Sept 24, 25, NY to PA

Tuesday, September 24

58 degrees this morning, still overcast and drizzly on and off.  We make another drivethru of the wildlife loop here at Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  Not too much happening other than lots of geese and a few ducks, egrets and herons.

We decide to go south along Cayuga Lake (89S) and stop by a boat launch for breakfast.The lake looks cold and misty this morning. One of the finger lakes, Cayuga is about 40 miles long!

 Good hot oatmeal banishes a bit of the cold and damp.  There are many many wineries along this road, as well as a few Cider Spots.

 All of the finger lakes seem to have wine trails now.

There used to be an Indian Village - Swah-ya-wa-nah- where the boat launch is.  It was destroyed by Sullivan's Army back in 1779.

The National Soaring Museum in Elmira, NY catches our eye, so we head there next.

Grass runway

 High atop Harris hill, this was the location for the National Glider Association contests in the 1930's.  The museum traces the history of gliding and soaring in the late 1800's and early 1900's and has many examples of gliders - some full sized and some models.

From the Wright brothers to World War II military use, soaring has been popular.  In World War II there were 14,000 Troop Carriers used for stealthily moving troops.  Germany also had quite a program for Soaring.

This is the view from Harris Hill - Wright's View Scenic Overlook.

Elmira is close to Corning Glass Factory and Watkins Glen, but we opt not to do those again.  Elmira is also home to Woodlawn Cemetery and we head there for a peek at Mark Twain's grave and others.

Unfortunately we are having issues with the refrigerator in the Trek and we stop in a large parking area at the cemetery to have a look.  We call Dometic, the manufacturer, and spend quite a while trying to access the power box to check fuses.  It seems to be getting power but not cooling. Two nice gentlemen from the cemetery office come out to see if they can lend a hand.  They call a few places to see if we can have someone look at it, but everyone seems to be heavily booked or not interested.  So we get the names of some places near Anita's in Hanover, PA and book an appointment to have it looked at there.  We fill our traveling soft cooler with ice and decide to head to Anita's a little early.

We continue southward, following the flow of the Susquehannah River for the most part.  It has some neat bridges, some of which were  destroyed during Civil War times.

 About 5:30 we stop at a Walmart in Lewisburg, PA.  Nice lot with a quiet, treed corner for rv's.


Wednesday, September 25

It is a brisk 48 degrees this morning.  We go to a nearby Perkins Pancake House for a hearty breakfast.  There was one in the town where we went to college in Indiana, PA, but we haven't been to one since!  Good breakfast and we continue southward.  Beginning to see some Fall colors here and there! Lots of farmland and small towns.

We wind around Harrisburg and then south on 83 to York, PA.  Somewhat familiar stomping grounds as Beth went to high school here and our wedding reception was also here.   We decide to stop at an LA Fitness for a workout and showers. This one is almost identical to our home one.

Then we find the Martin Memorial Library and spend some time there getting caught up with emails and such, and doing some blogging.    Funny, our Mom used to bring my sister and I here and it seems SO much smaller now.  I thought it was huge and rather spectacular back then!

We head for Anita and Kevin's house, arriving about 3:30.   They get home from work not too much later and after checking out their new-to-them rv, we all go out for a chicken dinner at a local place called New Era.  Yum.

Tomorrow we will go by Camping World to have the fridge checked.  This weekend is a big Gem, Rock and Fossil Show that Anita and Kevin are heavily involved in, so we will be helping them most of the weekend.

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.