Staff Fun Day Adventure: The Mystic Forest and MORE!!!!!

The Mystic Forest
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Today was what we call a STAFF FUN DAY at Family Services. Instead of working, we all meet up and then take off for something fun. Mary (my boss) asked me to put
together some ideas of where we might like to go. After we discussed a couple of these ideas, we decided on going to Delhi and Hamden for the day. The group included myself, Mary, Geneen, Kim, Carol and Phylicia. What a mixture.....women ages twenties to sixties!

We started out early in the day and drove to Delhi. The first stop was the Village Square, where a geocache is hidden. Mary found this tiny geocache pretty quickly. I took some pictures of the square and the buildings around it. Then we walked down to the Co-operative Store, an organic food store at the other end of Main Street. By that time, Stewart's (the old fashioned store) was open, so we stopped there. The woman working showed us the old "initialer" which was used to stamp initials on leather hat bands in the "old days". There is a picture of it up above, third one down. We also went into a tiny gift shop, and I got a few postcards to send to my grandkids.

From there we headed out to Hamden. I had found the geocache named THE MYSTIC FOREST before, but I love that woodsy area and wanted to go again. We parked and took the trail in, stopping to see the huge old red oak tree on the way. Once in the Mystic Forst (I am sure that is not its real name), a few in the group took off to find the source of the running water we heard. They returned with stories of a stream, small waterfalls and a cave. In the meantime, Geneen had located the geocache. I highly recommend hiking at the West Branch Nature Preserve in Hamden, New York.

We then went to THE LUCKY DOG FARM STORE AND CAFE. This was my third time there, but it was a first for the others. We looked around and then had lunch in the cafe.....which is an experience in itself, with the old porcelian topped tables and
displays of antique and vintage items.

We stopped to see an eagles nest from the road, as we left Hamden. There is a small geocache hidden nearby, which I located. It was down a pretty steep incline, and I did not want to climb down it, so Phylicia and Geneen went down and got it.

While at the eagles nest area, I noticed a huge old abandoned house across the road and the door was open!!! We walked up the driveway and explored a bit. Geneen and I went inside but the others declined. The place is full of furniture, including an organ and pool table, and lots of junk and boxes piled all around. We did not go upstairs, but we could have since there seemed to be about five stairways going up. The picture way up at the top is a picture of the abandoned farmhouse.

We then went to see the Hamden covered bridge, which we had passed a couple of times earlier. We took pictures and explored. The rural area just beyond the bridge looked so inviting.............maybe another time......

After that we headed back to Delhi, and went to THE HEART OF THE CATSKILLS, which is a pet shelter run by the Humane Society. It seems to be very well run and organized, and it is very clean. Mary might get a dog sometime soon, and I saw her doing paperwork with someone at the front desk. I took some pictures of the pet cemetery there.

The day was winding down and we headed back to Oneonta. I think everyone had a wonderful time!

OPEN HOUSE at the WALTZING HORSE FARM

Synchronized Riding: April 24, 2010
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

My friend Carol told me about the Waltzing Horse Farm and the Open House today. I asked a couple of friends to go with me. Connie had already heard about it and she wanted to come. We met up at my house around 11:30 p.m. and headed out. I had good directions to the Waltzing Farm (courtesy of Carol), so we made it there in record time.


We were one of the first arrivals so we were able to get a good parking spot. We parked and headed to the arena. We were offered refreshments (home baked cookies, breads and brownies).

The first part of the show was when a narrator told us about the horses while they were brought out and walked around. The history of these breeds is really fascinating. I took a lot of pictures. After a short break, they did what they call "synchronized riding". It was beautiful! They offered tours of the farm, but Connie and I decided not to stay for one.

Connie mentioned that she had never been to New Berlin, so I offered to drive over
there and show her the Main Street. We drove through the main area, all the way
to the New Berlin Diner a few miles outside of town. Once she saw the diner and realized that it was the "real thing" an authentic old diner, retaining the old features, she wanted to have lunch there, so we did. This was like a "blast from the past", and both Connie and I enjoyed it.

