New York is beautiful!

Good morning!

Well, I'm hoping that I actually get in the habit of updating the blog a little bit more than weekly as it seems as if recollections can dim if one waits too long ... however, it does feel like the images of Niagara Falls from last Monday are quite vivid. We've had a beautiful week in New York ... it really is a state of very diverse geological and historical interest. We had torrential rains on Sunday night, August 9, but beautiful weather the rest of the week.

First the mileage update

BUSTER:

Niagara Falls to the Finger Lakes (near Geneva, NY): 129 miles

Total: 1529 miles

Enclave: 197 miles in Finger Lake Area

Total: 1043 miles

TOTAL BUSTER AND ENCLAVE: 2575 miles driven so far

Our STATE COUNT is the same: 8

Monday, August 9, Niagara Falls: We headed straight to Niagara Falls State Park and got the Discover tickets which allowed us into the Park, a ride on Maid of the Mist, visitng the Cave of the Winds, riding along the trolley which crosses the American rapids to Goat Island, from which you can get a better view of the Canadian Falls, called Horseshoe Falls, and also entrances to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center and the Niagara Aquarium. All of these were very interesting, but the best was the Maid of the Mist boat ride. I believe this has been taking people out for the adventure of Niagara Falls for over 150 years. I imagine150 people are taken out per boat, and we were all given blue thin plastic ponchos with hoods, which were recycled, and boy did we need them. The whole trip takes about 25 - 30 minutes I would guess, but it was amazing to us how close we went to the bottom of the falls. We were completely enveloped in mist and the roar of the falls. The pictures are blurry (because of the mist!) but the amount of water coming over the Horseshoe Falls is more than a billion gallons a minute. It WAS impressive. I mentioned that of all the tourist traps I've been exposed to, this was the most worth it!

We returned the next day and finished our visit at the Gorge Discovery center which did a great job for both adults and kids describing the carving out of the Niagara Gorge and how all the water from the Great Lakes, starting from Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie are ultimately flowing through this gorge into Lake Ontario before traveling to the St. Lawrence River/Seaway and the Atlantic. Computerized exhibits allowed you to see how it might have looked 300,000 years ago, as well as 10,000 years into the future. We all really enjoyed it.

Tuesday, August 11, we visited Fort Niagara and the Eric Canal locks. Fort Niagara is at the mouth of the gorge where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario. This waterway has long been the focus of disputed borders between Canada and the US and has been in French, British and US hands over the years, as well as Iroquois. They were celebrating 250 years since the French and Indian war; it also figured prominently in the war of 1812, and they have on display the huge garrison flag that actually was captured by the British in 1813, returned to England, kept in the manor home of the victorious British General, and finally returned to the Fort for display in 1994. The entire Fort with its tours, etc, is managed by a volunteer association dedicated to historic preservation.

Our most interesting activity on Tuesday was our ride up the Erie Canal locks. In Lockport, which is actually the last town before the Erie Canal enters the Niagara River, is the site of locks 34 and 35, and we were able to travel through them. The Erie Canal was an amazing idea of engineering a waterway from the Hudson River to the Niagara and Lake Erie enabling water transport to the West. Originally about 14 feet wide and 4 feet deep, it travels hundreds of miles. I think we all remember pictures from elementary textbooks showing teams of horses drawing barges on the canal. The functioning of the locks is fun to see and experience.

One of the most interesting parts was the bridge that raises up and down horizontally so that cars can cross; see below with the bridge (in the distance down in it's normal position so that cars may travel across the canal) and then raised horizontally up so that the boat may pass. In this instance, there are two bridges within 1/4 mile of each other, and we watched as the bridgemaster (an inherited job!) got in his car after lowering the first bridge we went under, drove to the bridge "downstream" and repeated the maneuver. Apparently this can be repeated numerous times a day. We thought it was an excellent opportunity for sprint training!

Wednesday, August 12 was another travel day, after I spent a few hours in the morning doing some work for Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. I have been able to retain some editorial work with our great team of Jen Jacobsen, Stephanie Faubion and Ada Multari, and so am reserving Wednesday mornings for them through the year. Hopefully I will be able to connect by cell phone and my LaptopConnect AT&T card, and it worked fairly well this week.

