Year 5 - Day 51

04Aug15

We are really just stopping over here so we didn't have to drive the whole way to Concord in one day, so we don't have any big plans for the day. We were going to check out an outdoor sculpture park called Opus 40, but when we got there, we found out it was only open on weekends. Bummer.

Afterward, we headed to Woodstock to walk around the shops, and eat some lunch in town. After buying some t-shirts, we ate at a local café that had an open porch area for eating that was nice and cool.

A lazy night at the campground, and we are heading back to Concord in the morning.

Year 5 - Day 50

03Aug15

We left Watkins Glen and headed southeast to end up in Saugerties / Woodstock, NY at a KOA. This is really off the beaten path, but Woodstock and Saugerties are both such cool little tourist towns!

After getting set up, we left Sam to relax in the RV while James and I drove to Saugerties and ate dinner at a pub in town. Really awesome little town!

Year 5 - Day 49

02Aug15

Our last day in Watkins Glen, so we went to Montour Falls and walked around a little. It was a beautiful falls along a short path from Havana Glen Park. Right in the middle of town was another waterfall called Chequaga Falls. How cool to have it right in town!

After a short drive along the winery road, we went back to the campground for Sam's final night of jumping and sliding. He closed it down, as usual.

Year 5 - Days 47 and 48

31Jul15 - 01Aug15

I accidentally got a latex breakout on my neck, so I was out of commission for a day and had to stay inside. Sam has been on the jumping pillow and water slide every night from 4-8 pm, so he is worn out afterward. LOL

The next day, my rash was starting to feel better, so we went to Watkins Glen Gorge and walked the trail. Wow, was it busy! It was an awesome trail along the gorge, though, with waterfalls galore!

After climbing the 832 steps of the gorge trail, Sam was worn out since he has been jumping and climbing every night (LOL) so I rode the shuttle back down to the trailhead with him while James walked back down.

The town is a cute little tourist town, but there is only one road through town, and it is bumper-to-bumper traffic all day. We stopped and had lunch in town before heading back to the campground. Of course, Sam was back at the sliding and jumping!

Year 5 - Day 46

30Jul15

Our first day we drove into Corning to visit the Corning Museum of Glass. This turned out to be a really cool hands-on museum with great displays and some beautiful works of art to see, as well. The art on display covered a wide range of fields, and the museum had artifacts and glass creations from all over the world, some as old as 3500 years.

One particular display caught Sam's eye because he had seen some of the works of the Blaschka brothers shown on Mysteries of the Museum. They were two brothers from Dresden, Germany who created glass reproductions of animal and plant life in such detail that it appeared lifelike. Amazing!

There were also live displays of such activities as glass blowing, flame throwing, and glass breaking. We saw all of the shows, and they were awesome, including the demonstration of fiber optics and how it has revolutionized modern communication.

We spent the whole day there, and even Sam said he didn't know glass could be so interesting!

Year 5 - Day 45

29Jul15

We left Herkimer and drove to Watkins Glen to stay at the KOA there. This area is very close to the south end of Seneca Lake, which is one of the finger lakes in NY. The racetrack is very close to the campground, and we could hear the Nascars driving around all week in preparation for their race coming up next weekend.

This KOA has a lot of activities, including a jumping pillow, huge water slide, bumper boats, a zip line, and heated swimming pool. Sam was super excited to stay here!

Our first night here, he was all over the jumping pillow, and the water slide is open from 4-8 pm, so he closed it down after more than 25 trips up and down. Whew!

Year 5 - Day 44

28Jul15

Today we drove about 15 miles into Utica to visit their zoo. It was a small zoo, but had some cool animals for some up close viewing. The highlight was a baby striped hyena about two months old, and he was so cute and cuddly that everyone wanted to take him home! The caretaker came out and fed him and played with him for a few minutes while everyone oohed and aaawed!

It was another sunny, warm day, and the animals were mostly relaxing as much as possible, but it was still a good zoo day.

Year 5 - Days 42 and 43

26Jul15 - 27Jul15

After driving about 100 miles south, we stopped at the Herkimer KOA to dig for "diamonds" at their mine across the street. The first night, we just checked out the diamond mine building and its contents of beautiful rocks and minerals, then walked next door to have dinner at the Crystal Chandelier Club.

The next morning, Sam was ready bright and early to go diamond hunting. We spent the day digging and hammering, with some breaks in between. We could come and go to the campground all day until closing time at 5 pm, so it was nice, because it was in the low 90's outside and sunny.

We each found several beautiful stones, with Sam finding the most. He is really the lucky charm! Sam and I mostly searched the grounds, while James was having fun swinging a hammer and chisel and breaking rocks.

Year 5 - Days 40 and 41

24Jul15 - 25Jul15

Because we couldn't get into the Herkimer KOA for a couple of days, we stopped at Old Forge Campground along the way for two nights. This campground is huge, and they have their own waterpark and activity park. The activity park has go karts, bumper boats, a zip line, batting cages, and an arcade.

