Thursday, July 17, 2014

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.

9 comments:

  1. Boy sure looks like fun!!! Good to see you enjoying friends in such a wonderful place. We loved Sampson Lake State Park. Be safe and have fun!!

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  2. Not sure exactly where Sampson Lake SP is, but it looks nice. The Chocolate Lab wine sounds interesting.

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  3. Hi...We just missed you at Watkins Glen. Funny I was scrolling along your blog and thought..that looks like Watkins Glen, I retraced and YEP!!! It is an amazing park. We loved it!

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  4. We love that hike at Watkins Glen too! Looks like lots of great wine tasting!

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  5. We really love the finger lakes. Don't remember Chocolate Lab, but of course bought hot tub wine at Hazlitt :) Haven't been there in the RV, but spent lots of times up there driving from PA. Have fun!

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  6. Ahh, wine country. My kind of place :)

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  7. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed a roll with the hay. That's almost as much fun as a roll in the hay. ;) No cow tipping allowed on a dairy farm. You would end up making milkshakes. ;)
    Syl

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  8. You have to watch out for those deer in NY, they are suicidal! Love Watkins Glen. We had the dogs with us the day we were there, so I dropped Al off at the bottom and drove to the top while he hiked it that way, then I hiked it back and he met me at the bottom...I think I had the easier way LOL!

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  9. Can we call you "Winos" now? Sounds like a great trip with friends & beautiful scenery. Tricia & Dan, I have to take you to the Winery around here. Don't know if it's any good or not but we can decide that.

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