Taking the long way......

I had a medical appointment in Cooperstown in the middle of the day, and it turned out to be a nice day, so I left a couple of hours early and took some back roads instead of the usual direct root.

When I got to Mt. Vision, instead of turning left and going through the village, I kept going straight.........I ended up driving by Arnold Lake.........I could not find a place to pull in so that I could take a picture of the lake, so I only got pictures of two signs. After I went around the lake, I came upon a very old, very small cemetery LIPPITT CEMETERY. I got out and took a few pictures,
and the continued on my way.

I went through TODDSVILLE, and stopped to take a picture of the church, but I didn't see anything else very interesting there.

I arrived in Cooperstown with time to spare, so I looked for the old Delaware and Hudson Train Station and found it. It is a private residence now, with a long driveway. I walked partway up the driveway and took a couple of pictures.

After that, I went to New York Pizza and used a BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE coupon. I found a parking spot and ate a couple of pieces of pizza, then went to the bakery and bought some day old donut holes for desert. Then I went to the INN AT COOPERSTOWN. I inquired about the price of rooms and the woman working there showed me a couple. The prices are way to high to even consider ever staying there.

Then it was time to go to Bassett. Since I had a bit of extra time, I parked in the back parking lot and walked on the trail to the old stone bridge. This was my third time there (at least), but the first time I had my camera with me. I took several pictures. Here is one:

My medical appointment went very well, and then I headed home. I drove the back route through Hartwick and located the Hartwick Historical Society which is behind the library. I took a picture of the hours the library is open and a phone call later on confirmed that the historical society is open when the library is open.

Then instead of taking 205 all the way, I drove through South Hartwick, stopping to take a few pictures of an old cemetery that Leslie and I saw in February when we were exploring after seeing the old store.

South Hartwick Cemetery (S.Hartwick, NY), a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Then I figured out how to get back to 205 and came home.

Waltzing Horse Farm Adventure

WaltzingHorseFarm 008 a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Carol K has wanted me to go over to the Waltzing Horse Farm to watch her ride for several months. We tried to set several days and times to do this, but something always seemed to stand in the way.

She suggested today, and it worked out fine for me to meet here there. She told me to dress warm and wear my boots. I am glad I took her advice.

I met her there at 10:45. We went back to Sunny's stall, where he was eating his breakfast. After he was finished, Carol took him out and did some grooming and cleaned out an old injury in his groin. Sunny stood very well while Carol did this. Then it was off to the arena where Sara was giving a lesson. While she finished up the lesson, Carol got Sunny ready to ride. I was surprised at how much there is to this, and how long it took. Finally, they were ready to go.

First Carol walked Sunny around a bit, and then she got ready to mount him. This part was a little bit tricky, but she was successful in getting up on Sunny. I took several pictures and videos while she rode around the arena several times. After about a half an hour, she was ready to dismount. After taking the saddle, etc. off we took Sunny back to her stable.

Carol offered to treat me to lunch, so we went to NEW YORK PIZZERIA AND RESTAURANT in New Berlin.
(even though she was covered with horse hair). We shared a small cheese pizza and it was very good. I will put the pictures and videos on a "thumb drive" for Carol. I told her I will go over to "the farm" another time to take more if she wants me to.

Saturday Afternoon Geocaching Adventure

Leslie and I were both free yesterday afternoon, so we decided
to do a few local geocaches. I picked her up around 12:30 and we headed out.

Our first geocache was STUCK IN THE MIDDLE, which was a quick and easy one..........a magnetic key case stuck on the back of a sign somewhere over near the "small reservoir". After quickly finding that one we checked out the Ducky's Reservoir Cache. We knew it had been disabled due to snow, but so much snow had melted that we thought we might be able to find it. That cache is on a bridge somewhere in the same area of the previous cache, so we located the bridge and looked for a few minutes, but the lower parts of the sides of the bridge have those hard, blackened snow piles around them and, the hint said something about it being "almost underfoot" so we doubted if it was accessible and we moved on. Our next geocache was Stealers Wheels and we needed to take the road towards the SUCO college camp to get to it. A previous finder had warned that the road needs all wheel drive, so it was a good thing we had my Subaru. It didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it might be, just a lot of ruts to try to avoid. We found this one quickly and easily, too.

