A Dusty Friday ADVENTURE

I met up with Leslie at her house a little after 9:30 a.m.  I had been planning on driving, but I noticed a strange light on my dashboard which had not been there before, so I asked her to drive.  We

 set out for the Kortright/Meredith area to find some geocaches. Our first stop was at Kelso Cemetery.

What a disappointment when we could not find the geocache after close to a half an hour of searching.  Then on to another cemetery geocache at Blakeley Cemetery  just down the road and more disappointment, since we could not find that one either.  We were getting pretty discouraged, but we did find the next one which is called UNDER THE APPLE TREE.   And then we were successful with our next geocache, also (ENDLESS VALLEY).
      We set off to find HARMONY HILL RETREAT CENTER, because of a cache hidden there BEGINNINGS AND BRIDGES.  It took us quite a while to find this place but we finally did find it and

we walked on a gorgeous hiking trail to the cache site, but no luck, we could not find that one.  Later on, when I checked the cache description I found that having the clue with us may have helped.  I hope to go and look for that one again someday.   It was getting late so we headed back to Oneonta.  By that time, Leslie's new car was covered with red dust from the dry, dirt roads we had been travelling on.  The dust even got inside the car!
        Sooooooo, when I started up the Pacifica, the light came on again.  I decided to drive to the library to
drop off some books and while  there, I looked in the owners manual and found some information about the light, it has something to do with emissions.  I called Mike and asked if I could bring the car over to be checked and he said "yes, come on right over".  However, when I was leaving the library, the light was not on, so I called and told Rita that I will bring it on Monday if it comes on again.

   

Pie in the Sky ADVENTURE!

My grandkids and I agreed to try to get to every possible ice cream spot this summer during their two month visit.  They have been here for 9 days, and today we went out to our third place........I combined a trip to Pie in the Sky with geocaching so they could find HEAVEN ON ROUTE SEVEN.  They found it quickly and easily without any help from me.  They each took a couple of those skinny bracelets and I added a few items to the twin containers.  

Then we went inside for ice cream.  I tried the chocolate covered cherry without any toppings and they both had mint chocolate chip with sauce and sprinkles.  Then we spent about twenty minutes looking around.  The kids especially liked "the beehive" and I enjoyed the vintage and antique items on display and for sale.  As we were leaving Pie in the Sky, I took this picture!  

We stopped at the new bridge that leads over to Pony Farm Road to see if there was a suitable place to hide a magnetic key holder, but the new guardrails are more solid than ever and don't offer hiding spots like the old ones did.  

I took them to the fishing/boat access site in West Oneonta just to show them the place.  And then we headed back home.  

Waltzing Horse Farm: July 12, 2012

WHFJuly12_12 011, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Carol invited Megan, Cassy, Tyler and myself over to the Waltzing Horse Farm for a tour. We headed out this morning and met her there at 10:30. She took us all around and introduced us to all the horses. The kids fed some of them pieces of carrot. The highlight was seeing the new colt, about a week old.

Geocaching and Foolish Farms ADVENTURE

Megan,. the kids and I went out so the kids could find a couple of geocaches.  The first was HIDE AND SEEK, just outside of Morris, and then they found my cache, CEMETERY WITHOUT A NAME 2.  Then we went to FOOLISH FARMS for ice cream.  The kids were kind of disappointed because the only choices were chocolate, vanilla or twist, one size, in a dish or a cone.  But they did have sprinkles.  We purchased fudge and pickles to take home, and Megan purchased a retro sign seen up above.  I forgot to take my camera on this mini-adventure!

Gilboa ADVENTURE

This morning I asked Megan and the kids if they were interested in going to see some huge fossils.  All three of them were enthusiastic, so we got moving and got ourselves ready for the day.  We packed up drinks in the coolerbag and bagged up some snacks and headed out.

On the way Megan commented on the sign for BUTTS CORNERS.  I told her that there is a waterfall down that road and she wanted to go see it, so we located BUTTERMILK FALLS, but unfortunately, it is all dried up.  

My navigation system took us right to the site of "roadside fossils", which is also the sight of a virtual geocache.