We decided to spend some time walking around Main Street in New Berlin. I took pictures of some old buildings. A guy came up to me and asked me if I was a real estate person, he said I made him and some other people nervous by taking pictures. I reassured him I was only taking pictures of old buildings.

It was a great day, but somewhat tiring.

Mel's Antique Race Cars and more ADVENTURE!!!!

Franklin, New York
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Today was a REAL adventure, one that will be hard to match or beat!


I had something else in mind when I called Leslie this morning (going to Gilbertsville and Mt Upton maybe) but she mentioned a new geocache hidden in Franklin. We decided we could combine that with two other geocaches in Delhi. We met up at her house at eleven a.m. and headed to Franklin.

We found the geocache fairly quickly. After we signed the log, etc. I suggested we just keep driving down Main Street in Franklin (a very small town in Delaware County)
and see if Franklin had anything else interesting. I noticed a ghost sign that said MobilGas as we drove by it, so when we turned around and headed back, I told Leslie that I needed to take a picture of the sign.

I pulled in and took the picture, and then I realized that we had stopped in a really special place. I could see several really old cars under a metal canopy close to where we parked. We glanced at them and then walked towards the front entrance of the building. A guy came out and I told him we were just looking around. He called out to "Mel" and told him that he had company.

Mel came out and we started talking. He was so friendly! He told us about a couple of items inside the shop and then said he would take us out back so we could see more old vehicles. I quickly put new batteries in my camera and we went back. I was amazed at what he had stored behind his shop. He told us about several of the old vehicles. Of particular interest was a Brooks House of BBQ race car. I think Mel said it was from the sixties.

Mel pointed out a vehicle he referred to as a "doodlebug". I asked him what that means and he said that a doodlebug is a tractor that has been made from an old car. he talked about his doodlebug club and the clubhouse. He took us into the clubhouse, which was part of his shop. A couple of pictures are attached up above. The picture to the left of the sign is of the television in the clubhouse.

After taking a multitude of pictures for flickr (you can see my Franklin set taken today here http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157623767932651/ ), Leslie and headed towards Delhi.

Once there, we found two geocaches. One was in the woods right along Route 10, and the other is on the grounds of the Humane Society. The Humane Society has nice walking trails in the woods. Lots of people visit and take a dog or two for a walk.

By that time it was mid afternoon and we were getting hungry. I suggested we pull in at a nearby rest area and purchase a hot dog from the vendor who is there. We did that. After eating, we looked at a Delaware County map and debated whether or not to take an alternate route home. I decided against it, since I was expecting Christa to come over and I didn't want to use up time in case we got lost.

It was a great day! Geocaching sometimes leads to discovering places you never would have found!

Saturday April 17, 2010 Adventure

Presbyterian Church: Worcester, New York
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

My friend Judy suggested I join her for the chicken and biscuit dinner her church was having today. Since it is about a 45 minute drive to Judy's house from my house, I decided to combine that drive with some geocaching. I quickly put two geocaches together and thought about where I would like to hide them. Then I realized that I don't really JUST go geocaching anymore, I now go geocaching AND flickring at the same time. That means while geocaching, I look for "photo-worthy" places and things.


So with my camera and GPS with me, I set out a couple of hours early. My first stop was at the abandoned railroad yard just the other side of Oneonta. I think technically it is in Milford, but it might be in Cooperstown Junction. I stopped and took several pictures. The picture of the red, white and blue railroad car is from this abandoned railroad yard, up above on the top left. I guess I was more observant today, because for the first time I saw what used to be an italian restaurant in an old railroad car. Its right on Route 7, but I had never really looked at or for it. There is a picture of it up above in the middle (going down).

