Back to life!Vacation OVER! Doesn't mean I can't have an adventure.

Upstate NY
April 14-26th 2017


I got back from vacation just before most everyone else in NY took theirs. Friday stared Spring break for most of the kids in the area, and Sunday was Easter! I didn't have much time to prepare for Easter goodies for the kido's. Gavin is the only kid left in the house (although Alexis lives here, she is never home) so there was no annual egg hunt. Grateful I had purchased some candy with coupons before I left for vacation. This Easter bunny filled a few eggs with candy 1 had a $20- bill and threw the rest of the candy contents into two baskets. One for Gavin one for Alexis.

Hey...at least I tried.
The first full week back to work was busy catching up. Having missed 9 days of my "normal" life really can effect a person. It took a few days but soon I was back into my routine.
I found the gift I received was NOT having to get this child up each morning to go to school. Ahh school breaks. Funny when they were little I couldn't wait for them to get back to school.
Instead of doing what I should on Easter Sunday (get to church) I headed to home depot and purchased paint for my dining room. The rest of Sunday was spent with rollers and brushes. DONE!! It has only taken 10 years.

 The following Monday was a dental appointment. (Truly back to routine) and what I thought was my last ASL class. I was convinced that my American Sign language class was at its last class and I was not prepared for a test. Fortunate for me I had one more class before the course ended. Whew.

Tuesday evening was Broadway in CNY:

 Barb  and I enjoyed the performance of Beautiful: The Carole King Story.

 I absolutely LOVED it! It may have been one of my favorites of the season.The whole week before the scheduled evening, I had been deciding in my head that I would be disappointed. I was far from it. I knew so many more songs then I had thought I would. I think the only one I didn't know was the shows title. The music was wonderful and I highly recommend to anyone who likes the theater.

That weekend, Tammy and I met up with the Outdoor women and did some "muddy" but impressive hiking at Chimney Bluffs state park.

First Tammy and I had lunch at The Pasta House in village of Wolcott, NY.

 Tammy opted for Pizza and I had this rice ball concoction. I was told it is a big favorite in NYC, I took the risk, I ate it, but it was pretty bland, I can't recall the name, but it was pretty much a fried rice ball with a few pieces of ground sausage in it. I was not impressed.

Lunch over we headed to the state park. The day couldn't have been more beautiful, but one day of sunshine does not dry up the trails very quickly and we have had so much rain over the last few weeks nearly everything is flooding.

 I thought this picture looked more like an ocean view then Lake Ontario. Beautiful for sure.

 The lake had assented onto the  land and there was erosion along the banks. 

 We made our way into the woods just beginning to feel the affects of the spring rains on our feet. The trail lead us into the woods and we began to see some signs of spring.

 Tiny flowers were peeking up through the wooded floor.

 The wooded trail lead us up, up up to the beginnings of the cliffs.

 Where trail once was we began to see narrow muddy messes that loomed frightfully near the edge of slippery doom.

 Mud, small ponds and dangerously unstable trail edges keep us closer to inland and creating our own trails. We would step on down branches, rocks and cling to the edges while holding on to trees to avoid feet being planted into the deep muck.



 Might want to avoid clinging to these tree's...as they seem to be clinging to the banks themselves.

 There were plenty of trees that didn't make it.

The only way to go...was straight down......(although it doesn't look that steep in this picture) it would not be a pleasant fall. 

 The view of the lake was amazing and it made cutting into the trail disappointing not to be right there on the edge.

 Another steep upward jaunt and soon we were in view of the signature Chimney cliffs.

 These natural creations are incredible.

 The group stopped for a bit to view these incredible natural structures so foreign to NY. We noticed a couple sitting in one of the cliff's valleys. (See above). I can imagine the view is amazing, but there is no way I would make my way down there. These cliffs are so unstable right now. Anything could happen.

 A group picture was fun.

 Perhaps they need to move this sign up farther on the trail.

 We found a critter on the trail...I simply had to chase this little guy down to catch a picture. He had a friend with him who slithered in the opposite direction closer to the cliff edge before I could get a picture of the two together.

And there he goes.....
The cliff trail soon jetted into the deep wood eventually taking is back to the entrance. These were some of the muddiest parts of the trail. We found we were more often then not creating our own as these trails were submerged in water.

It was yucky but the nature sounds and sights PLUS the knowledge that the exit was up ahead kept me going.
Somewhere in this tree is a woodpecker. When we entered this small clearing we could hear him pecking at a tree. I tried to locate him up in the trees, but he kept bobbing in and out of the branches.

 This is an example of the trails we made ourselves as they were much drier then the actual trail.

  Here is a picture of the last few steps before we were at the end. Muddy trails.

 And all of our muddy feet.

I was so grateful to have my hiking boots, but Tammy's feet were soaked to her bare feet.
Despite the mud and dangling near the edge of death. It was a great hike, I plan to venture out with these awesome women more in the future.

That Tuesday I got a text from my eldest son. He stated he was in the hospital. YIKES!!!

I rushed to the hospital. He had somehow cut and crushed his index finger while at work. He was okay, but as a mom, it was pretty scary and he made it sound like he had cut his finger off.
After waiting in the ED for hours he was finally seen and I got to see the mess his finger was in. EWWWWWEE!!! The biggest concern was infection as he works with metals and oil. (He's a welder). The docs cleaned it up gave his some antibiotics and stitched him up.He was soon good to go. He may never have his nail return but he should have full use of his finger. Whew!!!

That Saturday I spent time with my Close to my heart gals as the Hearts a Flutter team meeting. It was a small group of us, but we had fun and Sandy had some great new ideas. Plus we got to play with the new products. LOVELY papers!!!!

Great friends, great products and hello would you get a load of this LUNCH!!!!

Sunday Mark my mother in law and I dug out the front garden. It is a real mess, It still is a real mess. It has rained nearly everyday so we have put off addressing the garden for now. So much work needs to be done on the house and the yard. The pool looks like a muddy pond. YUCK.
Great end to a wonderful month. Vacation truly does not have to end just because you are home!
TTFN