Happy Camper

Got home last week from a wonderful camping trip to New York state. I've always wanted to go to Watkins Glen but since the gorge trail isn't dog friendly, I'd never been. This year two of my sisters and their husbands were able to join me there.  It's quite a drive for me to do in one day so my youngest sister, her husband and I made a stop at Westcott Beach State Park that's located on the US side of Lake Ontario.  I made it there before my sister and brother-in-law though they had a much shorter drive, an issue at US Customs delayed them a little. 

My site at Westcott Beach wasn't very deep but it was wide, so I pulled in across the site facing away from the road. I probably could have backed in as there was lots of room and no ditches on either side of the road. But pulling in the way I did gave more privacy on my site. I had an electric site; my sister and her husband were just the other side of the bathrooms on a non-electric site. 

Westcott Beach isn't really a destination campground but it seemed to be well used by locals and boaters. The trails in the park are located on the other side of the highway so we didn't bother with those. We did drive into Sacket's Harbor to see some of the sites and enjoy a beer at a brewery, even though it was a tad chilly.

Wescott Beach

          

Westcott Beach Marina

Sackets Harbor Battlefield

Teddy enjoying the fire.

We were only there for two nights then it was onto Watkins Glen State Park. We had breakfast in the morning and took our time getting packed up, we arrived in Watkins Glen just after 2pm.  My other sister and her husband arrived from Ottawa just after we did, they might have even got to the park before us, but they went to the dump station to fill up with water. We would be in Watkins Glen for 4 nights. We had nice sites on the inside of the first loop quite close to the bathrooms. 

The first full day we went to a couple vineyards. Both were very dog friendly, ones I had been to before allowed dogs outside on the patio or deck but in the Watkins Glen area they were allowed inside. The first winery was Castel Grisch, here we shared a couple wine flights and took advantage of their Wifi.  This location also had many displays of various sculptures and we wondered of it had been a separate business venture at one time.

The next vineyard was Lakewood. Dogs were allowed inside at this venue too but as they had dogs themselves, we thought my dogs would be more comfortable outside. Here, we bought a bottle of wine to share and enjoyed the view. 

We stopped in the town of Watkins Glen and walked the main street on the way back to our campsites. The main street is the state highway and there was lots of truck traffic, Teddy and Liam were not happy with that. 

The next day, I went with one of my sisters and her husband to hike the gorge, Teddy and Liam stayed back at camp with my other sister and brother-in-law. We would have a late brunch when we got back.  The gorge trail is amazing but somewhat strenuous, 832 steps, one way so if you go back through the gorge you have to do them twice.

After brunch, we all went and did our own things. I took the dogs to see some other local waterfalls.

The next day, breakfast was French toast with apple crisp, whipped cream, syrup and sausages.  After breakfast, the guys drove to the Curtiss Museum to see airplanes and motorcycles, while we girls had another day of vineyards ending up at a creamery for a flight of ice cream. Teddy and Liam were again welcome inside the wineries and got to meet some cows. Liam liked the Hazlitt Winery because there was free popcorn and dog biscuits.

French Toast

Hazlitt 1852 Winery

Inside Hazlitt waiting for more popcorn.

Leidenfrost Winery

Outside at Leidenfrost

Shtayburne Farm

Teddy watching cows.

At Hazlitt, we shared two flights, one cider flight and one wine flight. At Leidenfrost, we bought a bottle to share and sat outside to again enjoy the view. At Shtayburne Farm, you could have cheese, ice cream or mixed flights. Our favourite ice cream flavour was carmel kettlecorn. It was a vanilla based ice cream but you could really taste popcorn with burnt carmel.

The next day was again a travel day. My youngest sister, her husband and I were heading back the way we came to Selkirk Shores on Lake Ontario while my other sister and her husband were heading east as they were going to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

At Selkirk Shores, we had nice electric sites that backed into the tree line and weren't too far from the bathrooms. Most of the other sites, were in open fields or only backed onto the tree line. The beach at Selkirk Shore wasn't dog friendly but we did find a spot on the shoreline were Teddy and Liam could wade.

We would again be here for only two nights. On our one full day, we went to the Salmon River Falls, then drove around trying to find a brewery that must have closed some time ago and a winery that did exist but doesn't make their wine at that location anymore. We then tried a brewery co-located with a restaurant, but dogs weren't even allowed on the patio. It had been calling for rain all day but we were able to enjoy supper and a fire before the rain did come. I was even able to tear down and pack up the next morning while it was only sprinkling.

Salmon River Falls

Town Square Pulaski, NY

Last Fire

All in all, a very good trip.  The next one is a little closer to home at Bon Echo Provincial Park where there is a nice dog beach. 

First Summer Camping Trip

Well technically it was a spring camping trip but you couldn't tell by the weather. We had a hot sunny week of camping. Back in Ottawa they set a temperature record for May, we were better off down by the river as there was little humidity and a nice breeze most of the time off of the water.

