tasks that we need to accomplish. We will be home for a week and then we are going to see David and his family in Atlanta. We aren’t sure yet when our next adventure will begin…but you can be sure that it won’t be long!
When I got near the campground entrance, I saw trash bags strewn around in front of the dumpster. This was odd because the day before, the area was neat and clean. I went to investigate and I saw bear scat!
I was out and about early and I was out by myself. A bear that is eating people food is BAD news. I went back to the RV, having decided that as much as I would like to see a bear…this was not the place to do so! A young guy told me later that the bear has been getting into the dumpster at night and probably isn’t a threat to campers during the day.
As Tim and I were checking out, we stopped to look around and Tim saw these bear prints.
We drove along the scenic road through farm country and forest. We wanted to see Williamsport but the closest RV site we could find was 10 miles south in Montgomery. We are camped right along the Susquehanna River.
We had lunch and rested and then I walked here in the campground. We drove into Williamsport.
A scenic overlook on the way. It is so hazy here. We wonder if it is related to the fires out west. We had heard that the residual smoke was this far east.
We walked around a little in town.
This is the home of the first organized little league baseball games and now the home of the Little League World Series. There are statues on the street corners. Here are players at home base.
Potter County Family Campground Coudersport, Pennsylvania
I walked campground loops this morning.
We drove south on the scenic highway from Letchworth Park to Cloudersport…from New York into Pennsylvania. We found a county park to camp in. There is not much here and there isn’t much around. We enjoyed a quiet day…sometimes it is okay to just be still. No pictures today, no adventures today…maybe tomorrow!
Yesterday, when we biked through Victor, I saw a laundromat. I had already thought that I wanted to drive into town for my morning exercise. I didn’t want to walk along the busy road. So, it was decided that I would take the laundry with me. I went to the laundromat and threw the clothes into washers. Then I walked for 30 minutes and returned just as the wash cycle was finishing. I threw clothes in the dryer and went back out to walk again! Tim did his morning workout and then met me in the laundromat parking lot with the RV…we were ready to roll with clean clothes! It was multitasking at its finest and it saved us lots of time!
We were not really sure where we were going…that happens frequently. Tim saw a scenic highway on the map and so we went to find it. On our way, we saw a propane company. I had been searching for campsites and Letchworth State Park popped up. The guy at the propane place was super helpful and when he heard we were considering staying at Letchworth…he got really excited! He told us what loop to camp in and he gave us really good directions. We booked a site online and we had a destination! We arrived at 11:30 and we were not able to access our camping spot until 1pm. We took a hike on the Flatwoods Trail, rated easy and 1 ¼ miles. This trail was not flat…it was in the woods…it was NOT easy! As we neared the 1-mile mark, the trail became slippery with mushy, sticky, mud. We could see mud on the lower branches of the trees. We realized that we were seeing a water level. With all the recent rain, the water had rushed down into the gorge and the Genesee River had risen really high! We could see where the water level had risen at least 50 feet, onto the hillsides and into the wooded area. The water is now receding. We picked our way across the sloppy section. We saw lots of little animal prints, but it was clear that no other hikers had gone on past the slick as grease section! It took us over an hour to walk 2.5 miles. It was all downhill on the way in and all uphill on the way out…though Tim tried to convince me otherwise!
See the residual mud on the trees? We had a picture of the gorge but the picture did not show the magnitude of the flooding in the way that we had hoped.
We settled into our camping site and the first order of business was to wash my tennis shoes…they were covered in thick and slimy and smelly mud. We both took naps.
This afternoon, we packed stuff to make omelets and toast and went to see the rest of the park.
Overlook views of the gorge.
Lower Falls…to get there, we had to hike down 127 steps. It was worth it. The falls were really pretty. To get to the footbridge, it was another 50 steps. To get back to the parking lot, we climbed back up.
Middle Falls.
Upper Falls.
We found an overlook where we set up the cookstove and prepared our dinner. It was wonderful! This park has been voted the number one state park in the US. The waterfalls are a treasure and we enjoyed our day here.
One last walk up the hill. It was cool and cloudy and I felt good and so I walked 4 miles this morning.
We are grateful for rain, especially when a great deal of the country could use it!
What in the world are these strange bugs???
Early morning critters.
We traveled along Seneca Lake through Geneva and across to Canandaigua up to the little town of Victor. We chose a Harvest Host site, The Apple Farm, for our campsite tonight. This is a working apple farm with a really nice gift shop. We bought some goodies and then spent some time resting this afternoon.
We took the bikes into the town of Victor and rode along Main Street. We found the Auburn Trail, a multiuse path, and followed that for a short time.
We had a simple dinner of delicious apple butter, peanut butter and crispbread with watermelon for dessert. We sat outside enjoying the ambiance of this place. We enjoyed talking to Roxy and Matt from Texas. They left Portland, Maine this morning and are on their way home. It is always fun to share stories with people who love to travel. Safe journey and travel blessings!
July 24, 2021 Wandering In The Land Between The Lakes
Smith Park Campground Hector, NY Day 4
It was really hard to make myself walk that hill again…but I did! It was a glorious day…just a touch of chill in the air.
