Just Escaped the Big Apple!

So, well, despite buying a new laptop and finding plenty of unsecured wireless, New York was just so big and busy, I totally haven't reported in until now. Now being Friday night, and my present location back at friends' in Peekskill, after a couple of hours of negotiating the impressive regional transit system that blankets downstate New York and New York City.

I'll run a brief chronology, and refer those of you who want the photos over to Adam's place.

Friday the 9th, we left Waterloo and took 4 or 5 hours to wander our way to the Finger Lakes for a couple nights at a B&B as a halfway stop. The B&B was nice, though not luxury. Food was great, rooms were a bit damp, the property was beautiful. Friday night, we took a trip into Ithaca to see what could be seen, stumbled into a yarn store and found a few not-available-in-Waterloo skeins, then lucked into a great dinner and superb dessert at a place called Madeleine's. We earned the dessert by then following the recently set up Sagan Planet Walk from the centre point of the Ithaca commons to the town's Sciencenter. We actually missed a slight turn just past Saturn and detoured accidentally into the Kuiper belt (Ithaca High School area) and probably walked twice the distance of the intended walk just finding our way back to Neptune.

On Saturday, we took a wander from our B&B near Trumansburg over to the next nearest late, Seneca, and found the village of Watkins Glen, known apparently for its international auto racing events but which had come to my attention from Ravelry recommendations for the local yarn store, Finger Lakes Fibers. That scored another couple skeins of Schaefer and Artyarns. Sadly, other than that shop and a nice looking wine clearing house we didn't enter, there didn't seem to be alot of life in the town. We walked out along the marina breakwater, and supposed that the town must be much more lively in the warmer months.

From Watkins Glen, we made the trek to Corning, took a brief run through another somewhat under-populated downtown, but then returned to the Museum of Glass. This impressive facility, or rather set of facilities, houses gallery, museum/historical centre, science centre and workshop, all dedicated to the arts and sciences of glassmaking. We could really have spent a full two days there and probably not taken everything in; I missed alot having not realized how extensive the museum really was, and spending too much time in just the first couple of galleries. We meandered back to Ithaca in the dark, grabbed a few pizza slices from the dingey-looking but superb Pizza Aroma, and headed home to crash.

Sunday got us up and going, and we spent a good three hours exploring Taughannock Falls State Park, first above and then below the gorge formed by Taughannock creek and its waterfall. Lunch at an also dingey-looking but obviously super (packed mid-afternoon) burger stop, Glenwood Pines, was followed by the third, and so far last, yarn store on the trip, Knitting Etc on the other side of the lake, where I scored a bit more Schaefer yarn. Then it was off to Peekskill, and I was very glad Adam took on most of the driving when we reached the last stretch after the interstate, which was an incredible roller-coaster ride down the Catskills, in the dark, on unfamiliar roads. None the worse for wear, but tired, we reached our friends' place around 7, actually beating Ev home from her play, and had a late take-out dinner when she arrived.

Monday was spent wandering the area around Peekskill, visiting the Croton Reservoir which is one of several reservoirs established to provide water for New York City and the surrounding counties and towns. The huge dam that established the reservoir is quite a project, all the more impressive for being around a century old, and at that, being the second Croton Dam. We saw the remains of the first a bit later in the week. A little window shopping in Cold Spring followed, then back home for a homestyle diner dinner and a serious night's sleep. My feet and legs were already killing me, not even halfway into our trip.

Tuesday morning, we got a ride to the local station and headed for Grand Central Station in Manhattan. More adventures to follow.....