Trip North - Rochester - Week 4

We brought Gary's grandson Caleb for a visit from Albany on Amtrak.

 He is a Train fanatic so this week's theme is Trains, Trains and More Trains.

We got him a good camera for giving up Soda for a year.  He got a lot of use out of it this week.

We started at the Tree Farm down the road that has a petting zoo.  My friends and her daughter always bring food and feed them.  We tagged along.  

Caleb getting a shot of the Zebu and a goat.

 Hey!  What am I - Chopped Liver?

You don't ignore this Camel very long.  She loves men.

a new addition my friends daughter got to hold - a baby Wallaby

My friend was able to hook up Caleb with a boy in town the same age as him that is as into trains as he is.  We drove them to some tracks and they took pictures and videos for 3.5 hours   They saw 16 trains - more than Caleb gets to see in a week back home.  They even caught a Union Pacific.

We have a really nice day so we head back to Letchworth.  Caleb is hoping to catch a train going over the Bridge.  He and Tucson scope out the river.

 Caleb waited 2.5 hours for a train and we finally made the call to leave.  Of course as we got about 2 minutes away - a train crossed over.

 We take Caleb downtown to see the High Falls district. 

 He gets a shot of the Falls and a Train going over!

Caleb and I walked over to an area at the top of the Falls closer to the Tracks while Gary waited in a shaded comfy chair in Brown's Race.  I decided to give him 20 minutes there.  18 Minutes later a train crossed over and it had some rare caboose on it - so he was happy.

We head up to Ontario Beach for lunch and find that the 

Santa Maria replica is in port.

 Caleb and I walk out to the end of the Pier

 On the way back there were a few Minks playing in the rocks.  This one had a fish of some sort.

 They are so darn cute!

 Had to stop and see the Carousel

Tomorrow we head to Sidney, NY to house-sit for the month.

Trip North - Rochester - week 3

Work is progressing on the entryway

 I take Gary to the American Hotel for lunch - they have over 200 homemade soups - but only feature 6 on any given day and they have the best Liverwurst sandwich on Rye.

We have been here over two weeks dry camping so we need to dump and fill.  Rather then go through all the hassle of battening down just to go up the road - we go to Letchworth Park for the night.

We get a nice hike in from Hogsback to the Mt. Morris Dam

 I've been called a Tree Hugger - but here are Hugging Trees

 A view back to the Bend - the truck is just above that bald spot 

all the way to the left.

 The Mt. Morris Dam

 Then we drive down the the Falls - Here is the Upper Falls 

and the new Train Bridge.

 Middle Falls is just down the trail.

I catch a rainbow across the base of Middle Falls 

 Last year when we were here we went to check out the Mary Jemison site and longhouse but it was under repair - we check it out again and the work was done.

 Mary Jemison - White woman of the Genesee.   Born during a voyage from Ireland to the US - she was captured during the French and Indian war around the age of 15 and adopted into the Seneca Nation and decided to stay. 

 I snuck in a bike ride with my friend and her daughter in Genesee Valley Park.  Her daughters first time on the bike and first time with hand brakes - she did great by the end of the ride.

Here is a view of the Genesee River which runs right to left and the Erie Canal which crosses under the bridge.  The water is so high it is hard to discern one from the other.

 

 

 meanwhile, the construction continues

 

Trip North - Rochester - Week 2

I take Gary to the Rose Gardens figuring they would be in bloom
since the Festival was this past weekend.  There were some in bloom
but not as many as I expected.

Maplewood Park was on of several Parks in Rochester laid out by 

Frederick Law Olmstead

Since we didn't spend much time looking at Roses, we head to the trail to the Waterfalls on the Genessee River.   A statue of Frederick Douglas.  He lived in Rochester from 1847 to 1872, longer than anywhere else in his life.

 Gary explains to Tucson why he can't swim in the River here.

Onward

 Remains of Kelsey's Landing.  In the 1840's you could take a nonstop boat to Detroit from Kelsey's Landing. It was also a departure point for slaves escaping to Canada on the Underground Railway.

  "The Seat of Remembering and Forgetting" is a sculpture that depicts
the faces and hands of the community's youth.

 The house I lived in from 4th grade through High School is just around the corner so we did a drive by.  When we lived there it was Pepto Bismal Pink!

Visited friends in Webster and they took us to the Lake to check out the flooding.
The Marina's Gas dock is under water.

 Headed to my Dad's grave before Father's Day to
Plant some flowers.