Little Bit of New Hampshire Adventure, LOTTA Vermont..........

After free continental breakfast at the Super 8 (which was pretty good, but not spectacular) Terry and I headed into New Hampshire.  My goal was to find one geocache and then head back to Vermont and eventually back to New York.  I found the second one I looked for, hanging from a tree near a trailhead.  I tried for a couple more, but they were DNF's for various reasons.  While geocaching, we drove through the Village of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which has several beautiful cut stone buildings.  This is their Post Office:

Back in Brattleboro, we chose a different route to take.  We stopped at the GRAFTON VILLAGE CHEESE COMPANY just north of Brattleboro.  
They offer a lot of samples!  I bought some cheese spread (Asiago Cheddar) and a small bottle of coca cola.

The back route we took led us to East Dover, Vermont where we found a great old store. I noticed that the East Dover Post Office either is or WAS located in this building.   I forgot to ask the owner if it is closed permanently or if it was closed because it was a Sunday.   The new owners have only been there two weeks.  We also saw this covered bridge: THE WILLIAMSVILLE BRIDGE.After leaving the East Dover area, we headed south to Wilmington, Vermont.  We drove through it yesterday and it looked real interesting.  We had lunch at JEZEBEL'S (we shared The New Englander and the Jezebel sandwiches) and went into a few of the many shops.  This display is in front of one of the shops (the one right next to Jezebel's) 

Then we continued to drive west until we got to Bennington.  We stopped at a Visitors Center and got directions to the covered bridges.  This was at the Visitors Center!  I love all this color!

 We only found one.  After that, we headed back to New York.  We stopped in Hoosick again to go to an auction house/flea market right across the road from BIG MOOSE.  Both Terry and I purchased a couple of items.

Our last stop was in Cobleskill for a chinese buffet supper, which was very good.  It was raining when I got to Terry's place.

My pictures taken on this two day trip are here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157634437380700/

VERMONT ADVENTURE Day One

Before leaving this area to move across the state, I thought it imperative to go geocaching in Vermont and New Hampshire.  This weekend turned out to be the time to do that.

I picked my friend Terry up at nine a.m. and we headed to Vermont.  We took I-88 until its northernmost end and then headed east.   Our first stop was at an interesting gift shop in HOOSICK, NEW YORK. The guy working the deli gave me a huge OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE as soon as I went through the front door!  Terry and I looked around for several minutes, and purchased a few postcards.  Then we kept going east towards Vermont.

Once in Vermont, we went to Bennington where we went to the Bennington Monument and Old First Church and then we stopped at an abandoned business which appears to have been a car dealership and we had lunch.  Then we went to HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS which is really cool.  Its an old time gas station with a building full of old cars on display.and then we went to North Bennington where we were able to locate a covered bridge.  After that we headed east on Route 9.  We stopped in Wilmington and did some geocaching.  One success and one DNF.  We had ice cream at Yazoo's. (this was the location of the geocache I could not find).

Then we headed to Brattleboro and our lodging.  Our room at the SUPER 8 turned out to be very nice, and after resting a bit (Terry fell asleep and she snores terribly)  we went out to dinner at the ROYAL DINER in North Brattleboro.  It is a very neat place, with good prices and our meals were very good.  Terry and I split a piece of carrot cake for desert.......absolutely delicious!!!

We stopped at a Hannafords so Terry could look for PRODUCT 19 cereal (no luck) and I went into a Rite Aid and got some earplugs.   Lights out around 9:30 p.m.  I was glad I had the ear plugs and I had a pretty good nights sleep.

Roseboom State Forest GEOCACHING ADVENTURE!

Roseboom State Forest near Roseboom, New York, a photo by JuneNY on Flickr.

Leslie and I set out early this morning for The Roseboom State Forest, for some geocaching. It was our belated celebration of her birthday which was a week ago.

