Today was our last day with my parents, which was a sad day for me. I have loved spending time with them. The good thing was that we drove through some beautiful country.
Our first stop was Auburn, NY, the home of Harriett Tubman. Like most of the towns we drove through, it was a quaint little village.
We were sad to get to
Harriett's house only to find that it's not open on Monday. The gates were locked. But we lucked out and some men had come to swap out port-a-potties and so we just followed them in, got our pictures and left. Perfect timing!
Throughout our drive today, there were amazing homes everywhere. Sadly, many of them have fallen into disrepair because the taxes in New York are so high, people can't keep their homes.
I wish I had taken a picture of the little gate in front of this one.
William H. Seward of Seward's Folly fame, Secretary of State to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He is also the man who sold Harriett Tubman her home for a small sum, an illegal transaction at the time.
His house.
We stopped at this cheese factory. It was pretty, but I found it a little disappointing.
The countryside was beautiful though.
I was disturbed by the size of the udders on these cows, which I'm guessing were hormonaly altered and looked painful.
I really wanted to see an Amish buggy. We had seen a few Amish and Menonite people, but for some reason, I wanted to see a buggy.
Then we passed this Amish farm. I loved seeing the laundry hanging clear across the yard.
And they had a buggy!! I didn't get to see one driving down the road, but at least I got to see a buggy.
Free range chickens. I had never seen so many chickens roaming free before.
Then we found an Amish store, which is like the ultimate Whole Foods. Because they don't eat processed foods, there are all different kinds of flour.
Natural jello mixes and other baking supplies.
Herbs and spices.
They also had a large selection of hats.
Being a hat connoisseur, my dad had to buy one. (Mormon missionary in an Amish hat, hmmm.)
Jalen tried one on too.
I bought a jar of tomato jam, something I haven't eaten since my mission. (BTW, it's delicious.)
We then continued on our drive, spending a lot of time driving beside Lake Seneca, the largest of the Finger Lakes.
Lots of cool old buildings.
I had no idea there were so many wineries in upstate New York.
We stopped for lunch in Watkins Glen at Seneca Lake. Don't remember the name of the place, but it was tasty!
Then we decided to brave
Watkins Glen State Park even though it was pouring down rain. We had to say goodbye to my parents. I was glad it was raining so the goodbye would be quick because I hated saying goodbye to them.
This place was amazing. Naturally beautiful and the man made portions blended in perfectly. I felt like I was climbing to a Buddist shrine.
Back side of the water fall.
We decided to turn around at this point because the weather was so bad and we needed to continue on our way.
Jalen didn't want to get out and walk in the rain, but he loved it more than any of us. He even stood right under a fall and took a "shower."
We stripped the kids down, changed them in to dry clothes and continued on our way.
I loved the mist coming off the mountains.
Today we are staying at the home of one of my best friends from college who lives in New Jersey just outside of Manhattan. Tomorrow we will tackle the Big Apple! (And probably Mother Nature.)
No comments:
Post a Comment