IRENE plus 2 days

This past Sunday, Hurricane Irene hit, and many towns and areas nearby were effected.
I was lucky to ONLY lose power for a half a day. Monday was a beautiful late August day and today was more of the same. My friend Connie and I decided to take advantage of it.

After much discussion of where to go (we needed to stay away from high water rivers, streams and creeks), we decided on Riddell Park. We met up at PRICE CHOPPER and Connie drove us there.

We had a great walk. The trail was perfectly dry. The river was running quickly and was higher than usual. Here are some of the pictures I took:


When we were done with our hike, we went out to lunch at STELLA LUNA. Actually, we picked up food (eggplant sandwich and salad) and took it to Neahwa Park, where we had a picnic.

It was a nice day.

Trip to Lockport: August 21-26, 2011

I left early in the morning on Sunday, August 21st. I drove up to the thruway,getting on near Mohawk, and headed west. I stayed on the thruway until I got to the Depew Exit. From there I went to meet up with my sister, Peggy, at her house. We decided to have lunch at the TASTE OF LOCKPORT. This is a picture of one of the food booths:
Unfortunately, after eating several items, I started to feel like I might vomit. Peggy took me home, and I rested a bit. Eventually, I threw up and then we went to Briody's to see Dad. We went out to supper at a bar and grill out on the Transit named Pour Boyz (perhaps near the Village of Pendleton). We ate out on the back patio, we had barbeque ribs and they were very good.

Monday morning, I went out to Briody's. Unfortunately, I just missed Dads Occupational Therapy session. He was pretty worn out and ready to sleep when I arrived. I went to physical therapy with him in the afternoon, and he did good. I found two geocaches when I went out for my lunch break. One in a cemetery on Summit Street (Don't Bring Your Trunks to This Beech) and one at the empty Lockport Mall (Rockport). Peggy and I decided on supper at REID'S or THE PLACE NEXT DOOR, but on my way there, I noticed that Lockport was having a Cruise in Night.

We went to that and had pulled pork sandwiches at one of the food stands there. It was delicious.

On Tuesday in between spending time with Dad and accompanying him to his therapies, I went to Reids for lunch (the burger was not all that good) and then I found HYDRAULIC (a geocache at Upson Park). Peggy and I had supper at APPLEBY'S. We returned to Briody's and visited with Dad a bit.

On Wednesday, Dad did great in occupational therapy. I spent the morning with him and then went to lunch at a place on Davison Road. I had chicken and biscuits and loganberry drink. The name of the place is THE VILLAGE EATERY. Peggy told me later on that the loganberry drink is the same drink that used to be served at Crystal Beach, a defunct amusement park in Ontario Canada that we used to go to. After that, I found the geocache at the old Lockport infirmary (Davison Rd. Cache)This is one of the buildings on the site.
It is a large geocache but it didn't have anything in it for trading, so I went to the DOLLAR GENERAL and bought some items and stocked it. I drve over to WIDEWATERS and had an ice cream cone and took a pictures of interesting buildings in the area we used to call "Lowertown". I saw this old schoolhouse not too far from Widewaters and stopped to take a picture.
That night Peggy and I had supper at SUNNY'S,and we looked over the BATHFITTER brochure for ideas on how to modify Dad's bathroom to make things easier for him. We decided to try to go talk to someone about it and see some models tomorrow after Peggy gets out of work. Mike agreed to go to spend time with Dad at four p.m. or so. I told Peg I will take her out to supper to celebrate her birthday which is on the 27th.

Thursday morning, when I arrived, Dad was up in the wheelchair, but he said that he was not feeling well. They decided to NOT take him down to OT, but the therapist came back to his room and did a few things with him while he was in bed. He was starting to feel better. Unfortunately, there was an incident which halted his physical therapy session in the afternoon. He did some really good walking and then sat down on the edge of a "bed" and he blacked out for a few seconds. Medical personnel from all over converged and his vitals were checked and rechecked and he was given some oxygen and taken back to his room. The rest of his day went OK.

Thursday night, Peggy and I went to BATH FITTERS, to look at a tub to shower conversions to make things more accessible and easier for Dad. It is a bit overwhelming, but we got a lot of information and I think Peggy will start the process pretty soon. I took Peggy out to supper at BOB EVANS to celebrate her fiftieth birthday which is in two days. I had a turkey dinner and she had potato crusted flounder. It was a great meal. On the way back to Lockport, Peggy noticed a cruise in event so we stopped for a few minutes. We went back to Briody's to visit Dad. He was awake, but not very talkative. When I reminded him that I would be leaving early the following morning, but I would return as soon as I can, he said "when?" "in a week?" I told him probably more than a week, but sooner than a month.