We found all four geocaches in this beautiful forest, which involved some but not a lot of bushwhacking. We also found this near one of the geocaches:  Then we headed towards Cooperstown.  There is a geocache hidden right outside a park I have always wondered about.  FOREST OF DOZEN DADS.  Leslie found the cache.  I hope to return someday and explore the park itself.  Then we found one on a bridge that was way up on a sign, you would have to climb on the railing to the bridge to reach it.  Sooooooo, we did not retrieve it, and were unable to sign the log.

It was around one p.m. and we decided it was time to "find" lunch.  Cooperstown was so busy with tourists all around and parking spots were at a premium, so we decided to ESCAPE COOPERSTOWN and head towards Oneonta.  On the way, we spotted REDNECK BBQ and checked it out and decided to have lunch there.  I had the fish tacos which were delicious.  Leslie was not as thrilled with her burger, though.  It was just too thick!!

We were going to look for a cache just outside of COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK, but once again too much traffic and too many people.  We stopped at POPS PLACE for ice cream and I brought out the chocolate marshmallow cupcakes I made last night.  After that we continued back to Oneonta.  It was a great day!  My complete set of pictures taken today are here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157634235371503

Stamford and Fleischmanns Adventure: June 15, 2013

Peggy and I met up with the guy we met the other day who owns the former Mountain View Hotel in Stamford.  He gave us a tour of the inside. We went all the way to the top, right into the room just below the huge weathervane.

He offered to drive us to the top of Mt. Utsayantha sometime!  I am not sure we will take him up on that!  At any rate, it was SO neat to see the inside of this former hotel.  Tom is making the old hotel  into apartments to rent out.  He sure has his work cut out for him.

Then we drove to Fleischmanns to go to the Fleischmanns Museum of Memories.  We arrived around 2:15, which was good since it closes at three p.m.  We really enjoyed this small museum.  The guy running it told us how to find two remaining old hotels, THE REGIS and THE PALACE. Here is a picture of the PALACE HOTEL The owner was on the front porch when we arrived, and we asked if we might go inside and look around, but she said she did not have time.  Darn!!! We also saw the freight building for the depot/railroad.  The depot was torn down a while back, but the freight storage bldg. still remains.

We stopped to see the synagogue and we stopped to take pictures of the old theatre and a small Mexican market/cafe.

We tried to find a geocache at the anti-rent historical sign, but were not successful.  Our last stop was at an interesting farmstand/auction house.

Supper was in Oneonta at BROOKS HOUSE of BBQ.  We arrived home around 7:30 p.m., tired but happy!  Peggy now understands why I enjoy exploring small villages, etc.!   Pictures I took today are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157634167549705

June 13-14, 2013: Oswego and Rome ADVENTURE: TWO DAYS!!!!!

Peggy and I left my house early in the morning and headed to Liverpool, New York(just outside of Syracuse) to visit an old family friend, Mary Ellen Cheshire.  She lived with my fathers family for ten years when she was a child.  She is 98 years old!!!!!   We had a good visit with her.  Our plans for a picnic lunch were scratched due to rain, but we managed to make sandwiches and ate them in the car just before heading to Oswego, New York.

In Owsego we visited the Safe Haven Museum 
This small museum is in memory of the 1000 refugees (mostly Jewish) whose lives were saved because the USA brought them to Fort Ontario during World War Two.  Then we visited  Fort Ontario, which has some grand old buildings, like this one   and then headed to Rome to spend the night at our brothers cabin at Delta Lake Bible Conference.  We unpacked the car and turned the water heater and space heater on before going to TEDDY'S for supper.  It was a great, but tiring day!

Friday morning we got up and went to look for the abandoned military housing at Griffis Air Force Base.  After some driving around, we found it, and we kind of snuck into it via a sidewalk between the backyards of two houses.  It was eerie walking those abandoned empty streets.  Many of the houses have been vandalized, and we went inside a couple of them.  After that we looked for five geocaches and had NO luck.  Two of them were associated with the abandoned houses, but we would have had to go beyond POSTED signs to get to them.  One of the others was one of those located on a certain side of a river, and we just could not seem to find the right spot.  The other two were just plan elusive.  We were getting discouraged!

