Finger Lakes

On Sunday, we took a simple five hour car ride to upstate NY to the Finger Lakes region for some hiking, camping and wine tasting. The place we stayed at was interesting.. Since we took both of our dogs I had to do some searching and found this camping resort that allows dogs and rents out cabins, cottages and such for really cheap. When we pulled in it was an experience. It had campers and trailers everywhere. There’s interesting stuff on the property: a pool, a mini golf area, a spa, an activity hall and more. When we walked into out little cabin, it was a bit of a shock to my parents I think: one room and a small bathroom attached. It’s made entirely of wood. It even has a tv, microwave and fridge! I got to bring my awesome sleeping bag and sleep on the to bunk. :P it’s those little things..

That night we made a campfire! Turns out my parents didn’t know what s’mores were so I ran over to the store and picked everything up :) it was awesome making s’mores! We also grilled hot dogs and I figured out dressing from the oil in the canned tuna for the tomatoes and cucombers.. Living on survival instinct haha..

The next morning we left without really a plan. We ended up at a few vineyards and even had lunch at this great place that was really high up so we saw Keyuka Lake from way up top. The area is just tons of tall hills, with really steep descends. On Monday, we basically drove around the whole entire lake! We stopped at Keyuka State Park and the dogs got to swim in the lake! We then drove down and back up a peninsula basically. It had really great views. At the tip, we went up to the Garrett Chapel which is mostly abandoned. It’s a really pretty building with interesting staircases and views. The garden landscape is really well done as well. From it, we got to see a pretty good view of the lake.

Afterwards, we didn’t really know what to do so we drove around. We went up to Penn Yan, then drove to Dresden and went down all the way to Watkins Glen. Basically, it was a lot of driving. We parked in town and got out to search for a grocery store or something but no luck. When we finally did find one, my parents left me in the car. I kept worrying how much theybwould spend because they didn’t have coupons and I don’t think they are ever economical in their groceries. I was right - they spent a bunch for not so much. Plus, stuff was grossly overpriced as well.

When we finally got back to our cabin, after miles of steep hills, we had a feast of rotisserie chicken, salad, wine and beer. It was scrumotious. We even made more s’mores. :)

The next day, Tuesday, we made a plan to go to Watkins Glen so see the gorges in the state park! It was a lot of hiking.. Lots of hours ongoing down and up hills with the dogs. The main trail was worth it though - definitely posting pictures when I get them uploaded! One of the highlights was having this nice picnic of leftovers on this great patch of lawn surrounded by trails. All of the sudden, five greyhounds appear with their owner on the trail near us. It was so scary because my parents were trying to keep our dogs from running away/at them. Our dogs aren’t that friendly at all at other dogs..

When we finally left the park wherenwe saw amazing waterfalls, rapids and the gorge itself, we drove a lot of miles (again) tonthe state park we went Monday. Only this time, my dad and I brought our swimsuits! We got to swim in the lake.. Though I think more time was spent taking pictures of all of us than actually standing and floating in the cold lake water.. The water was really clear and you could see the bottom having lots of rocks. Plus, the lifeguard didnt pay attention to me and we left.

Back at the cabin, we grilled sausages and baked potato, got one of the dogs drunk on beer and watched clips of comedy shows. I fell asleep watching Americas got talent and had dreams of me playing on a lacrosse team.

Today, we had a plan… Until it was ruined by the farm/amish market not being open on any day except Saturday.. So we did morer wine tastings, ate great food at the same restaurant from Monday and hiked another trail for two hours. Now, we are ready to make another fire, eat watermelon and hopefully finish off the marshmallows :)