  I took several pictures and then we went back to the small GILBOA MUSEUM.  We were given a guided tour and purchased some items in the gift shop, and then we backtracked a bit to see the dam  and reservoir.  Unfortunately, their is consteruction work being done on the lookout point for the reservoir, so we didn't really get a good view.

By then we were getting hungry, so we headed out on Route 30 towards Breakabeen.  I had seen pictures of the Breakabeen Country Store on flickr and had wanted to see it.  Our tentative plans were to have lunch there, but we found out that while they DO make sandwiches and burgers, they do not have an area to eat them in.  Megan commented that "the meat appears to be questionable"......so we decided to go back to 30 and continue on to Middleburgh where there are several restaurants.  On the way we passed through North Blenheim and saw the site of the covered bridge that was destroyed in the recent flooding.

We had lunch at Middle Village Pasta and Grill.  While waiting for our orders I went outside and took some pictures of some interesting buildings.  I particularly liked this one: 

  I had a mixed italian sub, Megan had a burger, Tyler had chicken tenders and Cassy had spaghetti and meatballs.  Each one of us brought home half or more of our meal.

On the way to Gilboa and Middleburgh, we passed several things that Megan and I wanted pictures of and each time we said "we will stop on the way back"  however, after lunch we decided to take a different, quicker route back to Oneonta (via 88), so we missed those spots.

We arrived home around 4:15.  Later on I took the kids to Morris to find "ODDBALLS, ETC." and for ice cream.

Gilbert Lake Adventure: July 6, 2012

Megan wanted to take the kids to Gilbert Lake State Park today and I agreed to go along.  We ran in to Rite Aide for sunscreen, charcoal and bottled drinks and then came home and I gathered the items we would need for lunch.  We got into the park free when I showed my license which proves that I am over 62 years old!!
The picnic/beach area was pretty crowded but we were able to find a table with a nearby grill. !

 We grilled the burgers and had them with chips and drinks.  The kids did some swimming and Cassandra looked for a frog and caught one and kept it for a little while.  Tyler spent some time on the playground.

The picnic/beach area was pretty crowded but we were able to find a table with a nearby grill.  We grilled the burgers and had them with chips and drinks.  The kids did some swimming and Cassandra looked for a frog and caught one and kept it for a little while.    We all had a good time.  I was happy to get home and take a nap!  

JFK Adventure!!!!!

     This ADVENTURE all started when my oldest daughter Megan was making plans to spend the summer in New York.  She  found that she could save a lot of money by flying into JFK International Airport (four hours drive away just outside of New York City) and wondered if I might be able to pick her and my grandkids up when they got there.  My wonderful sister, Peggy, agreed to go with me to get them.  Peggy and I decided to turn it into a short trip to the Catskills where we like to explore the BORSCHT BELT.  

     Peggy arrived late in the evening on Saturday June 30th, and the plans were to drive to Roscoe the following morning and find DUNDAS CASTLE, an old abandoned castle.  However, Peggy had problems with her cell phone which necessitated spending some time at the VERIZON Store in Oneonta, so we got a late start and by the time we got to Roscoe we realized it was too late to look for the castle since we had a four p.m. appointment to visit the LIVING TORAH MUSEUM in the Village of Fallsburg, New York.  So, we went to our lodging (Howard Johnsons) in Liberty and got settled in and then headed out.  Before leaving we found a geocache in Liberty and we drove through Woodbourne because we were interested in seeing how much damage was done to the Aladin Hotel which suffered a fire a few weeks ago.  The Aladin was very busy, it appeared that summer residents (Hasidic Jews) were arriving and moving in for the summer.  We saw the damaged building, but did not stop to take pictures because there were too many people around.  We also stopped at a Jewish bakery.

