Sunday, August 3rd – and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Let’s get started! Let’s go back to Friday August 1st!
I have some good news and I have some bad news. The Good News - - - today is the anniversary of my retirement from State Farm Insurance! Thank You, Dana! I told everyone when I left that I planned to: 1. Fight with my husband, 2. Travel, and 3. Clean the closets. I have had one teeny fight with Harry; I have cleaned 2 closets and we have traveled thru 18 states in the last 12 months!
Friday was another pretty day for a boat ride-this time north into New York. The boat was loaded and we pushed off from the dock. Part way out of the bay, H remembered that he forgot the map so we returned to the dock. On our second attempt to head north, we again were almost out of the bay when the forward momentum of the boat slacked and the engine/outdrive began to whine.-high pitched and complaining. We flagged another boater who was heading for the dock and put the boat back on its trailer. It didn’t take him long to assess the problem but it cannot be fixed till we return home. The rest of that fine day was spent on shore – hiking, reading and I got lots of knitting done! Oh, yeah and he took me out for an ice cream cone for my birthday!
Saturday the 2nd we started off in the truck with the intent of attending the I Love Lucy Birthday Celebration in Jamestown NY. We were sidetracked just a few miles up the road by the Allegheny State Park, which is the New York connection to the Allegheny National Forest that is the Pennsylvania end of it all. There was a Tri-Athelon going on so the gates were open to all! And we went in!! The park is HUGE - - 65,000 acres – the size of Buffalo NY! Very wild, Very beautiful! We checked out several areas with the thought of coming back and staying there instead. The lodge at Red House Campground is rustic and neat but the “facilities” are better in the forest of Pa. Quaker Lake is kept full by an interesting round dam that let’s the excess water trickle down to the reservoir.
The birthday festival for Lucy was not such a much and what was there, you had to pay to go into. We think the “festivities” were more on Friday than Saturday. On up the road to Chautauqua Lake to find Midway State Park. Midway is the 16th oldest amusement park in the US. We found it by accident on a bike trip a lonnnnnnggg time ago! It still hasn’t changed much. Neat OLD rides that are perfect for little ones to ride. And there were plenty of Moms, Dads and Grandfolks showing the little ones a good time. Bumper cars, roller coasters, spin-arounds, toddler sized boats and even the little hand cranked cars that run on a tiny railroad track. Some of the little ones had to be helped those last few up hill feet! Oh yes – and the antique merry go round! Sadly tho, the roller rink/dance hall was no longer open to the public.
Rain? Yes, we’ve had rain! Saturday morning about 3am the fireworks started! The storm was like the grand finale that lasted about an hour. Saturday evening there was another shower that didn’t last long. We stayed high and mostly dry throughout both.