Friday morning, I left Lockport at eight a.m. for my trip across the state. My first stop was at Garden Place Hotel in Williamsville. I had noticed a large mural and some interesting statues in front, and I wanted to see them. It was worth the stop. Here are pictures.

Then I got on the thruway for a bit. I got off at the exit that would take you to DARIEN LAKE. Near Corfu, I found a geocache at a very old cemetery. Across the road from the cemetery, I saw this strange structure
and this strange looking house. I think there is a small abandoned motel behind the "house". If I had more time, I would have done some exploring. I continued on
to Darien where I stopped briefly at a cemetery to find a geocache. I gave up after a few minutes when I realized that it was probably not a micro, but a nano. There were just too many spots to look in. I took this picture of an old well pump near the site of the hide.
I pumped it a few times and it still works!

Then it was on to ATTICA. I had two goals in the village of Attica. To see the monument/memorial to the prison guards who died in the riots years ago, and to find the old opera house which has a geocache named after it very closeby. I found the correctional facility
and drove around hoping to find the memorial, but I did not have any luck. I went back to town and located the area of the geocache. I could not find it at first and was deciding whether to spend more time OR to use my time to take pictures of the opera house and hotel. The cache owner saw me and came out and helped me to find it. Then I took pictures and headed on my way to Varysburg. On the way there, I stopped to take this picture:
When I arrived in Varysburg, I tried to find a geocache at a fishing spot, but after using up five to six minutes, I decided I would rather spend my time looking around Varysburg. I had noticed an old storefront that I thought may have been a general store at one time. a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDB_fo6hHbXMMikawPaRAMQm0hEI2hMIwMihe0uM6hcVDe2mczn3dulPhRPfyuCZ4AwJr65QWXnFJiDuo3v0dtUYm83z7r5l7an_21F-XvqpdURYDpRB6yVGkUVPisTYXhVNT6uEpvSXi/s1600/Varysburg+store.jpg">
I checked it out, and I was right. There were some automotive items in the window and an OPEN sign, so I decided to go in and see what they offered. A few steps inside, I realized I was in someones house. I quickly retreated. There are a few other places in Varysburg I would have liked to check out, but time was of the essence. I headed to Mt. Morris, to have lunch at Brian's USA Diner. I had a Beef on Weck, which was very good. If I ever get the chance to stop there on a Friday, I will have their fish fry, which looked great, was reasonably priced and the portions were huge.

I drove through Geneseo on my way to Honeoye, where I used to live. Once there, I made several photo stops. This is the house I used to live in (1978-1986) It was white when I lived there. Their has been some serious landscaping done and the place looks great. I sure wish I could have gone inside. I would have loved to see if they still have the spiral staircase and the
wood stove in the lakefront room.

I think the highlight in Honeoye was the one room schoolhouse that used to be on East Lake Road. It has been moved to a lot right next door to the library. I took a lot more pictures in Honeoye, which can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157627402315881/ After leaving Honeoye, I thought I had better stop sightseeing and head home. I got on the thruway north of Geneva.

I arrived home at six p.m. on the dot! It was a great but tiring day.

International Geocaching Day ADVENTURE!

Leslie and I met up at my house to go to the Morris area to GENERAL JACOB MORRIS STATE FOREST to look for the geocache SCOUT IT OUT. Carol and I had looked for it last winter, but it was encased in ice, so we could not get it out. On the way to
the location of SCOUT IT OUT, Leslie helped me hide a small geocache. When we got to the site, we found SIO very quickly and signed the log.
On the way back, we tested out the coordinates for the new geocache and they worked well. I then hid another geocache along the trail, this time it was a micro, very close to the trail.

I suggested we go to the MORRIS CREMATORIUM, which is a cache I hid earlier this year, so that Leslie could find it. She found it quickly and we lingered a bit since it is in such a beautiful spot. While in the area, I decided to show Leslie the All Saints Chapel and the Morris Family Cemetery on Route 51 at the intersection with Dimmock Hollow Road. The snowball bushes were in full bloom
and the smell was heavenly. We walked around a bit before heading back towards Morris.

I suggested that we ago to another of my caches CEMETERY WITHOUT A NAME 2, which Leslie had not found yet. As I parked the car on the road in front of the cemetery, I noticed that there was a small Ice Cream Social taking place across the road.
I told Leslie that I could go for some ice cream. She found the geocache and we both
had some ice cream. This is where they were dishing up the ice cream
(chocolate, vanilla or both) and they had almost every topping imaginable. Then we went to check on Country Bridge 2, I could not find it in the original location, so I replaced it in a different location. Then I found
HIDE AND SEEK on Pegg Road.