I continued up Route 7 to Worcester, where I planned to hide my first cache. I had noticed a sign for a park right on Main Street, a couple of years ago. I located the park and hid the cache. I took some time to take photos of Judy's church. I had not realized it had a historical marker in front of it. I drove around and I think I located the building which housed the train depot (its on Depot Street). I took pictures of the Worcester Market and of Ardy's. (Ardy's is at the top right).

Then on to Westford, where I hid the second geocache in a playground/park. I noticed an abandoned church across the road from the park, so I took a couple of pictures.

I arrived at Judy's place at the appointed time. I helped her pack up the two cakes she was taking to the dinner. We arrived at the church early and she finished icing the chocolate cake. I got to meet many of her church friends and the chicken and biscuits was delicious.

After eating, I headed back to Oneonta. I really needed to "walk off" some of that gravy, so I stopped at Southside Mall and walked for about 35 minutes before heading home. I also did a couple of very small errands in Oneonta.

It was a beautiful afternoon ADVENTURE! April 14, 2010

I had to work yesterday morning, and a couple of times I went out to the mailbox and I noticed that it kept getting warmer and sunnier. By 12:30 I decided it was a day to take a nice walk. I asked a couple of people from work if they wanted to accompany me, but both of them said they needed more notice than five minutes!!! wimps!

I decided to go to Neahwa Park to check out the progress of the new Veterans Walk that is being built. Much of it is blocked off during construction, but I walked around about a half an hour. It is indeed going to be beautiful when it is finished. It will be a great place for joggers and walkers. I don't know if bicycles will be allowed.

By then I was really hungry. I went to Subway on Main Street and had a meal deal. After lunch, I called Christa to see if she was up. I had something to drop off for her. She was not up yet, and wanted to stay in bed for a while longer (she works nights) so I decided to go to Wilber Park for a walk.

Wilber was the right choice, for sure. There were a few joggers and dog walkers out and about, so I felt safe walking the trails in the woods by myself. I spent about a half hour wandering around, and taking pictures, some of which are up above.

Before going to Christa's house, I decided to see if I could find Woody's Market, which may be the last Mom and Pop type store in Oneonta. I found it, on Spruce Street, and took a picture to post on my flickr account.

I went to Christa's place to drop off the item and visit with her. I decided to take a couple of pictures of her dogs to send to Cassandra. Christa is moving out west in a week or two, and her dogs will be staying in Oneonta, but I probably won't get opportunities to see them.

It was a great afternoon, and I slept better than ever last night.

Staff fun day (May, 2008) Sharon Springs, New York

Sharon Springs Museum: Sharon Springs, New York
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

In May of 2008, my boss asked me to help set up a staff fun day including a visit to Sharon Springs, New York. She had driven through it before, but never stopped to look around.

I gathered geocaching information and called ahead to ask if they would open the museum for us for an hour or so, since it was before the seasons opening day.

We left early in the morning and headed to Sharon Springs. It was Mary, Geneen, myself and Kim and her husband Dave.

When we arrived, we did some geocaching. There is a multi-cache named OLD HOTELS AND SPRINGS. I had found it on a previous trip, and the rest of the group found it without my help. That is a picture of Geneen and Dave when they found the cache. The picture below it is Geneen and Mary at a building behind the cache.

Then it was time to go to the museum. (look for the picture of it up above) It is a great little place. The first floor has memorabilia from the old hotels and springs. Upstairs there are three or four rooms with antique items. We looked at the old schoolhouse next door to the museum and at the row of cabins that are being renovated. We walked over to the old abandoned Adler Hotel and Spa and looked around. We sure wished we could go inside. We had lunch at THE BLACK CAT (I think most of us had the Thanksgiving sandwich) and went into a couple of shops on Main Street. Then we went to a huge farm type market that was selling a lot of spring flowers, and we had ice cream. Then we took one last look at Sharon Springs as we drove through it up towards Route 20.

We stopped at the TeePee in Cherry Valley, to look around. Mary found a geocache there while the others shopped for souveniers. Geneen tried the chili.

It was a great day!

