Summer Fun....

We celebrated the 4th  of July with a cookout at Tim and Ann’s house.  We had a great time hanging out with everyone.

Ann and Tim

Timmy and Colleen

Dan and Doug

Pauline

It was a cooler day but a gorgeous one nonetheless for a get together.  After we ate, Colleen and I decided to have some fun on the farm.

Bocce ball with hay bales!

We rolled a few manually and then got the "mule" to get the rest.  

Doug and Colleen’s dog, Abby, had a grand time with us!

Me and my partners in crime!

On July 6th, we left the farm to start our summer travels.  We were meeting friends Gin and Syl, Charlie and Dot, and Doug and Darlene at Sampson State Park.   We caravanned to the park with Doug and Darlene and everyone else showed up within about 30 minutes.  We got settled into our sites and started a campfire.

Charlie had organized having pizza delivered and then we celebrated Syl’s birthday (albeit a bit late), with Nutty Buddy pie.

Dan's way of lighting the candles!

We spent five days at Sampson State Park and enjoyed our time….

Bike riding with Doug and Darlene

Checking out Doug's gas campfire logs

Wildlife on the bike trail...these two actually came running towards us! 

Gorgeous views of Seneca Lake

Taking a break from our bike ride

Darlene and Doug  

The gang off to see the sun set.

Beautiful!

Dot and Charlie enjoying the sunset

Syl and Gin watching the sun go down  

Gorgeous moon shot

Sampson State Park used to be a military base for both the Navy (training facility during WWII) and then the Air Force (Korean War).  There is a wonderful museum depicting life at Sampson during both periods. Dan, Doug, Syl and I had a nice time exploring this one morning.

Statue honoring the Air Force

Syl and Dan playing around 

Syl in the brig

Checking the view from the periscope

Artist's rendering of the USS Midway.  My father served on this ship in the Korean War. 

One thing I really wanted to do while at Sampson State Park was to drive over to Watkins Glen and hike the Gorge Trail.  Dan, Gin, Syl and I attempted to do this a few years ago and went on a day where the temps were rather toasty.  Dan was the only one that made it thru the gorge that time.  With cooler weather, I wanted to try again.  It was a gorgeous day for a hike….

Doug, Darlene, Syl, Dan, Tricia, Dot, and Charlie

Gorgeous gorge!

B&O railroad trestle

Heart shaped pool

We ate lunch at the top of the gorge and then headed down the Indian Trail to get to the bottom.
After we finished hiking, Charlie and his angels (Dot, Syl, and I), headed to a few wineries.  :-)  But first, a picture of some very pretty falls...

Hector Falls

Hazlitt Winery - home of "Red Cat" wine

We sampled six wines at Hazlitt and Syl and I split a “sweet package” to take home that included 4 bottles of wine.  Gin and I now think that “White Cat” has replaced “Red Cat” was one of our favorite wines!

Penguin Bay Winery

We then went to Penguin Bay Winery and had another sampling of six wines.  None of them knocked our socks off so we left without making any purchase.  But not before we got this silly picture…

We then went to a winery with the cutest sign out front….

Charlie wanted to make a purchase at Pleasant Valley Winery.  While we were waiting, Dot asked the attendant if we could try some of their Chocolate Lab wine.  She poured us each a sample and told us to try half but save half.  We did and then she added some strawberry wine to the second half.  Oh my!  It was sooooooooooo Good.  We each ended up buying some Chocolate Lab wine.  :-)

We had a great time hanging out with our friends at Sampson State Park.  We bid Dot, Charlie, Doug, and Darlene “see ya down the road” and continued our summer travels north with Gin and Syl.