Our autumn was pretty disappointing this year. Too much rain I guess. The colors were not brilliant. Most the of the trees went right into ochres, burnt siennas, and umber colors. Very dull and muted. A lot of the leaves fell off before achieving full color. A few days ago the sun came out and I took a drive down by Monksville Reservoir to see if any color had survived the wind and rain of last weekend. I found some at Long Pond Ironworks that I’d like to share, especially since it’s foggy and drizzly here this morning.

One of the things to truly shine this year were the burning bushes. They waited until the trees had lost most of their leaves so they could steal the whole show.

I give you Magenta Pink. (with a little reddish orange mixed in)

Orange.

Red.

Sorry for being remiss and not really taking you on vacation with me. We were on the go all day long and not much time was spent on the computer. What time I did spend was spent downloading photos!

We had a great time and certainly won’t be crossing the Finger Lakes off our list of potential places to retire. We both were extremely impressed with the area—beautiful hillsides rolling down to pristine lakes. Vineyards. Farm land. Waterfalls. Gorges. We managed to see all the lakes except for Owasco, Canadaigua (the furthest West) and tiny Otisco (furthest East). We were staying in a Bed and Breakfast in Skaneateles (pronounced Scan-ee-AT-les) on Skaneateles Lake called the Arbor House Inn.

Our room was not in the main house (pictured above), but in the renovated teasel barn behind the main house. Actually, it was a suite of rooms (full kitchen, living area and bedroom) with its own private deck. Since the room I had originally asked for was already reserved by someone else for the last night we were there, the owner drastically reduced to price of the suite, making it affordable for us. Here is the view off the deck. We used the deck the first night we were there, sitting outside and sipping a glass of wine, but the rest of the time it was raining.

Just a side note: Teasels were cultivated for more than one hundred years in the Skaneateles area. The stiff natural hooks on the burr head were used a tool for raising the nap of woolen cloth.

We were convinced our suite had a ghost because we would wake up in the middle of the night to knocking/banging noises that moved around in the wall or under the floor boards. We never did figure it out.

Here is part of the main street of Skaneateles reflected in the lake as seen from the pier.

On our first day (Thursday) we drove down the east shore of Cayuga Lake. Each lake really does have its own “feel” to it. They are each different. The town of Aurora is a beautiful little place. We only skirted the bustling outskirts of Ithaca but the setting is lovely. The western shore of Cayuga is much rockier and more heavily wooded then the east. It is also home to Taughannock Falls State Park. We walked around a little bit and took in some of the fall color.

Then on to the real star of the park—the falls.

Taughannock Falls are the highest vertical falls east of the Mississippi River. They plunge 215 feet straight down into a rock amphitheater surrounded by rock walls as high as 400 feet. What a sight!

After the park it was time to make our way to Watkins Glen, our next stop. On our way we passed through the town of Trumansburg and made a note how lovely the area around it was. Down the eastern side of Seneca Lake we drove, passing vineyard after vineyard and arriving at Watkins Glen State Park just before noon.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more photos of Watkins Glen!

Here we are in our Marriott room in Rochester. I am wondering why I have no dogs to take out for final walks, or why I don’t have a cat litter box in my bathtub. Hey, it’s all good!

Today we drove up to Rochester. We veered off the Interstate at Corning, New York (home of the Corning Glass Museum which at some other time would be a great place to visit) and headed up the western shore of Seneca Lake. The sun was pretty much absent most of the day, so the skies were a bit gloomy. We were afraid that we had missed all the fall foliage as our drive through the Catskills showed us nothing but trees mostly devoid of their leaves. Wow, were we surprised to see the colors vibrant and shining through the gloom! Glorious color!

The vines shared the hillside with the trees.

The scenery reminded us very much of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Maybe the hillsides were not as tall as there, but very similar in look with vines clinging to the side going down to the lake. Beautiful! Fittingly so, at the North end of the lake we came to the town of Geneva. A pretty town you could picture yourself living in. We passed through the Main Street area which was alive with small boutiques and shops, so unlike the abandoned downtown areas that other cities seem to have. Score one for Geneva.

Between Geneva and Rochester was mostly rolling hills and plenty of farmland. Perfect for goats! (hint, hint)

Sorry, all these photos were taken from the car. No time to really stop and take photos as we needed to get on in to Rochester.

Tomorrow Rick will be done with work by early afternoon and then our mini vacation will start. We are headed to Skaneateles and our B & B.

We’re off today on a short jaunt until the weekend. Rick has a talk to give at the Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York so I am tagging along and we’re making a mini vacation out of it by visiting the Finger Lakes. It’s partly fun, visiting wineries and seeing the sights, and partly a scouting mission for what we want to do when we grow up. In other words, to see if we like the area with an eye to retirement. I’ll be blogging along the way as I know a few of you out there enjoy going with me on my vacations!
Right now I have to go pack, get the dogs ready to take to the kennel, make sure the kitties have enough food to last until the pet sitter shows up tomorrow, and prepare for the 5 1/2 hour drive up. See you later!

Photos taken at Monksville Reservoir, about 5 miles from my house.

I don’t know about you, but today I need some warmth so I am posting this photo taken yesterday of the turning colors at Monksville Reservoir. Doesn’t it warm you up? Right now the temps are in the 30’s, it’s dark and gloomy, and the big “S” word is predicted for later on in the day. SNOW. Already? Tell me it’s not so! Please don’t ruin these lovely fall colors Mother Nature! What can you be thinking?

We have plans to visit the Rhinebeck Wool and Sheep Festival this weekend and the weather is supposed to be nasty both days. boo-hoo. But we are East Coasters now and will just bundle up and take our umbrella and wear suitable shoes. We don’t let the weather stop us anymore. I am so looking forward to it!

Remember this scarf? I still haven’t had the courage to seam it together but I so want to wear it this weekend. I practiced and practiced the kitchener stitch until I had it down pretty good, but now I’ve lost the skill of it all because I waited too long. Since the weather is going to be so nasty over the next two days and Rick has a business dinner tonight, maybe I’ll practice yet again (and again) and get up the courage to just finally DO IT. It doesn’t have to be perfect, right? The scarf is doing me no good in two unwearable pieces! Wish me luck ... I’ll keep you posted on the progress.