Wednesday - What a Busy Day!

By 7:15 we were all up, had breakfast, and then packed lunches before getting into 2 cars and driving about 30 minutes to Robert Treman State Park.  The adventure I wanted to share the most with our family on this trip was going to the upper part of the park's gorge trail and hiking "in" about 3/4 mile to see this breathtaking gorge.  Ken and I had hiked the entire thing about 8 years ago and were positively in awl when we rounded the corner and headed into the the area!   It didn't disappoint us at all and still gave us the same overwhelming experience.  Fortunately all of our group felt the same way and the young girls enjoyed the opportunity to actually touch the water and get close to some of the huge falls.  We only had time to hike in a relatively short distance because of the change of schedule for our sailboat experience.

This waterfall is at the parking lot area!

A photo at the falls before heading into the gorge!

 Again, I will just let you enjoy the beautiful photos that Ken took -

Okay, I can't help myself!  When you round
the corner and see the 1st section of the gorge,
it is definitely breathtaking!

Like I said before, all the rain has made the falls
and greenery exceptional this year!

Lots of stone steps!

I was the last one to leave the gorge and I needed my last quiet
moment.  It really makes me teary eyed!

On the way back to town, we stopped at a park to enjoy our picnic lunches and by 11:45 we were on the dock to board "True Love".  The weather was predicted to be dull and dreary today, but it ended up being gorgeous with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures.  We had a 2 hour "sail" on this beautiful    Schooner  that was commissioned in 1925 and has sailed the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and many winding rivers and canal systems prior to finding her current home at the Seneca Harbor in the Finger Lakes. In 1956 , True Love made her life size debut in the musical-film High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.  There is the famous scene where Bing Crosby serenades Grace Kelly with the song, "True Love", composed by Cole Porter.  Such History!  It was such a peaceful, enjoyable trip and at the end, the adults bought Ken and I hats and mugs as a memory for our upcoming anniversary.  What could be more appropriate than a ride on "First Love"!  How sweet of them!

Our Captain!

What a group!

We love our family!

Samantha and Katelyn!

We saw this waterfall in the distance while sailing!

PawPaw and Sam enjoying a special moment together!

Dane, Jamie, and Bria 

Our sail is finished and it is time to purchase some
souvenirs!

We went back to the house to unload and then walked back downtown to Ben and Jerry's for a special ice cream treat.  From there we went back to the house and by 5, Ken and I left with Bria, Cali, Samantha, and Katelyn to go to Painted Bar Stable for our scheduled 1 hour horse back ride on a scenic trail.  They needed to have an adult with them, so Ken and I volunteered to accompany them.  The 4 other adults really weren't interested in riding horses!  Our guide was amazing and made all for girls (actually the adults too) feel very comfortable.  The ride included going through the woods, up and down small hills, over low logs, and through water.  It was a beautiful ride that actually felt a bit "aggressive" for these novice riders. (Only Sam was experienced because she takes riding lessons 1X per week for almost a year and has gone to riding camp twice).  I must tell you that my scoliosis made my getting on and off rather comical to watch and I really wasn't sure how to accomplish the feat!  But, with some extra help, I was able to "get aboard"!  My back was comfortable throughout the ride, but my hip did not like being in the stirrup!  But, I made it the whole hour and I am mighty thankful I didn't miss the adventure.  The girls loved every minute of it and it became their highlight of this trip, with the hikes being a close 2nd.

Only Samantha really knew what she was doing!  The rest
of us were very new to horseback riding!

The beginning of the trail!

Now through the woods!

The horses were thirsty!  Katelyn's horse knew where she
wanted to go for the deeper water!

Heading back to the barn!

I believe Cali enjoyed here ride!

I was smiling and happy but my hip
was so ready to be done!

All the girls had a great time (PawPaw too!)

Bria

Samantha

Katelyn

Cali

One final photo of the group!

Time to lead our horses back to the barn!

When we returned to the house at 7:15, the adults had spent sometime downtown and then brought take-out from Nickles Barbeque.  That is another must place to eat if you are in Watkins Glen.  Their food is delicious!  After showers and some packing for the return trip home tomorrow, it was another night of game playing.  

It certainly was a full day of wonderful activities.  The only thing that was a disappointment was that we didn't get to swim at the waterfall area in Robert Treman State Park.  The girls were so excited to swim there, but the rescheduling of the Schooner Sail made that impossible!

It has been an exceptional 3 days of family fun and memory making and we were all sad to see it end!  Ken and I are happy to say that the entire trip actually exceeded our expectations!  Hallelujah!

Tuesday - Another Special Day!

By 7:15 all of the household was up and after eating breakfast, we walked to Watkins Glen State Park to hike the Gorge Trail.  It was a gorgeous morning with temperatures in the upper 70's and plenty of sunshine.  Just like Ken and I remembered, it is a gorgeous trail with so many beautiful waterfall areas.  They were exceptional this year because of all the rain we had in the spring and summer.   It is definitely an uphill hike with lots of stone stairways.  I was amazed at how well the girls did on the 1 1/2 mile hike to the top which ended in the State Park where there is a camping area.  

Ready for a family hike!

 Ken took lots of photos that I am just going to let you enjoy!  It really is a breathtaking area -

We had to "dodge" some water puddles along the
way after the rain we had yesterday!

So much beautiful greenery!

What a line up - walking straight and single file!

Looks like a happy hiking group!

Don't you just love it???

The award at the top was the ice cream shop where we all enjoyed some delicious Perry Ice Cream.  Then it was time to reverse our hike and head back down, which was definitely a much easier direction to walk!  When we completed the hike everyone was thrilled by what they had seen!

We had delicious Perry's Ice Cream!

Starting the hike back down the trail!

Of course, we had to stop in one area and make a cairn!
Samantha did a great job!
\

Cali decided to join in also!

We were glad we had gotten there early, because it was a lot
more hikers on our return trip!

I find this area amazing!

"Most" of us were tired when we reached the bottom, but some
just wanted to "show off" and act like they hadn't minded the
hike at all!  Really????

We were supposed to go on the Schooner, First Love, at 3 for a 2 hour sailboat adventure, but the weather became very threatening and they called to ask if we could do the trip tomorrow at noon - they didn't want to be out in the lake in a storm - no problem to reschedule, but it really wasn't what we hoped for.  It required us to change our plans for Wednesday!  So, what did we want to do for the remainder of today?  We did play some games with the girls, but then all of us decided to walk downtown, because the "mommies" and daddies" had not seen the lake, etc.  

We enjoyed walking around the area even checking out the First Love that we would be sailing on tomorrow.  Then we went to the restaurant located on the dock for dinner (good food) before heading back to the house for the evening.  More game playing for the "Hoslers" because the other young girls were happy to "do their own thing"!

On the dock where we will go for our Schooner ride tomorrow!

We did have some heavy rain that evening which produced an amazingly vivid rainbow and then another one decided to join it.  The main rainbow probably lasted longer than any I had ever seen before.

The sky color was so different from left to right.  Unfortunately
the vividness of the rainbow can really not be seen!

We could see both ending points of the rainbow!

We all called it a day by 10:30 and it was a good one!