So I found two, hid two and replaced one. Leslie found three. We had a great afternoon.

Terry's Birthday Adventure 2011

Terry and I have a tradition of going on a day trip together to celebrate her birthday (and mine, if we remember). This year she is working more hours, so we couldn't come up with a FULL day, so we settled for a half day trip.

We met up in Laurens a little before noon and headed to Richfield Springs. Terry had never been there, so the first place we went to was "the sulphur springs" at the park on Main Street. We both tasted the water. I took this picture of a NYS Historical Sign close to the springs. I didn't take any pictures of the springs, since I took them the last two times I went to Richfield Springs.

We had lunch at THE TALLY HO. The place was really crowded! I had THE SARATOGA, a grilled sandwich which had turkey, mushrooms, cheese and thousand island dressing. It was VERY good.

Then Terry went to the tiny museum while I walked around Main Street a bit shooting pictures of old buildings. This old fire station is now used as offices for a home health aide agency:

After that we located an old abandoned SURE CATCH FACTORY on the Elm Street Extension. I think they made fishing tackle here years ago.
The place looks like it is wide open, but there are NO TRESPASSING SIGNS out in front.

Next we located St. Joe's Cemetery in order to find a geocache. On the way there, it got dark and there were rumbles of thunder and an occasional streak of lightning. It was just starting to sprinkle when I parked the car. Terry said she would wait in the car while I looked. I found the geocache really quickly. The trees kept me pretty dry. A few seconds after I returned to the car, the sky opened up and it started pouring. Then we decided to head back to Richfield Springs, but it turned out we were going the wrong direction. We went by THE LAKE HOUSE, a huge elegant hotel/restaurant and decided to go in and ask directions and have desert. The desert was great! We split cheesecake and carrot cake. All we had to was head in the opposite direction to get to Route 20.

We drove down Route 20 about eight miles and turned onto Route 51 heading towards Cedarville because I had read online about an Amish settlement there. I was surprised to see the CEDARVILLE COUNTRY STORE
and decided to go in and buy something and ask for information about where the Amish farms might be. The cashier told me that they are spread all over and suggested I head back to Richfield Springs and look for them around the Prey Hill area. We looked around Cedarville a bit (the small hamlet has a fire department and a few houses), without success even though we followed a road that had a sign showing a horse and buggy. We drove back up to Route 20 and around the Prey Hill area, we saw a road off to the left with the same sign. We drove down it, and right away we passed two young Amish boys. One was driving a small horse and buggy and the other was running along side. However, we never did find any Amish farms or see anything else Amish.

Back in Richfield Springs we stopped at the McDonalds to see the ELVIS display. It was small, but pretty good. Here is a pic. of Terry with Elvis!!!
Terry wanted to know if there were any more geocaches available. I told her about the one at the fishing access where I found an Amish horse and buggy last year. We stopped and I found it quickly. Terry's knee was bothering her and she decided to wait in the car.

On the way down Route 80 on the west side of Otsego Lake, we stopped to find CACHE AT THE MARKET. We met the owner and looked around the shop and then I found the
geocache. Terry was enjoying sitting on the porch chatting with the owner while I
did that.

Our last stop was in Cooperstown. I wanted to find the "hidden" park behind the
Cooperstown Motel, where a difficult geocache is hidden. The park was easy to
locate, and it is really neat, with this beautiful mural. I didn't have the info.
about the geocache, so I didn't even look, and probably would have been unable to
because of a mom and little girl who were playing there. The park has playground
equipment, picnic tables and a porta potty! It also has this mural,
on the backside of a building that was once a bowling alley, and then a supermarket.

I showed Terry the back way from Milford Center to Laurens and we wrapped up
our half day around 5:20 p.m. We had a great time!

Bainbridge ADVENTURE

I asked Linda if she would like to go to THE FROG POND (which is one of her favorite places, too). She said yes, and she picked me up around 9:30 this morning. We headed right out to Bainbridge, trying out her new GPS along the way.

First stop: The FROG POND, where we each bought a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. We actually loaded the back of her SUBARU up with our purchases and
decided to go back and see if we missed anything. I got potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, plums, oranges, a red onion, yellow onions, a melon and probably a couple more things. Then we went to PINE RIDGE GROCERY, where we both picked up several items. We had lunch at ROSA'S. We split an appetizer of deep fried onions, zucchini, cheese and mushrooms and we also split a tuna salad. Both were very good.

