Oct 5 2013 Promise Land Getaway Day

Woke up to partly sunny skies this morning ..  started thinking that maybe we should stay another night .. but .. as more clouds rolled in after breakfast .. we decided to stick to our original plan and leave this morning. Took our time packing up .. Terri emptied out bathroom and gave it a thorough cleaning .. took Casita to dump station and gave black tank a good cleaning.  Back home at around 1:30 .. we did our unpacking and started preparing Casita for storage… Before we cover it … we need to wash/wax it .. remove battery .. and winterize plumbing . We still have a few weeks to accomplish these chores .. so .. we have some time .. we’re in no rush.

In that we will be soon winterizing Casita, this was our last trip of the year .. we started and ended our camping adventures this year  at Promised Land State Park .. we’re thinking we’ll do the same next year as well .. Our camping adventures took us to Smoky Mountains .. Tenn .. and Watkins Glen this year ..  We’ll starting planning our 2014 camping adventures during the Winter months .. and be ready to roll in April/May ???

Some photos taken on the lake ..

Downloaded photos from yesterday to Iphoto .. spotting scope photos came out pretty good .. need alot more practice on how to setup scope and camera. To take the photos .. we connect an inexpensive point & shoot camera to an adapter on the spotting scope .. focusing and zooming is done both on scope and camera .. While using the scope we could only get photos of the blue herons .. eagles were not to be found … we’ll ‘capture’ them next year .. or .. maybe even this Fall/Winter ??

Oct 4 2013 Promise Land

Checked weather forcast last night and this morning .. all predictions call for rain/thunderstorms  anywhere from 10am till evening hours .. So .. we’re planning for other things to do besides kayaking today. Decided to go to observation building to try and locate the eagles … no eagles .. but .. we did spot 2 blue herons in the lake. Set our  Viper spotting scope on it’s tripod and were lucky enough to take some photos through the scope .. although we’ve tried this several time before .. this is the first time We’ve actually been successful with some decent photos. Scope works best if there is alot of light on subject .. just so happened that herons were standing in the sun .. perfect… unfortunately .. I forget to bring USB cable that works with our small Canon point & shoot. Every camera we have has it’s own USB cable .. need to remember to pack ALL of them next time. I’ll post those ‘scoped’ photos in this blog entry when we get home tomorrow … I’m anxious to see those photos myself .. they looked good when viewing on the camera .. but .. you never know how they will appear once they get downloaded. For now .. I’ll post a few photos taken with our other cameras.

 

 

 

Replica of eagles nest …  it’s huge !

 

After spending some time at observation building .. we headed into the town of Tafton .. approx 15 min from campsite .. never been there before so we were just exploring the area.  Since it was lunch time we decided to stop at a place called ‘The Fairview Lake Cafe’ … placed turned out to be an excellent place to eat. Food and atmosphere were both worthy of another visit next time we are in the area. Building was mostly wood stained with alot of stone on the exterior .. stone fireplace in the middle of dining room. We just ordered sandwiches and soup .. but .. they were both fantastic ..

So .. it’s around noon time .. no rain in sight .. actually .. we’re seeing alot of blue sky !

After lunch we continued into the town of Wallenpaupack .. huge lake town known for it’s tourism. Drove around for awhile .. stopped at a visitors center .. looking for info on where to cross country ski … eventually winding our way back to campsite. As we were having a cup of tea and doing some reading .. we decided that we could still launch kayaks .. skies partly cloudy .. but no rain in sight .. It’s now 4:30 .. blue skies and clouds .. what could go wrong ..  Kayak launch area is approx 5 min from campsite .. Unloaded kayaks (we’ve now done this 4 times on this trip .. it took us 6:30 minutes to unload .. we’re getting good at this !) Water was calm .. very little wind .. Paddled out to the area where eagles nest is .. it’s a pretty good distance .. so it takes awhile. Sure enough .. eagle was sitting in same tree as yesterday .. one of these days we’ll  bring Terri’s zoom Nikon camera .. actually .. we thought of it .. but since we can’t put camera in our pockets … we’re a little concerned about taking it in kayak. Eagle was just sitting on branch of tree .. not wanting to make a move .. as I was making some camera adjustments .. eagle decided to fly over my head towards another part of lake .. of course .. I missed the shot .. again .. my hope of taking a photo of eagle in flight will not happen. Paddled to another section of lake and found another eagle in a different tree .. again .. eagle was content to sit on branch and watch me watching him … stalemate .. we started to paddle away .. As we started paddling .. we noticed a few raindrops ..  not good .. we’re quite a distance from launch area .. Started paddling back in a light rain .. half way there .. thunder and lightning in the sky ahead of us … not good .. we’re in open water .. Paddled a little faster .. getting abit tired by now .. finally made it in a light rain .. loaded up kayaks on truck in 10 min and 40 seconds .. I’m sure threat of thunder/lightning/rain made us move a bit faster than normal .. but thats a great time to lift and strap those kayaks down.  Of course … after a few hours .. sky cleared up again .. blue skies again .. but .. as I’m typing .. thunder/lightning/rain is outside our window again .. crazy weather !