After lunch at Subway (tuna sub)We resumed our explorations and decided we MUST find at least  ONE geocache before leaving Rome.   The neatest thing we saw in downtown Rome was this old gas station 

which has been turned into a small museum.  Unfortunately, it was not open.  

In the downtown area we easily found four geocaches.  While attempting to find the location of the fifth, we found a really nead abandoned building right down on the canal so we did some urban exploring! We did not find the geocache supposedly nearby.
     We went into two interesting shops in the former LITTLE ITALY area of Rome.  One was DELICIOSO (candy and some baked goods)

and the other is old Italian Grocery.

Our last stop was so Peggy could find UNADILLA FLATS CEMETERY geocache.

We arrived back at my house tired but happy, and had Beef on Weck for supper!  It was a great two days, and we hope to use the family cottage at Rome more in the future.   Pictures from this short trip can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157634157144632

June 12, 2013 Stamford, New York ADVENTURE

I had some things to do this morning, including getting an oil change on my Pacifica, which only left the afternoon free for Peg and I to go out and have fun.  We decided to go to Stamford, New York.

When we arrived, we called the man in charge of the Stamford Historical Society and he met us at the old train depot.  He let us in and gave us a brief tour.  We were asking him for information about any old buildings we could go in when he offered to give us a personal tour of his victorian house.  It was amazing!  He and his wife bought the house and have restored it to look like it did originally (all except for the bathrooms).  It is full of antiques and their collections, and sits on a beautiful piece of property on Main Street.  They have named it Rose Crest. 

After that, I showed Peggy a couple of other old hotels that I had found earlier.  At the former Mountain View Hotel we met the owner who was working in the yard.  He said that another time he would take us inside, so we got his name and phone number.

More pictures taken today can be seen here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157634167614469/

New York State Museum in Albany, NY: day trip with Peggy June 11, 2013

Peg and I set out early this morning for Albany.  We were able to spend a few minutes at the NYS Museum earlier this year when we went to LEGISLATIVE DAY, and we had decided we really needed to return and see the whole thing.  Today was the day.

Our first stop was at the 1-88 Exit near Schoharie where we changed from jeans into capris and I purchased a sub from Subway.  Our next stop was where we parked in Albany.  As we walked through the capital bldg. I stopped to take this picture:   There was an anti-gun control rally going on, so we went to that for a few minutes first. The posters and signs were interesting, here is an example:  

Then we went to the museum.  We were there for several hours.  It is one of the best large museums I have ever been to.  I particularly liked the Herschel Carousel on the fourth floor: 

On the way back to Oneonta, we stopped in Cobleskill and went to a Super Walmart for a few items.  We checked out the restaurant RUBBIN BUTTS, but it did not appeal to us, so we had supper at RED APPLE BUFFET, which is really  a Chinese buffet.  It was very good.

CIVIL WAR ADVENTURE and more.....

A couple of years ago while driving home from Lockport, I discovered the tiny hamlet of Peterboro, south of  Canastota.  I stopped and took several pictures, and later on googled PETERBORO, NEW YORK and found information about an event they hold every year........a CIVIL WAR ENCAMPMENT.  I figured it would never work out for me to go, but things fell into place: I found out the date of it BEFORE it happened and was able to work out the details to be able to go, and I found someone to accompany me.

I met up with Terry in Morris.   We had invited Betty to accompany us, but she did not seem to want to go, so I was surprised to find her in Terry's car when we met up.  We headed to Peterboro, and only made one stop along the way, to get gas when we first got on Route 20.

We were early arrivals, and I was glad, because it was not crowded.  After we paid our admission, we went to the general store, in the past when I drove through Peterboro, it was always closed, but now it appears that they have regular hours, at least during the summer.  Today, they were mostly selling food items and souvenier items.  I am not sure what they sell on a regular day.

After that,  we decided to check out the encampment.

These children's mother worked in the laundry tent.  The chief laundress tried to recruit Betty, but was not successful.

