A DUCKY Adventure: June 25, 2010

Mama Duck and two babies
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Luckless and I met up at 11:30 or so in Oneonta in order to go geocaching for a few hours. I told her which caches were available that we have not found yet. She really wanted to find THE HATCHERY, so we headed to Riddell Park, just outside of Oneonta in the Colliersville area.

The cache site was about a half a mile from the parking area. It was a gorgeous day, hot but not too terribly humid. Once we got to the area where the geocache was hidden, Luckless found it quickly.

It was a HUGE round canister. We took it to a nearby picnic area so we could sit at a picnic table. We had a bit of trouble opening it, but we finally realized that the container did not PRY open, that the top turned to the left and came off.

Inside was a large MAMA DUCK, and a bunch of small baby ducks. TEAM DUCKY provided markers so that each finder can decorate their own ducky. The MAMA DUCK (seen in the picture up above) is the "log" for the cache and each finder signs on it. Luckless and I signed the log and then we each proceded to make our own baby duck. Luckless had a theme all picked out before we got there. Her theme was "hatchling". I did not have a theme or any ideas, so I just decorated my little duck and named it "ducky duck". Am I not at all creative or what? I do not have a creative bone in my body.

We were able to sit at a picnic table in a very nice picnic area on the edge of Schenevus Creek while we decorated our ducks. (middle picture up above shows my decorated duck). It was so much fun to make my own ducky, and so nice to spend time along the creek. When finished, we packed up the geocache and took it back to the site, and Luckless rehid it. I thoroughly enjoyed walking this trail at Riddell, except for the part when we ran into a couple of people with a dog that was NOT on a leash. (people who do not follow basic rules irritate me and I do not like dogs a whole lot). We went back to van and discussed what geocache to search for next.

We decided on DUCKY DEAD END FOUR, but we took a short break and stopped at PONDO'S for ice cream. I had a large marshmallow sundae with soft chocolate ice cream. It was really good. Then we headed over to the Charlotte Creek Fishing Access area. We located part one, but the clue did not work for us. There was a pen inside the cache which has a tiny light on it. We tried everything we could think of to light up a spot that would give us the coordinates for the second part of the cache, with no luck. Luckless had located the second part (without the coordinates) a few days before that, so we headed towards the spot where she found it.

It was like a walk through the jungle! (see picture way up at the top) That area is so overgrown. I doubt if many fishermen really take the time and effort to walk back to the fishing area. But we followed what tracks we could see (very faint in places) and eventually arrived at the cache site. There are a lot of wild rose bushes with prickers, and also some kind of shrubbery or small trees that have HUGE leaves. I had a heck of a time finding it and Luckless had to play the "hot and cold" game to help me zero in on it. Eventually, I found it, and signed the log and rehid it. Now it was time for another walk through the JUNGLE of ONEONTA. This time I moved faster, since I knew what to expect and I was anxious to get away from the bugs, mud puddles and overgrowth.

I dropped Leslie off, picked up some milk and headed for home. It was a fun afternoon!

RETURN TO STAMFORD ADVENTURE!

Belvedere Country Inn: Stamford, New York
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Today I took my friend Linda to the nursing home in Stamford, New York so she could visit her mother.

While she was there, I did some exploration in the Village of Stamford. I located the BELVEDERE COUNTRY INN. It is the last remaining OPEN hotel in Stamford. The dozen or so others all closed down in the twentieth century.

Basically, I walked in the front door and explored most of the first floor for several minutes. Then I rang a bell at the "check in" desk and inquired about room rates, etc. I was shown a couple of rooms on the second floor.
The rooms are nice, but they do not have any air conditioning. One of the "double" rooms has a very nice sitting area. I took a lot of pictures which can be seen on my flickr photostream.

I was able to locate THE COLONIAL, a mansion right next door to the Cyr Center. It is indeed beautiful, but I did not stop to take any pictures.

I tried to find 5 Lake Street so I could see THE REXMERE LODGE, but no luck, I just could not find it. I found 7 Lake Street and right next door to it is Stewarts.

While driving down Main Street, I noticed a huge bell covered by a gazebo. I stopped to see if there was a plaque, but there was not one. It is in the yard of the United Methodist Church. Across the street is a colorful and interesting ice cream shop, which I took a couple of pictures of.

By then it was time to go pick Linda up at the nursing home. She chose TP's Cafe for lunch. I had the Beef Taco Salad and it was very good. I took a picture of the beautiful old tin ceiling. After lunch, we headed back to Linda's place where I dropped her off. We passed a geocache on the way, but I skipped it because it was getting so late.

Table Rock ADVENTURE

Table Rock
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

There is a geocache hidden at TABLE ROCK. I have wanted to look for it since it was hidden about a year and a half ago, but today was my first good opportunity.

Luckless had told me a few times that you can drive right up to this cache, but she must know a different way to get to it.

emoneonta and I drove up to the Hartwick campus after working this morning. We had a bit of a hard time figuring out the best parking area, mostly because it was so overcast that our GPS's took a long time to get satellites. Eventually, we asked a security guy what was the best way to get there and he pointed us to the trailhead.

