After staying close to home Saturday, and getting chores done, I wanted to get away for the day. We hadn’t been up to see my dad and Evelyn in a few weeks, so mid-morning yesterday, we headed towards Auburn. It was an off again, on again, weather day. We had the top up, then down, then up again, as we passed under dark clouds for the hour and a half ride. We were nearing Montezuma Wildlife Refuge about noon, when we decided to go ahead and pull in and take the drive.

There were gulls, and shorebirds in the water near the entrance. Ahead of us at the side of the road, George pointed out a great-blue heron. We inched closer, trying to get a good photo, before the vehicle following us drove on around, and scared it off.

It was a good day for herons. We saw several, and they always pose if we give them space.

There were red-winged blackbirds, an Eastern kingbird, a couple of northern flickers, swallows, and ducks along the way. If we had more time, I’m sure we would have spotted more birds.

As we left the main drive and continued back towards the highway, we saw an osprey at the North Spring Pool. There were actually three that we could spot, one at the top of a dead tree, one in the nest, and one preening itself on a log.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but there is always the choice between observing and photographing, and I hate to miss out while I fumble with my camera.

Posted: August 4th, 2008 under road trips, birding.
Comments: 3

Vermont was quite a treat. We had passed through the state a few years back, when we returned from a trip to Maine, but this was the first time we could look around, though time was short. We were on sensory overload, as we tried to take in the mountains and countryside, the quaint shops and buildings with years of history. We wished we could have taken our time on back roads and stopped more along the way. A vacation to Vermont is definitely in our plans for the future.

Posted: July 22nd, 2008 under road trips.
Comments: 2

It was lunch time Saturday when we arrived in Waterbury, Vermont.  We were a couple hours early for check-in at our motel, so we continued on another half mile, to the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory. It was a hot day, and the flavors beckoned.   I chose Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road. George had a banana split with three yummy Ben and Jerry flavors.   We don’t usually just eat ice cream for a meal,  but in this case,  we made an exception!

Posted: July 21st, 2008 under road trips.
Comments: 3

We arrived home last night from our weekend trip to Vermont. We drove up partway Friday night, and continued on to Stowe on Saturday for the wedding. Yesterday we made the return trip in one long drive of seven hours. We gave ourselves a little treat, and respite from the roads, though, by taking the ferry across Lake Champlain from Burlington to Port Kent, New York. It was a rainy crossing, but thankfully, we had umbrellas in the back of the car, so that we could get out and look across the water.

Posted: July 21st, 2008 under road trips.
Comments: 3

We have stayed pretty close to home all week. Gas prices have been a big factor.

Since my vacation is almost over, we wanted to get out of town for the day. Our local paper had highlighted a not-too-distant attraction, so we headed out mid morning.

We had been to Steamtown, or what it was in its earliest stages, back in the mid-90’s when Rebecca was in school at Lehigh. Today we spent a few hours walking in the train yard and museum, experiencing times gone by.

From trains to ships, lunch was in a pirate ship, complete with illuminated port hole. At Cooper’s Seafood House I had wonderful seafood crepes. George had alligator soup, and the soft-shell crab sandwich.

We returned home by way of the Interstate, making better time than the backroads we took going down. It was good to get away, and good to get back home again tonight.

Posted: July 5th, 2008 under road trips.
Comments: 3

Day three of my vacation. It was a busy one, and not one that I expected upon awakening.

School ended last Wednesday here, and George has spent several mornings at the bus garage, getting his bus clean and ready for DOT inspection. This morning he planned to make one more trip over to finish the job, and asked me to go with him. I almost said no, but then I realized that I don’t have many opportunities to be a helpmate in situations like this, so I tagged along. The bus looked pretty clean to me, but there were windows to wash, and seat belts to arrange, so that is what I did, and the job was soon done, and we were free for the rest of the day.

We had packed up our birding bag so that we could walk on over to the wetlands area near the athletic fields where we saw redwings, a cardinal, goldfinches, mourning doves, catbirds, grackles, and one lone mallard.

The sun was high by this time, and we were on the boardwalk in the tall grasses, so it was really too hot to stay out long. We came on home, and did some yard work, pulling out the Deadly Night Shade that was growing under the deck.  I cleaned out one of the nest boxes, and we planted another maple tree on the hill.

There really were no other plans for our day, so I sat down with my laptop, and George sat down with his model. We heard the rumbling of a delivery truck out front, and here comes the replacement cell phone we ordered Saturday for my dad and Evelyn. They have been without a cell phone since Friday, when their battery died, and we wanted to get them this one ASAP. It allows them free long distance, and a way to be in touch when they are out and about. We decided there was no time like the present, so we hopped in the car, and drove on up to Auburn. I took a container full of brownies with us, and Evelyn reciprocated with some ginger snaps she had just pulled out of the oven.

We stayed a couple of hours to visit, then the long ride home. The sky was really dark when we headed back, with a heavy rain soon after. The skies finally cleared as we neared Watkins Glen.