We had visited the Finger Lake area about 3 years ago when we attended Barbara Wold's graduation from Cornell. We hiked up the falls at Watkins Glen at that time (something I can't do today with my post-op knees), and loved Canandaigua. At that visit, Patty Simmons (Barb's mom) had arranged for us to do some glass blowing at Corning which was tremendously fun and interesting, and we ate at the Taughannock Inn at Deb Rhode's recommendation, and had the great good fortune of running into her parents, Frank and Rosa Rhodes at dinner. That was so nice!

But this visit, we returned to Geneva area (at the top of Seneca Lake), stayed at Cheery (!) Valley campground and received our mail at Auburn, General Delivery. Thanks, Sue, for the packages!!!! Cheery Valley was very nice, with a nice pool and in a beautiful wooded setting. We were there during the week (non-weekend) and had much of the campground to ourselves.

As I mentioned, On Thursday, August 13 we received our mail at the Auburn post office. We had lunch at Bambino's Bistro where Gary got the deal of the day: he had the prix fix lunch which was 12 mussels in a delicious broth, chicken marsala with linguini and marinara sauce, and a Pepsi for $8.95. I had some delicious artichoke ravioli and Liz had a great panini. It was a great find.

We were surprised (or at least I was surprised) at how much we enjoyed our afternoon visit in Auburn. We visited William Seward's home, a governor of New York, senator of New York, and ultimately Secretary of State under President's Lincoln and Johnson. For you who remember (I didn't) Seward was Lincoln's challenger for the Republican nomination in 1860, but he (Seward) was considered too much of an abolitionist to have a chance at winning the election. Lincoln, at that time, had not taken as strong a position on this issue. Seward lost on the 3rd ballot .. the news came to him at his home in Auburn and he was devastated. His wife was elated ... she hated the political life, and it was said it was one of the few times anyone saw her smile!

This very interesting story is captured in the newly popular book, "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearnes Goodwin .... apparently a favorite of our current president. Our young tour guide filled us in on a number of stories which were fascinating. I hadn't realized that Seward, who was the second on Lincoln's invitation list to go to Ford's Theatre with him that fateful night, was home in bed with a fractured jaw from a horse and buggy accident, and that the very large conspiracy that John Wilkes Booth was a part of involved the Sewards and others. Someone broke into the Seward home, and stabbed FIVE people including William Seward, his son, a military office, etc., ALL of whom survived. This perpetrator was caught and hanged.

Lincoln came to spend much time in the Seward Home (apparently across the street from the White House), and relied heavily on his older friend's advice. In the home are many personal remembrances from Lincoln, including dried flowers in a frame from Lincoln's funeral train back to Springfield, IL.

In the home is an original painting, seen on the cover of Goodwin's book, of Lincoln, Seward and others signing the Emancipation Proclamation. This original is thought to represent the reality with Seward in the foreground, in white trousers (which make him appear more prominent) and the pen near his hand. The artist was asked to redo the portrait for "official" purposes, in which he put Seward in dark trousers and moved the pen to Lincoln's hand the more "appropriately" represent this important meeting.

Seward remained Secretary of State under President Johnson, and near the end of his life, in 1869, negotiated with Russia for what is now Alaska, paying 2.5 cents per acre! Seward realized this was not popular at the time, Seward's Folly, but he predicted this would come to be his greatest accomplishment, which is considered so. Alaska is enjoyed 50 years of statehood this year! Secretary Seward died in his home in Auburn, in his office (he may have had ALS), at age 71, in 1873, I think. When asked for his last words, he replied: "Love one another."

We thought he sounded like a terrific man; we were also very proud of Liz ... she was very interested in the tour and listened attentively throughout. Our guide rewarded her with a free Alaska commemorative token. Then we strolled in his gardens which were, at the time, very large, and still very lovely.

Friday, August 14, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNA SALANSY, was a quiet, housekeeping day. We did some shopping, did the laundry (so far the most onerous task, particularly when done in ill-equipped campsites), and "hung out." Gary got our DVD player hooked up (it turned out the DVD player itself was defective, not all the intricate motorhome wiring), but did take time for a drive along Canandaigua Lake.

It has been challenging getting this post done .... in remote places now here in the Adirondacks (see next post!), I will get some pictures half uploaded, and then lose the connection. But just now it all appears in there. Liz is "too tired" for Liz' Lines this afternoon, but look forward to our next post. We miss all our friends and family, but so far, the thrill of the adventure continues! Sending love to all,

Julie, Gary and Liz