The Finger Lakes

 

The Finger Lakes are eleven long, narrow lakes created by glaciers 550 million years ago. We are camped near Cayuga Lake. It is the longest lake (about 40 miles) and is only 3.5 miles at it’s widest. Taughannock Falls State Park lies at the southern end of the lake and is known for its stunning natural gorges and waterfalls. The word Taughannock means “great falls in the woods”. The main waterfall, in the park, stands taller than Niagara Falls.

Another interesting thing about this area is its close proximity to Ithaca, NY; home to Cornell University. We decided to check out the campus, after we settled in, and made so many cool discoveries. The campus buildings are a mixture of  old and new architectural styles. The University was formed on progressive ideals and its history is peppered with fascinating moments, achievements and influential people. Before visiting the campus, the only thing I knew about Cornell was that it is a prestigious Ivy League school with a high student suicide rate. The Cornell gorge suicides were a series of suicides, at the University, that got a lot of media attention; especially after a high profile cluster of six suicides in the 2009-10 school year. The suicides occurred on bridges that span several gorges on Cornell’s campus. The bridges have all been netted now, and there hasn’t been a suicide involving a bridge since 2010.

We were lucky, on our visit, to be some of the first visitors, on campus, to experience a brand new walk through art installation called Polyform, by Jenny Sabin. This unique sculpture, made of metal and glass, changes as you walk through it by refracting light in a way that distorts perspective. A reminder that all our experiences are unique even if we visit the same places.

New York Hospitality

 

In an annual ranking, from a global travel site, the state of New York was voted the least friendly state in America. Whoever collected data for that particular poll, must have bypassed the areas of New York we’ve been visiting.

While camping at Lake Erie State Park, our campground neighbors were a group of friends from Buffalo, NY who visit the park every year together. They went out of their way to be welcoming and inclusive, even inviting us to share a meal of smoked pulled pork on Costanzo buns; the buns are a Buffalo specialty and the best I’ve ever had!

We thought that level of hospitality was perhaps a fluke until we settled in at Lakeside Beach State Park, on Lake Ontario. Our first morning here, we got up early to play disc golf and met a local guy, named Harvey, walking his dog. Harvey was friendly and personable and suggested we meet up later that evening for ice cream, at a fruit market, right outside the park. We enjoyed getting to know Harvey, learning a bit about the local history of the area and meeting his wife Lauren, and friend, Heidi. As an added perk, not only was the ice cream delicious but the shop gave us a free doggie sundae for Starbaby!

The Great Lakes

We have left the Allegheny Mountains and made it to the Empire State. We are camping on the shores of Lake Erie at a state park that bears the lake’s name. The Great Lakes are, from west to east, Superior, Michigan, Erie, Huron and Ontario. Before this trip ends we will have camped on the shores of all five. These five lakes hold 84% of America’s fresh surface water and 21% of the worlds. They are really big! When you walk along the shoreline, it feels like you are at the ocean. There are even lighthouses along the shore to guide vessels on the lake.

Lake Erie is a part of Mark’s childhood memories. He lived in this area until he was 12 years old. The lake was terribly polluted when his family moved, in the late 60’s. Thankfully, a lot has been done, since then, to clean up the lake and surrounding rivers. Lots of places seem a bit worse for wear when revisited after time spent away. It’s encouraging to see that an older Lake Erie is a better one.

 

Worst Weather

 

On every trip there has to be a “worst weather of the trip,” day. Hopefully, yesterday was ours. I don’t mind camping in cold temps. I love snow. I can adjust to hot, humid, high wind days, too. But, my least favorite camping weather is a all day cold rain. Sunday, we had just that. Temps hovered in the high 30’s all day and it rained for ten straight hours.

Our solution was to pile in the truck and visit neighboring Indiana; not the state, the town. Indiana is a college town, here in Pennsylvania, that is as pretty as a picture. It’s also where actor, Jimmy Stewart, was born and grew up. Stewart is a favorite performer of mine, so we decided to check out the Jimmy Stewart Museum, in the downtown area. What a cool, tastefully done memorial, to this incredible talent. 

After touring the museum, we checked out Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s campus, grabbed a pizza and headed for home. Once we made it back to our tiny home on wheels, Mark checked the disc drive, he always prepares before a trip (with over 100 movie downloads) and found an old Jimmy Stewart movie we’d never seen before. 1939’s comedy/western, “Destry Rides Again”, was the perfect ending to a “worst weather of the trip” day!

Punxsutawney

 

We’ve made it to Pennsylvania! We are staying at a state park called Prince Gallitzin, named after a Catholic priest, whose father was a Russian nobleman in the late 1700’s. The Prince (turned priest) settled here in 1792 and was influential in establishing a community here.

We chose this park because of it’s close proximity to Punxsutawney, PA. Most people recognize the name Punxsutawney, because the movie Groundhog Day takes place there. It’s the hometown of world famous groundhog and weather forecaster, Punxsutawney Phil. It also happens to be the birthplace of Mark’s Dad, Jim, and an area where Mark has wonderful childhood memories.

We connected with a cousin, who still lives there, and spent the day with Vicki and Ray on a bit of a nostalgia tour. Mark remembered a restaurant where the hamburgers were loose hamburger meat in a hotdog bun covered in the fixings. The original Carlinos has been out of business for decades, but Frank’s Corner Lunch has kept the tradition going. It was the perfect spot for lunch! What a great day reliving stories from the past and reminiscing about family, dead and living. 

We were a little late for Groundhog Day this year, but Starbaby was a great sport and “filled” in for Phil when we stopped by Gobblers Knob. Looks like the six more weeks of winter he predicted this year are finally behind us!

Grand Old Ditch

 

The C & O Canal, occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, actually is an abbreviation for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that operated from 1831 until 1924, along the Potomac River, from Washington D.C. to Cumberland, MD. The canals principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains. Today, the canal towpath endures as a biking/hiking pathway, about 184 miles long.

The Paw Paw Tunnel, about 10 miles from where we are camping, is a notable feature on the C & O Canal. The tunnel was a great engineering feat at the time of its construction. Six tenths of a mile long and constructed of 6 million bricks, it cut six miles off the length of the canal.

You can hike through the tunnel and take a trail back over the top, but a headlamp or flashlight are recommended because it can get pretty dark in the middle. Some people claim that the tunnel is haunted and warn that dogs sometimes get spooked about halfway through. Starbaby “ain’t afraid of no ghosts “ and did beautifully on our morning hike there.