We’re leaving for home tomorrow … if weather is nice .. we might hang around and do more eagle scoping .. or even kayaking  before we check out … we’ll make that decision in the morning ..

 

 

Oct 2/3 2013 Last Casita Trip of the Year !

Weather has been so nice for the past 2 weeks  that we decided we had to take Casita out for one last trip. Fall weather is here and leaves are in full color.  We started our 2013 camping season in Promise Land State Park .. we will finish 2013 season in Promise Land as well. A few reasons why this campground has become one of our favorites .. it’s less than 60 min our house .. campsites are excellent … facilities are always clean .. and there are several lakes we can kayak in. We also enjoy the Park because they have an active eagles nest on one of the lakes. We’ve been to see the eagles several times in past few years ..  Another reason we like the Park is that there is nothing else to do at the park .. not much sightseeing .. towns to visit .. stores to shop .. just camping.

Arrived at campsite on Oct 2 .. in that it’s getting late in the season .. there are very few trailers in the park .. we actually have one section completely to ourselves. We arrived late in the afternoon .. so we just setup camp .. setup grill and read our Kindles for most of the night.

Oct 3   Launched the kayaks early today .. in the water by 10:00 .. sunny .. calm day .. perfect for being out on the water.  Outstanding scenery as we paddled around several lakes. Stayed out for 90 min .. then came back to Casita for lunch ..  Hung around campsite .. spent some time on internet (Verizon MIFI working great) .. read some books on Kindle .. and took a short power nap. Headed back to lakes around 4pm .. Alot of cloud cover .. but .. weather is still nice and water is very calm .. great for kayaking. We paddled across a pretty large lake to where the active eagles nest is .. we weren’t sure if eagles were still by their nest at this time of year so we paddled to an observation building to see if anyone has updated their log as to any recent eagle sightings .. sure enough someone posted sighting 2 days ago .. great ..  eagles are still here !  We paddled off to the other side of the lake where the nest is .. Terri saw one fly into a tree from across the lake … good eyes … I wouldn’t have seen it at all.  As we got closer to the nest we found eagle sitting on a branch near it’s nest. Couldn’t get close  for pictures .. and Terri didn’t have her zoom Nikon so we took some photos from a distance.  As we were about to leave .. eagle flew to another tree on the lake .. we followed .. but again .. could not get a close up photo .. would love to get a photo of an eagle in flight over the water …  Photo of flying eagle was not to be .. eagle was not moving from that tree !  Paddled back to our launch area .. loaded up .. and back to campsite which is only 5 min away.  Showers .. light supper .. more reading .. and our day is done.  We will be at our campsite for one more day .. then we head home on Sat. Hoping for one more nice day .. bringing out spotting scope tomorrow .. going to scope out that eagle and try and take some better photos !

Sept 15/16/17 In and around Watkins Glen

Due to the lack of internet access .. we are finishing our updates from home

Sept 15

Launched kayaks today at Lake Waneta .. approx 20 minutes from our campground …  Nice lake .. calm waters when we departed .. but after an 1 1/2 hours .. winds picked up and were paddling fast to make it back to shore.

Sept 16

Went to check out Taughannock Falls (Trumansburg) and Buttermilk Falls (Ithaca)…  Taughannock Falls was one of the best waterfalls we’ve ever visited …  Water fall is 3 stories taller than Niagara Falls .. 215 ft drop !  Nice trails with steep rock walls on the sides ..

Sept 17

Back to Taughannock Falls .. it was a blue sky day .. so we thought we’d check out the falls again ..  Falls definitely worth a second look !

Sept 14 2013 Seaplanes

Spent most today at a seaplane ‘Flying Festival’ in the town of Hammondsport.. Approx 10 seaplanes flew into a lake that is on the outskirts of town. They were in town to celebrate Curtis Glenn’s many achievements in his life. He was a local boy that became known as the ‘father of the Navy’ due to his many aircraft innovations .. many of them Navy related.  Seaplanes were on display for public to check them out. Planes all took off in mass then participated in competitions trying to land as close to a designated target as possible ..  Interesting to watch them all take off together .. then land in single file approaching their target area. At the end of the day .. they all flew over the lake in a salute to the crowd then flew over Curtis Glenn’s gravesite at a local cemetery.