Earth Day Adventure: April 10, 2010

Earth Day2010April10 012
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Leslie and I agreed to get together to go on a birdwatching walk with the Audobon Club this morning. I met her at her house and she drove to Riddell Park. We expected to join up with a group from the Audobon Society who were conducting a "bird walk" as part of EARTH FESTIVAL 2010. However, they changed their itinerary and since they did not know we were planning to meet up with them, we found ourselves somewhat stranded. We waited a bit and talked with a couple of other people who were trying to meet up with the group and then decided to take a walk of our own.

I tried out the binoculars my Dad gave me at Christmas time, and found out that they worked great. Leslie was able to identify several birds by their various calls and appearance. All in all, I think we spent over an hour in Riddell Park, hiking on their trail, watching birds and I took a lot of pictures. I was happy to find the ghost sign for a rod and gun club on an old barn (see the picture up above) Originally, the property was the Riddell family farm, and several dilapidated buildings still stand as well as the remnants of a large old sled. It was a great walk in Riddell, even if it was cold and windy at various times.

Pictures I took at Riddell Park can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157623702298385/

After leaving Riddell, we headed to the Earth Festival in Milford. However, as we approached Milford, we saw signs saying it started at eleven a.m. Since it was only about ten a.m. I suggested we continue on to Cooperstown so we could look for the geocache A DAY AT THE MUSEUMS, which we tried to find a couple of months ago when there was snow on the ground. Today, Leslie found it. I was too interested in the remains of an old canoe that I found and let her do the searching. Also, I had NO intention of climbing down that hill that far. Anyways, it is a great geocache, and each of us were able to take an arrowhead, seen in the picture up above.

You can see a picture of the old canoe I found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/4508132549/in/set-72157623174173539/

We arrived at the Earth Festival around eleven fifteen. We walked around, looking at the exhibits. I signed up for a few things and picked up a bunch of "freebies". There was a display of skeletons of various animals. Up above is a picture of the bones of a HUGE turtle. We decided to have lunch right there at the festival. THE LUCKY DOG was offering a few items, as well as some items from other organic restaurants. I had homemade cream of tomato soup with a piece of delicious bread. Leslie had quiche.

On the way home, we stopped to check on one of my caches: CHRISTMAS ALL THE TIME. Someone had reported that it had water in it. I cleaned it out, put a new notebook in it (thanks Leslie for always being prepared for any geocaching need) and hid it a bit further away from the water. Hopefully, it will stay dry.

It warmed up beautifully and the sun was shining in the early afternoon. It was a great day!

Out and about in Bainbridge, New York and more!!

Frog Pond Farms: Bainbridge, New York
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

I met Carol at the auction house in Unadilla at around 12:30 today. We were not planning on staying, but she wanted to get a good parking spot. There were a lot of cars there already, but she found a good spot and we headed to Bainbridge.

Our first stop was at Bob's Diner. We both had egg salad sandwiches off of the seniors menu. Then we went to Pine Ridge (the Mennonite store). I bought several items, and Carol bought a few things.

Then on to Frog Pond Farms. I have never been there this early in the year. They had a lot of Easter displays and flowers. It was so colorful. I could not resist taking several pictures. That is Main Street in Bainbridge up at the top. The picture on the bottom was taken at Frog Pond Farms.

Then we headed back to Unadilla to the auction house. I went in with Carol and stayed about a half an hour, but it was between auctions and I did not feel like waiting the hour or more until the next auctioneer arrived. So I headed back to Oneonta. I stopped the other side of Otego and had an ice cream cone. I made several stops along Route 7 to take pictures.

I went to the library and picked up four DVDS and several books. Then I went to the Fiesta to catch up with Christa. She has to work Easter Sunday, so we agreed to have our Easter dinner on Monday. I decided to take advantage of the beautiful warm weather to go around Oneonta and take some pictures to put up on flickr. I went to The Depot (restaurant in old train station), along Market Street, Foti's on River Street and to an old cemetery on Corporate Drive. (thats a picture of it in the middle up above).