Sept 23 Rochester, Seneca Falls

Monday, September 23

This morning  is cloud covered and a little damp.  But we take time for a good breakfast of bacon & eggs and oranges.  Yum! 

We stop by to take a look at Morris Dam at the north end of the park, before departing  for Rochester, NY.  An occasional tree is brilliant. 

 Another unique museum awaits in the Strong National Museum of Play.  Thank goodness for GPS in getting us there with little difficulty.

It begins to rain lightly as we arrive at the museum.  Begun as a collection by Miriam Strong, the museum is a huge collection dedicated to the importance of play and how people do it.  

We begin on the second floor, which is a collection of dolls, board games, blocks, puzzles, arcade games, doll houses, computer games and other toys going back to the 1800's.

We recognize many old favorites - Toy Soldiers, Tinker Toys, Parcheesie,  Chinese Checkers, Life, Candy Land, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and many more.  Other items like Mr. Potatoe Head, Playdough and Legos make it to the Toy Hall of Fame.

Dolls go back to stuffed burlap to porcelain heads to Barbie and Cabbage Patch kids plus lots more. 

There were levers to control different parts of this supersized Mr. Potato Head.

Interspersed with the displays are interactive games, like Battleship, building block areas, puzzles, and other hands-on games.   This one used body motion to control a motorcycle.

This was a rotating 3-d maze.

 Lots of pin-ball and arcade games as well.

The downstairs is more interactive for kids, but still fun to go through.  There are areas about Super Heroes,

Books and Imagination

Sports 

and fun things for kids to do, like dress up, play with puppets, climb and play.

Overall a fun way to spend a few hours.  We wish we could bring the Grandkids!  People who live in the area can buy passes and bring their kids often, which would be great.

It is raining hard when we leave, and we decide to head towards Montezuma Wildlife Reserve near Seneca Falls.  We boondocked here once before and hope to do so again, though no one answers their phones.  There is a casino not TOO far away, which will be our backup.

We arrive in heavy rain and eventually find the visitor's center area where we stayed before.  No one is around.  There is a wildlife loop through the preserve and we decide to take a drive even though it is still raining lightly.  Lots of geese and a few other birds.  Mosquitos are a bit annoying here and there, so we take pretty quick photos.

 The sun did come out very briefly which made the grasses and reeds golden!

Back to the Visitor's Center and the rain has stopped.  Still no one around, so we round up some dinner and settle in for the night.  Quiet night with light rain off and on.