Each time I walk, I see something new. Today a doe was really close to the road.
These sweet peas had a heavenly fragrance!
We packed a picnic…because we really do like to eat outside…we have a lot of picnics! We took the Jeep and set out to explore. We are staying on Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake is about 15 miles to the east. We drove from one, across to the other. This is agricultural land. Everything seems to grow well here; grapes, corn, soy beans, and orchards full of fruits.
We followed the Cayuga Scenic Byway to the top of the lake. We had our lunch at Cayuga State Park.
We stopped to walk around in Seneca Falls, a quaint village on the Seneca River. I love the randomness of what we do…no plan, no itinerary, just freedom to wander and explore.
We drove back to the RV down through the middle and then on the Seneca Scenic Byway.
Today was lowkey and restful. We grilled tuna for our dinner with coconut rice and a fresh, REAL tomato salad. Tomorrow it will be time to move on!
Today we took the Jeep and the bikes and drove into Ithaca. We had the idea that we would ride to the center of town and bike around. When we got to Ithaca, it was congested with lots of traffic and no easy parking. Tim pulled into a 7-11 and he saw Stewart Park on the GPS. We wended our way through the city to the waterfront. Here we were able to ride the Waterfront Trail along the shores of Cayuga Lake. It was a pleasant ride.
Cornell University perched high on the hill.
We found GreenStar Natural Foods Market and we stopped and ordered wraps and sat on a bench by the water to eat our lunch.
We got home in late afternoon and then after a short rest, we got ready to go to Hazlitt Winery. It had been a gorgeous day with low humidity and warm temperatures and lots of sunshine. We found a spot under a shade tree. Tim drank a pale ale and I tried the Red Cat wine. We enjoyed our picnic while listening to live music. Friday night…date night!
Our campground is on Seneca Lake. To get here from the Seneca Scenic Byway, there is a one-mile downhill road. Today’s walk was that same long road…uphill to 414 and then back down. It was a challenging walk! It was so steep that I wasn’t able to maintain speed and still breathe…but I got it done!
The roadside was flanked by vineyards. This is wine country. The grapes are small and green and hanging on the vine.
We took the Jeep with our bikes and drove 15 miles south to the town of Watkins Glen. This is a tourist mecca and town was a busy place. We cycled to Seneca Harbor.
Through town.
To Watkins Glen State Park. We locked the bikes and hiked some of the Rainbow Waterfall trail.
We biked around to the community park where we enjoyed our lunch of cheese and bread.
We traveled on to Clute Park.
We circled back to the Jeep and went to Walmart. We needed supplies.
After our quiet time, we hiked down to the beach on Seneca Lake with a picnic dinner.
This evening we took a ride in the Finger Lakes National Forest where we saw wild turkeys and fawns.
We stopped at a community park in Wellsbor for our breakfast.
We left Pennsylvania and traveled a short distance into New York. We passed through Corning and Watkins Glen on our way to the campground.
We had a prolonged quiet time this afternoon. Then, at 4pm, we started looking for something to do. I found a farmers market with live music that was in the town of Trumansburg.
The music was great.
We found lots of fun treats to bring home. We bought rainbow-colored eggs from free range chickens.
We got some raw milk cheese that is a blend of parmesan and Swiss. We haven’t been eating cheese at all…this is a rare treat! We chose fresh apricots…we have never had them fresh. And, blueberries that are sweet and delicious and taste like real blueberries. And, we had to get bread because Tim said it was the prettiest bread he had ever seen. I chose a sourdough, wheat, pecan, and raisin bread. We haven’t had bread in months…if you are going to eat bread, this is the kind to get…fresh and real and worthy!! As you can see, we tasted it before we even got a picture! Oh…and purslane…which is a sweet and crunchy nutritional green…looks like weeds and tastes like weeds…but we are going to eat it!
We had food from a BBQ truck. We selected as healthfully as we could. We ate with two women who summer here every year. They told us that when we needed to go and see Taughannock Falls.
We took a short hike along the rim.
It was a very nice evening. There is nothing that we like better than being in a new place, trying new things!
Canyon Country Campground Wellsboro, Pennsylvania Day 2
A morning walk on a country lane.
Today’s adventure was the Pine Creek Trail. This was originally a well-worn footpath walked by Native Americans. Later when the area was used for logging, it became a railroad. Now it is a rail trail; a multiuse trail for cyclists, hikers, and equestrian riders. You could travel 62 miles in the bottom of the gorge or Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon.
We packed our lunch and took our bikes to Darling Run Access Area. We rode 10 miles south. We saw several waterfalls.
The current of the creek is fast and furious.
A hawk.
A bald eagle.
Another bald eagle…or maybe the same eagle…
Tim taking a picture of me taking a picture of the bald eagle!
The grade on the way was downhill…but barely. We wondered if we were going to be able to tell the difference when we turned around and went back to the Jeep. The change in elevation was so gradual that we only needed to drop one gear and we were able to pedal back easily.
This trail is really a treasure and I completely enjoyed our day. It made my heart and soul happy; though my legs are tired!
