It’s Time to Head Home

We decided that it’s time to head home for a while.  We’ll hit the road in January, but there are things to do in and around home, and we should be there.    
The Finger Lakes are beautiful, and there was a lot to see and do here, so we know we’ll be back.


We don’t have a boat, but it looks like we’re among the minority in that area by the looks of all these docks.


Bob wanted to see the Watkins Glen racetrack so we took a drive to look for it.  We came across some men looking for the track too, and they had fun cars.  Their cars were nice and shiny and looked great, but they couldn’t move our giant camper.  I think we’ll keep our big truck1


This is the closest we could get to the racetrack, and this photo was taken with the zoom lens.  We could hear the cars on the track but couldn’t really see them.


That’s ok, we can taste more wine instead!


Ken told us to stop at the Herman Wiemer Vineyard, and it looked quite inviting.


They were open, we tasted, and walked out with a few more bottles for our collection.


The weather was beautiful when we were in Waterloo, so we took a walk to burn off some of those calories we picked up tasting wine, and we found the Erie Canal! 


What a gorgeous day for some sight seeing!


I never imagined that the Erie Canal was still operating, but it is for pleasure craft, and it’s in tip top condition.


A group of students from Brigham Young University were touring the locks and the men in charge opened the lock for everyone to see.  The kids all went onto the gates to watch.  I stayed way back!


The water went down, the gates came open, and if here were any boats in the lock they’d be ready to glide right out.


Absorbing all that lock info made us thirsty, so off we went to our final winery, and this one gave tours.


They don’t pick the grapes by hand.  No siree. This giant yellow monster is driven over the vineyard and carefully and gently plucks the grapes off the vines.  Or so they say.  


This thing washes the grapes, I think, and sorts the good from the bad.


There were no ladies stomping grapes the way Lucy did.  This giant squisher does it the sanitary way and then spits out the skins, etc. which will be reused for fertilizer.


This little donkey was the vineyard’s mascot, but he didn’t even want to look at me.  There were no oats in my hand for him, and he’s a smart little guy.


A rainbow to celebrate our last day in Waterloo, NY.


We made one final stop before we left for Blain, and it was in Wellsboro, home to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.


You can see the biking trail way down there beside the river.


This is probably the last picture of Rudy relaxing for a long while.  We spent the night in our camper in Patti and Rudy’s driveway.  We called to see if they were home and they said we should drive up their lane and when we got there Bob drove across their lawn to turn around.  MISTAKE!  BIG MISTAKE!  Rudy and Bob thought the ground was hard, but I was skeptical.  Nobody listens to Susie, but this time I was right.  Now Rudy has HUGE, DEEP ruts in their front lawn to fix.  Sorry Patti and Rudy!    


Patti and I aren’t talking about those ruts.  I love Patti, and it’s so much fun visiting with her.


She also gave me some great hints on playing Words with Friends.  I’m not telling what they are, but trust me, it was good advice!


They took us to an outstanding overlook at the Canyon and we saw this nice buck. This is where we were when Bob took those pictures of the canyon.


Now we’re home and Bob gathered our souvenirs.  It’s good stuff, and yes Jaime and Beth, you’ll be getting some of it too!

So we’re home for the Greater Blain Jingle Bell Jog and Christmas, but we’re heading out again early next year!

A Stop at the Finger Lakes

A friend of Bob’s told us about his visits to the Finger Lakes area in New York State, and gave us some samples from his visits.  Since we were heading south Bob decided it would be a good idea to see what Ken was talking about.



Yes, it’s wine country…big time wine country, and who can pass through wine country without visiting some wineries? 


They all have very nice tasting rooms, and for a few dollars you can sample their wine.  Our first stop was Ventosa Winery, and we thought their wine was very good.  We bought some here! 


Fall is a beautiful time to visit the Finger Lakes.  The trees were beautiful, and this vineyard had some grapes still hanging on their vines.


There are small wineries lining all of the lakes, but we only traveled up and down and around Seneca Lake.  Ken gave us a list of his favorite wineries, and we tried to visit them all.  Oh, we bought some wine here too.


Doesn’t this look like a great place to sit and sip?


The lakes aren’t very wide, but they’re long, and so pretty.


 I think that the fall colors make everything look even nicer.


Look at all those barrels.  It smelled so good!


They proudly display their awards.  Yes, we bought some here!


Bob looks very happy.  Perhaps he sipped a little too much vino?


Look at all the medals their wines won!  They compete with the California wineries, and do quite well in the competitions.  Of course we bought some of their award winning wines! 


I’m assuming these barrels are full.  They wouldn't let me take a plug out to check.


Another shot of Seneca Lake.
We spent a week in the Fingers Lakes area and we bought our share of wine.  Trust me!

The Finger Lakes aren’t very far from Wellsboro, Pa, so that was our final stop before returning home.  That’s our next and final post for this trip, so stay tuned.