Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl)

“I love my grandson not only for who he is, but for who I am with him.” -Anonymous

Graham’s visit to the boat was a bit short this year. Summer flew by and we could hardly find time for him to come to the lake. We decided to bring him to the boat after our Keuka Lake family vacation. We had planned to keep him most of the week but he had a dentist appointment on Tuesday so our plan was cut short.

We took advantage of the time we had. We tried taking him knee boarding but the lake was too rough, so we hung out on the boat. Then went to the Boatyard Grill for a nice dinner. After dinner we buzzed around the lake on a sunset cruise.

Monday was also too windy for knee boarding so we packed up and headed back to Pennsylvania to do a little hiking and waterfall chasing. We spent a few hours exploring Rock Run Falls just north of Graham’s summer camp. It’s a beautiful area with lots of great swimming holes.

Our meals were extra good this evening.

Graham couldn't knee board, but he enjoys driving the boat just as much.

Rock Run has a series of three waterfalls that form wonderful pools to swim in. Several places even have deep holes where kids like to jump off the cliffs. The water is clear and very cold even on an August afternoon.

Looking up the creek from the middle falls.

Looking down past the middle falls to the swimming hole.

Looking up from the swimming hole at middle falls.

This is where people jump in at the middle falls.

It was a great place to have a picnic.

The water was cold, but Graham jumped in three times.

The water was so clear and pretty. Very inviting.

Rock Run Upper Falls. The cliff here is higher and the kids from Graham's camp come here to play.

We stopped in Williamsport for a little treat on the way home.

"To be lucky enough to live by the lake is to be lucky enough." -Unknown

We got to spend another wonderful week with family on Keuka Lake. We all agree it’s our favorite lake. The lake is smaller and nowhere near as deep as Cayuga or Seneca so the water is warmer and unbelievably clear.

The house

We had lots of porches to relax on...taking in the view of the lake.

The living room.

Kitchen

Basement

Bedrooms

Our little private getaway over the garage.

We spent most of the week in or on the water. Swimming, tubing, knee boarding and riding on the runabout. All the kids love the water. But we did a little exploring. We hiked up Clark Gully. It was a nice little place, but the waterfall was almost nonexistent. We still had fun playing in the little pool and climbing on the rocks.

The kids had fun dropping large rocks into the pool.

Climbing up to the next little pool.

The view from the top.

After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Abandon Brewing Co.

We sat outside with this nice view and enjoyed our lunch.

Another day was spent riding bikes along the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. It's a 7.5 mile trail that follows the historic canal that connects Keuka Lake in Penn Yan to Seneca Lake in Dresden. There are several small water falls along the trail making it a beautiful spot to ride. After the ride we had a picnic lunch in the park in Penn Yan and no trip to this lake would be complete with a stop at the Spotted Duck for ice cream.

Seneca Mills Falls along the trail.

All the ice cream at the Spotted Duck is made from the eggs of their own ducks.

We spent our evenings roasting marshmallows, swimming and playing silly games. It was a great week spent with the ones we love, doing the likes we like and relaxing with a great view.

A lake vacation is mostly about playing in the lake.