We all spent some time the first night at their arcade, and then we got a pizza at the Pizza Hut there.

The next day, Sam and James went to the water park for some sliding and wave action. They only stayed for a few hours, because Sam got cold. The water was a little chilly for the Florida boy!

Before we pulled out the next morning, I took a walk through the little town, which is a cute little tourist town along the river.

Year 5 - Day 39

23Jul15

Our last day in the area and we started the day with a visit to the Wildlife Refuge Center just up the street from the campground. They rescue and rehabilitate wild animals, and had a keeper giving a talk on the wolves they have in residence. They also had several different birds of prey, along with a few other creatures, like a young porcupine who was adorable, and some bobcats and fawns. One of my favorites was the Great Horned Owl "chick" who was as big as the parents but still fluffy.

We then stopped by the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center to take a ride on the gondola to the top of the mountain. The ride up was over 8400 feet of cable - whew! It was a cool view!

Our last stop for the day was at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake. This is a very popular place with folks visiting the Adirondacks, and they had just opened their new treetop walk exhibit this month, so it was getting a lot of attention! Their inside exhibits were very interesting and informative, and we all enjoyed the visit.

The Adirondacks and Lake Placid area are gorgeous, and it is easy to see why so many people love this area!

Year 5 - Day 38

22Jul15

We drove into Lake Placid today to visit the Olympic Museum. The winter Olympics were held here in 1932 and in 1980. During the 1980 Olympics was when the USA Hockey Team took the gold medal over Russia, and caused a worldwide surprise and celebration. The museum here had some displays about it, along with the winning game running on a screen.

Along with several other interesting displays and artifacts, one that was of particular interest to us was the display with artifacts belonging to Jack Shea. His brother, Gene Shea, is a good friend of ours in Saint Petersburg. At 101 years old, he is the oldest living working realtor I have ever met!

He and his brother grew up in Lake Placid, and Jack won the gold medal in speed skating in 1932. His son and his grandson were also Olympic competitors and medal winners, making them the first family to have three generations of Olympic medal winners.

Afterword, we went to the Olympic Jumping Center to view the enormous ski jumps and see a show and demonstration. The kids who train here practice their jumps by landing in the water, and it was awesome to see them practicing their twirls and flips.

We then finished up our day at the Olympic Sports Complex, where James went on a bobsled ride! Wow, was it fast! We then went on a tour of the complex, where the bus took us to the top of the bobsled track, and we were allowed to walk down the track to the bottom. How cool!

Year 5 - Day 37

21Jul15

Today we drove down the road a couple of miles to visit High Falls Gorge, which is a beautiful walk along the river gorge. It was similar to the Flume Gorge in NH, and the walk was gorgeous!

For dinner, Sam opted to hang out in the RV, so James and I went to town and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking Mirror Lake.

Year 5 - Day 36

20Jul15

We drove to Lake Placid, NY to spend a few days. Our campground is a KOA just outside of town, in Wilmington, NY. What a big and beautiful campground! Wow! It is right alongside the Ausable River, and we walked over half a mile through the park just to get to the river trail.

This campground has breakfast, a snack bar, swimming pool, and mini golf.  It turns out that this coming weekend is the Iron Man Triathlon held in Lake Placid, so the park is full of competitors. Cool!

Year 5 - Days 19 - 35

03Jul15 - 19Jul15

We arrived in Concord on Monday afternoon - yay!  After some maneuvering, we managed to get the RV parked in the side yard next to Grammy's house.

For 4th of July weekend, the whole family was gathered together for food and games.  Even Tammy made it down from VT, and this was the first time all eight of Grammy's "kids" have been together in one place in a LONG time! Of course, this warranted photos...

Part of the 4th of July gathering is a food competition, and this year's food of choice was finger sandwiches. After tasting and voting, the winner was...James (with my help) last minute concoction! :) All of the entries were delicious.

Even though it tried to rain us out, games were later played, some with the help of a rain tarp. Since most of the games involved getting wet, the rain didn't matter anyway!

It was great to see everyone together, and to visit and catch up. Michael and Anna brought the newest addition by later in the day, little Alexander who is 4 1/2 months old, and adorable!

Over the next few days, we enjoyed some R & R, and Sam enjoyed some time with Auntie Lu and Maddie, going to the planetarium and Chuckster's. We also spent a day with Liz and Shawn at Lake Winnisquam, and a day with Jim, Maddie and Adam kayaking on the Contoocook River. Sam also got to spend some time playing with the neighbor kids, and James changed out the refrigerator in the RV, only to find that the replacement part was defective and so he changed it back to the original. It seems to be working okay now, so we hope to avoid any heat waves that seem to tax it.

Grammy had a Thanksgiving dinner for us the day after 4th of July, so we had plenty to eat while we were in Concord! After two weeks, and depleting her food reserves, we figured it was time to roll out and head to New York state to explore.