Did You Guess Irene?

The clue obviously took you to the Rochester area, and since you knew I was going east that wouldn't be Minnesota. Who do I know in that location? Several people, actually.

But my long-time Rochester buddy is Irene. We visited and went out to lunch.

She ordered the Cow and Pig Burger. Holy cow! (She took half of it home)

But her living situation has changed, so I needeed a different place to stay. Remember Sarah who hiked a little with me on the big hike, and helped Bill and me last year in the Adirondacks? She also lives there and took me in.

My only walk today was around a large block with Kia the dog. I had hoped for another walk in the afternoon, but there wasn't time.

It was her husband's birthday today! But instead of him being treated, he made us dinner last night- yummy beef stroganoff

So what did Sarah and I talk about? What do you think? She is a total bundle of energy, and I'm in denial that I'm getting older, so maps and hikes it is! If you can't read it, don't worry. If something real comes out of our crazy talk, I'll let you know.

So what's your clue for where I am tonight? Here you go.

See Did You Guess Bill?

Home, Sweet Adirondack Campsite

We have landed, and right now things could not be better!

We stopped in Forestport for a few minutes. It's always been considered the last jumping off spot in NY before the Adirondacks. For proof of the "always", see this trail sign. The NCTA logo was changed from this in 2006, so this sign predates that by at least several years.

We are actually hiking northeast of here but Forestport is close to the "blue line" (the Adirondack Park border). And it has some awesome geology that I wanted to show Bill. The Black River runs through town, and it is where you can definitively see the volcanic geology of the Adirondacks. This is just below the dam. It's obvious New York has had significant rain recently.

This is the third time I've been here, and I really love this spot. Here's a view a little farther down the river.

Then we went to find a campsite. There are a number of free sites along back roads in the Adirondacks. We found ourselves a preemo one, close to the trail. High ground, level, large. Two tents all set up.

Ready for an evening out of the bugs.

We even have a little potty tent for privacy.

Here's the frosting on the cake. The site has a decorative rock entrance.

BONUS SECTION: I got to visit with Irene for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow we begin the hiking and the reason we are here- to track the trail. Weather looks good for a few days. Can't beat that! We are eating in Old Forge. Much less certain I'll be able to blog tomorrow. See you when I can.

See Famous Forestport

Made it to Irene's

 I managed to forget to take a picture with Cindy, where I stayed last night. But the link at the end shows us a year ago. I keep using her for a motel on the way east, but she's always glad to see me.

It was hot, hot, hot, and there was traffic, traffic, traffic. The best event of the drive was seeing an egret near the rest area along Lake Erie.

I guess I haven't been at this house of Irene's in mid summer before. She has some lovely lilies. This one might be 'White Pixels,' but there are quite a few cultivars that are similar.

These are (I think) the ones I am missing at home. The color isn't quite as deep, but they are close. Apparently their actual cultivar name is 'Black Falcon.' It's considered an heirloom daylily.

But this one is the stunner. And it's about 4 feet tall. I think this one is called 'Nettie's Pride.'

And Irene and me? Well, we aren't getting younger, but we are still here.

Today was the longest drive. It was a tough one with the heat (I have no air conditioning), but I made it OK, and only in mid afternoon did I break down and buy a drink with ice.

See Yipi, I'm in Yspi

Did You Guess Irene?

Long time blog readers might have remembered who lives in Western New York. Yup, I'm with Irene. We had tentatively planned to do something more interesting, but it was blistering hot outside, so we really didn't do much except enjoy each other's company. We did go out to dinner.

Good friends don't have to have some super activity to have a good time. Well, maybe we do need ice cream. But we had that! We also notice that we are getting older. Not much we can do about that one.

See On the Road

Rain Day with Irene

  Today was predicted to be rain, and indeed it rained hard for quite a while in the afternoon. Marie and I got in a visit with long-time trail friend, Irene. We took a short walk on the former bed of the West Shore RR. Irene's dog, Abby, loves her walks. We saw another brown garter snake. A handsome one. On the way home we had to stop at Shark's Ice Cream. You know my nickname is Sharkey, right? It's in Bloomfield, NY. It was the best ice cream of this trip so far. Very creamy. They even have a shark trash can. We also stopped at a produce stand for some yummies for tomorrow. A trip to Wegman's grocery, laundry, and back home. Very full day. Tomorrow we hike again!

See Bristol Hills Day 1

Seneca Park Zoo - Other

 
I've changed locations, and it's all great. More on that tomorrow. But I want to do one more zoo day, because I can't leave out my little scaly and slimy friends. These were all in the Africa House.

The is a round-nosed plated lizard. A lady who comes to the zoo often said it's the first time she's seen it come out in a year, so I feel pretty special to have gotten its picture.



In the same terrarium were the pancake tortoises. I actually didn't notice until I looked at the picture on the computer that there are two of them!



Finally, a frog. No label or sign. Don't know if it's something special, poisonous, or ordinary.



Tomorrow I'll switch to telling you about where I am now. Final picture for today is Irene and me. It's a horrid selfie, and I don't even think this looks like Irene. But it's "real."

	See Seneca Park Zoo - Birds
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Rest Day

 
Today was a rest day for me. Irene and I hung around her house all morning, then went and did errands in the afternoon. Here's Irene's current dog, Abby. She's huge and fuzzy and a really nice dog.



One of the errands was to get bird feed. Gotta keep those feathered friends happy, especially since the cold is supposed to hit here on Wednesday.



The last errand of the day was to get pizza. Loaded pizza. Oh yes!



A little writing occurred. Only 1100 words so far, but I'm going to try for more before sleep.

	See Rochester Health and Wellness Show
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Not Mine, But...

 
My friend Irene has also been dogless for quite a while now. I shared when Pearl passed on in 2013. Then in 2015, Sandy Fe, the older of the two dogs died quietly. Pearl loved everyone. Sandy was more selective, but I was on her good list. Dogs mostly just like me.

Anyway. Irene is more than ready to welcome another canine into her life. One of these cuties is going to be hers in a few weeks. Here they are at four days old. Yup, another golden retriever.



And again today at nine days. (Colored spots on their puppy butts are nail polish to tell them apart.)



I'll get to meet whichever one it is this summer at the wiggly age of about 6 months.

(photos used with permission)

	See Puppy Fix
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Fun with Friends

 
I know many of you don't know these people, but they are special to me, and I got to spend some time with all of them last weekend.

Marie and I spent Wednesday night with Janet, another friend from Girl Scout days.



Elaine went on the waterfall tour. We just had to be a little silly. It's required.



Then somehow the weekend was almost over and we'd hardly seen Irene and Lois. So we had lunch together and went on a short hike.



You may speculate all you wish about which specimens are "normal," but you probably shouldn't put money on the middle two. As they say, "normal" is a setting on the dryer.

if you like this blog, click the +1   or