Woodlands, Site 183

We had four sites along a road just opposite one of the camper beaches. What with school still in session and it not being a holiday weekend we virtually had the campground to ourselves. The only con to that was that the staff were getting ready for the first big summer weekend so there was lots of grass mowing and whipper snipping going on: that didn't make Teddy a happy camper.

I only left the campground once to visit the Crysler Farm Battlefield, away from the water it was quite hot so we didn't stay long.

Teddy and Liam on the St Lawrence River, Canadian side.

So it really was a week of eating, drinking, reading, relaxing, with short walks and wading in the water. We all took turns preparing a dinner and a breakfast so we each only had to make two meals. I have no pictures of the meals but let me tell you they were good.

Because there was hardly anyone else there, I was able to take the boys wading at the beach and let them off leash to play ball. That made them happy: well, Liam wasn't thrilled about wading but Teddy likes it and it was a great way to cool off. They both liked playing ball and running around.

Of course, there was the usual campfires and music. 

Teddy and Liam were good campers but it wasn't busy, no other dogs around or people and kids out for evening strolls, so that really helped.

We'll see how it goes on the next trip which is down to New York state. 

Floral Notes

I took the dogs down to Beechwood cemetery a couple weeks ago. It was a little too early for the tulips to be in bloom but that daffodils were very nice.  Some tulips were up but they definitely weren't at their peak yet.

This week I went down to the tulip festival with my two of my sisters, a brother-in-law and my aunt, who is here visiting. Dogs have been allowed at the festival since 2018 but I left Teddy and Liam home for this trip as we planned to have lunch downtown while we were there. It was nice to go down during the week, every other time I had been there it was during a weekend, and it was always packed. We had a little difficulty with GPS and parking lot I wanted to go to was closed but we made it there in reasonable time despite the detours.

We started at the Experimental Farm gardens then walked through the Arboretum to get to Dow's Lake and Commissioners Park. 

Then it was a walk through the park to see the tulips. We saw most of the larger beds of tulips before we turned around to head back along the lake to the Dow's Lake Pavillion where we had lunch. It was a bit chilly if you were just sitting even in the sun but a perfect day for walking.

After viewing the tulips, we had lunch at the pavilion then headed back to the car and began the ride home. We again had GPS problems as I had set a waypoint to get downtown to avoid construction but never actually went to the waypoint so the GPS was trying to take us back there. So, we went there, just to have to turn around to go home. Now I know how a waypoint works, I thought it was more like selecting a route. 

It was a really nice afternoon. I'm not sure that the tulips were as nice as in some years as we had two very cold nights with frost warnings, but they still are quite spectacular.

A Date with Destiny

I got up very early Saturday morning to see the coronation of King Charles III. Turned out I could have stayed in bed longer as they said programing would start at 3 am so I thought the actual coronation procession would begin sometime after 4am; so I got up at 3:30am. the procession didn't happen until around 5:30 am; but anyway, I was up so I just got comfortable with a pillow and blanket on the couch.

It seemed kind of unreal. Queen Elizabeth had always been a piece of the fabric of my life. Growing up I had kept scrapbooks about the Royal family and had numerous books on them as well. The scrapbooks are gone but I still have a good many of the books.  Although we all must pass, it just seemed like Queen Elizabeth would always be there. Now here we were waiting to see her son crowned, I wonder what he thought about it all; knowing his whole life that to fulfill this destiny his mother had to die. 

It was a wonderful ceremony, full of pomp, pageantry and history. I think those of us who watched from home had a better view than many of the invited guests who probably only saw the King and the rest of the Royal family as the entered or left Westminster Abbey, even the Royal family only really saw the back of the Coronation chair from where they were seated. 

It was nice to see the role that Prince George played in his grandfather's coronation and that of Prince William, but I especially liked that Princess Anne had a role as a member of the King's guard on the procession back to Buckingham Palace and took part in the salute to the King on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. 

The balcony scene had more members of the family than I expected but those who were not there were not unexpected. I was glad that the Queen's cousins the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra were there. They represented Queen Elizabeth's reign. And representing the reign of the new King were his brother Edward, now the Duke of Edinburgh, and his family, Princess Anne and her husband, and Prince William, his wife and their children. 

There were those that said it was a shame Harry wasn't there. I don't feel bad for him. I've watched the interviews he's done and read his book; he's made many claims but didn't really substantiate many of them.  And just like keeping his titles, he seems to want the prestige and privilege that goes along with being Royal but not workload or the intrusions on his life. 

I wish King Charles a long life. I hope that he's able to resolve those family issues with Harry. It would be sad to think that Harry's children will miss out on getting to know their close relatives. 

I hope Canada will keep the monarch as our Head of State or, at least, that we'll stay in the Commonwealth.