Then we went to CLINTON PARK to see if we could locate a geocache that I had tried to find in June, without success. An additional hint given by the cache owner made the find pretty easy today. Linda was the one to do the trick that revealed it.

We stopped at SPRINKLES AND CREAM
just outside of Otego and had ice cream cones. I had cheesecake dipped in chocolate. I took this picture of the small pond behind SPRINKLES AND CREAM.
Then we stopped at PIE IN THE SKY because Linda had never been there. I noticed these old pie pans on the wall and took a picture.
I have a couple of these at home.

Linda dropped me off at VALUE MOTORS so I could pick up my mini-van which had just had a new fuel pump installed.

It was a great day!

Geocaching Adventure on a Gorgeous August Day

Leslie and I agreed to get together this morning to do some local geocaching. I ran a couple of errands before meeting her at her house. The first geocache attempt was an ALWAYS, I think the ALWAYS stands for the fact that there are ALWAYS muggles near to the site of the hide. This was no exception. Leslie spotted it almost immediately, but we decided not to attempt to retrieve it at that time, due to muggles closeby.

We went to the Little League field to look for a new geocache CACHER UP. We found part one right away, which gave us the coords for three possible hiding spots for the final geocache. The two sets of coords we first tried, did not pan out, so we had to go to our last choice. Getting this one meant that SOMEONE had to do some climbing and reaching in order to retrieve it. There is NO WAY I would have done that, but Leslie is brave, and she did it! She was elated at her success! GOOD JOB, LESLIE!!!!! I wished I had my camera on me, but I didn't. After that, we went back to WalMart. Leslie parked right next to the cache, and climbed on the bumper of her car in order to reach it. Once again, I NEVER would have gotten this one on my own.

Our time was up, as Leslie needed to help her parents with a medical appointment. It was such a gorgeous day, that I decided to NOT go home right away. I had an ice cream cone at the GOLDEN GUERNSEY for my lunch and pondered what to do. I decided to try to find SATISFACTION, a nano at Wilber Park. I gave it about five minutes and then quit. I HATE nanos.

I went to FORTIN PARK to find one of Leslie's geocaches. THE MIXED UP CACHE. I was able to find this one with a minimum of difficulty. I took this picture of the river from close to the site of the hide.

and this is a picture of one of the old empty hangars from the former F & F Airport. The airport was operated from l959 to 2000, and then was made into FORTIN PARK.

Project 365, Day 221: Fortin Park: Oneonta, NY, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

I decided to head home after finding that geocache, and walking around the park a bit. It is a beautiful park, with a nice playground.

July 31st through August 5th: trip to Lockport

This certainly is NOT an adventure, it is an account of trip to the other end of the state to be with my Dad and siblings, while Dad is confined to Roswell Cancer Institute recovering from complications following his surgery of 7/5/11.

SUNDAY, July 31st: I left Sunday morning to spend several days with him and my three phenomenal siblings. I drove north and got on the thruway near Mohawk and stayed on the thruway until the Depew exit near Lockport. I stopped and found a geocache BEE GIRL, somewhere on the Transit, I think south of East Amherst. I arrived at Peggy's house around one thirty p.m. in the afternoon. We drove together up to Roswell.
Dad was on the sixth floor in a room that is between ICU and a regular room. I think they called it ICC (Intermediate Critical Care). Gail and Mike were also there for part of the day.

Dad was pretty sleepy and very weak, and I only spoke to him for short periods of time when he woke up (mostly we would wake him up every now and then to tell him we were there). Peggy and I went out to a chinese place for supper (the food was good but the atmosphere and restroom there leave a LOT to be desired. We returned to Dad's room to tell him goodnight and then headed back to Lockport.

Monday, August 1st, 2011: I drove Peggy to her mechanics shop so she could pick up her car where a flat tire was being repaired, then I dropped her off at work. After that I located the KENAN CENTER and found a geocache hidden there. Then I was unsuccessful in locating either of two earthcaches in the Outwater Park/Glenwood Cemetery area. Mike came over to Dads place and I followed him up to Buffalo. I think this was the day that Gail and Peggy rode in together. While Mike and I went to the ANCHOR BAR for spaghetti while Peggy stayed with Dad. (The ANCHOR is where Buffalo Chicken Wings were invented in l964).
Mike and I returned to Roswell and we all said our goodbyes to Dad. Mike and I returned to the hospital and we all rode back to Lockport in Mike's new mini-van. Peggy ate spaghetti while we drove back to Lockport! Note: the spaghetti at the ANCHOR is really good! Ten dollars gets you a salad, bread and a HUGE portion of spaghetti and meatballs. (I had saved some of mine for Peggy).