     We arrived at the LIVING TORAH MUSEUM a few minutes before four p.m. and soon two Jewish women joined us and then the proprieter came and let in.
  We spent the next couple of hours watching a video and seeing ancient artifacts from the holy land.  We actually were able to touch and hold a bowl that existed when Abraham (of the Old Testament) lived.  This museum is a fantastic place!  Then we decided to check out the TAMARACK hotel which also had a fire.  Indeed, the main building was gone (appeared that it had been razed.  We found the bungalow colony associated with that hotel and explored it a bit.  and then we went to Woodbourne and went into a few shops.  We decided we were in the mood for chinese and went back to Liberty to eat at a buffet we had been to a couple of times.  However, it was closed down we drove to Monticello to eat at the other chinese buffet.  .  

     The next morning we decided to walk across the road to GROSSINGERS.  This is a HUGE old abandoned hotel from the Borscht Belt days.  We were able to get inside of a couple of buildings that we had not been in before.  We went back to Howard Johnsons and cleaned up and packed up the car and headed out.  We had the rest of the day to explore the Borscht Belt, get to Hoboken, New Jersey and then to JFK.

     Our first stop was in Hurleyville where I took a few pictures, and then it was back to Loch Sheldrake just in time for lunch at Dizzy Izzy's Knish Shop.  We purchased two knishes and a Snapple and shared them.  Then we went to the nearby antique shop in the old Chinese Cultural Center.  I found a tiny rooster which I wanted to purchase, but the owner wanted TEN DOLLARS for it, so I passed.  She kept saying how inexpensive things were, but they really were not.

     After that, we decided to drive some back roads in search of THE FOUR SEASONS LODGE, which was a bungalow colony that holocaust survivors met at for many summers.  I am pretty sure we found it at 99 Geiger Road (which is the name of the documentary about this), but it appears that it has been sold or changed hands and is now a family camp.

     We then went to Ellenville to go to COHENS BAKERY.  We stopped at the public library to see if the museum was open, but it was closed, and we found a geocache nearby.  And then  we decided to check out the NEVELE we were hoping to be able to walk around the grounds, but a security person at the front entrance told us it was recently purchased and has a new owner and it was clear that he would not let us past.  We were also not allowed to walk around the HONORS HAVEN next door unless we were accompanied by a security guard, so we passed on that.

    We only had a small amount of time left before we would have to head to Hoboken, New Jersey, but we decided to
check out the HOMOWACK lodge and found it was fenced in even more thoroughly than it was in 2009.  We decided to drive to Mountaindale, where I took some pictures of some interesting buildings and we looked briefly for a geocache (not successful).  From there it was time to drive to Hoboken.

     In Hoboken, we went to CARLO's BAKE SHOP, which has been on the Food Network.  There was a long line of people waiting to get in, so we took a number.  I think we waited about forty minutes before we could get in.  It was disappointing because there seemed to be absolutely NO order inside.  Potential customers seemed to be standing around with little movement either forward and the few workers did not seem at all busy.  After about twenty minutes of almost standing still at the back of the crowd)but more people were being let in), I decided it was not worth it and told Peggy I would find a bench outside and wait for her.



Ten or fifteen minutes later, she came out without making a purchase.  HONESTLY, I think they could do more inside to move people along better than they do now.  We had planned to eat at a Cuban restaurant just down the street from Carlo's, but Peggy checked it out and was not impressed.  So, we had supper at TUTA PASTA, and it was very good, but a bit on the expensive side.
    Then it was time to head for JFK.  Unfortunately, the GPS led us right through midtown Manhattan, right through Times Square.  We arrived at JFK about an hour and a half before Megans flight arrived, so we waited, and read, and walked around.    Their flight arrived at exactly midnight and about ten minutes later, Cassy came running through the doors, followed by her mother and Tyler.  We had a happy reunion, waited for luggage and then went out to the car.  We had a bit of a time finding room for everything, but we managed.....poor Tyler was way in the back, with stuff all around him, but, he did fine.
     We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for food and drinks around 1:30 a.m.  I think we arrived back at my house around 5:30 a.m.  I slept about an hour before the phone woke me up and then I had to stay awake for TIME WARNER's delivery of a new modem.  Peggy and I spent most of the day napping off and on hoping to catch up on our sleep.  Megan seemed to recover quickly and her and the kids went to see relatives in the afternoon.  I prepared BBQ pork ribs, scalloped potatoes and succotash for supper, and we all watched MALL COP in the evening.