It was a bit of a walk uphill and then in the woods to get to the area known as TABLE ROCK. It is so neat! I had no idea that it was so huge! My GPS never really settled down, so we relied on Eileen's and it took us to within a couple of feet of the geocache. The name of it is TO THE BATCAVE, and the clue was "QUITE THE CLIFFHANGER".

Eileen spotted it, I retrieved it and emptied it out. We each took something and left something and signed the log and then walked back down to the parking area.

It was a great time in spite of it being cool, gray and overcast.

Geocaching ADVENTURE with Leslie to celebrate her birthday!

Luckless Under the Bridge
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

I knew Leslie's birthday was coming up, so I emailed her last week and asked her if she would like to do some geocaching together in order to celebrate her brithday. We agreed on Monday, July 14th (today) even though her birthday was actually the 13th. I was busy with the golf tournament on the 13th.

We met up at her house at 9:30. We went first to find GET SWART: a very easy geocache to find, located at the Swart House off of River Street in Oneonta. I really need to take pictures of this house, but today it was sprinkling, so I will wait until a nicer day.

After that, over to WalMart where we quickly found the new and improved edition of ALWAYS ONEONA.

Then we began to look for Ducky Dead End Four. We were unsuccessful, but basically I think we just need to approach this one from the opposite side of the river.

We went on out to Davenport Center and quickly found DAVENPOT CENTER CACHE, one that Peggy an I had unsuccessfully looked for over Memorial Day weekend. This time I found it rather quickly, it was not in the area that Peggy and I searched in before. Oh well.........

Then we went to Colliersville to try again for BRIDGE OVER DUCKY WATERS. Once again success eluded us. I think we need an extra hint from the owners. I suggested to Leslie that we might need to go to a website that has pictures of alternative cache containers............and maybe we will see a picture of what we should be looking for.

It was just about noon, but I suggested we might look for one more geocache: DUCKY DEAD END 3. It was hidden in among some huge rugged rocks under a bridge down by a fishing access area.
Leslie was brave enough to go where I would NOT go........and she found it. There were some interesting handmake metal sculptures right near the geocache site. A picture is up above.

By then we were hungry and decided to try the new POLAR SCOOPS on Main Street, Oneonta. They just opened a few days ago. Both Leslie and I were disappointed. They overcharged Leslie for her milkshake. Leslie was finished with her pizza and shake long before my pepperoni roll was prepared. I brought it home and it was not very good. I am not sure I encountered even one piece of pepperoni.

It was a great morning of geocaching! We found four out of six that we looked for.

Golf Tournament Adventure

Ouleout Creek Golf Course
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

Today was the third annual Gold Tournament, a fundraiser for The Family Service Association. Mary asked me to work. I arrived at 8:30 a.m. and she assigned me to sit at the l8th hole with Fred Albrecht.

I took my spot and introduced myself to Fred. He explained what we had to do which was basically watch for golfers who land balls close to the hole, and measure to see who gets the closest. Of course there was always the chance that someone would get a hole in one and win ten thousand dollars! So, I guess verifying that was our most important task, but nobody got a hole in one!

There were over twenty teams so it took a little more than four hours for all of them to go through the eighteen holes. Geneen joined us at the halfway point, which made it easy for Fred and I to go get food (burgers and sausage with peppers was provided) and to walk around a bit.

Rudy came within l8 inches of getting a hole in one, and then we found out there there was not a prize for closest. I am not sure why they had us measuring.

After all the teams were done, door prizes were given out. I won a gift certificate to the Phoenix Grill. I cut the cake and served it while Mary and the others tallied up the money end of the event.

It was a good day and I think we raised a lot of money!

Route 7 Adventure!

Killenbergers Grocery in East Worcester, NY
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

I spent a good portion of the day with my friend Judy. We drove on Route 7 between Schenevus and Cobleskill. I had never been on most of that road, but Judy grew up in the area, and she was able to tell me a lot about the places we passed and stopped at.


First we had lunch in Worcester at Ardy's. We had grilled burgers and fries. I took some pictures of some old posters they have up. I think some might be originals, but most are probably reproductions. Also, I saw and liked that clock which I took a picture of, which is up at the top.

We headed out towards East Worcester. Judy showed me the second hand shop that she likes so much. I noticed it had a sign on it indicating that groceries used to be sold there. Also, right across the street was a vacant store, with the sign with the name still on it. I took pictures, of course.

We kept on heading northeast. Before we got to Richmondville, I saw some abandoned buildings on the right hand side of the road. It appears that there were three separate businesses there. One was appliances, one dealt in propane and I don't know about the third.

We headed on towards Warnersville, but I didn't stop. I kept going until we got to Cobleskill. We turned around there and headed back. The second time, I stopped in Warnersville when I noticed a building that appeared to have been a store in its past life. The owners daughter was doing yard work and I spoke to her briefly and she told me that it indeed had been a store. Years ago, it was a general store housing the post office. Then her father had a gun shop in it, which closed about a year ago. I took several pictures of the store and then moved on to the church across the street, and then to the abandoned buildings of a business that moved to another location.