Posted: June 30th, 2008 under road trips, birding, day-to-day.
Comments: 3

We decided we needed to get out somewhere today. When I stay around home when I am on vacation, I can only think of housework that needs to be done. I do like to be caught up with housework, but my vacations come so rarely, that I try to limit the time I spend on it.

We headed to Ithaca late morning, to check out the farmer’s market. We weren’t even out of town, when we came upon this accident. George jumped out of the car, and I called 911. I could see an arm in the back window, but both occupants made it out safely. They were very lucky. It brought back thoughts of another summer accident, seven years ago, that fortunately, Morgan was able to walk away from.

On to the farmer’s market, and a pleasant afternoon.

When we arrived, the lunch time smells were wonderful, with so many ethnic foods to chose from. George stood in line for a Cuban meal, but the wait was long, so he went for the flatbread pizzas instead. I was in the mood for some lo mein, so I stopped at the Asian booth. We sat on the dock with our lunch, where the ducks were most attentive.

With our hunger satisfied, we checked out the local crafts, music, and produce. We passed on the many greens offered, as George has to be careful of his Vitamin K intake, and opted for some kohlrabi and sweet cherries instead.    All of the offerings were a feast for the eyes,  and I hope we will make another trip back this summer.

On the way out, we noticed a vendor selling extra large chocolate chip cookies, and we couldn’t resist. There was a bench by the water where we could watch the boats head down the inlet, and sat and enjoyed the summer afternoon before heading towards home.

Posted: June 29th, 2008 under road trips.
Comments: 5

It promised to be a nicer day, so we loaded up the canoe, and headed for the Chemung River. George thought that the best place to put in would be Fitch’s Bridge, so that was our starting point. We started paddling upstream, checking out the bird life as we went. We saw the swallow’s nests under the bridge.

We noted redwing blackbirds, grackles, gulls and crows.

We hit a patch of shallow water, where the current was especially fast, and we couldn’t get our paddles deep enough in the water to overcome it. So, we went with the flow, and let the current turn us back downstream. No paddling was needed, except to steer now and then. We continued on towards Elmira, enjoying the beautiful day, but keeping in mind that we needed to find a place before long to pull in, and make the walk back for the car.

Several mallards were ahead of us, and as we got closer, took flight.

We scared up a school of ducklings. They startled us, as much as we startled them, and I couldn’t get my camera soon enough with the current carrying us on down river. The only other interesting bird we encountered was a green heron near shore.

Eventually we heard signs of civilization, and saw a place to pull in. A young girl was biking towards us, and told us of our location. I stayed with the canoe, and continued to watch the activity around me - butterflies, tadpoles, small skinny snakes gliding through the water, and a cardinal that came down for a drink.

George was back in half an hour, and we loaded back up and were on our way. The next time we do this we will plan a little better, so we are free to make a longer run and have a ride back to the car.

Posted: June 22nd, 2008 under road trips, birding.
Comments: 3

It was supposed to rain today, with a front moving through mid-afternoon. We thought we would head up to The Windmill (a farm and craft market) to walk around and see what was new this year, and get back home before the rains came. My niece has a booth there where she is selling items that she and her husband have made, so we checked that out and came home with a little bear for out front.

We bought our lunch of chicken barbecue, and enjoyed that at a shaded picnic table with my sister. By the time we headed home, the sun was beating down, and the temperature had risen to the mid-80’s.

There was no sign of rain when we returned home, but we could feel a change in the air. As a precaution, we tied up the canopy to save it from the winds, and brought the fuschia indoors so it wouldn’t take a beating. The clouds gathered, and the air cooled a little, but the rains passed to the north of us, and it turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Posted: May 26th, 2008 under road trips, family.
Comments: 5

What a perfect day we had. We headed out to the cemetery in the morning, our trunk full of flowers. We spent a bit of time in both Ithaca and Interlaken, tidying up grave sites, placing our flowers, and taking a moment to remember each person who had an influence on our lives.

It was lunchtime when we finished up, so I suggested we head over to Cayuga Lake Creamery nearby. We drove over, and had our lunch, followed by the ice cream. George ordered the pistachio, REAL pistachio. The owner came out and visited with us on the deck. We shared our sighting of baltimore orioles in the trees there, and she shared that they import their pistachio paste from Italy. We will definitely stop back!

On through Trumansburg, with a quick stop at my niece’s, then on to Treman State Park.

A great blue heron swooped down across the roadway just in front of us as we drove in, obviously headed for the creek. Hiking through the woods, we saw tent caterpillers in abundance, seemingly dripping from the trees. Birds were harder to find, as the park was busy with people and dogs. George, ever watchful for oddities on our nature walks, spotted this mushroom, which we haven’t been able to identify yet.

After a couple of hours, we called it a day, and reluctantly headed back home. It was the kind of day we wished didn’t have to end.

Posted: May 26th, 2008 under road trips, birding.
Comments: 2