I took a lot of pictures.  I was disappointed that Abraham Lincoln was home sick and unable to give the GETTYSBURG ADDRESS!

We went into Garret Smiths law office (former assay office) and also into the Peterboro History Museum and also the National Abolitionist Museum.  All were great!  We tried samples of various items from some of the vendors.  We had a chicken dinner put on by the Smithville Fire Department.........it was VERY GOOD.

We had planned to stay for the skirmish at two p.m. but a few minutes before two it started to rain AND it became apparent that we would have to park quite a ways from the site of the skirmish and walk.  So, we decided to skip it.

We headed to Morrisville, taking Peterboro Road, instead of the road we drove in on.  We stopped in the Village of Madison to look for Betty's sons grave. She had not seen it in years.  We were able to find it, dodging raindrops!  It is a beautiful stone!

We stopped at a neat antique store.  After that we stopped in at an auction house, now knowing that the auction was already going on.  We stayed a few minutes while some antique german swords were auctioned off, before sneaking out.

I asked Betty and Terry if they wanted to see an Amish school house and they said YES emphatically so we went to West Edmeston where we went to the Amish bulk food store (Terry purchased some peanut butter, but I didn't find anything I could use).  We located the school and drove by it.  Since its Saturday, school was not in session).

Terry offered to treat us to ice cream in New Berlin, so we had sundaes at STEWARTS.  On the way through Morris, we noticed the old cars parked at one of the churches, so we stopped to look.  The church was offering free strawberry shortcake, so we had some of that, too.

Geocaching, the Bibliobarn and More: June 3, 2013

I met up with Leslie this morning at her house and we headed out.  Our first stop was Bloomville where we found four geocaches.  I think they were all part of the ALL ABOUT TOWN SERIES. The LIGHTENING STRUCK geocache was hidden practically across the road from THE BIBLIOBARN, so I suggested we stop in so Leslie could see the place.  She met H.L. and Linda (actually Leslie and Linda had met before at Leslie's church in Oneonta) and she bought a book for her father for Fathers Day.  While there, we learned that H.L.will be having surgery later on this month.  I paid $5.00 for a raffle ticket to win $1,000 worth of books.  I have been selling books to them for the past year or so in order to pare down my book collection BUT what fun it would be to be able to choose $1,000 worth of books at my favorite used book store: the Bibliobarn!  I hope I win.

 By then it was lunch time and we headed towards Delhi because there are restaurants to choose from in Delhi.  Along the way we tried to zero in on PADDLING AND LETTERBOXES, but when we realized it was on the other side of the creek/or river, we skipped it and continued into Delhi.  Luckless mentioned the Irish Pub and since I had never eaten there, I said "lets go there."  We did and we shared a turkey club sandwich and an order of sweet potato fries.  The prices are a little high for lunch, so I don't think I will go there again.
Then we found a puzzle cache in an old cemetery.  Luckless had a bit of an incident as we were leaving.  Her geocaching hat must cause her to have a "blind spot" and she hit the crown of her head because she walked right into the historical sign/marker.  She flew back and landed flat on her back.  I told her to stay down there until she caught her breathe and she did.  No blood, so no need for stitches, but she did have a goose egg.  I gave her my bottle of half frozen water to put against the spot, and hopefully it helped.  Luckless is a really good sport and she laughed at herself.  Anyways, the puzzle cache was fun.

After that we headed towards another cache, but got a bit lost and ended up driving a few back roads until we found ourself on Route 28 a couple of miles outside of Delhi.  We realized we were on the "other side"
of the creek and we located the spot where PADDLING AND LETTERBOXES is hidden.  I almost had an incident when I started to slide towards the water while looking.  We did NOT find this geocache.  We crossed back to the other side of the river via Fitches Covered Bridge and located the bookstore/cafe on Main Street, where we had red velvet cupcakes.  Leslie treated me to both lunch and desert at the Blue Bee Cafe and Steinway Book Store for my birthday! (we had red velvet cupcakes)  She is a great friend!  And, it was a great day!!!!!