When we got to Richmondville, I stopped to take pictures of a historical marker, the post office, a ghost sign, an empty supermarket and a few other buildings. Judy said she was getting tired, so we decided to head back to her place. I made a brief turn in East Worcester on Depot Street, to see if the train depot was still standing. We could not find it. On the way back up Depot Street, Judy pointed out the building that used to be a feed store. I did not stop to take a picture since Judy was getting pretty tired. The picture way at the top is of the empty supermarket on Main Street.

We continued on through Worcester, Schenevus and then to Elk Creek. As we went through Elk Creek, I asked Judy if it used to have more. She pointed out the private residence that used to be a general store (I never would have guessed), and the vacant lot that used to have a post office on it.

I dropped Judy off at her place in Westford and after visiting for a few minutes, I headed out. I stopped in Schenevus at a fishing access area to find a geocache called SEWARD FISHING. It was quick and easy. Then I headed towards home.

It was a great day!

Ice Cream Adventure: June 6, 2010

Ice Cream Social: June 6, 2010
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

This was a short (and very sweet) adventure, but an adventure nonetheless. Connie and I took her mother Ann to the ICE CREAM SOCIAL today. It was supposed to be held in Wilber Park, but inclement weather meant that it was moved to an indoor location at THE FOOTHILLS, a local arts and theatre center on Market Street in Oneonta.

We arrived a bit early and started going around to view some of the exhibits. Various agencies in the area had set up areas where they had displays, information and sometimes activities for children to do. The ice cream came out around one p.m. It was free and all you can eat!

I had five small ice cream cones. The chocolate raspberry from Stewarts was the best and I requested that twice. I think Connie and Ann each had two or three bowls, and they each took a bowl with them when we left.

We didn't stay long. The noise level was bothering Connie and the longer we stayed, the heavier the crowds got. But we had fun and I took home a lot of freebies!

I hope to go to it again next year, but this time I hope the weather cooperates.

Birthday Adventure: June 5, 2010

Giles District Schoolhouse in Brookfield, NY
Originally uploaded by JuneNY

To celebrate my birthday, I asked my friend Terry to join me for an "adventure." We met up this morning in Morris and headed out towards Brookfield, New York. I had been there last fall with Carol and wanted to return. Sooooooooooooooo, off Terry and I headed towards Brookfield.

On the way I noticed an abandoned shop on Route 8. I stopped to check it out and take a few pictures. Part of one of the outside walls was missing, so I was able to step inside to take pictures. I didn't go any further than that.

Once in Brookfield, our first stop was the General Store. I LOVED the glass candy case, it was just like he one in the little store on Prospect Street that I frequented when I was a kid. I think the name of it was Kramers when I was a teenager, but it probably had other names before and after that. Picture of the glass case in the Brookfield General Store is up above.

After that we did some geocaching. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the three geocaches in Brookfield that we looked for. One is in an old snow plow parked at the Highway Department, Carol and I looked for it last fall with no luck and Terry had the same level of success today. The other two were on horse trails. I think one of them has been "muggled", and the other one was just too hard to find since
my GPS was going crazy with all that tree cover.

After geocaching, we went to the Historical Society. I had called a few days earlier to make sure they would be open. We were there a few minutes early, and two ladies stopped when they saw us waiting, and one of them went and got a key to let us in. The exhibits are great. I especially liked the really old tin in the picture up above. We really enjoyed the little museum, but I think we liked the GILES SCHOOLHOUSE, which is located next door to the museum. It was moved from Giles Road a few years ago, and has been restored and furnished with old desks and school supplies. It was really neat! I took tons of pictures of the schoolhouse and stuff in the museum, as well as of some interesting nearby buildings.

By the time we left the museum and schoolhouse, we were getting hungry. We decided to check out a restaurant in North Brookfield, but it turned out to be more of a bar, and while they could offer us burgers and a couple of other items, we decided going back to Brookfield to the Beavers Den Diner might be in our best interest. We were not at all disappointed.

Terry treated me to lunch and desert. We had cheese steak sandwiches and pie with ice cream for desert. It was all delicious! The prices are great and they have a huge variety for such a small diner in such a small village.

After lunch we started to head home. We stopped on Route 8 twice. First to look at the Columbus Quarter Schoolhouse and then to take a picture of the old empty diner. Terry remembers it from going there with her parents when she was growing up. It is for sale now. We think it used to have the word "deer" in its name before it closed.

We stopped in New Berlin to say hello to Terry's daughter Rhonda. I met her grandson, Isaac, he is so cute! he just turned two years old.

I dropped Terry off at her car and headed home. It was a great way to spend my birthday. I hope to return to Brookfield and eat at the diner again sometime. I might even go to the Madison County Fair this year. A geocacher told me that it is kind of like an old time fair......so I should check it out!

My seventy some pictures from this great day are on flickr and can be viewed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157624087860555/