I've been back in the Ithaca area since midday on Saturday, as some of you may already know. I left Whitehall about 8:15 p.m. on Friday (after picking up Remy from the kennel). The following two pictures are of the sky to the east as I traveled I-96 back toward GR.
This was only the beginning of the stormy weather to come throughout the next few days. Fortunately, I didn't have to drive through very much heavy rain on my trip to Ithaca. I say "fortunately" because I was doing my OCD thing where I keep telling myself, "Just a little further, and then I'll stop." I made my first sleep stop at a toll oasis between Toledo and Cleveland for about 2 hours, and the second when I was nearly to Erie, PA. I really had intended to get a hotel room, but by the time I was exhausted and ready to sleep for a few hours, everything around me was booked up. It was Friday night, after all.
This was the view I woke up to after another hour and a half of sleep. I was parked in a gas station parking lot, overlooking semis where people were probably doing the same thing, although I suspect more comfortably.
The three pictures above were taken at a rest area that overlooks Chautauqua Lake. A bridge spans the lake right before the rest area. I'm so glad that Remy and I both needed a break. I've driven by this gorgeous place several times without taking the time to stop and look around.
Not long after this, traveling along I-86 across New York state, I saw a sign that I was passing over "Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Boulevard." I thought, "I wonder if that's the place with the Lucille Ball statue." Turns out it is. I'm going to stop there tomorrow as I head back toward Michigan. (Sorry if I mentioned this before.)
I enjoyed meeting people at the birthday party that Chris had invited me to, although many were from Michigan. The party had wonderful food, music and company; but many of the activities were cut short by sporadic showers including heavy downpours and one major storm with thunder, lightning, and strong winds. We pulled our chairs away from the edges of the porch and sat out there enjoying the cooling effect of the winds and rain.
Sunday, Chris and I spent some time figuring out where we would spend the next few nights. We had planned to camp, but the daytime air was hot and humid, and there were thunderstorms in the forecast every day. We checked out Airbnbs but didn't find anything there. We ended up in a Days Inn in Cortland.
Yesterday, I boldly headed out on the bike with Remy in the basket. I planned to meet Chris for breakfast in Cortland, but I wanted to get a ride in, so I headed south from the hotel. I could see on the map that I could head west on Blodgett Mill Road, meet up with another county road heading north again, and come back toward the breakfast place (Frank & Mary's Diner) going east.
Oh. My. God. Blodgett Hill Road just goes up and up and up, and sometimes quite steeply. I walked a lot of it. When I finally got to the top, I looked ahead and saw that, after a bit of down, there was more up and up, so I turned on Pendleton and still went up and up some more, but I was able to do most of this part on the bike.
Wildflowers along the road on Blodgett Mill.
A glorious view from up high on Pendleton.
The descent into Cortland was exhilarating, although I braked the whole time. It took a little riding back and forth to find Frank & Mary's mostly because I was actually looking for someplace I'd been before (which turns out to be called Steve & Lu's), but I finally did find it, and Chris was there. It wasn't bad, but I still like Steve & Lu's better.
Yesterday, Chris and I had kind of an auto tour of the area. We set out for Aurora because there is a shoemaker there who works with the same patterns as someone in Michigan that she has used before, but who doesn't seem to be accomplishing anything for her recently. We found the Aurora Shoe Company, but the sign outside said that they were only open on Fridays from noon to 4. We turned north on 34B and headed into Aurora proper. It's a cute little town, but we didn't stop there. We had heard about a place called Mackenzie Childs with wonderful, creative, household goods, and we found it just north of Aurora. I was sorry I left my phone in the car because there were many things I would have photographed. In case you're interested, Mackenzie Childs' goods are available by catalogue or Internet search. www.mackenziechilds.com If you take a look, you'll see how fascinating everything was. And while things were quite expensive, one wouldn't have to furnish an entire house from here. Just a piece or two would spice up any room.
On we went to Auburn, where we had lunch at a fairly middle-of-the-road, nothing-special bar/restaurant. We split a salad. And then we headed to Skaneateles.
We thought we would go swimming at the park in Skaneateles, but we ended up walking, shopping, having some ice cream, and heading out, back to Cortland.
So, today, swimming was on the agenda! I recommended Taughannock Park, and since I was doing the driving, that's where we went. All the weather sites warned of cloudiness and storms today, but we ignored them and took all our outdoor equipment. When we first arrived, it was kind of cloudy, but as we stuck around, the day grew gorgeous, with high fluffy clouds, a brisk yet warm wind, and reasonably acceptable temperatures. There were a lot of children in the swimming area, but we just waded past them and swam in the deeper area. Another swimmer commented to Chris about how warm the water was. I suppose that makes sense, since the area hasn't had much rain this summer, so the cold water from the waterfalls isn't contributing much to the lake (Lake Cayuga).
Chris reading peacefully.
A late afternoon shot of the swimming area. Note the bright blue sky in the distance.
The gateman at the park had a suggestion for a nearby restaurant for lunch, and we ate at The Falls Restaurant in Trumansburg. My review would be much like the one for the place in Auburn. We returned to the park for a couple more hours. Chris had a book to read, but I had left mine in the hotel room, so I borrowed some paper and wrote some (possible) lyrics, and then culled numbers from my phone directory.
When we finally left the park, we were hungry again. This time, we went into Ithaca where we were sure to get something interesting and well-prepared. We ended up at Just a Taste, where Abby and I had gone twice a couple of weeks ago. Chris and I shared the amazing potato wedges, she had pasta, and I had a salad. We sat outdoors and couldn't help noticing that the waitstaff was quite on edge about a possible impending storm. The wind had come up throughout the afternoon, so it was understandable, but we hadn't seen any sign of dark clouds on our way into town. Some people were cynically saying that it would probably rain all around but not in Ithaca, since that's seems to be what;s been happening all summer. It didn't rain on us.
But as we drove north back toward Cortland, dark clouds gathered to the north and west, and we could see lightning bolts flashing through the darkness. We got into a little rain, but it really didn't start coming down till we got back to the hotel, thankfully.
As we sit here now, we have the window open -- so much nicer than the air machine attached to the wall -- and it's cool and lovely. We had the window open last night, too, and Chris asked whether I thought it was safe. I pointed at Remy and said, "Yes." He's no big bruiser, but he won't let anything or anyone get by without making a helluva lot of noise.
Chris is leaving tomorrow morning to return to Grand Rapids. I'm meeting Abby for breakfast (at Steve and Lu's!) and then I'll head out, as well. I don't think I'll go all the way back to GR tomorrow. I definitely will stop in Celoron, NY, to see the Lucy statue, and I'll give myself time to take in the sights. At least I probably won't have as much trouble finding someplace to stay on the way back, since it's the middle of the week.
I'm looking forward to staying with Annie again upon my return. I'll be hanging around GR through September, most of the time, so I hope to catch up with anyone who wants to see me. I have some more philosophical things to share here if just being in GR becomes something not to report on.
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