Tuesday, August 2nd. I think this was the day I had breakfast at Tom's Diner on Main Street, and then I did some geocaching and exploring. I tried again and I found the"earthcache" behind Glenwood Cemetery. It is the Queenston/Whirlpool Rock Exposure Earthcache.
Later in the morning, I followed Mike up to Roswell. Peggy called and said that she was leaving work and that she did not feel well and she went home and did not visit Dad today. I think I had a salad in the cafeteria at Roswell for lunch. I followed Gail back to Lockport from Roswell. I stopped and had a hotdog at TED'S HOTDOGS
I noticed the spot where the Lockport Mall used to be, just across the road and took a couple of pictures)and then picked up a few groceries for Peggy and myself at TOPS.

WEDNESDAY, August 3rd: In the morning, I took some pictures of the chestnut tree and the small flowering tree in Dad's front yard. Gail picked me up and we went up to Roswell together. I think this was the day Gail left early. I accompanied Dad to another floor where he had an MRI. I had lunch at Wendy's and took a few pictures of a huge, old, empty church on the corner of Best and Main Streets.
Also, I went into a small corner grocery store. As I walked back to Roswell, I found a geocache outside of Buffalo General Hospital. Mike and Peggy arrived later in the afternoon. On the way back to Lockport, Peggy and I stopped at one of those huge buffets, and had a great meal. I think it may have been HOMETOWN BUFFET.


THURSDAY: August 4th. This morning I did RILEY'S WAY: a walking tour of the locks and canal near the Big Bridge. I ended up at Upson Park, where I saw a strange structure,
and I cannot find any information about it. Gail picked me up and we went up to Roswell. Gail stayed until three p.m. While she was there I had a light lunch in the Roswell Cafeteria and used a computer to check my email, etc. Mike arrived and Peggy and I went to PANO'S for supper. Then we went back to say goodnight to Dad, and I told him that I would be leaving for home the following morning.

FRIDAY: August 5th, I left Lockport at 7:30 a.m. and headed towards home. I drove north a bit so I could see OLCOTT BEACH a place my family used to go to a lot when I was a kid. The amusement park we went to is long gone, but a new one with VINTAGE kiddie rides is there now.
I explored the tiny village of Barker a bit before getting on the parkway and taking it to Morton, where I got off so that I could take at look at Troutburg, where I lived from 1973-1976. The house we lived in has been added onto and expanded so that it is barely recognizable. I think this is the house that Sharon and Terry Murray lived in.

The Assembly of God camp across the road is now a private camp called BEACHWOOD. I looked for the general store in Morton, I think I found the building it was in
......right next door to the Morton Post Office. I don't recall ever using that post office, but I must have. I think when we lived in Troutburg, we must have used the Hamlin Post Office. Then on to BROCKPORT, where I hoped to locate CHRISTIAN CENTER, a church we attended there when Megan was a baby. I could not find it. Part of Main Street was closed off due to road repairs. Then I located the house on Sweden Walker Road where we lived when Megan was born. It looks pretty much the same as it did in l972.

Made my way up to the thruway and stopped to have a TIM HORTONS donut at the first plaza I came to, also filled up the gas tank. Got off the thruway near Seneca Falls, and then drove down Route 90 on the east side of Cayuga Lake. First stop was in Union Springs where I stopped and had a slice of pizza and took a few pictures. Then onto Aurora, where I stopped to find a geocache. I really liked the spot the cache was hidden in.......some old stone ruins right on the lake.

Then I went to the village of Sherwood, hoping to find a geocache hidden outside a museum in an old stone store. Here is a picture of the HOWLAND STONE STORE, which is now a museum:
I looked for about five minutes but then decided to use my time to take pictures instead. Sherwood is a very tiny hamlet, with some neat old buildings.

After that, I noticed that time was slipping away from me, so I turned on my navigator and headed home. I went through several small towns and villages, and saw several small general stores, but I did not dare to take the time to stop and check them out or take pictures. While on Route 23 somewhere near Pharsalia, I saw a tiny, old cemetery that I would like to return to and maybe hide a geocache in.

I stopped in South New Berlin and made a ten dollar donation to their museum. The librarian there was so helpful the time my van broke down in front of the library, and we used their phone to make several phone calls, so I wanted to do something for them.

In Morris, I made one last stop for an ice cream cone, which was somewhat of a disappointment. They claim that their softserve is frozen custard, but I don't think it is.

I arrived home around 5:45 p.m. It sure was good to get home.