The Outlet Trail in Penn Yan NY

One day we took a walk on the Outlet Trail that goes from Penn Yan to Dresden. It is a six mile park that follows a trail that was a former railroad line. The railway was constructed on the towpath of the Crooked Lake Canal. There were once 27 locks over this short six mile span, which set it up for failure as a commerce pathway from Keuka Lake to Seneca Lake.

In the late 1700's through the 19th century there were many Mills along the Canal with large communities around them. 

These days it is a nice place to walk, jog, bike, horseback ride or even smowmobile during the winter.

We saw a number of people fishing along the banks.

Another Mill below is Birkett Mills, still operating today and the nation's number one producer of buckwheat products, such as flour and pancake mix.

Below is one of the remaining railroad tracks along the canal.

We couldn't figure out this sign.

There are also some water falls on this trail. We thought about coming back and starting at the other end , bringing our bikes, but we took a different hike instead. Below is the town of Penn Yan. Love the old towns and beautiful old houses in the Finger Lakes area.

Onto the Fingers Lakes and an Oops

WE are still going east but still in New York. Keuka Lake State Park is in the Finger Lakes area. Keuka Lake is one of  the long thin lakes that give the area its name as the lakes look like fingers. We like the campground though we got off to a bad start. This area has had a lot of rain and we didn't realize that our assigned site's grass was so soaked that we got stuck in mud that was under the grass. We tried to put pieces of wood under the tires to try to get ourselves out but weren't having any luck. Fortunately a nice guy named Steve was just driving his fifth wheel through our loop and said he would come back and try to help.
He was able to pull out how fairly easily. Another lesson learned. Check out the site more thoroughly before backing into it.

 It is a very pretty area. We don't have lake views but lots of trees and plenty of sitting room outside.
The lake is at a lower elevation and the views from there are of some vineyard covered slopes.

This is a big wine area and we did a little wine tasting. Saturday we drove around the area and stopped in at a dog friendly winery called Prejean Winery.  Later I was reading about the winery and found out that the owners had actually lived in San Francisco and often went to the wineries just a short drive from them in Napa and Sonoma. This kindled their dream to someday have their own winery. Years later they moved to the East Coast and one day realized their dream, starting a winery in the beautiful countryside of the Finger Lakes.  The wines we have tasted have been pretty good and we bought a few bottles. Their pricing is very reasonable, much cheaper than California. In fact, their tasting pricing at this winery was only $2 for five tastes and that went towards the cost of the wine we purchased. Plus they were having a sale on one of the wines, 2 for 1 and the fact we bought 3 bottles with the fourth free, we got a discount and so only paid around 25 dollars for the four bottles which also included the tasting for both of us. Our last wine tasting in Temecula was 20 dollars for a tasting of 6 wines and the wines much more expensive.

The drive around Keaku and Seneca is very scenic and more lovely old houses and lots of farm land and produce markets. We stopped at a small produce market I had read about in one of  the blogs I follow where I also had read about their stay at Keuka Lake SP and Sampson SP, our next spot. We bought some blueberries and cherries and I went back the next day for some peaches. In the same blog, Watsons Wonders, she had a recipe for chicken tostada with a blueberry and peach salsa, and I copied her idea for that too. It was really good. Love fruit salsas.

Town of Penn Yan

We have a few hiking outings planned over the next few days which will be in my next post.

Old Fort Niagara

One of the days we were staying in the Niagara area we took a short drive to Old Fort Niagara. The history of this Fort goes back 300 years, first occupied by Native Americans, then by British, French and American forces. Due to its presence on the Great Lakes, it took an important part in the French-Indian War, the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
We started off by walking through a museum and then taking a small guided tour before continuing on a self guided tour.

The picture above looks towards Niagara on the Lake in Canada.
The oldest building at the Fort is what was called the French Castle or what the French occupiers called the House of Peace, They built the building after getting permission of the Native Americans when they were told it was a building for trading.However, it was actually more than that. It was built to withstand any attacks by the natives.

There were actors in period costumes doing musket and artillery demonstrations as well as artisans and others talking about life in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The fort is on the Niagara River where it spills into Lake Ontario. The top attic four has many dormers to be used to fire muskets and cannons.

We were just in this are for three full  days, but had an interesting variety of things we did, some history, theh great Falls and Hockey.
Now we are onto the Finger Lakes area where new adventures are to be had, including some wine tasting in what is a large wine region of New York.

I Love Hockey til the Day I Die -Hockey Hall of Fame

One of the things on our list this trip was to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was suppose to be a little under 2 hours to get there from our campground. Well we didn't die trying to get there but felt like we were a lot older. We were near the border and it was a weekday around 10 in the morning. How long could it take to get through the border. A long time. There were long lines with what looked like mostly Canadians per what license plates we saw. An hour later and just the usual 10 questions we were through. We are use to Western Canada with few towns or people once past the border and.or Vancouver which still is not that crowded. Well, getting to Toronto was like driving through Southern Calif with one large city blending into there. Hurray!!! And we LOVE Hockey and so all worth it.
The Hockey Hall of Fame is both a museum and Hall of Fame. They are many exhibits of the NHL, its players and teams, memorabilia and trophies.

Love the old sweaters worn years ago.

Of course we love seeing anything Ducks. Getzlaf, the Ducks Captain, who had such a great year.

Temmu Selanne, who was shpwn here as a Fan Favorite of the League one year and will always be The Fan Favorite of all die hard Hockey Fans. We will miss you out on the Ice but look forward to see you in this building as an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here is a list of Stanley Cup Winners. We were fortunate to be at Honda Center when the Ducks won the Cup in 2007. One of our greatest memories. They won the Cup after only being in the NHL since 1993. It took the Kings almost 40 years .Yeah, now they have two but watch out. We will catch up soon. Looking at the different teams with their histories noted, it is surprising on some of the teams who have never won the Cup. It is really hard to win.

They had lots of interesting things, such as a replica of a locker room and items sold to fans and lots of different equipment from the early days to current days.

Below is some memorabilia from the 1980 Olympics "Miracle on Ice" Hockey Final where the US beat the Russians.

We watched a 3D film with glasses and all of a Game 7 Stanley Cup game played by a bunch of young kids. It was jpretty cool, especially when the puck comes right at you and lots of ice spray too. A fun ending with aup  special visitor at the end.
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We went into the Trophy Room which includes the first Stanley Cup ever.

The list of the inductees from 2013 includes Scottie Niedermayer, who helped the Ducks win the Stanley Cup and is now one of the assistant coaches. Every year, a group which includes coached and players who pick out the players who have had great careers. Scottie was certainly one of the greats, winning two Cups, Olympic Gold, Norse Trophies for Best Defenseman of the Year among other honors.

 The Hart Trophy with the Ducks Corey Perry was there as well as the Conn Symthe Trophy which the Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere (Jiggy) won in the 2003 when the Ducks almost won their first Cup but lost in game seven of the Finals. It is not often that a player from the losing team wins that honor but he was so great in the playoffs that he was honored with the Trophy.

Then there is the Stanley Cup on display. At first I thought it was one of the earlier cups as the current one which has the Ducks players on it as well as the Kings and others was traveling with the Kings for the summer. However, there is a special cup for the team that wins the cup to travel with for the summer after they win. So we got to see the Cup with all the Anaheim Ducks on it. That was pretty exciting.

What a great time. We are glad we got to see this and it only took 2 1/2 hours to get home, with no traffic at the border. And we got another beautiful sunset to end the day.