Our next stop was so I could find PETITE CALLIOU, which was hidden right near the small reservoir.

The Small Reservoir: Oneonta, NY a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Luckless had already found this. It took me quite a while to find this one and it was a definite surprise when I did find it.

We took a "chocolate milkshake break" at Arby's on the way over to Riddell Park where we planned to find a few DOG WALK geocaches. However, once we arrived, we realized that much of the trail was ice covered. We found the closest one to the entrance (DOG WALK 1). I should say Leslie found it. I was busy looking for an easier way to get down to it while she took the hard way and she found it quickly. Its a really big one with lots of stash. I took a couple of small items and left a couple of larger items. Here is a picture I took of the area near the site of the hide. Leslie saw a bird and was taking a picture of it with her new camera.

We debated whether or not to head over to Unadilla and find HOMETOWN ANGEL. Since I had a corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot and needed to stop and get some carrots, I suggested we put that off for another time.

Judy's Birthday Adventure

Judy and I agreed to meet at her place so we could go out to lunch and do some exploring to celebrate her 61st birthday which was a few days ago.

After Judy did a couple of errands, we had lunch at Ardy's in Worcester. As usual, we were not disappointed.

Then we set off to do some exploring. I had never been to the hamlet of South Worcester and I knew of some historical buildings there. So, we headed down County Road 39, and eventually we found Route 40. It seemed like we drove forever until we found East Worcester. We never saw a sign, but a couple of the buildings matched the pictures I had, so I knew we were there. We drove through South Worcester, then through Simpsonville, and then in the Fergusonville area, we stopped to see Buttermilk Falls. It was beautiful today:
Then I turned back and drove back towards South Worcester. I stopped in Simpsonville to take a couple of pictures of the old cemetery where I have a geocache hidden. The ground just before the area of the hide was pretty squishy, so I didn't check on it.

Once we got back to South Worcester, I gave Judy the book LANDMARKS OF OTSEGO COUNTY and asked her to look for the buildings. We located the church, the old general store, the cabinet shop and the doctors office, and also saw the Charlotte Valley Inn. I took pictures of all of these. Here is the cabinet shop:

On the way back to Worcester, we found the one room schoolhouse that the woman at the Worcester Historical Society told me about. It is so cute. Here it is: As I was getting back into the car after taking a couple of pictures, Judy asked me if that was a cemetery across the street. The snowpiles along the road made it a bit hard to see, but I was able to get one picture.

Our last stop was at Preston's Alpaca Farm. I drove in and we saw the alpacas, but did not stay long.


It turned out to be a great day!

Mini Oneonta History Adventure with Dad

My Dad is visiting for a day or so. I suggested that we go to the Oneonta History Center and he seemed to like that idea. This is a picture of the History Center. It's on Main Street. More recently, a jewelry store was in this storefront. Before that it was a candy and ice cream shop named LASKARIS.

We spent about forty tive minutes in the History Center. Dad talked with the man running it today. His father fought in WW2 and so did Dad, so they shared memories. I bought a couple of postcards of the old Oneonta Hotel which is right across the street from the History Center. Here is the postcard,
and here is how the building looks today.

I showed Dad what is left of Bresee's both in the front and back, and we also went into the sporting goods store. Then we went into a bookstore, where Dad found a book he liked HOW TO DRAW WHAT YOU SEE. He did not buy it, though, he is going to see if he can get it at the library. I think maybe I will see if my library system has it, too.

I showed Dad the Masonic Temple (he had been interested in the toy car that the little rich boy who grew up there got for Christmas) and the old train station at the end of Market Street. Then we headed back home, where he promptly took a nap.

My complete set of pictures for this outing can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157626276266120/

I used the picture of Dad in the History Center for my Project 365 daily picture.

Breakfast, cache and a photo (or twelve?)

Breakfast, cache and a photo (or twelve?) a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Today was the geo-event BREAKFAST, CACHE AND A PHOTO (or twelve?) which softball set up. It was held at the cafe at the Holiday Inn.

