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June Updates

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." –Confucius
Wow it's hard to believe the summer is flying by. It seems like we just got here and now two months have gone by. Besides spending a lot of time with our family we've been getting out and enjoying the great weather and a few of our favorite places. We've also enjoyed catching up with some cruising friends we haven't seen in several years.  

So many people we know have asked us if we've eaten at Moosewood...now we can say we have. For nearly 50 years Moosewood cookbooks have served as the global guide to vegetable-forward eating, introducing generations to a vegetarian gastronomy that includes fish and seafood. 
On a beautiful June day we took the Black Diamond Bike Trail up to Taughannock Falls. This Rail Trail follows the Lehigh Valley Railroad route who’s Black Diamond Express once ran from Jersey City to Buffalo and Niagara Falls between 1896 and 1959. It was an eighteen mile round trip, plus we hiked another 1 1/2 miles to see the falls.
Upper falls along the Taughannock Creek.
Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. 
In June we had an opportunity to visit with old cruising friends. We enjoyed visiting with Dave and Barbara in Seneca Falls one day (we forgot to take a picture). Later in the month Ted and Nancy came and spent the day with us. We enjoyed time at Buttonwood Grove Winery, a boat ride on the lake and dinner at Sackett's Table. It was great catching up with everyone. 
Some of our favorite time in Bloomsburg is spent playing on the creek behind our son's home.
After spending the weekend with Kyle and his family we took a side trip through the Poconos on our way home. We spent a couple of days checking out some of the cute towns in the area. Unfortunately I hurt my foot at the creek the day before we left, so hiking and chasing waterfalls will have to wait for our next trip. Our first stop was Jim Thorpe, PA. What a beautiful little town on the Lehigh River full of history and cute shops. The town was founded in 1818 and originally known as Mauch Chunk, they changed the town's name in 1954 to Jim Thorpe to honor the greatest athlete of all time that was from the area. 
We enjoyed a nice lunch on the patio of Marion Hose Bar located in the old firehouse.
Just a of few of the historic buildings in Jim Thorpe.
We spent the night in Milford, PA. It's located on the Delaware River and surrounded by state forests and parks. We stayed at the Tom Quick Inn. Originally opened as a boarding house in 1880.
Milford has been a resort town since the Gilded Age and is where the conservation movement was started.
We had dinner at the Dimmick Inn & Steakhouse. The historic inn has been at the heart of the town of Milford since 1828.
Our marina is a beautiful place to live in the summer. We would have a hard time finding anywhere better.
One warm day we took a picnic lunch over to Sheldrake Winery and enjoyed our lunch sitting on their beach...it's our favorite place for a picnic.
On calm nights hot air balloons come over our marina...we just love watching them.

June 16-18 Graham's Visit

“Some of our greatest blessings call us ‘Mimi’ and ‘Poppy'.” ~Anonymous

Each of our Pennsylvania grands get to come and spend individual time on the boat during the summer. This was Graham's sixth year. Wow, has he grown and changed during that time. The little toddler who came the first year has turned into a lanky self assured big boy who loves to explore and eat. 

We truly packed in a lot of activities the days he was with us. Lots of bike riding, a little fishing, crafts, hiking, swimming and a lot of ice cream. 
One of Graham's favorite places to go in town is the Sciencenter. Each year they change out some of their exhibits, so there are new and old favorite things to explore. Here are just a few of the things he enjoyed this year.
The playground had a new addition to the bubble area...this table was a lot of fun.
What's a summer evening without ice cream...here in the northeast people go crazy over ice cream. They'll wait in long lines just to get a scoop or two of their favorite flavor.
After enjoying ice cream at Purity's we decided to take a short hike to Ithaca Falls.
After breakfast we spent a little time being creative. We even tried a new technique to paint rocks.
After painting rocks and riding bikes around the park Graham and Poppy went fishing. They didn't have a lot of luck, but they sure had fun.
Did you know that the Tooth Fairy even comes to boats? He was so happy to finally have this tooth come out.
We spent one afternoon hiking to Taughonnock Falls. It's a fairly short hike and we did most of it in the creek. This is a picture of the lower falls.
There wasn't much water, but we all enjoyed cooling off.
Taughonnock Falls
Graham even went for a swim in one of the deeper holes on our way back to the car.
Looking down from the trail to the lake.
Our last night we rode over five miles along the bike and played at one of the great playgrounds they have in Ithaca.

June 8 - Buttermilk Falls State Park

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” —Joshua J. Marine

Ithaca's slogan is ‘Ithaca is Gorges’. The town of Ithaca has four gorges that were carved out by glaciers millions of years ago and there are more waterfalls through these beautiful gorges than a hiker can count. Reports say there are over 150 waterfalls within 10 miles. We've seen many and have literally stopped counting. Welcome to the land of gorges, waterfalls and outdoor beauty. To a community of academics, artists and adventurists. We have truly fallen in love with this area of New York.


Today we hiked the Gorge Trail in Buttermilk Falls State Park. We haven't hiked this trail since our first year in Ithaca. The Gorge Trail follows Buttermilk Creek as it cascades down through the gorge about 600 feet, passing deep pools, sculpted rocks and countless waterfalls. Buttermilk Falls is a 165 ft high cascade waterfall with multiple tiers, bursting out of a wooded hill like a waterslide made of rock. The trail info says the hike is 1.5 miles out and back, but our hiking app showed we hiked right at 2 miles and climbed 444 feet.

A view of Buttermilk Falls from the bottom of the gorge.
The gorge hike starts with lots of steps...lots and lots of steps. But once at the top of Buttermilk Falls the view is incredible. 
The top portion of Buttermilk Falls.
Looking up the gorge.
Looking back towards the bottom of the gorge.
The constant flow of water has eroded the rock into twisting ravines with inviting pools of water.
A rain shelter about halfway up the gorge trail.
This bridge crosses Buttermilk Creek to connect the Gorge Trail to the Rim Trail.
42' Pinnacle Rock
I left one of my rocks for someone to find. Check out other rocks at The Pearl Rocks.