It was a great event, with a lot of good food and a lot of interaction between local and not so local geocachers. I think the highlight of the event was the little game set up by TEAM DUCKY. They drew small pics representing geocachers who attended (or said they would attend) and each person had the opportunity to see if they could identify all of them. Team-Frog won and they got to keep the duck. Here is a picture of it:

After the event, Leslie and I decided to go geocaching. We chose THE BEEHIVE, which is on state land in Milford. We decided to meet at the convenience store in Laurens. On the way there, I remembered that the backroads we were going to need to go on might be better traversed with my SUBARU FORRESTER than with my minivan. So I drove home and switched vehicles. By time I got to the convenience store, Leslie had left and headed back to Oneonta. When she passed a minivan like mine, she decided to drive back to the convenience store where she found me with my Subaru. So we headed to Milford.

We quickly found the area and then headed out into the woods. Leslie went first (the youngest should always go first), and as she stepped over the snowbank along the side of the road, she stepped into some very soft, very deep snow and went down to her hips, almost to her waist. She is a good sport, and laughed and suggested I take her picture and then extricated herself.


When I realized how deep the snow was, I thought we might have difficulty finding the geocache and I was right. But we plowed forward and got as close to the coordinates as we could. I stepped into some very deep snow at one point, and had a bit of a struggle getting out. We gave up after a while and headed back to my car. It was exhilarating to be outside in the cool fresh air, and I was not discouraged by our failure to find the geocache. We can return when the snow has melted.

By this time it was around one p.m. and I was hungry. We headed back to Laurens thinking we could get a piece of pizza at the convenience store or at the pizzeria in Laurens. But then just as I was going to turn onto 205 I noticed Gino's Grill and Tavern. It definitely had the look of a bar,
but Leslie said that since there weren't any bikes parked outside (I think she meant motorcycles) she thought it might be worth a try. The atmosphere was not anything to write home about, but the prices seemed reasonable and we got to sit in an empty area at the end which had a fireplace.

My burger and fries and bottled water only came to seven dollars. Leslie had a fish sandwich, but I don't think she was thrilled with it. When I said to her "next time we will get the chicken wings". She said "next time?". She has never had chicken wings! So, I hope she shares a batch with me sometime soon!

It was a great day!

Winter at Wilber Lake Adventure

Sign for Wilber Lake (near Laurens, NY) a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Luckless and I set out this morning for some geocaching. We met up in Oneonta and found one that is hidden in the parking lot of a local store. Then, with Luckless at the wheel, we headed out to Wilber Lake.

Wilber Lake is so much more than a fishing access area. It is an old road that crosses over Wilber Lake. Cars have not used this road for years, but the road signs are still there. The old road makes a wonderful trail for hikers. It is a beautiful wooded area. So, its a bit like urban exploring when you walk down the road.

We parked at one end of the lake and quickly found a newly hidden geocache. I should say that Luckless found it, because I chickened out at the idea of climbing down the snowy hill. It was a large one, and we both signed the log and Luckless took a travel bug that wants to go to Washington state. From this vantage point, there is a beautiful view of Wilber Lake. This gnarled tree with many trunks can be seen at this lookout point.




After that we drove around and located the other entrance to Wilber Lake. We parked and went beyond the ROAD CLOSED BARRIER, and started walking. I told Luckless that last fall I saw a strange structure on the left hand side, and we watched for it. She spotted it, and we climbed over a ditch and up a bit to look at it. Unfortunately, it has deteriorated a lot with time and the weather. Here is a picture of what we saw today:

We decided to hide a small geocache near the mystery structure. We did that, and then continued walking the trail towards the lake. We quit when we came to a small creek or ditch that was a bit too wide to jump. We headed back into Oneonta.

We had lunch at the Corfu Diner. I tried the THAI special. Thai Chicken in garlic/black pepper sauce with rice and vegetables.
$7.75 included soup and a soft drink. It was very good. Luckless is not as adventurous with food as I am. She had a ham and cheese croissant with fries, it looked very tasty.

Luckless dropped me off and I headed home. At the intersection of Route 7 and Oneida Street, I noticed this ahead of me:

POSTSCRIPT: the new geocache was published within a few hours of submission. A couple of hours later several cachers got together and went out to find it in the dark. Their stories are a "comedy of errors" which can be read here: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=aa6e6b58-eef2-4b99-9dcb-08b72501b18b